Fun Playing With Chinese Food at Aristo Bistro

We recently enjoyed a Chinese meal so good, it's driven me back to blogging! In the Cleveland area, get thee to Aristo Bistro in Westlake if you enjoy authentic Chinese food! Their one page web site describes the menu as, "Eurasian American & Authentic Chinese Aristocrat Cuisine." I call it delicious.

Our foursome met for lunch, but we ordered off of both the "regular" and "Chinese" menus. Images of those menus can be seen beginning here.

We wanted to try the Seafood King & Fish Maw Soup, but they were out of fish maw that day. So, we settled for the Seafood King Soup - rich with scallops, calamari and shrimp that actually passed the tripolyphosphate sniff test, a velvety broth accented with corn, and egg drops, with just the right kick of white pepper. 

The soup comes in this one large size only, which was more than enough for four people and a bargain at $13.95.

We ordered our meal Chinese style, meaning communal plates to be served as they are finished by the kitchen without regard to course. First up, an exquisite version of Clams with Black Bean Sauce.

Tender, sweet Manila Clams were tossed with onion and hot chilies, then bathed in the most sophisticated black bean sauce I've ever tasted. With nary a bean to be seen, the flavor and umami blast of the fermented pods were infused into a delicate, spicy sauce. This dish cried out for white rice to soak up the gravy, and the cry was answered a few moments after the plate hit the table. It was good to the last drop.

The clams were followed by a half order of sauteed Snow Pea Tips. 

The preparation of the Pea Tips was perfect. Thoroughly cooked, yet still with bite, and just the right amount of a subtle garlic sauce to round it off.

One of our party was hankering for curry, so we chose this Curry and added pork (from the choice of multiple meats or veggie options, including duck) from the "World of Noodle/Pasta" portion of the menu. The curry was pungent but not too spicy. The noodles were served on the side. 

Finally, a whole, deep fried flounder, with the "Chef's Special Sauce" on the side.

I neglected to photograph the sauce, but it was a fairly thin textured soy-based sauce that softened and soaked into the fried bits very nicely. We devoured this!

We enjoyed a pot of Po Lei tea with our meal. It is a fermented tea, produced in China's Yunnan province. I found it a little funky for my palate, but I'm glad I tried it. Other tea options are Oolong, Chrysanthemum, and Jasmine. They have a lovely bar area and say they are waiting on a liquor permit.

Finally, a photo of the "Chinese" Menu page. It is separate from the "regular" 6 page menu (which also contains a number of "authentic" dishes, including the soup we enjoyed, as well as the "Lunch Specials" page). 

Unfortunately, their website offers nothing more than the contact information. There is, however, a Facebook page with photos and a little more content. https://www.facebook.com/aristoyummy/ 

My only caveat is that they do not always open at the stated opening times. The first time we met our friends there at noon on a Saturday (which should have been the opening time per the Facebook page), it was dark and locked, and we left after about 20 minutes. Reached by phone later that day, they apologized and said they sometimes are delayed in opening by shopping for fresh product. Even the day we dined there, they opened about 45 minutes after the posted starting time of 11am. So, it may be wise to call before you go.

Our lunch composed of dinner foods ran $80 and fed the four of us with some leftovers. A bargain, given the high quality of everything, but especially the fish and seafood.

Aristo Bistro is a true "mom and pop" type operation, in a small, yet elegant and clean space with plenty of parking (though no close Handicapped designated spots). Our group thoroughly enjoyed every dish we sampled and we are eagerly looking forward to more. I'm a sucker for fresh flounder (it was a staple dinner throughout my East Coast childhood). Shirley, our delightful host and server, suggested that next time, we try their special flounder presentation, where the fillets are removed and deep fried separately, then tossed with vegetables and sauce and plated over the fried skeleton. Yes, please!! There is also kebab, and Hong Kong style Black Pepper Sauce, another favorite of mine, on the menu. But if authentic Chinese isn't your thing, there are plenty of the more familiar Americanized Chinese dishes also on the menu, as well as Schnitzel (chicken, veal, or pork), burgers (including a Ramen Burger), and a Lobster Roll. Vegetarians and Vegans are also accommodated. 

I can't wait to renew my West Side passport and visit Aristo Bistro to play with more of their Cantonese-Inspired Cuisine!

Aristo Bistro
25124 Center Ridge Road
Westlake, Ohio 44145
(440) 455-9900
Open 7 days; check their Facebook page for hours (and call first if you are going early).

