New Spicy Szechuan Offerings At Wonton Gourmet

Normally, on the Sunday after the Ohio Linuxfest is held, my aunt and I traditionally go out for lunch somewhere in Columbus before I head back home to Akron. However, on this particular Sunday I had been invited by a very good friend to attend a late lunch she was throwing at Wonton Gourmet in Cleveland to showcase some of the new menu items that had been added recently. Now I know that I have written about Wonton Gourmet several times before here on my blog and there have been plenty of times I have gone and didn't write about it because I had already covered the food or just plain decided I didn't want to belabor the point. However, since our nine course meal was covering new culinary ground, I thought it would be appropriate to not only come back early so that I could attend the festivities, but also write up an entry to introduce the new food to you as well.

I arrived at around 2:20 PM and decided that since I had never included a shot of the front of Wonton Gourmet, I would do so now:


I walked in to find that our hosts, Diane and Steve, were already sitting at our table waiting for our not-so-small group of tasters to arrive. The original invitation that Diane had sent out to her guests had a list of the courses that we would be served today; however, there were a few changes and the addition of one extra course to surprise us. After the entire party arrived, the first course was brought out and consisted of a hot corn and tofu soup which was ladled into bowls before being passed around:


I have had this completely vegetarian soup one other time and absolutely loved the subtle interplay between the corn and the tofu. As with many of Wonton Gourmet's dishes, the flavors balanced sweet and savory extremely well. While I knew I had to pace myself, I ladled another half bowl of this soup into my dish before forcing myself to stop.

Food at Wonton Gourmet is served "family style." This means that the food is brought out as it is finished being prepared in the kitchen and is served in one large bowl or large plate. Often times this manifests itself as multiple dishes coming out in rapid succession and longer pauses occurring in between courses. Next up, a dish of yuba wrapped pork and shrimp filled rolls in a savory sauce appeared on our table:


While I initially thought that the one per customer rule was a bit strict, I was thankful later on that I had actually only eaten one of these rolls. These were tender and flavorful and the filling really touched on my sense of umami. The yuba skins were very tender and held up well to my manhandling of the roll with my chopsticks.

The next course to appear on our table was one of the new spicy dishes, Szechuan Style Jumbo Shrimp:


In addition to all of the obvious chili peppers in the above photo, this dish also had sliced celery. The shrimp were absolutely fantastic. They were large and had a dry coating on them. Tossed around with a fiery blend of spices and chilies, the shrimp had a piquancy to them that was pronounced without being overpowering. As with many traditional Chinese dishes, this was a dry dish. Spooning this over my rice didn't do a whole lot to add flavor to my rice, although it did allow my rice to counteract some of the heat.

The next dish to be served was the XO Paste Rice:


While I originally thought this was just shrimp and scallop fried rice, it wasn't until my friend Edsel pulled up the menu on his iPhone that we realized that this dish was to feature XO Sauce. While this dish was excellent, neither Edsel nor I really got a distinct flavor from the XO Sauce. He admitted, too, that had he been served this and not known what it was supposed to be, he would've just assumed it was your standard seafood fried rice.

The next course to arrive at our table was the Ma La Pork Chop:


Traditionally, the "Ma La" refers to two different sensations, one being the spiciness of the chili and the second being the actually numbing of the lips and mouth. This is usually accomplished through the addition of Szechuan peppercorns, an ingredient that you will be hard pressed to find being used in Americanized Chinese cuisine, especially food that is destined for the traditional American palate. While the pork chop had a great flavor and a nice spice, it was only after careful inspection that we discovered just a few Szechuan peppercorns on the plate. I'm guessing the cook wanted to introduce us to this flavor and sensation without giving the diners full frontal "Ma La."

