Providence Dining Experiences and Reviews

[Frankie811]

I just had a humorous thought. Recently while sitting in a local Chinese restuarant, I noticed that they were playing American music through the PA system. I called over my waitress, Lisa, and asked her to play Chinese music that I heard coming from the kitchen which was close to where I was sitting. She hesitated, saying that Americans didn't want to hear Chinese music. I told her that she was wrong and that I wanted to hear it. I told her that this is a Chinese restuarant and I wanted to hear Chinese music. She finally agreed. Of course I couldn't understand the words, but that didn't matter. The female singer sounded nice and I was experiencing a different culture.

I can remember ordering chicken wings at this same place many years ago for take-out without the sauce, as I always do, and discovering that they loaded up the wings with salt. I couldn't even eat them. I called them back and asked why, and they said because I didn't want the sauce they added salt because Americans love salt. I went back and they gave me a regular order, w/o the salt & sauce, what they call dry.

I read a lot here about authenic Chinese food. I'm not even sure what that is, since all of the menus I look at are the same. All is see is chow mein,lo mein, fried rice, egg rolls, chicken fingers & wings............................etc............

What am I missing? What is authenic Chinese food?

[Liamlunchtray]

What am I missing? What is authenic Chinese food?

Indeed! I'm quite sure I have never had any authentic chinese food. I like a good General Tso as much as the next guy, but I would love to try the real deal. The talk of cloak and dagger secret menus is a bit intimidating. Are they in english as least? Any explanations of the dishes? I know I have had very hit or miss experiences ordering ethnic food when I dont know what it is that I am asking for.

My favorite crappy americanized chinese place is currently Wok and Roll. Last time I got delivery it was on my doorstep in less than 15mins and its cheap. Fat American Like!

[Garris]

If you wonder if you've had authentic Chinese food, the answer is probably "no."

In short, almost everything on a typical mainstream Chinese restaurant menu is an American fast-food invention, oddly enough making Americanized Chinese food as truly American as apple pie or hot dogs. The few dishes on the menu that do have real life Chinese counterparts have been so altered as to usually be rendered unrecognizable.

Wikipedia actually has a nice article or two on this:

Americanized Chinese food

Authentic Chinese cuisine

Basically, authentic chinese food was a eye opener for me once I had it. Far higher quality; far, far lighter and more subtle tastes, textures, and flavors; and far more emphasis on vegetables and appearance than the Western version. Throw out all of your notions of thick, sweet sauces; of meats fried in deep batters (ex: General Tso's or Sesame chicken); and often of it being done quickly.

For those looking to dip your toe in more authentic cuisine, go to a place like Lucky Garden in North Providence for Dim Sum (like Chinese tapas) on a Saturday or Sunday morning. They usually have a menu with explanations of everything (even with photos, often) in English and you order the items on a order form (like sushi places). Each individual plate usually has 3 or 4 pieces of food and ranges in price from 2-6 dollars. Don't worry... You can't get too exotic here. Even RI's most authentic are fairly conservative.

Lucky Garden's Website

If your appetite and curiosity are really stimulated, then head down to the ultra-authentic places in neighborhoods like Flushing, Queens in NYC or on your next stop out to Vancouver, San Francisco, or LA.

- Garris

PS: My way of learning cuisines is when I go out to make sure I order one dish from a menu that I've never heard of or had before, even if its just to take home. That way, I avoid falling into the rut of just ordering what I know I like every time...

[Frankie811]

Indeed! I'm quite sure I have never had any authentic chinese food. I like a good General Tso as much as the next guy

That's the one Chinese dish I don't like

[Frankie811]

Damn you all! The Chinese take-out restuarant down the street from me opens in 8 minutes and it looks like I'll be odering the MSG special of the day. Thanks!

[markOne]

next on my list is the lobster club and then the burger with brie and carmelized onions.

I've had both and you will like both. Bravo is becomming one of my favorite downtown stops.

[xine]

I think one of the reasons that most "chinese" restaurants here americanize their dishes is because much of chinese cuisine requires a much greater appreciation of textures like chewy, fatty, stringy, slimy etc. and a certain enthusiasm for eating skin, tendon, fat, dried fish snax, etc. For example, growing up, my best friend's family was from China and her mother loved to snack on bone marrow. Beats twinkies, I guess.

Americans seem to be incredibly squeamish about any meat that doesn't resemble a bland paste. The French strike me as closer to the Chinese in that regard. There are so many people here can't even tolerate dark chicken meat, even though its sooo much more flavorful and tender than white meat.

