{"id":6638,"date":"2018-08-31T21:17:41","date_gmt":"2018-09-01T01:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=6638"},"modified":"2018-12-31T15:25:31","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T20:25:31","slug":"grain-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=6638","title":{"rendered":"Grain House"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Instagram posts are often brief takes on restaurants accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here, updated almost daily, by selecting the \u201cInstagram\u201d category from my home page \u2013 no signup required.) But folks sometimes ask for fuller reviews and more photos, so in response, here\u2019s a more comprehensive report on one of my favorites.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Have you heard about Grain House? It\u2019s a remarkable Sichuan restaurant with roots in Queens and Uniondale, Long Island; they\u2019ve recently opened a branch near Columbia University at 929 Amsterdam Avenue and I can state from firsthand experience that their food is excellent. Could this be the Upper West Side\u2019s best kept secret? Not if I can help it!<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the extraordinary menu items I\u2019ve tried and want you to try too; suffice it to say they\u2019re all great. (Click any photo to view in glorious high resolution.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\nHand Pulled Oil Splashed Noodles. Outstanding. The greens are a perfect foil for the spicy, thick, chewy noodles \u2013 an ideal combination.<\/p>\n

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\nCumin Lamb. Is there anybody <\/em>who doesn\u2019t like this? It\u2019s even got its own Instagram hashtag, #cuminlamb. And, no surprise, there\u2019s nothing sheepish about the way Grain House does it.<\/p>\n

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\nThis is one of my favorite Sichuan dishes, Chinese Bacon with Garlic Sprout. I know it as Smoked Pork with Garlic Leaf and I\u2019ve actually made it at home<\/a>. (If I\u2019m not mistaken, the greens are suan miao, \u849c\u82d7, similar to leeks but definitely garlic.) Needless to say, Chef Bob\u2019s version is considerably better than mine.<\/p>\n

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\nHot Spicy Jumbo Shrimp with Red Pepper. People at our dinner couldn\u2019t stop raving about it. None of these was killer spicy, by the way; every one was perfectly balanced. <\/p>\n

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\nSweet and slightly spicy, this Eggplant in Garlic Sauce was delightful.<\/p>\n

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\nSpicy and Numbing Pork Wonton was one of the delicious appetizers we enjoyed…<\/p>\n

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\n…as was fuqi feipian<\/em> (\u592b\u59bb\u80ba\u7247), literally \u201chusband and wife lung pieces\u201d. Choice of specific ingredients varies among chefs (not to worry, it never includes actual pieces of lung) but here Chef Bob does it with Ox Tongue and Tripe and it\u2019s top notch.<\/p>\n

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\nYi Bin Burning Noodle. Pleasantly spicy but not overbearing, so don’t worry about the allusion to “burning” in the name. Mix well for maximum enjoyment.<\/p>\n

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\nA suave change of pace: Chiba Tofu with Pork Belly. Melt in your mouth, slippery tofu accented with fresh pork belly – elegant and delectable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Some folks often insist on a straight ahead vegetable dish, and who am I to refuse? Here\u2019s Grain House\u2019s version of Fried Cauliflower and it did not disappoint. The structure of Chinese cauliflower is less compact than the dense Northern European version you might be accustomed to and that makes for a more tender texture after cooking and allows it to soak up more sauce. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Salted Egg Yolk with Shredded Potato. Sichuan style shredded potatoes are meant to be al dente and these were perfectly cooked and delicious. Simple, but such a happy addition to our table.<\/p>\n

So there’s the roundup of the awesome dinner we enjoyed at Grain House, 929 Amsterdam Avenue \u2013 and if it hasn\u2019t convinced you to try this unique, standout Manhattan restaurant, nothing will!
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Instagram posts are often brief takes on restaurants accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here, updated almost daily, by selecting the \u201cInstagram\u201d category from my home page \u2013 no signup required.) But folks … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,6],"tags":[35,55,44],"class_list":["post-6638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-restaurant-reviews-extended","category-restaurants-food-courts","tag-chinese","tag-sichuan","tag-szechuan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6638"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6653,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6638\/revisions\/6653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}