The Divine Chinese Brasserie

By Rob Longert, Health Conscious Correspondent

New York is as famous for good “Chinese” food as it is for good pizza in my book, and I grew up on it. I am used to the standard General Tso (how do you say this one anyway? Chow T-so Tow, Tao? An American mystery if you ask me) chicken, sesame chicken, hot and sour soup, wonton soup, egg rolls, etc.

I walked into Chinatown Brasserie on Wednesday night to meet my family not knowing what to expect and I don’t think I could’ve been more impressed with the atmosphere, flavors and experience I had at the restaurant. The fact that there is a “Lazy Susan” on every table encourages sharing of food and also makes for a fun conversation piece in terms of “Lazy Susan” etiquette.

I didn’t really have a say in what we ordered, as the matriarch of the family decided on everything, but I must say, she did a great job, especially since ten of us shared and ate everything family style, and walked away satisfied.

Appetizers consisted of steamed shrimp and veggie dumplings along with some cold green noodles with chicken in peanut sauce, their “classic” shrimp egg rolls (which were honestly filled to the brim with shrimp) and some delectable lettuce wraps, consisting of seasonal veggies and pine nuts in a light garlicky sauce.

Our next course was the main course and all of the food we ordered tasted light and not oily or filled with salt and/or MSG, as “Chinese” food can sometimes be. We had the udon noodles with shrimp and thinly sliced roasted pork in a very light broth, szechuan chicken and shrimp with a spicy hoisin sauce, wok fried black bass, kung pao shrimp with fresh red chilies and wok fried Chinese broccoli with shitake mushrooms.

If this wasn’t enough, we received chocolate fortune cookies and extremely delicious mini cinnamon rolls for dessert. These desserts went so fast that I didn’t even have a chance to take a photo, but take my word for it, they were amazing.

For a dinner that was on the healthy side, everything was extremely delicious, and I can’t wait to go back to Chinatown Brasserie!