The one Chinese restaurant that I'm positive was authentic (and was nowhere near New England) mostly had signs in Chinese so the European types wouldn't order them - and couldn't, even if they begged. From the Westerner menu, I had a delicious eel casserole - essentially cooked in broth in a clay pot - which I'm sure most people would find inedible because of the skin and spine bone which was still intact in the slices (I think it was an ocean-going eel). I can't honestly claim it was the easiest thing to eat given my upbringing in bland-paste America, but definitely worth a try.

Having said that, I am a huge fan of Phoenix Dragon IF you order the evening specials and ignore most of the regular menu. One night we had an amazing whole fish that the server skillfully sliced/deboned at the table, with an incredibly delicate sauce. There are some great chewy-tendony things on the Dim Sum menu if you're into it, too.

[Garris]

Two things:

1) Has anyone tried LaMoia Restaurant & Tapas Bar at 292 Pocasset Ave. in Providence? Anyone have some experiences to report?

2) LMWW on Chowhound.com tipped me off to this news from the Projo's Restaurant update. Here's a quote from the larger update:

"MuMu Cuisine, 220 Atwells Ave., Providence, a Chinese restaurant, has opened. The owner, Sophia Cuyegkeng, has restaurants in Shanghai, Tokyo and New York and fell in love with Providence when her son, Henry Mu, opened Lot 401. The chef is Lao Sun who cooked in Beijing for government officials. Featured dishes include Peking ravioli, crab Rangoon, crispy beef, Peking duck (whole or half duck) and whole steamed sea bass. MuMu's is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. There is a full bar and valet parking. For information, call (401) 369-7040...

Anyone know anything about this? MuMu is going to move to the top of my "must try" list in Providence I think...

- Garris

[Cotuit]

2) LMWW on Chowhound.com tipped me off to this news from the Projo's Restaurant update. Here's a quote from the larger update:

"MuMu Cuisine, 220 Atwells Ave., Providence, a Chinese restaurant, has opened. The owner, Sophia Cuyegkeng, has restaurants in Shanghai, Tokyo and New York and fell in love with Providence when her son, Henry Mu, opened Lot 401. The chef is Lao Sun who cooked in Beijing for government officials. Featured dishes include Peking ravioli, crab Rangoon, crispy beef, Peking duck (whole or half duck) and whole steamed sea bass. MuMu's is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. There is a full bar and valet parking. For information, call (401) 369-7040...

Anyone know anything about this? MuMu is going to move to the top of my "must try" list in Providence I think...

It's open, I walked by today. It's in the same location that the Japanese place failed in. I mentioned it in the Federal Hill thread and at the time it said it was Lot 401 East on the awning, that's gone now. It has annoyingly dark windows so you can't tell if its hopping or not (I assume not when I walked by at 5:30pm). I assume they'll have their work cut out for them on the hill as we discussed when talking about New Japan moving to Federal Hill.

[jencoleslaw]

Two things:

1) Has anyone tried LaMoia Restaurant & Tapas Bar at 292 Pocasset Ave. in Providence? Anyone have some experiences to report?

I love LaMoia's. it is such a nice place to go and get some nibblies and have a drink and the staff is terrific. The dessert there is excellent. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. And in Silvah Lake!

[basachs]

This is a drinking experience. I was at the Wild Colonial last night and saw they had Narragansett Porter on tap. Now I read that they were working with Trinity to bring this beer back, but that was back in November 05 and I have not heard nor seen anything about it since.

Had to give it a try as Porter is one of my favorite beer styles and I love Trinity's. Let me just say that it was awesome! Dont know who else has it, if you have the chance and like Porter, definitely try this.

[runawayjim]

This is a drinking experience. I was at the Wild Colonial last night and saw they had Narragansett Porter on tap. Now I read that they were working with Trinity to bring this beer back, but that was back in November 05 and I have not heard nor seen anything about it since.

Had to give it a try as Porter is one of my favorite beer styles and I love Trinity's. Let me just say that it was awesome! Dont know who else has it, if you have the chance and like Porter, definitely try this.

sweet! i'll have to check it out... i really like the narragansett lager (i'm not usually a lager fan either).

[Liamlunchtray]

sweet! i'll have to check it out... i really like the narragansett lager (i'm not usually a lager fan either).

I really love the whole Narragansett comeback. We were at the Decatur last night and its just really cool to see pretty much an entire bar drinking nothing but gansett.

[basachs]

I really love the whole Narragansett comeback. We were at the Decatur last night and its just really cool to see pretty much an entire bar drinking nothing but gansett.

I like it too. Its a good cheap beer.

Do you know if the Decatur has the porter? I would not have to "go all the way" across the highway.

[eltron]

I like it too. Its a good cheap beer.

Do you know if the Decatur has the porter? I would not have to "go all the way" across the highway.

The Decatur does indeed have the porter.

[jencoleslaw]

i love the narra comeback but i'll love it more when it is made and bottled in RI.

