Sampan

What’s the deal with all these gweilo chefs cooking Asian nowadays? A creative showcasing of their talents in marrying the East and the West or just another gimmick to make a quick buck? We have seen success stories and we have seen complete disasters.

I have heard a lot of accolades on Michael Schulson and his restaurant Izakaya “down the shore”. I had been curious about his cuisine but it was his daily tweets on his “interesting” ice cream of the day creation that really had gotten my curiosity at its peak. So on a night after snowing stopped during snowpocalypse #2 #3, we decided to pay a visit.

We were surprised that the restaurant was crowded. We thought people would still be busy digging themselves out but no, we were wrong. I guess cabin fever had gotten to the best of them. There was even a private party going on one side of the restaurant and a bunch of bachelorettes ushering the bride-to-be around wearing penis antennas on their heads

The restaurant is dominated by two things, the large bar and the large open kitchen. The bar pretty much divides the space into two dining areas with the kitchen anchoring at one end. The décor is modern with a bit of funkiness thrown in with a whole wall that changes color while you eat. Oh, there is also one more thing that dominates this restaurant. A desktop size fishbowl of a concoction of liquors and fruits on [lots of] ice called the Scorpion Bowl that has funky colorful twisted straws sticking out like antennas. Seemed like there was one on every table around us. It must be their version of the Mai Tai sans the silly paper umbrella.

Short Rib, Lo Mein, Bok Choy, Apple

Three chunks of super tender braised short ribs sit on top of a small mount of egg noodles topped with brunoise cut apple.

The short ribs were slightly sweet. There was an abundant hint of the hoisin sauce and sugar but it was saved by the crunchy and slightly tar apple that had provided a good contrast and balance to the sweetness. The two pieces of vegetable sitting to the side were well prepared but I was annoyed that the kitchen could not tell the different between baby choi sum which was in the bowl and bok choy which was stated in the menu.

“Bufflo” Frog Leg, Blue Cheese, Chili, Celery

Little pieces of frog legs lightly battered and fried with a subtle yet flavorful blue cheese sauce.

I like the cheese sauce very much. It had all the flavors and characteristics of the blue cheese but without the heaviness and that super dense creamy feel. Unfortunately, Tourist Tree thought it was overpowering but she’s never a big admirer of blue cheese in general.

We both did agree that the frog legs were meaty and nicely done in this super light batter. I enjoyed the spiciness of the sprinkled chili powder which had brought out the flavor of the food nicely despite I found the meat to be a bit on the chewy side and not all pieces of the frog legs were of similar size. This is a nice interpretation and innovation of the traditional buffalo wings. I wish we could see more of these in different places.

Ramen Noodle Soup, Scallion, BBQ Pork, Egg

It is the soup base that makes or breaks a ramen bowl. This soup had some excellently intense flavor and was a nice home for the al dente cooked noodles.

The pork was pulled into shreds and carried a nicely balance BBQ taste. The meat itself could make a very nice BBQ sandwich.

This bowl immediately had earned extra credit for having a hard boiled egg but unfortunately this egg could not make up a deduction from the dish for being just lukewarm. Hey chef, ramen noodle soup is meant to be served piping hot!

Crispy Chili Crab, Hong Kong Noodle, Black Bean, Ginger Chips

There were a few nice big plump pieces of crab meat in the bowl. Other than that, it was pretty much a mess of noodles with some garnishes thrown in. As for the crab meat, it took some effort to dig them out since there weren’t that many in number and there was definitely not much trace of chili.

I love crispy noodles. I loved the crispiness of these noodles. But they were too broken up and the whole dish was suffering from an overdose of salt and taste of MSG. In Asian culture, noodles represent life. Broken up noodles is a bad sign as well as a bad reflection of the chef. However, as an “Asian Fusion” restaurant, this mess of noodles is a success. It had a nicely prepared protein, it had crispiness, it had contrast of texture, it had [salty] flavor, it managed to present itself on the brighter side of authenticity to a generally gweilo audience inexperience in true Asian food.

Peking Duck, Tamarind Pancakes, Scallion, Cucumber

Flavorful pulled duck meat served in a miniature mason jar with all the usual Peking duck accoutrement.

You may call it whimsical, I may call it a pain. The duck meat was delicious with its subtle flavor and on the spot tenderness. It was served inside the jar topped with foam. The lack of taste from this foam prevented me from figuring out what it was supposed to be. I did not see the genius or the humor in putting the meat in the jar which required a certain degree of finger and hand contortion for the excavation.

The corn tortilla texture like pancake made with tamarind was an interesting match with the softer duck meat and the snappy cucumber and scallion. The concoction would be more enjoyable if the pancakes were warmer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Peanut Butter Cups
 
Peanut butter and mascarpone folded together into chocolate tart shell with a dollop of mascarpone ice cream on top. The sauce was a peanut butter syrup with chopped peanuts for added texture. These silver dollar size tarts were very tasty. They were not overwhelmingly sweet which a lot of pastry kitchens have failed to achieve, although the sauce could be dialed down a bit in sugariness.
 
For a few split seconds, we considered to follow the couple next to us in sharing a Scorpion Bowl for dessert. There was probably just as much sugar in the Scorpion Bowl as the peanut butter cups. We were happy that we had made the right decision to really enjoy these little tarts.
 

Ice Cream

 

This was what sealed the deal for me to trek through snow to get to this restaurant.

 

The flavors for the night were banana burnt toast and Nutella. OK, I was actually hoping for something like Pop Tart, Ovaltine, bacon syrup, Red Bull or something crazy like those. Nevertheless, these two flavors were delicious. We asked them to be served “twisted” instead of separately. We sucked these mini cones up faster then we could inhale. The mixture of flavors was like…eating a toasted Nutella banana sandwich. Hey chef, how about a Nutella banana crepe next time? Better yet, can you do a Vegemite ice cream?

 
I had a can of Sapporo silver can with my dinner. I chose the Sapporo not because I like Sapporo, which I do, but because the drink list was thin. With all the great craft beers available, local or afar, this restaurant could afford to carry a few of them other than the Sapporo, Kirin, plus the usual industrialized beers from the big evil manufacturers. Same for the wine section.
 
There are waiters; there are order takers. Our waitress was very prompt in greeting us and to take our order. She had a bit of trouble in answering questions not listed in the training menu and never followed up with an answer that she had promised she would (I did get the answer when the manager was doing his rounds from table to table later that night after our waitress had disappeared for a while). However, I do have to give her credit for making the items on each dish into even numbers so we could share them easily (even though there was an additional a le carte charge for each additional piece, which we did not mind paying)
 
Like our waitress, Sampan needs some polishing. I still crack up when I see a gweilo manning a wok in front of the stove. However, this gweilo (well, there were actually more South American than gweilo in this kitchen) staffed kitchen managed to turn out some pretty good creations despite some shortcomings. Every dish we had has its strength and weakness. For some, the weaknesses could hide comfortably underneath the strong points. For the others, the strengths just couldn’t make up for the deficits.
 
Unlike those restaurants who makes lame attempts in making “Asian” food by dumbing down characteristic dishes into a culture insult; this place has considerable talents and skills in making the “fusion” a success. Sampan earns some good points for its effort and creativity. After some polishing, it will in no doubt earn some stellar points for its effort.