Mr. Chow

Tribeca
121 Hudson St. @ N. Moore
(212) 965-9500
http://mrchow.com/

The famous spot is the 57th location, but in Nobu's Tribeca/Midtown tradition, Mr. Chow brought his legend downtown. Julie chose the Tribeca one for her dinner with girlfriends birthday celebration. The entirely white restaurant was reminiscent of something you would see in Miami or LA, but glamorous nonetheless. I particularly liked that they do not attempt to overpack the place. In fact, the setting was fairly intimate.

The big no,no at Mr. Chow is asking for the menu. I went along with what was expected of me, but I would have preferred to at least know my options.

To start, we were served lettuce wraps in both chicken and veggie varieties. The flavorful hoisin sauce, candied walnuts, and crunchy lotus root made the dish worthwhile, but I couldn't taste the difference between the one with chicken versus the one without. As much as I avoid cheesy chain restaurants, the same dish at PF Chang's is certainly better.

Also for our first course, the scallion pancakes were more like knishes drenched in oil. For the non-Jews, they are nothing you want to try.



The seabass was pleasantly light---a shocker for Chinese food. At the same time, the lightness bordered on blandness. The fish tasted about as plain as the picture looks.

Beijing Chicken, a signature dish at Mr. Chow, had my friend Betsy preparing me for a life-changing experience during our entire subway ride from 50th to Franklin Street. Come on, Bets. Really? The chicken was the best item I tasted that night. That being said, I would hardly describe the taste as spectacular.

During our dinner, the dining room erupted with loud noises. The excitement was as if a group of break dancers started doing their moves in Central Park and a crowd circled around with attention. In this case, all eyes were on a small man stringing noodles. Really? The entertainment was mildly cool for a couple seconds, but the near standing ovation was unnecessary.

In all fairness, upscale Chinese food never suited me. Although the decor is much nicer than the typical boards displaying the menu selection, the food itself is never far above your standard Chinese take-out. Mr. Chow, especially, is a lot of drama without the delivery. For the pretty penny they charge, the meal was not worth the money.

This experience sums up the exact reason I started this blog. Diners need to be demystified about the hype around some of New York's most overrated places to eat. Ultimately, I advise which restaurants are worth going to and which can be scratched off your list.

Go or No Go? No Go