Bamboo House Review

Here's my first review of an Austin restaurant since my move back! One of my biggest gripes about the Austin food scene in the past and now is the lack of quality authentic Chinese food options.

Living in Round Rock further limits the options, and I lack the motivation to drive to even North Austin to get food from my past picks - Din Ho and First Chinese BBQ. However, when I heard about how a relative new comer, Bamboo House, serves up Peking duck, I made it a mission to go check it out!

Be prepared for long lines if you don't arrive by 11:45 AM. The good news is that they're able to turnover tables quickly so even though we arrived at 12:45 PM our first time and had to wait, it was only at most 15 minutes before being seated.

After ordering at our first visit, we immediately started gawking at the tables around us. The portions are huge and everything looked delicious!

My mom ordered the braised wheat gluten appetizer, which usually comes on a small plate for diners to pick at while drinking tea and waiting for the other courses to arrive, but this was a legit entrée size platter!

The salt and pepper fish fillet was my husband and daughter's favorite dish. Perfectly crispy, buttery, and savory. 

The surprise hit for my daughter was the duck soup that comes with your order of Peking duck (that's when you know this place is serious). I would have liked more ingredients in the soup. There's a little bit of cabbage and some tofu chunks, but pretty sparse. But the leftover soup and leftover rice make a killer rice porridge the next morning! 

The Peking duck arrives at the table beautifully assembled with all the accoutrements. It's pretty good! I wish that the duck skin can have less of the duck fat attached underneath it, but the duck meat tastes fresh and tender. It's really reasonably priced for all that you get. 

Other Peking duck experiences I've blogged about Dadong Kaoya - 1st Visit and Peking Duck in Shenyang: Yuan Wei Zhai.

Our second visit to celebrate Lunar New Year early was just as tasty, but it seemed like the wait for the duck to be ready is longer if you arrive at the restaurant early. The standout dish we ordered the second time is the lobster noodle with cheese. I don't know where the cheese comes in, but I guess the noodles are very creamy. The lobster was deliciously meaty and fresh. It's a lot of messy work though, so we savored the more challenging parts at home.

We'll be back! There are more dishes I want to try! 

Dadong Kaoya: My Second Visit

After my awesome dining experience at Dadong Kaoya in Fall 2009, I decided to treat my hostess to their delicious Peking duck near the end of my research trip.  I chose Peking duck because she hasn't had it since moving to Beijing.  I also wanted to try dishes other than the Peking duck this time, and that's much easier to do with a dining companion. 

We ordered Chef's Dong's Braised Eggplant.  This version of braised eggplants is a sweeter variation.  My favorite preparation of braised eggplant is the briny version with diced salted fish in as clay pot.  However, because it's a much heavier dish, you have to pair it with copious amounts of white rice to tame the flavors.  Dadong's braised eggplant is a lot more refreshing and is void of grease, which is amazing in China.

Braised Eggplant

Silly me insisted on ordering shrimp and insisted on the deep fried dish.  It was a bad move on my part as it was poorly prepared.  Instead of a light, crunchy batter, we got a wet skin-like batter.  The sauce that coated the shrimp made it worse.  It was some kind of rice wine vinegar sauce that tasted like mustard but not quite.  I really didn't understand what the chef was going for in this dish.

Deep Fried Prawns

The next dish was the super adorable "Steamed Egg" with Crab Roe.  We each ordered one (28 RMB / $4.50!!!).  Although the egg looks like a soft-boiled egg, I think it's actually made from steamed eggwhite with a little bit of broth.  The "yolk" is the crab roe.  The light broth and lightly seasoned bok choy complemented the deliciously rich "egg."

Steamed Egg with Crab Roe

Steamed Egg with Crab Roe

S and I are both tofu lovers and were immediately drawn to the "Two Flavor Bean Curd."  One flavor was the tender bean curd with mei cai (preserved vegetable) and the other is yuzi bean curd with spicy XO sauce.  I have no idea what an yuzi bean curd is.  It tasted more like steamed egg custard than tofu.  Both were awesome.

