Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.
Asian Kitchen
The tables have turned—for the last few years, I've held JooJoo up as my #1 Korean restaurant in St. Louis, but it seems Asian Kitchen is making a move. The last time I was at Asian Kitchen Korean Cuisine was in late 2013 for Christmas dinner. I had just come back from Asia and, like every other Jew in America, was trying to get some Chinese food. Royal Chinese BBQ: packed. Lulu's: packed. Frustrated, hungry, and bitter, I turned around and randomly picked an empty looking restaurant that happened to be Asian Kitchen.
The restaurant was dead. There was a Thai family enjoying Korean BBQ, but no one else there. It was just that family, my family, and the server, an older Korean woman. The walls had some kind of off putting paint color on them that I can't recall—something very 70's. Robin's egg blue? Vomity yellow? I took a seat, ordered something meaty, then a wave of banchan (small plates) filled the table. It took our server 3 trips to get everything on the table. We're talking 20+ bowls of kimchis, pickled greens, sweet black beans, potato salad, seaweed. Insanity.
Between the time the banchan hit the table and our mains arrived, two memorable things happened. First, I got scolded by my new Korean mother for drinking soju out of the bottle. I hadn't kicked the bad habits I'd picked up from my Korean business partners. Secondly, an older couple came in after us and they were the rudest diners I've ever seen in person. They couldn't understand why this Chinese restaurant didn't have any of the dishes they were familiar with! The waitress tried to explain that Korean food wasn't Chinese food, but they weren't having it. They refused the banchan because it was "gross". They came over to our table to ask how to order the kung pao chicken. I kindly grabbed the woman's face and held it on my searing hot dolsot bibimbap bowl. Finally, they left and made sure to let the server know they would NEVER be back.
The food we got that night was fine. Definitely authentic, but the flavors were a little bland. Not a bad meal, but not a great meal.
I've since returned. Banchan: still excessive, still delicious. You can ask for seconds (or thirds...) of any of them, and they'll happily oblige you. We had so much kimchi last time we were there, I think I've been fermented. The interior has been redone, a big plus. But how was the food?
Tai Ke
If I were planning an ultimate eating trip through Asia, I'd start in Japan, bounce down to Taiwan, swing over to Hong Kong, dive down to Vietnam, then finish things off in Singapore. Surprised to see Taiwan on the list? You shouldn't be. The sub-tropical island off the Southeastern coast of China is a food mecca, full of some of the most food-obsessed people I've ever met. There are two sides to Taiwanese cuisine: street food and restaurant food. I spent little time at actual restaurants in Taiwan, and almost every dish I ate at them was similar to the Hokkien Chinese food I was eating on a daily basis in Singapore. This means a lot of noodle soups, braised meats, and tons of seafood.
Tai Ke is St. Louis' newest and only Taiwanese restaurant, as far as I know. I wasn't overly excited about eating there until my sister went and told me they had a Taiwanese Street Snack section of the menu.
I fucking love Taiwanese street snacks.
I nearly shutdown from culinary overload at the Shilin street market. Fried chicken breasts the size of a small child, sausages of all sizes and flavors wrapped in sticky rice, penis-shaped waffles and ice cream, dumplings galore, tofu that smells like a rotting corpse (okay, maybe not that one), bubble tea! I'm getting all hot and bothered just thinking about it.
Newcomers to the St. Louis blog scene JeniEats and Eat First Worry Later joined me for my culinary adventure to Tai Ke. We started with the braised pig ear, which weren't the kind I was familiar with. These were served room temp and were more crunchy than soft, a texture I imagine most Americans will be turned off by. Had there been more of the garlicky, sweet soy on the dish, I think they would have benefited.
tai ke braised pig ear salad
I was overjoyed when the street snacks hit the table. We started with the gua bao, pork belly buns, which were meaty chunks of braised pork belly sandwiched between steam bread with cilantro, ground peanuts, pickled mustard greens, and a sweet sauce. The pork doesn't have that crunchy outer layer that Hiro's have, but I thought these were still definitely worth ordering.
The Taiwanese have an affinity for tube meat and sticky rice. It's the Asian version of a hot dog and bun. The sausage itself is a sweeter, fattier dog than you find in pretty much any Western cuisine, making it all the more delicious. Diabetics thought they were cool to eat hot dogs, but not in Taiwan! The sausage is drizzled with the chef's secret sauce (it's like a Chinese ketchup, almost) and some cilantro. I love these.
Finally, we have the fried pork chop. It's a pork chop with a crunchy five-spice infused breading. You're goddamn right it's good.
tai ke pork buns
tai ke sticky rice sausage taiwanese st.louis
tai ke taiwanese pork chop st.louis
The entrees were just as solid as the starters. The Three Cup chicken is a steaming bowl of chopped chicken in a deeply flavorful sauce of rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, roasted garlic, ginger, and Chinese basil. I imagine Chinese and Taiwanese grandmas across America started making their versions of this this past week to help fight the cold.