Smartly, Diane decided to include a green leafy vegetable in the middle of the meal instead of at the end. In previous visits, the greens always seem to come out last when everyone is too full to enjoy them. This plate of Yu Choy dressed in a savory sauce seemed perfectly timed:


Yu Choy, also know as the rape (pronounced "rop-A") plant, was similar to Chinese broccoli in texture, but not quite the same in flavor. The rape was nicely cooked and the entire vegetable was tender with just a bit of crispness to it. Diane's plan worked perfectly, and platter after platter of this tender vegetable was eaten up before the arrival of our next course.

I was surprised and delighted when the next course arrived, the Hot and Spicy Szechuan Fish:


I had the privilege of eating this dish the last time I went to Wonton Gourmet several weeks ago and absolutely fell in love with it. Comprised of whitefish and Chinese cabbage that had been cooked in a spicy, hellish broth and topped with loads of fresh garlic, this dish was a flavor explosion and a garlic lover's dream. Additionally, since this dish was served "wet," there was plenty of sauce to spoon over the rice. The fish was cooked perfectly, tender and still juicy, and the combination of the chilies and garlic tantalized my sense of smell even before I managed to eat any.

Our final savory course was known as Hot and Spicy Two Flavor Beef:


This dish contained two cuts of beef, tripe and tendon. Served in a spicy sauce and topped with peanuts, scallions, and sesame seeds, this dish had me a bit worried. Tripe is not my favorite cut of beef and if it isn't prepared correctly can be frightfully chewy. I needn't have worried as the tripe was incredibly tender. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the beef tendon that was a bit too cartilaginous for my taste. The flavor of this dish was very good, but I did have an issue with some of the textures. I'm glad I tried it, however.

All I knew of the last dish was that it would contain sweet red beans and lotus. Knowing that the Chinese don't like extremely sweet desserts like Westerners do, I figured it would be some take on a sweet red bean filled pastry. It turns out what we were served was a sweet red bean "soup." Here was a shot of the dessert:


This was quite interesting. I will have to admit it isn't something that I would crave, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it. It was served warm and definitely tasted of sweet red beans. The consistency was that of a regular bean soup you would see here in the United States, although it was smoother. As I had thought, the sweetness was very reserved. It was a nice way to clear out all of the spice of the previous meal. Being pretty darn full by this point, I only managed to eat about half of my soup before stopping.

Traditionally, Wonton Gourmet presented food from the Hong Kong region in the Cantonese style of cooking, which didn't lend itself to a lot of hot and spicy dishes. However, looking back at our amazing meal, I realized that nearly half the course were Szechuan-like, if not outright Szechuan. I'm happy about this because no other restaurant in Cleveland, Akron, or Canton serves this style of cuisine (at least to my knowledge). Now I have four more reasons to return to Wonton Gourmet when I need my spicy Chinese food fix.

While we managed to get away with all of this food (plus plenty of leftovers for the next day) for a mere $30, including tax and tip, normally meals at Wonton Gourmet run as low as $10 per person. While you can certainly go by yourself, it's when you get to have a shared experience with five of your closest friends that the sense of community really comes alive. I know that our group of twenty people had a very communal experience with today's meal and I look forward to returning soon for another fantastic experience. As always, Wonton Gourmet is highly recommended.

Going Solo at Wonton Gourmet & BBQ

Every time I've gone to Wonton Gourmet in Cleveland, Ohio, it has always been with a group of friends. And I will contend that eating with a larger group really does maximize the experience. You get to try tastes of a lot of different foods and experiment with the menu; order a few favorites as well as try a new dish or two. Since I was attending the birthday party of a friend tonight in downtown Cleveland, I decided for better or worse to see if I could manage to fill myself up for about the same price as I normally pay when I am out with a crowd.

I got there around 7 pm to discover that the restaurant was about half full. As usual, I was the only non-Asian customer. This might bother some diners; I actually find it encouraging. My premise is that if the majority of the restaurant's clientèle is Asian than the food must be fairly authentic. My entire drive up to Cleveland, I kept thinking of what I was going to order. When I finally got inside and sat down, I perused the wall menu and came up with my strategy: I would be picking some from the "favorites" column and one from the "never tried it before" column.

Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself slightly. Wonton Gourmet is one of those places that does authentic perfectly, but Americanized Chinese food not-so-great. So, if you're looking for a good Sweet and Sour Chicken, I'd pick another more Americanized Chinese restaurant. However, if you want truly authentic Hong Kong style Chinese dishes, THIS is the place to come. There were really three menus. Two were on the table and represented dishes that were always available. The wall menu originally consisted of yellow placards that hung on the walls and contained only Mandarin characters. An enterprising friend of mine actually took photos of the placards, placed them on Flickr and asked his readers to translate the cards. Another friend printed out the annotated (and translated) pictures, and whenever we wanted to order from the wall menu, we used those printouts to actually order our meal.

Apparently enough non-Mandarin speaking customers must have expressed interest in this "special" menu because within the year, all of the yellow placards came down and in their place are cards with a picture of the dish, the English name beneath it and the price. It is now almost ridiculously easy to walk into Wonton Gourmet and have access to all of the wonderful food they offer.

The food at Wonton Gourmet is not generally considered to be spicy. Some dishes will come out of the kitchen with a little bit more spice, but if you are looking to spice up your food, you will need to use this:


There was a jar of chili oil at every table (as well as soy sauce, but honestly, I've never once had to use it). I like spicy food and this was just the ticket to perk up some already wonderful dishes.

Wonton Gourmet serves their food "family style". When dining out alone, this hardly matters much. But in true Chinese style, you placed your entire order at the beginning and as food was finished in the kitchen, it was immediately served to the table. Thus the order in which it came out was not necessarily the same order in which it was ordered.

First up, a true Wonton Gourmet delicacy: Turnip cakes.


I am here to tell you that these were simply amazing. Without a doubt the best I have ever had, anywhere. Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside with just a bit of chewy texture from the turnips. If I had known that turnips could taste this good, I would've been eating these from the time I could chew solid foods. As good as they are by themselves, if you marry a bit of chili oil with them, they go from amazing to sublime. Here is how I prefer to eat them:


So simple, yet so good. If it's been a while since I've eaten at Wonton Gourmet, this is the dish I start craving. And how fortunate for me that by dining solo tonight, I got to eat all three cakes.

Another favorite starter are the chive potstickers. Again, the combination of textures and flavors made them a must-have dish at every meal. The sweetness from the shrimp and pork balanced against the sharpness from the chives and the saltiness from the dipping sauce provides a real epicurean treat.


Another shot showing the underside of an individual potsticker:


I also enjoy these with a bit of the chili oil as well. They also have non-chive potstickers on the menu, too, if chives aren't your thing. I've tried those as well and they are certainly executed at the same level, but the chives are what put these over the top.

Finally, for my main course, I had the Three Flavor Shrimp Dumpling Soup with Noodles (whew, what a mouthful):


And a close-up photo:


This soup was loaded with ramen-esque style noodles, three different kinds of shrimp dumplings, fresh crunchy greens, and an amazing seafood broth that enticed you to taste it as soon as it was brought to the table. Everything here was exquisitely fresh and the various kinds of shrimp dumplings helped to maintain your interest in this soup from start to finish. Honestly I really could've made a meal just out of the soup. I ended up taking home about half of the soup and about 1/3 of the turnip cakes and potstickers.

So how did the check turn out after all of this amazing food? The bill came to $14.85. This is right about how much I spend when I go out with my friends. It's true that I didn't get to taste as many dishes by myself as when I go with a group, but getting two meals of this caliber for under $15 is a major bargain.

I cannot recommend Wonton Gourmet enough. Here you have essentially what would be a mom and pop restaurant serving something so very unique and relatively inexpensive. I know that Cleveland has a lot to offer to its residents and I know I can enjoy a good meal at Lola, Lolita, The Greenhouse Tavern, Fire, Momocho, (I could go on and on) etc.; this restaurant has shown consistently wonderful results time and time again. And now with the language barrier nearly non-existent, there is nothing stopping you from ordering and enjoying truly wonderful Hong Kong-style Chinese cuisine.