Monday, January 26, 2009
Events Ox Me a Question: Chinese New Year Dinner at Golden Coast
Posted by Steve Haruch on Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:28 PM
I hope you didn't wash your hair today--it is New Year's after all. (Explanation: A friend of Vietnamese extraction told me that you shouldn't wash your hair on New Year's Day because you're washing all your good luck away. Let's just say I'm lookin' pretty lucky right now.)
Last night, my wife, some friends and I took the 10-course plunge at Golden Coast in order to ring in the "Year of the Castrated Bull," as a fellow diner quipped. Ox. Year of the Ox. (Oxen are not necessarily castrati, but they often are.)
I meant to write down all 10 courses or swipe a menu, but forgot to do both. Here's what got passed 'round the table, the best I can remember, along with my score out of 10:
Seafood hot and sour soup (8.0; points off for fake crab)
Assorted Chinese appetizers (9.0; wish I knew what the little fried things were)
Scallops (9.5)
Braised duck (8.5; I could eat the skin all day)
Orange beef (8.5)
Mushroom and vegetable (7.5)
Spare ribs in some kind of sauce, the name of which escapes me (7.0)
Seasoned shrimp (7.0; not terribly exciting, and not quite enough for everyone)
Flounder (6.5; little on the fishy side)
Joy luck soup (8.0; sweet red bean and tapioca "bubbles")
If I had a suggestion, it would be a bit more consideration for vegetarians. We requested a vegetarian meal, but that amounted to a plate of mixed stir-fried veggies. My wife happens to eat seafood, but if that wasn't the case, she certainly would not have gotten $40 worth of cauliflower and shiitake. Is some bean curd or something too much to ask?
Anyway, notes to anyone who's thinking about going next year: 1.) You should go. 2.) Bring cash, because the cash bar only takes cash, for real. 3.) Expect to see Dr. Ming Wang.
Comments (3)
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Was this served family-style, in bowls everyone could share? That's a great idea. Why did the scallops score the highest?
Also, could you tell if any of these dishes were regular offerings at Golden Coast, or were they all just for the occasion? Mmmm...braised duck.
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Family style, except for the soups, which were ladled out individually.
I've only had the weekend buffet at Golden Coast; the assorted appetizers would be familiar to anyone who's done the same--except for the fried thingies, which I don't recall ever seeing on the buffet before. I think (maybe) I've seen the braised duck, or something similar, on the steam table before, but I wouldn't swear by that.
The scallops were just really, really good. Tender and not at all fishy or tough, with a lightly sweet sauce.
