Everyone loves Mission Chinese, right? NY Times reviewer Pete Wells would snort rails of chawanmushi if chef Danny Bowien's laid it in front of him; he had such an orgasmic time at the Orchard Street location, he had to channel the hammer of the gods in his review. But there are some traditionalist dissenters, including Benjamin Cost, food editor of Gothamist sister site (okay, more like autonomous satellite in the far East) Shanghaiist. He recently visited Mission Chinese in NYC to see what all the hype was about, and was bitterly disappointed by the "astoundingly awful" food.
You can read the full takedown here, but we have excerpted the highlights below:
- "The rap music was raw, the decor wild, but the food was astoundingly awful, the worst I've had since I gagged on that pizza with wasabi mayonnaise, shrimp tempura, and hot dogs from Pizza Hut China."
- The Kung Pao Pastrami was "not particularly hot, just senseless, the culinary equivalent of a baby banging on pots and pans."
- One recommended special Hainan Eggplant: "It sounded about as absurd as "Peking Kale" (who says you gotta use a duck?) but I was willing to let the flavors speak for themselves. They did not. What I got were slimy, morgue-cold blocks of inedible eggplant."
- Behind the ironic hairstyle, tats, and "bad boy" image, you have to know how to cook. Then again, perhaps Daniel Bowien's success proves that you don't.
