When I was younger, during my elementary and middle school days, my family ordered from Wang’s Chinese Cuisine about twice a month. We always ordered from there and we always ordered the same dishes: Moo Shi Vegetables, Spicy Squid with Vegetables, and shredded beef with sliced green peppers. I loved the saltiness of the squid and the sticky texture of the moo shi pancakes.
Last year my father went on a week-long business trip to China. One of the dishes he ate for breakfast, and sometimes as a snack, was boiled peanuts. This really caught me off guard as I had never even heard of boiled peanuts. Then a few weeks ago, I learned that boiled peanuts are actually pretty common globally and also here in the United States. Oops!
Last week my mom offered to take me to this new Hunan restaurant in Cambridge. Hunan is a mountainous province in the South of China, and its cuisine is known for its spicy flavors!
For lunch, we ordered tapas style. The great thing about tapas is that you can order a large array of different foods, and if you order something you don’t like, it doesn’t ruin your dinner because it was only a tiny fraction of your meal.
We got the Mala Duck, thin slices of duck drizzled with spicy oil, and Garlic Calamari, fried calamari tossed with minced garlic and peppers. We also ordered Sumiao Gyoza, pork gyoza served with dipping sauce, and Pineapple-Flavored Cabbage.
The pineapple-flavored cabbage was by far my favorite. It was sweet, salty and refreshing! I would also recommend the Sumiao gyoza. I find that when I eat gyoza they always fill me up right away, as the dough is so dense. These dumplings were different, however. The dough was thin and light, and the filling was finely grounded. I could have eaten them all day!
The food was good, but the restaurant décor and ambiance was amazing. One of the dining tables was in the shape of a winding snake, with thin planks of tan wood as the counter top. The seats around the bar were painted bright baby blue, and the large windows that took up entire walls let in lots of light that streaked across the floor and adjacent walls.
For a great date night out with friends or your significant other, I highly recommend Sumiao! The food is delicious and the restaurant is fun!
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