Fun Playing With Authentic Chinese Food In Solon

A few days ago, our old Magic Chef glass-covered gas cooktop gave it's all:

This led us to a series of take-outs and eat outs (and now that we've cleaned up the mess, to some crock pot and oven cookery). 

I've known that our local Hunan Solon has an authentic Chinese menu on their website, but honestly had never thought that highly about the food there. We hadn't eaten there in several years, but it was too cold to go far and it was dinnertime, so we tried it. And I'm so glad we did!

We started with a variation on one of my favorite dishes - Fish Maw and Crab Meat Chowder (usually, this soup has dried conpoy [scallop] rather than crab). This version had little cubes of tofu in it, and this "small" bowl is meant to serve at least 4 diners:

The only flaw in the dish was that some of the crab was dangerously close to the end of its time. The good news was that there were no chemical smells or nasty textures to the meat, but some of it was not at its freshest. Not a bad start for Solon.

Our next two choices also came off the Chinese Menu, which has characters and English translations for the dishes (I can't figure out how to link directly to the Chinese Menu, so just go the website and navigate to it):

Beef Ribs Strips in a Black Pepper Sauce

There is a Black Pepper Chicken on the regular menu, but leaving these marrow-filled bones in the dish definitely enhances the flavor. We gave this an "A."

Dou Mieu - pea leaves in Garlic Sauce

These were some big, heavy, pea leaves - but cooked perfectly with a light garlicky sauce that contrasted well against the peppery beef. A great choice.

We next selected item #57, "Stewed Side Pork, Preserved Vegetables, in Hot Pot." But our server insisted she had a dish we'd like even better (though we really wanted a "hot pot" or casserole dish because it was so cold). She brought over a menu all in characters, and said that if we loved real Chinese food, we had to try dish #CS9. How could we refuse?

Our reward for taking her recommendation was on this plate:

Luscious slabs of tender pork belly dredged in gentle seasonings, then finished with dried chilies sat regally atop more stir-fried green vegetables. We expected it to have a more spicy flavor than it did, but it didn't need a lot of heat. This dish will bring us back to Hunan Solon for sure. Our server insisted on our next visit we must try the whole fried Tilapia (swimming in a tank at the back of the house) with minced vegetables. That is now on the list, though the live lobsters in the tank situated in the freezing restaurant entryway also tempt. 

We had more than enough leftovers for a second dinner. Now, it will be on to the Crock Pots. But we'll be back to play with tasty Chinese morsels from Hunan of Solon, especially as we remain stoveless. Also of note is their annual celebration of the Lunar New Year with lion dancing and probably special menus or items, on February 21 and 28. Call the restaurant for further info or reservations, and you can have fun playing with your food among the lions! 440.248.8836.

Fun Dim Summing at Emperor's Palace, the New Kid on Cleveland's Asiatown Block

There are few delicacies I enjoy so much as Dim Sum - literally, "the heart's little treasures." Here in Cleveland, we are fortunate to have multiple options for Dim Sum, but the options are not numerous. Thus, the opening of a new purveyor of dumplingy treats (and authentic Chinese food) always attracts my immediate interest. It is no surprise then, that within about 24 hours of learning about Cleveland's newest entry in this department, I'd found a few friends willing to trundle down to Cleveland's old Chinatown - Rockwell Avenue between 21st and 24th Streets - to sample the wares at Emperor's Palace, 2136 Rockwell Ave., Cleveland OH 44114.

The formerly run down building has been magnificently restored to full splendor. 

An ample, free parking lot sits just across Rockwell Avenue, girded by impressive looking statutes representing all of the symbols of the Chinese Zodiac.

Inside the restaurant, we found two large dining rooms, plus a private banquet room that seats about 14.  The decor reminded me of Dim Sum parlors in New York or San Francisco  Speaking with our hostess, I learned that two additional restaurants are planned for the site - a vegetarian eatery and a place featuring Szechuan cuisine. 

Our initial experience was a little strange. Three of us had arrived and were seated in the second dining room. We were the only non-Asian customers in the place. While we awaited our final two companions, the server asked if we wanted tea before we'd looked at the menu, and we said yes. Though the menu lists several varieties of brewed tea (which we didn't realize until too late), our server brought out a pot with Jasmine tea bags hanging out of it (and Jasmine tea isn't one of the varieties listed on the menu), then dropped silverware at all the places and snatched up the chopsticks from the places for our two absent friends. But after we waved away any discussion of the "lunch specials" part of the menu and started digging into the Dim Sum, our hosts understood what we were there for, and were most gracious. Once the tea-from-bags pot was emptied, I asked for Oolong tea, which was promptly delivered for the rest of the meal. 