The sizzling bean curd comes out hissing and bubbling like the fajita platter at Chili's, except it actually tastes good. The tofu is fried, then put on a cast iron platter with bell peppers, onions, snow peas, and leeks. It sounds like your typical stir fry, but I thought the sauce was fantastic.
tai ke taiwanese st.louis three cup chicken
tai ke taiwanese st.louis tofu
tai ke taiwanese st.louis mapo tofu
tai ke taiwanese st.louis shrimp spicy
Both the mapo tofu and spicy shrimp stir fry were both leaps and bounds better than their descriptions would make you think (and compared to most Chinese restaurants around). The mapo tofu had a nice level of heat to it thanks to chili oil and Szechuan peppercorns and the shrimp, labeled as "hot" with 3 chili peppers, wasn't nearly as spicy as I feared it might be. The flavor of the dish was spot on thanks to a hearty helping of roasted garlic, scallions and more Szechuan peppercorns. Roasted garlic makes every dish better.
Out of all the new Chinese restaurants I've gone to this year, this was the most solid first impression I've had. There's not one dish up there I wouldn't recommend (well, maybe the pig ear plate). Eating there did what any good meal should do: it left me full, happy, and wanting more. The famous Taiwanese braised beef noodle soup will be my next order.
The restaurant is tucked away behind a shopping center off Olive Blvd., right near Dao Tien, and I highly recommend you make reservations. We went on a Wednesday night and saw tons of people get turned away due to the 30+ minute wait.
Tai Ke
8604 Olive Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63132
314.801.8894
Private Kitchen
2015 has quietly been a good year for St. Louis' Chinese food scene. We lost the always interesting Szechuan Pavilion (again), but we gained Tai Ke Taiwanese, Yummy17, Private Kitchen, Lona's Lil Eats (in late 2014, really), and revamps of Lulu's, Jia Xiang, Corner 17, and Joy Luck Buffet. Lona's has enjoyed continuous hype and publicity since they opened, though Private Kitchen seems to be the Asian restaurant du jour. The concept is unique to St. Louis, as far as I know, in that it's reservation only, you must place your order beforehand (they pick up the ingredients the day of your visit), and it's operated and owned by a husband and wife. He's the chef, she's front of house.
As soon as the reviews, Tweets, and Facebook posts started popping up about Private Kitchen, I knew I had to go. There was so much hype, it had me wondering: is this The One? Will St. Louis finally have a Chinese restaurant that will put all others to shame?
I've visited a few times now and I'm going to have to say no, this is not that restaurant. At this point, without having tried Corner 17 or a proper meal at Tai Ke, I would say that it does go in my Top 3 Chinese restaurants in town, along with Yummy17 and Jia Xiang.
The food is Shanghaiese, which often (but not always) means a heavy reliance on sugar and sweetened sauces, and that is my biggest qualm with it: it's just too sweet for my taste.
Their xiao long bao (soup dumplings) are easily the best I've had in St. Louis. If you don't know about soup dumplings, read this. Private Kitchen's don't hold a candle to Din Tai Fung or Paradise Dynasty across the world, but they're more than passable. The skin is soft but sturdy enough to hold the piping hot soup and meatball and the soup itself has almost a truffle flavor to it. If you've never had a soup dumpling, these are a must try.
private kitchen soup dumplings
private kitchen stir fried vegetables
private kitchen smoked salmon platter
The black mushroom and bok choy is a simple dish done very well, with each mushroom acting like an edible sponge full of delicious broth. The smoked salmon was a very literal version: raw salmon rolled around fruit salad, stuck under a glass full of smoke. It was my least favorite of everything I ate at Private Kitchen, but I respect the new attempt at a Jewish deli classic.
The three entrees I would recommend you get start with the squirrel fish. The fish is deboned, then each filet is cut into little slices (while still connected to the fish), then deep fried and served with something close to a sweet and sour sauce. I imagine it's a pain to prepare, but the end product is worth the work. It's like having fish french fries!
There's a page of the menu (found on their Facebook page) that is in Chinese only. Ask for dishes off of that. Highlights from it include the sweet and tangy shell-on shrimp dish, which I made a mess peeling my first visit. I found out on the return that you just eat the whole thing, shell and all.
private kitchen fried fish
private kitchen sweet shrimp sautee
private kitchen special beef
private kitchen crispy sweet beef
private kitchen beef macro
I can't imagine there's a dish that's much worse for you than the beef, also found on the Chinese page. Cubes of meat are fried and tossed in a soy and sugar sauce. It's like popcorn beef, but even more addicting because of the sweetness. We got this dish at both meals, and both times the beef was gone in about 2 minutes.
The crab and lobster both came in similar sauces—some mix of ginger, scallions, and sweetness. They're both good, but nothing special (aside from the dragon's head carrot with the lobster). If you're looking for whole crab or lobster at an Asian restaurant, I much prefer Mai Lee's.
private kitchen ginger crab
private kitchen lobster dragon plate
If you're looking for authentic Chinese food in a more intimate setting, Private Kitchen is where you should be going. The food is better than most of what you'll find in St. Louis, and I can guarantee there are some dishes you haven't had before. If you've got a sweet tooth, you'll love it, but those with savory palates and diabetes aren't going to be fans. When you call to make your reservation and order, don't worry about looking at the menu. Order yourself some soup dumplings, then tell them what you like. Besides the dishes above, they have lamb, chicken, and duck available, as well.
Let me know what you think about your meal there. You can leave a comment below or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook.