Sunday Night Dinner: Mandarin Restaurant

My family used to always go out for Sunday dinner when I was a kid.  One of our favorites was to get Chinese food at Mandarin.  It's located in a large plaza in New City, New York.  You'd never find it if you didn't know it was there.

When I visit New York these days, one of my culinary priorities is to rent a zipcar and drive 45 minutes to New City.  It might seem crazy to some, for me, there's no doubt about it.  I have to have my Mandarin.  Sure, there are many that would argue that there are 'better' Chinese restaurants, but I would be hard pressed to agree.  Give me a this hole in the wall joint, serving Americanized style Chinese food any time.  So what if they haven't redecorated since I was 5.

My meal started with wonton soup.  Glorious, flavorful broth, spiked with green onions.  The thick, east coast style wontons are stuffed with a simple pork mix.  Thin matchsticks of roast pork are the only other additions to the soup.  I think there might have been some spinach in there when I was a kid (I remember taking it out and putting it on the side!), but nothing else now.  Wonton soup the way I like it, simple and tasty.  You can keep your West Coast, loaded with 543 ingredients soup for yourself, brother. (Literally, brother.  We moved to CA when he was young enough to form his palate in a much more west coast style.  He prefers the western, more traditional Chinese food, to the eastern, more Americanized version.  Poor brother.)

Next, roasted spare ribs.  Notice there isn't a picture above.  I was so excited by the glistening pork goodness that I forgot to take out my camera.  By the time I remembered, all that was left were a bunch of stripped bones, and a fat & greasy me!  The ribs are roasted to perfection.  They're unglazed, allowing the natural sweetness of the pork rib to shine.  Simply fantastic.

My main course was chicken & broccoli.  In my youth, the sauce was white.  Once day, they switched to a brown sauce, and I was very sad.  Since then, I've gotten over it, and then some.  This is the dish I dream about, the dish that propels me up the Palisades Parkway. Pure happiness on a plate.

The meal was finished with a fortune cookie (good things are coming my way!) and a nice cup of Chinese tea, smokey and strong.

Good thing I brought a bunch back with me, writing this made me crave more! 

Edit:  Mmmmmm, leftovers.