NYC 2 BIG D: Jeng Chi Restaurant and Bakery

Cyberspace: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/13/164703/restaurant/Jeng-Chi-Restaurant-Bakery-Richardson

Where to Find It: 400 N Greenville Ave, Richardson, TX 75081

Food Group: Chinese

How Much to Fork Over: $

The Grade: A

Faves: Small Juicy Steamed Dumplings, Green Onion Pancakes, Seafood Noodle Soup, BYOB!

Peeves: Not enough Wine Glasses

The Jibba Jab:

Practical and Matter-of-fact Chinese. It doesn’t take much to convince the customer that this place serves credible Chinese food, especially the dumplings with 3 names. On the menu they are called Small Juicy Steamed Dumplings, then according to anyone who’s only language is English and has an opinion they are called Soup Dumplings, and finally in Chinese they call them, and I know I am butchering the word, Shalumbow. Whatever the name, they are incredible and you should always order them!

Now, I know that I’ve reviewed this place before (click to read review), but I wanted to share my most recent visit, which involved a big group, lots of wine, and my adventurous palate, as stated by my co-diners.

Dos Tragos Members

My good friend David was up to host Dos Tragos, which is our Supper Club, and since he’s a bachelor with a kitchen that hasn’t been used since Julia Child lived in France, he opted to choose a restaurant instead of cooking. And that restaurant was Jeng Chi, under my recommendation. Most of our members had other plans that evening, so it was a small group of 15, but we brought wine for a group of around 50, which we were able, and always able, to put a decent dent in. On the other hand, Jeng Chi didn’t have enough Wine Glasses for our group, so a couple of people had to make do with little white dipping ramekins. We are a resourceful bunch.

For starters, we ordered quite a few helpings of the Soup Dumplings, of course, the Green Onion Pancakes, and Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings. All were gone within seconds of each helping being placed on the table. As for the main course, and due to our previous visit (click to read review), myself and one of my best friends, who is also a person that shares my Firemouth-ness, shared the Seafood Noodle Soup – Korean Style, extra spicy. The rest of the table ordered everything from Kung Pao Beef, to a few Chicken and Shrimp dishes, to Mofo Tofu, but finally I had to throw in a more audacious dish and try the Salty Duck, just because I liked the name. Little did I know that it would be the topic of conversation once it was placed on the table…..all pale, shriveled and boney? It looked like a chopped up murder victim that had been in the Hudson River for a few days. Not appetizing to the eye at all, but I was still going to try it! I grabbed a hunk, took a bite and……it’s cold, first of all..weird….and sweet…not really that salty, interesting, and….yep, that’s a bone. It was not something that I would order again, A) because there are so many other daring menu items that have my attention and B) the look of it just scared too many people, but as foolish as it seemed, I actually liked it! Later, with a table full of picked over dishes and an embarrassing amount of empty wine bottles, we packed up ship and headed to the nearest bar with Karaoke on a Saturday….and that place was Billiard Ben in Richardson. Everyone was slowly fading, so we were never able to witness anyone humiliate themselves on stage, but we did get to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon from tap. I never would have thought that I would see that anywhere near Dallas!