Chiang's

Dan & I joined many of our Memento Meal compatriots for a dinner out at Chiang's Gourmet - a Chinese restaurant with two menus: one for dishes familiar to the American palate, and one of less familiar dishes.

We converged on Chiang's to discuss the future of our supper club, and to explore some new dishes. Anna took the lead and let the server know that we'd love for them to bring us the chef's favorite dishes. The server confirmed that we were open to anything, and headed to the back. For the next couple hours, dishes came one by one from the kitchen. Some, like Honey Walnut Prawns were from the 'Americanized' menu, while many were from the other menu - or not on the menu at all.

A surprise favorite of many was the Jelly Fish Salad - which had a great texture, fresh flavor, and reminded us of poke. The White Cod was another well loved dish. The Tea Smoked Duck surprised a lot of us for it's ham-like flavor - enjoyed by some, but not by all (or me). Here are the many dishes we enjoyed:

Cold Spicy Smoked Fish


Jelly Fish Salad


Shanghai Noodles


Honey Walnut Prawns


Five Star Spicy Hot Chicken


Tea Smoked Duck


White Cod With Homemade Noodles


Shredded Pork W/ Dried Bean Curd


Fried Potstickers


Sauteed String Beans


Beef Short Ribs


Shrimp Fried Rice


Fortune Cookie


In the end, there was little left. With a large group, it was great to get to try just a little bit of so many dishes, and leave feeling satisfied but not overly full (in fact, we headed to Molly Moon afterwards).



I also couldn't resist snapping a photo of the bill, which was rung up with an extra decimal place, making it appear like we owed over $2K. Amazingly, the actual bill was just over $200 - making this amazing feast an amazing bargain.



Here's the gang: