saturday night dinner

This Saturday my parents and I went to this great chinese/fusion restaurant called Shang on 187 Orchard St., New York, NY. The food was great; the perfect mixture of chinese food and american influence. For appetizers, we shared Szechwan Slaw, a salad with carrots, greens, nuts and crunchy noodles, and taro and beef puffs. The taro and beef puffs were just right; crunchy and savory. As a side we ordered some whole wheat bread chinese style with condensed milk to dip it in. The bread came, steaming, and the condensed milk added the right amount of sweetness to the bread. For main courses, my mom had caramelized black cod. The fish was fresh and in itself very good, personally I couldn't taste much miso. My dad had mongolian lamb chops which he said were very good and slightly spicy. I had sweet and sour pork, which, delightfully, was a far cry from the sweet and sour pork you find at your average take out place. It was not overly sweet nor sour and had the right amount of crunch to it. As a table we shared a plate of cantonese pearl noodles. The noodles were perfect: chewy and slightly spicy, but also savory and with a slight crunch. For desert we had something they called "assortment of dim sum", which turned out to be a tasting of deserts that ranged from classic chinese sesame balls to banana and chocolate cake, and a mango panna cotta with chocolate mousse and a sesame wafer on top. Both deserts were exceptional, the perfect ending to what was a very good meal. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to all who love "authentic" chinese food, as opposed to the average chinese food takeout.