Though they have carts, such as the one shown below, the carts did not circulate through the restaurant as in a traditional Dim Sum. Instead, the "dumpling cart" and the cart below were parked in the main dining room. Servers took our orders from the menu and brought each plate of Dim Sum, piping hot, mostly from the kitchen. I was told that the kitchen also contains live fish and seafood tanks. They were out of some menu items, including the "Juicy Buns" or Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings), which is hopefully a good sign that everything is made in house.

Pumpkin Cake

This toothsome dumpling was a perfect starter, conjuring up very traditional Chinese gold coin imagery. It was unique - a little sweet and creamy, but with enough starchy body to hold up to those chopsticks, and a delicious winter squash flavor. I'd love to know what the characters stand for, if anyone cares to chime in at the comments!

Roast Pork Pastry

We all enjoyed the BBQ pork and light pastry of this familiar specimen.

Lotus Leaf Wrapped Sticky Rice with Chicken

We selected this more familiar incarnation instead of the intriguingly named "Sticky Rice and Preserved Meat Buns" for our sticky rice fix, and were rewarded with creamy rice that had soaked in lovely flavors from the chicken-based stuffing (there was one slice of Chinese Sausage, or Lap Cheong in the stuffing, which was  so good it made me wish there was more of it!). I'll have to get the buns on my next visit to Emperor's Palace.

Sui Mai

Sui Mai are perhaps the most ubiquitous of Dim Sum items. These tasted fresh and succulent, however, as I would expect, the shrimp was standard food service variety and less to my liking than the savory pork. 

Short Ribs with Black Pepper Sauce

I loved the taste and texture of the short ribs, which melted in the mouth, but missed assertive black pepper flavor from this dish. I would still order it again because of how well the meat was prepared.

Hom Sui Gok 

These fried footballs are filling, so be warned - sharing is a good idea here. Ours were served right out of the fryer, so they were intensely hot, savory and delicious. A glutinous rice flour-based skin puffs up around a savory pork filling - it is one of my favorites, but is often cold by the time it comes around on the cart, so Emperor's Palace gets major style points here.

Pineapple Buns

Several of my tablemates pronounced this a favorite. I liked the donut-like dumpling, but not quite as much as the others did. Different strokes for different folks. 

Turnip Cake "Country Style"

Turnip Cake is a favorite. Bob and I have sampled them from Cleveland, to New York, to San Francisco, to Hong Kong itself - and our favorite remains the version served at Wonton Gourmet, a few blocks from Emperor's Palace. However, while Wonton Gourmet's product has the most appealing creamy texture, the fresh flavors bursting out of Emperor's Palace's version make it a most worthy and close runner up. The dried shrimp and pork slivers offered distinctive flavors that stayed separate in the cake, so each bite had a slightly different flavor. Highly recommended.

We also ordered two "regular" menu items to share. First, Crispy Duck (half the duck, an amazing value at $9.95).

The first bite offered a huge hit of umami - so much that I wondered if there was MSG in the crispy coating. Our hostess assured us that Emperor's Garden doesn't use MSG (but it wouldn't bother me if they did); could regular salt offer that much flavor kick all by itself - or was there some other agent at work here? The seasoning inside the duck complimented the amazingly crisp skin, and the flesh was moist and tender. This was a perfectly cooked half duck.

Both the duck and our second entree were served with a small bowl of the house rice, which they call "Healthy Mix Rice" - white rice with "Red and Brown Wild Rice." While not at all traditional, it was most delicious.

Hot & Spicy Fish Fillet Pan Fried Noodle

Our last dish, the authentic version of "chow mein" (or fried noodles) was called both "hot" and "spicy" for a good reason, which we discovered shortly after tucking in: in addition to the red chili you can see in the photo, the dish contained a generous helping of Szechuan Peppercorn, which led to a delightful "ma la" buzz on our tongues. While the dish would win a "best of" prize from our table for that aspect alone, I was blown away by the freshness and skilled preparation of the fish filet; I can't remember enjoying the lowly tilapia so much. The crisp vegetables provided the perfect counterpoint to the moist and tender fish and the chewy noodles. A truly worthy dish.

