Ken M.
Yelp
This is my first time here. The restaurant his located at 1600 South East Rd Suite 6, Farmington, CT. This is AUTHENTIC Szechuan food with an "Americanized" section as well. Look at the beautiful decor! The menu is big (in size) and shows a picture of each item you may order complete with Mandarin and English verbiage. For our drinks (they serve only beer and wine), we are having the Tsingtao beer (me) and the CT East Misty Mountain IPA (Boomer). Tsingtao is brewed using a prolonged fermentation process to create a crisp, refreshing beer with malty aroma and a balanced taste. The domestically-grown hops used to brew Tsingtao are of such high quality, that they are also exported to European breweries! It is quite good! It is served quickly in an ice cold glass. For our appetizers, we are having "Crispy" Cucumbers, Hot and Sour Jellyfish and the ever-popular Century Eggs in Chili Oil. Century eggs, also known as alkalized or preserved eggs, are a Chinesedish made by preserving duck, chicken, or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the processing method. Through the process, the yolk becomes dark greenish-grey in color, with a creamy consistency and strong flavor due to the hydrogen sulfide and ammonia present, while the white becomes dark brown in color, with a translucent jelly-like appearance, a gelatinous texture, and salty and umami flavor. The transforming agent in the century egg is an alkaline salt, which gradually raises the pH of the egg to around 9-12 during the curing process. This chemical process breaks down some of the complex, flavorless proteins and fats, producing a variety of smaller flavorful compounds. These dishes came out really fast! We're talking like 5 minutes at most! The Crispy Cucumber is really good! The jellyfish has a tendon texture. It is real good too! Spicy! This cuisine is full of chili oil and hot red peppers. The century eggs are real good! They toss in garlic, eggplant sand julienned green peppers. It is very family friendly here. The played "Happy Birthday" to a young child over the loud speaker. The music is very authentic too. For his entree, Boomer is having the "Fatty Beef in Lemon Acid Soup" which is a sweet and sour ribeye with a side order of Bok Choy with Garlic. For my entree, I'm having the Boiled Chicken and a side order of "Xunan Xueli Hong." Why? Because I have no idea what it is. Every so often the music is interrupted by sounds of heavy rain. For my next beer, I'm trying Harbin for the first time. Harbin Beer is a 4.8% abv pale lager. It uses European and Chinese "Qindao Dahua" hops, two-row malt, and German yeast. This one is better (darker, stronger). The service here cannot be beat! The server wrapped up put appetizer leftovers. The Baby Bok Choy came out in 2 minutes! This is incredible! It tastes real good too! An entree served in 5 minutes!! How is that possible! This bowl is huge! I still have no idea exactly what the Xunan Xueli Hong is but it's easy to eat in a light sauce. The Fatty Beef comes with lots of mushrooms and noodles in a tangy, lemony sauce. My Boiled Chicken is great! Expect Szechuan peppers, dried hot red peppers, garlic, lots of chili oil, scallions, bean sprouts and more! I just noticed how high the ceiling is! 20' maybe. No dessert for me but I am ordering takeout - "Kelp with Spate Ribs Soup." That will be tomorrow's meal. What a great dinner!