Two Flavor Bean Curd

Tender Bean Curd with Soy Sauce

Meicai and Yuzi Bean Curd with XO Sauce

S approved of the Peking duck!  She was also amazed at how lean and ungreasy the duck was considering how most dishes in China are greasy.

Peking Duck

Duck Broth Made from Duck Bones

S was so excited about dinner that she was surfing the net for pictures of what other diners have ordered in the past.  She said that she really wanted to try a cotton candy dessert she saw on someone's website.  I'm not a cotton candy type of person, but S had been such a gracious hostess so I obliged.  See how happy she was?

Cotton Candy for Dessert

I admit that it was really fun to eat and that the added surprise in the middle of the cotton candy ball made the experience even better.

With a Candied Fruit Inside!

And Stuffed with a Red Date!

Free Fruit Plate

原味齋 (Yuan Wei Zhai): Beijing Duck in Shenyang

BJ took me out to another famous restaurant in Shenyang for another one of my last meals, and this time, we steered clear of the Korean restaurant with the infamous business practice and opted for Beijing duck.

Yuan Wei Zhai

I have to thank BJ for taking me to two fantastic meals in Shenyang. If he hadn't invited me out, I probably would've eaten ramen noodles by myself to avoid the deserted, unfriendly streets of China's 5-day long national holiday (60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC).

Beijing Duck, Crepes, and Duck Bone Broth

The Duck was meaty and not overcooked and tough, which is surprising considering how often it's done wrong and how we're not in a city known for culinary feats.

Beijing Duck; Duck Bone Broth

We ordered a bunch of other dishes, the highlight being my pick, again! The tea pork ribs were "finger lickin' good." I think I ate more than the boys that day. Oops, oh well. I'm not about to fake being Ms. Dainty when good food is on the table.

Stir-fried Celery, Lotus, and Snow Peas

Fried Rice; Fried Chive and Egg Dumplings

Eggplant Slices Stuffed with Ground Shrimp; Tea Pork Ribs

Da Dong Kao Ya 大董烤鸭: Awesome Peking Duck in Beijing

Before going to Beijing, I knew that I had to have good Peking duck. It would be a crime to go to Beijing and eat crappy duck. The New York Times recommended Da Dong, saying that they offer super lean Peking duck. I was excited. I haven't had "super lean" anything in China, and since you're meant to eat the skin of Peking duck, I was convinced that this was going to complete my Peking duck experience.

大董

I ordered half a duck, super lean, an orange duck soup (assortment of duck parts like the web of its feet, tongue, you get the picture), and sticky rice balls stuffed with black sesame paste in a warm coconut milk soup. This was an incredible start to my Beijing food journey.

The half Peking duck was carved at the table and the waitress demonstrated two ways of eating the duck: 1) wrapped in a thin crepe 2) stuffed in a shao bing (flakey sesame pastry). I bought a tray of duck condiments (8 RMB), which came with tian mian jiang (the requisite Peking duck sauce), cucumbers, scallions, garlic paste, pickled radishes, and granulated sugar for the duck skin.

Half a Duck

Free Soup Made from Duck Bones; Tray of Peking Duck Condiments

Duck in Shao Bing; Duck in Crepe

The Peking duck was sublime, but my favorite dish turned out to be the orange duck soup! What a clever twist on the French classic, canard a l'orange! The sweet-tart taste of the orange juice made the assortment of odd duck parts dance on my tongue.

Orange Duck Soup

I didn't know that the meal would come with a free duck bone soup, so I stupidly ordered 2 soups, the orange duck and the dessert soup. I didn't mind though, because each dish was made and presented impeccably. My dessert came on a plate of dry ice. It was heavenly eating coconut milk soup from a plate of billowing clouds.

Sticky Rice Balls Stuffed with Black Sesame Paste in a Warm Coconut Milk Soup

Just when I thought I had reached the end of my foodie trance, the waitress came with a complimentary fruit platter. Ahhhhh...the best first meal in a city ever!

Fruit Platter