Emperor's Palace is off to an auspicious start, and I hope that they continue with their winning ways. I anticipate additional visits in the next few weeks, so be sure to check in with this blog's Facebook page to see all of the photos and keep up to date on everything we've sampled. Or, drive, bike or bus yourself down to Cleveland's original Chinatown and have sum fun playing with the authentic Chinese cuisine offered at Emperor's Palace.

Fun Playing with Zha Jiang Mien (Noodles with Meat Sauce)

Zha Jiang Mein is a staple dish of Beijing, and is the Chinese version of pasta with meat sauce. I had a hankering for it last week, and thanks to Ohio City Pasta, we had everything we needed on hand:

Ohio City Pasta Wheat Somen

Sauce Ingredients

The sauce is one part each of the above components. From left to right - Chinese Chili Paste with Garlic, Brown Bean Sauce (note that the label says simply "Bean Sauce" - this version has chunks of whole broad bean in it, whereas the inferior "Ground Bean Sauce" does not), and Wei Chuan Hoisin Sauce (my preferred brand because it has no artificial preservatives; most Hoisin Sauces have sodium benzoate added). You can probably find versions of each of these at your local supermarket; these varieties are more readily sourced at an Asian grocery store.

For half a pound each of meat and noodles, I used 2TB of each sauce component.


Smashed and Chopped Garlic

While the scallion is the only vegetable you'll see in most recipes for this dish (though thin strips of raw carrot are sometimes recommended as garnish), I wanted this to be a one-pot meal - so red pepper and carrot were added to the mix.

Chopped Scallion for Garnish

The role of ground pork was played by a large half pound of Italian Sausage from our Breychak Farm hog, casing removed

Half a cup of homemade Duck Stock (from the freezer) is combined with sugar and cornstarch

The sausage is browned at very high heat, then the garlic and vegetables are added (be very careful to not scorch the garlic). High heat plus pork fat = beautiful color in the vegetables.

After a few minutes, I deglazed the pan with a bit of sherry, then lowered the heat and stirred in the sauce mix:



Once the pan got bubbly, I stirred and added the stock/sugar/cornstarch mixture:

As the sauce bubbles and thickens - noodles cook in boiling water for 2 minutes and are turned into bowls. The sauce, which traditionally is quite oily (though I didn't add the 1/2 cup of cooking oil the traditional recipe calls for to the browning meat because our Berkshire hog sausage yielded plenty of nice pork fat, thank you), is spooned over the pasta:

The chili paste gives this dish a nice bit of zing, and the veggies added some crunch. Comfort food in a bowl! It was so good that we ate  Zha Jiang Mein again the next night, made with leftover grilled chicken meat and Ohio City Pasta Whole Wheat Spaghetti, which wasn't quite as toothy as the somen, but still produced a tasty dinner.  Fun playing with noodles and meat sauce can make a great weeknight dinner!

Fun Playing with Soup and Fried Rice for Lunch at Wonton Gourmet

Wonton Gourmet continues to excel at providing Clevelanders warming, satisfying Chinese comfort food. This lunch, which took place while the weather was still bitterly cold and snowy, was perfectly balanced in flavor and texture and it tasted like it had come to my plate right from Guangzhou, China. (This next sentence is just an excuse to link my prior Wonton Gourmet posts - Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website), each of the last 8 words, and a couple of the upcoming words, has a link to a different FPWF WG post.)

My two lawyer-lunchmates had never been to Wonton before. They were delighted with the turnip cakes and chive potstickers.

 

What else could three ladies share for a satisfying and authentically Chinese lunch? Why - soup and fried rice. But this is not your corner Chinese take-out soup and fried rice!

 

Mustard Green Soup with Pork and Tofu, Salted Eggs 

 

This steaming hot bowl of soup, the "small" size, but more than plenty for the three of us, contained a richly flavored broth, which caressed intensely tasty (and green) mustard greens, tender pork, and creamy tofu.

 

Fried Rice With Salted Fish and Chicken

I seldom get to enjoy Wonton's fried rice, and that is my loss. Made in the authentic style - meaning no soy sauce, and probably fried in lard - this is what fried rice is supposed to taste like. And it tastes good!

 

The "salted fish" is actually a dried fish similar to the more Western (and therefore familiar) bacalao (Spanish), or baccalà (Italian). Originally developed as a preservation method, salting, drying and then reconstituting mild fish intensifies the flavor. This brightly flavored fish pairs well with the blander chicken meat and shredded lettuce in this dish. We all enjoyed it.

The portions, as always, were more than ample, and the leftovers came home to feed my husband. And so, another fun time playing with authentic Chinese food at Wonton Gourmet came to a happy end.