Restaurant Review: Mission Chinese

Finally made it to Mission Chinese! Such a hole in the wall, which we all know means it's the best. This small, sort of dingy looking spot in the Lower East Side lived up to all of the hype (at least in my book). We had to wait about 45-60 minutes for a table at 6:30 on a Tuesday, but this was for a party of 5. We expected a wait, so this was fine and we just got a drink around the corner. They called us when our table was ready, which is so great for a restaurant to offer, so you don't have to stand around. When our time came, we were led down a narrow hallway to the back of the restaurant which had under 20 tables and a few seats at the bar. We were a little overwhelmed with the wide variety of options on the menu, but I was excited about some of the unusual offerings. The waiter was super helpful in finalizing our meal when we gave him our proposed rundown. And here it goes...

I think I have established I love pickled vegetables, so I suggested Tartine's Spicy Carrot Pickles. The carrots were sour and spicy and had a great crunch. A nice start to the meal and a good way to get some veggie representation on the table.

Tartine's Spicy Carrot Pickles

Next was Steamed Eggplant in Chili Bean Sauce. This was a fine dish, nothing crazy. The eggplant was soft and mushy and covered in the chili bean sauce which gave it a kick. Nice for just a taste.

Then came the Crispy Pig Ears with Old Bay seasoning and country ham powder. These were AWESOME. Everyone at the table looked at me a little funny when I suggested it, but we went with it, and thank god. The waiter assured me these weren't TOO Old Bay-y, because I am not the biggest fan of the seasoning, but can tolerate it. For those that are not familiar, Old Bay is found a lot in the Mid-Atlantic region and served with fresh crab or on french fries (among other things). Anyway, these pig ears were fried to perfection, super crispy, seasoned well and totally addicting. I had to remind myself to leave some for the others.

Next were the Griddled Lamb Meatballs with seven spice, toasted nori, Worcestershire sauce and served with potatoes. It came with 4 meatballs (we actually thought there were more, but potatoes were mistaken for balls) that were moist, savory, and complimented by the nori (type of seaweed). A nice appetizer.

Then came the Thrice Cooked Bacon. This is apparently a popular dish, and I can see why. A total indulgence, but great to share. The bacon was served with Shanghainese rice cakes, tofu skin, bitter melon, and chili oil. This was SPICY. They warn you on the menu, and they did not lie. You can push away some of the chili flakes to ease the fire, but it most definitely has a kick. As we were all trying our first bites, we forgot what the round white things were. They had this kind of weird soft chewy texture that lead your mind in a few different directions. We were all chewing thinking "well, this could definitely be something weird but I am trying to be open-minded...." but then the waiter reminded us that they were rice cakes. This revelation completely changed our mind set and made the texture totally acceptable and even good! Funny how that works. The bacon was unreal, but I probably don't even need to tell you that.

Top Left - Crispy Pig Ears
Top Right - Griddled Lamb Meatballs
Bottom - Thrice Cooked Bacon

The next round of food started with the Egg Egg Noodles. These egg noodles came with a soft hen egg, ginger, scallion, and black vinegar. You crack open the egg and release the goodness, and mix it all up. This was a mild noodle dish, which was needed as many of our other dishes were spicy. I love a good runny egg all over my food, so that was plus, and this was just plain tasty. And yes that is cilantro you see below, but don't worry, I was able to dig around it. 

Egg Egg Noodles

Then out came the Broccoli Beef Brisket with smoked oyster sauce. This was super tender brisket, a little fatty, and the smoked oyster sauce provided so much salty/smokey flavor (however they probably could have laid off a little on the sauce). The broccoli on top I think may have actually been broccolini, but either way it was very green, crisp, and crunchy. Great textural contrast.

Broccoli Beef Brisket (photo credit: Alicia Dreher)

Overall, this place rocked. So casual, fun, cheap (surprisingly so), and DELICIOUS. I will absolutely be back and I have already picked out everything else I want to try....