[gregw]

I've heard at both High Spirits and City Liquors, both on North Main, that Gansett is selling like hotcakes.

[jencoleslaw]

the decatur sells more Gansett than any other retail location in the entire country.

[Frankie811]

Deli plans sale

http://www.projo.com/business/content/proj...li.140e7f7.html

[jencoleslaw]

since my office is next door, i have eaten a lot of lunches and breffests at Marks and since the new owners took over the quality has been in the dumpster. I hope someone buys it and makes it back into a quality breakfast/lunch joint. BTW, if you need breakfast downtown i highly recommend Eddie and Sons Diner on Dorrance Street. i think they have the cleanest breakfast grill in all of PVD. They don't have anything special but two eggs, over medium, italian toast and a cup of tea costs something like $3 with tip. and the waitstaff is very friendly and nice and the kitchen NEVER gets orders wrong, even though the orders are just shouted through a window and not written down anywhere until you are ready to pay.

[Cotuit]

Both Mark's and Eddie and Sons are prime examples of Providence businesses that do a piss poor job of trying to get people through the door. I spend a lot of time Downcity, but I've never felt inclined to enter either place, in fact they are both kind of scary looking and exude a vibe of very poor quality.

[Garris]

Both Mark's and Eddie and Sons are prime examples of Providence businesses that do a piss poor job of trying to get people through the door. I spend a lot of time Downcity, but I've never felt inclined to enter either place, in fact they are both kind of scary looking and exude a vibe of very poor quality.

I agree entirely. I've never stepped foot in either, and I'll usually try anything. I've always thought something different and funkier could work in that Mark's space, especially considering where they are...

- Garris

[Garris]

Well, I just recent tried MuMu, the new Chinese on Federal Hill, with my family visiting for the weekend. In all, it's a positive new addition, although I'm ambivalent about a few things.

Ambiance/location

In the increasingly proud and suicidal Providence marketing tradition, the restaurant is near invisible. I drove by it twice before I noticed it. It has a plain jane exterior with plain jane lettering with darkened windows, as Cotuit pointed out. Valet parking is available, although the person doing it seemed to be hanging out with 2-3 other people (friends? other employees?) in front of the door, which kind of gave it a forboding, loitering, Kennedy Plaza type of feel (and these people didn't move when we walked up to the door... We had to walk around them).

The absolutely stealth exterior is a shame since the interior is actually quite interesting in a David Lynch-ish sort of way. It's like a touch of French baroque meets Asian. The interior has a lot of red. I mean it's very red...

It's definitely a step more upscale than any other Chinese options in the area, a place I wouldn't be at all embarrassed to take people visiting me from Boston or NY.

Menu

The menu is very Americanized with a fusionish twist here or there. The section of the menu called "Dim Sum" is more like they renamed the Americanized "Appetizers" than any true Dim Sum delicacies.

Interestingly, they have an "Authentic" menu they pass out with the standard fare that is in both Chinese and English. This is much more encouraging, with the section labeled "Dim Sum" actually having some buns and options (like DanDan Noodles) befitting the Dim Sum name. Their entrees are also encouraging, with entries from several whole fish dishes, to Cumin Lamb, to Drunken Chicken.

My sister, on a quest to find the best Crispy Sesame Chicken on Earth, requested it and got it even though it wasn't on the menu.

Service

Very courteous. Our waters were obsessively kept full and the servers were prompt and polite. Our (very, very young and very, very green) waitress was perhaps trying too hard, trying to be so cloying nice it actually came across tremendously disengenuous. My mother actually said at one point to us (not her, of course), "I wish she wouldn't come back so frequently. We get it already. You're nice and polite!" My father, though, disagreed and thought she was great.

The Food

All in all, pretty good.

We started with DanDan Noodles (from the "Authentic DimSum" menu, they are hot and spicy flour noodles, I think they're Sichuan) which were OK, done very differently than I'd had them elsewhere. I'd had cold, dry DanDan noodles before and loved them. These, by contrast, were warm flour noodles of spaghetti consistency served warm in an almost meat broth (they gave us spoons) topped with spicy scallions and, I think, pork. My family really loved it, but the pork regrettably made it a no-eat for me. I'm now confused about the preparation... Does anyone know about this dish?

We also ordered the vegetable dumplings from the mainstream DimSum menu, and they were excellent. 6 plump, non-oily dumplings filled with a fresh, tasty, vege filling with a great sesame oil/sugar/vingear dipping sauce. Very nice. We could have had another 3 plates...

