by Andrew Mellman » Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:26 pm
Ate at Red Pepper last night, the new Chinese Restaurant on lower Brownsboro (where the Maharajah, Shariott’s, and others have come & gone). Based on a first visit, I think this one will survive! We were there two hours (mainly talking – service is prompt but not rushed, and we were doing a lot of talking) and in that period they had the equivalent of a full turn on a Tuesday night (half Asian and half Caucasian).
The service, as mentioned, was prompt and very cordial. One slight problem: our waitress made suggestions that were more sweet, less spicy, and more traditional than we had wanted (we ordered mainly from the “authentic” menu, although several items on the “standard” menu also appeared unique!).
Three appetizers (and, as I did not take notes, I may have words slightly wrong):
• Smelly chicken: a very spicy dish (moderate heat) of cold chicken. I’ve had this in other cities, and this version was the best ever! One at our party initially complained about the heat, but after a second forkful (not everyone used chopsticks) mentioned that it was truly tasty, not too hot.
• Dragon won-ton: pork wontons in an oil-based semi sweet-hot sauce, redolent with chives. While extremely tasty and delicious – I’d likely order it again, especially with less-adventurous dining companions – this was not as unusual as I might have expected. It was recommended by the waitress. One said that the won-tons were tough, but the other two thought them fine.
• Egg rolls: the only item ordered from the “standard” menu, these were good examples, among the best we’ve had, but nothing to warrant a special trip.
Three main dishes:
• Lamb and fish casserole in clay pot: possibly the best dish we had! Mildly hot spice levels, this was a stew with lamb and fish plus onions, bean thread noodles, and an exceptional tasty broth, sort of in the general Pho family? All of us dug into this dish.
• Bang Bang Seafood Delight: may have name slightly off. Fish, scallops, vegetables, and shrimp in a sweet clear sauce with crunchy fried rice cakes. The combination of textures along with the sweetish sauce was interesting and different. One in our party loved it, while another felt it too sweet. The waitress said we would like it!
• Crispy duck: another of the waitress’s recommendations. This is marinated, steamed, then fried duck, with hoisin sauce (on the side) along with slivered onions, sort of a Peking duck deconstructed and on the bone! While “authentic”, and exceptionally tasty due to the marinating and seasoning, if you’re looking for something you’ll never find elsewhere don’t order it. I don’t want to say this is not good; it’s possibly the best crispy duck we’ve had in years, but you can find similar dishes in other restaurants.
To summarize, we WILL be back! And – while we might order one of the above again – I think the best way to do things here is to ask questions about what is in various dishes, and then just be adventurous and go for it! If you follow their recommendations, you’ll get a wonderful dinner, but it will be a tad more “standard” in terms of flavor combinations than much of the rest of the menu. And, from our experience the rest of the menu was exceptional!
Andrew Mellman