The current trend in New York City dining seems to be, as New York Magazine calls it, "hipster Asian". Along with Mission Chinese, Yunnan Kitchen has been at the top of this trend. I tried to go to Mission Chinese on Thursday and they quoted me a 2 1/2 hour wait (it ended up being 3 hours from when I put my name down and when they actually called me) and on Saturday, Aarti, Will and I put our names down at Yunnan Kitchen and they called us 1 hour and 15 minutes later. We ended up at a bar down the street to kill time, but an hour and 15 minutes is about as long as I can bear to wait for a table. But I'm glad I did.
To be clear, Yunnan Kitchen is not like the kind of Chinese restaurant you would find in Chinatown. It's much sleeker, cleaner and more modern and not run by Asians. Most Chinese places have you order family style with giant plates of food. But the opposite is true here. It's tapas style Chinese food. Everything is small plates and our waiter suggested 2-3 plates per person. We went to town and ordered: charred eggplant ($9), tofu ribbon salad ($8), chilled wax beans ($8), wood Ear mushrooms ($9), crispy whole shrimp ($13), lamb meatballs ($8) and scallion fried rice ($8). There were so many other plates we wanted to try but felt like 7 plates was a good starter. The one dish I id really want was the potato balls but they were out of it. We started with the charred eggplant which was served with sawtooth herbs, crushed peanuts, and chilies. It was super soft and but not too mushy. I love a good eggplant dish and this was a winner. Next came with chilled wax beans and it was served with LOTS of ginger. Since it was chilled, I found the dish refreshing. The beans were cooked but just barely and had a great raw crunch to them. The tofu ribbon salad is actually tofu skin (it's like a slightly tougher version of firm tofu) with mint, cilantro, and chilies. While I generally like soft tofu better, I do like the crunch of tofu skin and it reminds me of the more old school Chinese dishes I had in my childhood. Next came with crispy whole shrimp and they were served with the shell and head on and lightly fried in salt and pepper. I took the shell off, but the shell was so thin and there was so much flavor on it, that I could see someone like my mom just eating the whole thing with the shell. There was tremendous flavor, it was one of those type of dishes where you were left licking your fingers. But be aware, the dish was super hot and it was really hard to peel the shells off without feeling like you were burning your finger, but it was worth the effort. Apparently the Yunnan region is well known of their mushrooms, so we were originally torn between the king trumpet mushrooms and the wood ear mushrooms. Our waiter suggested the wood ear, so we went for it. I had heard of wood ear mushrooms before but I couldn't quite remember what it was. But when I saw the dish, I knew that I had had them before. They are these very thin black mushrooms, that unlike traditional button mushrooms, aren't very meaty or thick in texture. It's almost got this jelly/rubbery like texture (I know it sounds kind of gross but I swear they taste good). The mushrooms came with celery (eww), gingko (it looked like a bulb of garlic but tasted like a mild nut) and lily bulbs (light and crispy). It was a pretty unique dish that I haven't seen anywhere except in authentic Chinese restaurants. For our meat dish, we opted for the lamb meatballs which was sprinkled with spices on top. I was a big fan of this dish because the lamb was incredibly tender and juicy and the spices packed a lot of punch with each bite. The one dish that wasn't a small portion was the fried rice. There wasn't anything mind blowing about it, but given that I've started to limit my white rice intake, having a giant bowl of white rice with egg and scallion was a special treat. It was a good base for all the dishes we ordered. How can you not eat Chinese food without it?!?
We all commented that the food was fabulous and not very greasy/oily. While I'm sure they did use lots of oil to cook the food, it just didn't have that overly gross feeling to the food. This place re-invigorated my love for Chinese food. Yes, it's not the "authentic" feel you're going to get in a place like Flushing and I generally have a disdain for Asian restaurants not run by people of the same ethnicity, but sometimes there are exceptions to the rule. Aarti and I have already earmarked what we want to get next time we go: marinated tofu, king trumpet mushrooms, fingerling potatoes and shishito peppers, and potato balls. Another plus about our meal was that our total bill was $27/pp. So freaking affordable and when I think about how much more money I've spent on unsatisfying dinners, it makes me appreciate places like this more. Just be prepared to wait at least an hour for dinner.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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