Our entrees were very nice as well. Interestingly, my sister's made to order Americanized Crispy Sesame Chicken was probably the best dish on the table, and a serious contender for her "Best Crispy Sesame Chicken on Earth" award. Made in the Americanized fashion dripping with sweet, thick sauce, that sauce was nevertheless fantastic, not just sweet, but deep, satisfying, and almost smokey (I wonder if they used a touch of Hickory Smoke extract). The chicken pieces were perfectly crisp and light without being crunchy, and the chicken quality was excellent. Quantity was good and it was the hit of the table. If you go, ask for it even though it's not on the menu. It should be...

My mother ordered a shrimp with vegetables from the "regular" menu. She felt the shimp were good sized, but there were fewer of them than she's used to. She noted the veges were, like in the dumplings, crisp and extremely fresh.

My father got a ginger lobster dish from the "regular" menu which he enjoyed but again felt the quantity was perhaps a bit less than he was expecting.

I had the Spicy Cumin Lamb from the "authentic" menu, which I thought would be a great comparison with the near identical Spicy Cumin Beef which I asked be made at the more authentic Iron Wok in Seekonk. I was very pleased. The dish had a bit less cumin flavor here than Iron Wok's variety, but that flavor was much better balanced with the hot spices which overwhelmed the Iron Wok effort. The julianned snow peas (I think?) it was served on were, like all the veges, fresh and crisp.

They served white rice with the meal and admirably even refilled it when it ran low!!

You never go to Chinese restaurants for sweets, and despite my trying to tell my father this, he ordered a fried banana ice cream dish for 4 people (which looks to be their signature after dinner item) and it was the only clearly off note of the night. The banana pieces were wrapped in spring roll wrappers and fried (a great idea!) but were utterly tasteless (a bad idea!) despite being drizzled with chocolate. Perhaps they should drizzle some sugar on the bananas before wrapping them or use plantains. Also, for the soft banana and crispy wrapper contrast to work, the bananas need to be softer than they were. The mint ice cream and other flavor (which I had trouble identifying... red bean or a type of tea ice cream perhaps?) were great, but couldn't save it from the flavorless fried bananas.

Value

My father insisted on paying for the meal (a good thing!) but I didn't get to see the final tab (a bad thing!). Overall, though, expect the average menu item to cost anywhere from 75 cents to 2-3 dollars more for the same thing than you'd get at the local slop pan-cuisine takeout dive...

Summary

Hard to say, since things still feel there like they're working out the kinks, but I'm ambivalent. On the good side, they're the only restaurant of their kind in the area. A stylish (at least the interior), medium scale sit-down Chinese restaurant of high quality. They've admirably chosen a "quality over quantity" approach and everything, especially the veges, was of the highest freshness and taste.

I'm disappointed, though, that the mainstream menu is so... Mainstream, and doesn't announce at all that they're different. I can see someone looking at their menu in the window, thinking this is like yet another Hunan Lucky Happy Dragon Garden and just moving on. I also fear that people, with a familiar menu, will expect familiar amounts of food and will miss the fact that the taste and quality is higher than usual.

I really wish that they'd gone "all the way" and really did a super authentic or, on the other extreme, super fusionish Chinese menu, because I fear their conservatism going with only what people know will just get them ignored, not get them more business.

They also really, really need to jazz up their all but invisible exterior. This is way beyond stolid. It's not inviting, doesn't say anything at all about what they are, doesn't reflect the interior, and doesn't reflect what they do. That, plus the 4 people just hangin' out with the valet guy right in front of their door who don't move and the smoky windows, doesn't pull people in and says "social club" more than anything else.

It's early. I encourage more people to go try it and see what you think and see how they evolve.

So, the updated current state of Providence Chinese according to Garris:

Best Americanized: Red Ginger, Johnston (Honorable Mention to MuMu and China Inn, Pawtucket)

Best Authentic: Lucky Garden, North Providence (Honorable Mention to Iron Wok, Seekonk and Red Ginger, Johnston)

Best Dim Sum: Lucky Garden (Honorable Mention to Phoenix Dragon, Providence)

Best Sit Down Chinese Dining: MuMu (no honorable mentions, really...)

Highest Quality Chinese: MuMu (Honorable Mention to Red Ginger, Johnston)

- Garris

[Frankie811]

Well, I just recent tried MuMu, the new Chinese on Federal Hill, with my family visiting for the weekend.

Good gravy man, when are you goin' get ya kin folk to move up here into one of them fancy new condo units downcity After all, they seem to like the local culinary scence and all. Maybe their ready to throw aside the suburban life for one of adventure in the urban beat.

[jencoleslaw]

Both Mark's and Eddie and Sons are prime examples of Providence businesses that do a piss poor job of trying to get people through the door. I spend a lot of time Downcity, but I've never felt inclined to enter either place, in fact they are both kind of scary looking and exude a vibe of very poor quality.

well, now you've heard from me and i endorse Eddie and Sons, and oddly, i have felt the same way you have regarding Cuban Revolution--a restaurant I know many people speak highly of