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The vast majority of Chinese restaurants in America offer a unique cuisine that has been as influenced by American palates, traditions and ingredients as by traditional Chinese cuisine. Some of these same kitchens are capable of turning out traditional, even regional, Chinese food, but it is all too common for Chinese restaurants to have two menus -- one for Chinese guests that offers more traditional food, another for everyone else that sticks to General Tso's chicken and lo mein.
Golden Palace, a new Chinese restaurant near Robinson, represents a promising new trend -- one menu for everyone, including a lengthy list of both traditional Chinese fare and Chinese-American specialties, side-by-side.
Walking in, I was immediately reminded of many Chinatown restaurants I've visited in San Francisco, Boston and New York. The decor is another signal that Golden Palace is focused on the quality and value of the food, making it a great destination for families, students and adventurous eaters.
Most tables are for large groups. Round tables even have lazy susans that make sharing, if not necessarily easier, then certainly more entertaining. The room is far from plain. A mix of chandeliers, glowing images of Chinese monuments such as the Great Wall, beaded curtains and a few flat screen TVs make for an eclectic setting.
- Hours: Sundays through Saturdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; dim sum on carts Saturdays and Sundays, while available.
- Basics: An extensive menu offers a variety of Chinese-American classics as well as an impressive amount of more traditional Cantonese dishes, including fresh seafood, offal and whole duck. A few dozen dim sum items are also available from the menu, with cart service on weekends.
- Recommended dishes: Crab Meat with Fish Maw Soup, Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Scallions, Sauteed Snow Pea Leafs, Barbecued Duck, Singapore Sauteed Rice Noodles, Har Gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), chicken feet, steamed spare ribs, char siu bao (steamed buns filled with barbecue pork), sweet sesame pastry filled with barbecue pork, Rice noodle rolls with shrimp or pork, sesame balls.
- Prices: Dim sum, $2-$3.50 per item; appetizers, $2.95-$6.95; soups, $1.50-$12.95; fish and seafood, $10.95-$36 (many items market price); entrees, $6.95-$32; desserts and beverages, $1.95-$3.25.
- Summary: Wheelchair accessible; nonsmoking; park in lot; credit cards accepted; reservations available; BYOB.
- Noise level: Low to medium.
Golden Palace focuses on Cantonese cuisine, which has exerted a strong influence on most Chinese restaurants in the United States. So, along with Crab Rangoon ($3) you can order Five-Spiced Duck Wings and Feet ($5.95). Sauteed Green Beans ($7.95) could alternate with Fresh Chinese Greens with Garlic in a Nourishing Broth ($10.95). Authentic dishes are often a few dollars more than Chinese-American dishes, but if you try something new on each visit, and order a variety of types of food, your bill won't increase by much. These more authentic dishes also tend to be healthier and to use more expensive ingredients, so the difference in price is worth it.
Guests can order lobster, crab and fresh fish from tanks. On my visit lobster and striped bass were both $18.95 per pound. Our server encouraged us to come look at the tank and pick out our own. This ritual assures the customer that the seafood is remarkably fresh, but I also appreciated the reminder that the seafood I was about to eat came from living creatures.
Our friendly and helpful server recommended that we get our striped bass steamed with ginger and scallions. Cantonese traditions dictate that steaming is the best way to showcase truly fresh fish. Some people are put off by the texture of steamed skin, but if you don't like it, simply peel it off and discard it. Perfectly cooked, the delicate white flesh lifted clean from the bones. Each bite was perfumed with the fresh scent of ginger and scallions, but what really came through was the clean, sweet taste of the bass.
The Crab Meat with Fish Maw soup (small $8.95; large, $12.95) has a peppery broth sweetened by generous chunks of crab. Fish maw is the lining of something called the swim bladder, present in all fish except sharks and rays. Usually taken from large fish, the lining is cleaned to remove any intensely "fishy" taste, then cut into strips. It contributes a unique, almost fluffy texture to the finished soup.
Barbecued Duck (half, $12.95, whole, $23) is a good example of the amalgamation of American and Chinese cuisine. The intensely sweet-salty flavor is primed to please the American palate. But Chinese tradition and technique are apparent in the way that the duck has been prepared: A thin layer of succulent fat remains between the skin and the flesh and much of the meat is still on the bone.
Beef with black pepper sauce from the Hot Pot menu ($13.95) is a solid example of the subtle flavors of more traditional Chinese cuisine. Slightly thick pieces of chewy beef had good flavor with lingering spicy notes from a profusion of black pepper.
Sauteed Snow Pea Leafs ($12.95) were outstanding. These bright green shoots are delicately seasoned and taste like springtime, even when snow blankets the parking lot.
Golden Palace is just one of a variety of Pittsburgh Chinese restaurants offering impressively authentic food, though Golden Palace does so with more enthusiasm than most. But the restaurant also stands out for improving our access to another authentic Chinese tradition -- dim sum.
Dim sum was originally conceived as a light meal that accompanies tea, but it can also be thought of as a sort of Chinese brunch. Items include a variety of dumplings, cakes and other types of small plates. The most common cooking methods are steaming and frying. Dishes usually have three or four portions, so it's best to come with a larger group so that you can try lots of different dishes.
Traditionally, quite a lot of tea is consumed with the meal, as the tea is believed to aid digestion. Servers at Golden Palace were quick to keep our teapot filled, as well as our water glasses. If you'd like a fresh plate, or a knife and fork, they are happy to oblige.
Several Pittsburgh restaurants, including The New Dumpling House in Squirrel Hill, offer dim sum-like options off a menu. The Hong Kong restaurant, in Dormont, offers dim sum on the last Sunday of every month. In contrast, Golden Palace offers a wide variety of dim sum on a menu all the time, and on Saturdays and Sundays offers cart service. Though cart and menu service are both traditional, cart service can make it much easier for less experienced diners to figure out what they want to try and to order as they go.
Most dim sum dishes at Golden Palace cost between $2 and $3.50. When you accept an item off the cart, your server will mark a tally on a sheet listing how many items from each category you have chosen.
The Golden Palace does not yet attract the crowds typical of dim sum parlors in other U.S. cities. This means that it is easier for inexperienced eaters to find out everything that is offered and try whatever they would like, because they don't have to worry about the intense competition for popular items. But, since turnover is a bit slower, some of the dishes can get a bit soggy.
Dumplings are one of the staple dishes of dim sum, and Golden Palace offers excellent renditions of some favorites. Har Gow, steamed shrimp dumplings so thinly wrapped you can see the pink glimmer of shrimp, are absolutely bursting with flavor. You'll know Shumai, ground pork and mushroom dumplings, from the bit of orange roe that tops each one.
A few vegetarian offerings included taro and turnip cakes and a thick, slightly sweet rice soup (congee). Though I have stumbled across the rare dim sum restaurant with a variety of vegetarian offerings, Golden Palace's offerings are typically reliant on pork and shrimp.
Char siu bao, steamed buns filled with barbequed pork, are usually one of my favorites, but here they weren't as fresh as I would have liked. Instead, look for the dessert cart early and ask for the sweet sesame pastries filled with barbecued pork. The contrast between the sweet-flaky crust and the salty meat is a bit addictive.
A few other not-to-miss items include rice noodle rolls that contain whole shrimp, chunks of pork, or both, sandwiched between layers of wide noodles. Though some diners may be too squeamish, chicken feet really are worth trying. Dark red and covered in a sticky sauce that's sweet and just a little spicy, they can be a bit of a challenge to eat, but they are absolutely delicious.
Dim sum desserts can sometimes be a disappointing ending to a fantastic meal, but to end with one intensely sweet bite, try the sesame balls. Sweet, smooth red bean paste that almost has the texture of marzipan is wrapped in pastry dough, fried and brushed with sesame seeds.
Pittsburgh may not have its own Chinatown, but walking into Golden Palace offers a similar feeling of being transported.
