This dish deserved better than a plastic fork.
My mission to find the most praiseworthy Chinese dishes in Western New York continues.
Today, a few words about the dong po pork at Gin Gin.
Dong po pork is pork belly braised in a five-spice broth, then chopped and stir-fried with big black (formerly dried) mushrooms. It goes for $6.95, and delivers a wallop of salty richness.
My first reaction was, This is a bit over the top. But them I remembered that Chinese folks eat their meat dishes over a bed of rice. The entree is supposed to flavor a heap of blandness while it delivers its protein payload.
Once I started eating a bit of pork belly or mushroom with a mouthful of rice, the dish made sense to me. I’ll be back for this.
Dong po pork – just another chapter in the maddening hunt for a Chinese restaurant in Western New York that can make you happy straight across the menu.
5 Comments
August 5, 2007 at 1:01 am
Well , realistically can any WNY restaurant make you (us) happy completely across the menu?
August 5, 2007 at 1:56 pm
That dish would make me happy forever.
August 5, 2007 at 2:13 pm
“Can any WNY restaurant make you (us) happy completely across the menu?”
Well, yes. Sea Bar, to be honest, although it’s a bit suck-uppy of me to say so. Left Bank. Hutch’s. 99. Korea House. A bunch more.
When I say, straight across the menu, I don’t mean that 100 of 100 dishes are fabulous. I mean that nearly every dish (say, 80 to 90 percent) delivers what it promises in a satisfying way.
I have not experienced a Chinese restaurant in Western New York that delivers that level of skill and consistency. Even the ones I have adopted as part of my routine household menu, like Gin Gin and Chang’s.
August 5, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Red Pepper on Maple accross from the Blvd. Mall….can’t be beat!! I highly suggest checking it out.
August 5, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I have eaten at Red Pepper, with mixed results. (Liked the duck soup. Feh on the grilled pork bun and bun bo hue.) What are your recommendations there?