Ming Court

Rating: 8.5/10
Date Visited: July 15, 2009
Party of Two
Dinner

My husband returned from a work assignment in Texas and we were celebrating our 18th anniversary of 'meeting' each other. Yes! It's kind of sentimental to celebrate such an event, but then 18 years is quite a long time, isn't it? Why was it Ming Court and not somewhere more fancy? - Well, it was too late to book at somewhere too fancy, and too spontaneous a decision to eat out. We selected Ming Court from the Urban Spoon randomizer on our iPhone.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Sweet Corn Chicken Soup for two; and for dinner we ordered Sizzling Odd Couple (quite apt for us, isn't it?) and Pork in Yu-Hsiang sauce with brown rice.

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Sweet Corn Chicken Soup for Two
At $7.95, the quantity was enough for four. Again, I cannot help being surprised by the portion sizes in America! (Why is there so much focus on quantity and not that much appreciation of quality? I am writing a separate post on this issue - check later.)

The soup was good, right balance of the starch and sweetness, and not too overwhelmed by either corn or chicken, the egg white strings gently floating in the broth. The corn pieces were quite discernible and you could taste the burst of flavor when you bit into them - they were definitely not from a can, but shaved off a cob. The chicken was not the machine ground (that is what you find in most restaurant soups), but little pieces of chicken actually minced by a good sharp knife. I believe this form of mincing actually releases the flavor better when making a soup.

I have to mention here that our sweet corn chicken soup experience has been shaped by the scrumptious soups you get at the Hakka Chinese restaurants in Kolkata. We grew up loving those soups and now when we visit Chinese restaurants, and if they serve sweet corn chicken soup, we always order it and measure it by the memory of the delicious taste from Kolkata. So, by that measure of perfection, Ming Court's version of the soup got a 7/10.

Sizzling Odd Couple
This dish comprised of sliced beef tenderloins and scallops stir fried with scallions, green peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. They brought it out on a regular plate to the table, and then poured it on the hot plate at the table to produce the sizzling effect. The sauce was really tasty - it had a silken feel and was a bit of both sweet and spicy.

I enjoyed the scallops - they were sliced halfway (against the grain horizontally), but cooked just perfectly, not too much or not too less. Scallops are difficult to cook perfectly - they have an optimal time to cook. If you leave it in the wok too long, it overcooks and the texture becomes rubbery and stringy, the taste almost disappears. If you bring it out too early, it will be undercooked on the inside, and the dish you are making will get a smell of the sea that many customers dislike. Perfecting the cooking of scallops with the beef tenderloins to just the right consistency is, I must say, not an easy task.

The beef tenderloins in this dish was very nice, soft and silken. We could not taste any grains, they were all perfectly supple. I am yet to figure out how some Chinese restaurants manage to make beef, pork, or chicken this silken, soft and supple. I bet there is a secret - I have just not uncovered it yet. (Time to take some Chinese cooking classes OR a knowledgeable reader of this blog kindly letting me in on the secret!)

Scope of improvement - they could delete the water chestnuts all together. I do not appreciate the disappointing bite into a water chestnut when expecting to bite into a juicy scallop!

As for the name of this dish - superb!! Beef is the 'yin' and Scallop is the 'yang' - perfect odd couple! And sizzling too!

Pork in Yu-Hsiang sauce
Yu-Hsiang translates roughly to spicy garlic. The dish was made with thinly sliced (strips) of pork, green and red peppers, shitake mushrooms, and scallions - as if you had a bird's nest of sticks on a platter served to you. The sauce was deep brown in color and had a sweet taste which reminded us again of the 'Sweet and Sour' dishes from our good old Hakka Chinese restaurants in Kolkata. I loved it but my husband did not care too much for it. It was too sweet for him. I have to admit, Chinese dishes in America do tend to be sweeter than their counterparts in South Asian countries. I have not been to China (yet) and so I cannot give my expert opinion, but certainly in Singapore the Chinese dishes have less sweetness, and my Chinese friends also say that they do not cook with so much sugar. I think the sweetness is to please the Americans - sometimes you have to tailor dishes to cater for the local taste.
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The staff at the restaurant were very attentive and cordial. We liked the attention. Whenever our glass of water went below the half line, it got filled immediately and very quietly - not to disturb our conversation. This is not a common occurrence in Chinese restaurants - usually service is abrupt and directed, sometimes a bit clumsy too. The decor was also understated, the music light. We came to the restaurant when there was light outside, and when the sun set, they quietly pulled the blinds and turned on the lights. The whole affair was so gradual that we did not even realize the transition until it was time for us to get up and leave. Wasn't that great?

We will certainly visit this restaurant again. I have to try a few more dishes, like pungent shrimp, sar-char dishes, and tangerine chicken (I wonder how different the latter will be from the very ubiquitous orange chicken?) Next time we go there, we will go with at least three-four friends and order food in the true Chinese feast style - at a table with a lazy susan, about two dishes per person - a true banquet! And perhaps, a bottle of Baijiu!!


Address: 12750 Carmel County Road, San Diego, CA 92130
Website: www.mingcourtrestaurant.com
Ph: 858 793 2933
Timing: 11AM - 10PM
Liquor served