Comments on: Where Has All the Moo Shoo Gone?

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:37:10 +0000

I have not found decent Chinese food on the West Side since 88 Noodle closed shop. Please come back!

By: J. Smythe

J. Smythe — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:48:02 +0000

Two words: Hot Woks

By: chrisarandolph

chrisarandolph — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:17:19 +0000

Excellent article Nancy, very thorough and now I understand the history.
It’s the same story on the East side where all our favorite Szechuan and Hunan are either gone or have changed in character (read: change of quality). While my wife has embraced the “fresher, healthier” Thai and other Asian offerings I remain un-seduced and rooted in the past. As I try and understand things on the menu that sound like citrus flavored lawn clippings I long for fried dumplings.
We do agree though that the Cantonese restaurants that our parents introduced us to in the sixties were just wonderful. As much an event as a meal. Big places with comfortable seating, exotic décor, white tablecloths and white jacketed waiters with their names sewn on. And those names in those days, Joe, Sam, Paul, probably not their real names, reflect the change from an accommodation to a culture to a celebration of a culture.
The complexity and mystery of the menu, the bottomless tea pot, the mad assortment of plates, bowls and dishes on the table. This led to the sharing and critiquing of all this strange but tasty food from halfway around the world. Invariably my father, in the middle of the meal, would drag out his old Chinese restaurant warning and say something like “You never see stray cats around these places, want to know why?” My sister and I didn’t and just kept eating. We’d heard that before, lots of times, and hadn’t failed to note that our father was eating too.
After the meal there were fortune cookies for my sister and I to fight over and maybe a bowl of Chinese ice cream that tasted remarkably like American ice cream. But what we hoped for and more often than not got was a loud heated argument amongst the wait staff. This seemed to be a regular end of shift thing and of course we had no idea what the issue could be but we figured we were just one meal away from seeing a real meat cleaver fight.
I don’t know if we could duplicate that type of restaurant experience, maybe we shouldn’t try, but as we gain new things maybe we shouldn’t forget what made the “old” so good. In the meantime I’ll have another order of fried dumplings, hold the lemon grass.
Chris A. Randolph
Sales Associate

Barak Realty
East Side Office
1458 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10028
O. 646.619.8834
M. 347.886.0020
F. 212.452.1590

West Side Office
237 West 72 Street
New York, NY 10023
visit us on the web: www.BarakNY.com

By: P. Young

P. Young — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:21:08 +0000

Great article! Made me wish for another trip to my native New York. Everything here in Rochester is on a smaller scale (and 2-5 years later) but, I believe the author may have eaten at one of our best Chinese Restaurants (a victim of its own success and Thai places as happens in New York, but also Indian Restaurants). Its owner was locally famous for setting fire to his own carpet during one of his sumptuous Chinese New Year banquets. An affordable multi-course meal for 20-30 guests, free plum wine at every visit, made this the type of local restaurant the author speaks of. Maybe they are “gone” every where.

By: Sam Katz

Sam Katz — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:07:52 +0000

Terrific article! I had a fabulous old school Cantonese feast at Jing Fong Restaurant at 20 Elizabeth Street in Chinatown the other night at the Asian Jade Society's annual dinner dance. I hadn't had that kind of old school comfort food in such huge portions in decades. It really was a throwback to my childhood, as yes, the spicy Szechuan/Hunan thing nearly drove it off the map completely. Now, if we could only kick the menus out from under the doors and keep the bikes off the sidewalks, I'd be truly happy. By the way, I loved the mention of Harley Spiller's menu collection (brilliant!). And now, I am totally ruined for this snowy evening. I have such a craving for noodles in peanut sauce, and everyone in Manhattan is going to be ordering in …