By Stephanie
Sometimes the food comes out and you just need to eat it now. There isn't time to take a picture, or think about what you want to say about the restaurant, the event, or the food. Yesterday was one of those days.
A prolonged morning on First Hill led to an opportunity for a late lunch. We first tried Tamarind Tree - it was close to one o'clock - who would guess the parking lot would be at full capacity as well as the restaurant and the waiting room? On to the International District we went. We managed to find a street parking spot! Shanghai Garden was our destination. (MSG150 review I'm linking this because they did stop for pictures and the site is useful, as Michael has already noted.) The place has not changed much over the years - the interiors a slightly pink hue with red highlights, a row of mini kumquat trees at the entrance. The cold case by the register holds interesting prospects such as marinated cucumbers, jelly fish salad, and smoked fish appetizers.
There is a list of lunch specials, served with soup and rice, but we passed these to order the Shanghai steamed dumplings, soft rounds of dough filled with pork, ginger, and onions - and a little soup. The ginger soy side sauce is rich and fragrant. I'd like these to be more delicate, but the flavor is wonderful and the comfort level is high. We also had the barleygreen hand shaven noodles with egg and pork and Happy Roll - bean curd sheets filled with minced chicken and mushrooms served in a fire bowl of rich broth. These are foods that restore the spirit and the body. And there were some leftovers in perfect take out boxes for later that night.
With time left on the meter, a quick stroll though Uwajimaya was in order. Still won't help us in sourcing Indian foods, but we picked up a few groceries and some Beard Papa cream puffs (why aren't these called puddin' puffs?) and came on home. Happy Chinese New Year!
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