Ethnic Food Project

The Russia House is a strange restaurant suffering from an undiagnosed multiple personality disorder, somehow caught between a European (eurotrash?) club, expensive high-end restaurant, mixology bar, and an overcrowded house party taking place in someone’s grandfather’s row house. The owners of the restaurant were (on the phone) very responsive and accommodating, but the restaurant itself on arrival was strange and disorganized. Upon entry, there was no host in sight (just a clueless bouncer) and we had to figure out how to get to where we were being seated (the piano lounge), which was upstairs. The restaurant is tall and multi-leveled, situated in a row house downtown. However, it was unclear how the different sections (or levels) of the restaurant operated. It seemed akin to a nightclub with tons of people packed in all different levels free to mill around. We were seated upstairs at a large table with leather backed chairs near the front of the restaurant. Our reservation was for 8 p.m., but by then the music was so loud that it was difficult to even talk to the person sitting directly across without yelling. The music was of the European variety, loud, and repetitive. The actual restaurant was very dark, as well, especially since the wallpaper, carpet, floors, are dark wood, wine colored, and heavily draped. We were a little thrown off by this loud and chaotic atmosphere because the website stated that:    

The Russian-European elegance of the Russia House offers a uniquely warm and comfortable meeting place for anyone appreciative of its friendly and intimate coziness.    

Moving on to Russian cuisine, according to Way to Russia:     

Russia is mainly a northern country with long-lasting cold winter. The food should give us much energy and warmth to survive during the winter time. So, the essential components of Russian cuisine are the ones, which provide more carbohydrates and fat rather than proteins. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rarely used in food. So, the top five components of a Russian meal are potatoes, bread, eggs, meat (especially beef) and butter. Other popular foods include cabbage, milk, sour cream, curds, mushrooms, lard, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, berries, honey, sugar, salt, garlic, and onions.  

Appetizers, as in any cuisine culture, and Russia is not an exception, serve as small snacks before main course. Russian appetizers (in Russian, they are called “zakuski”) were meant mainly not to provoke keen appetite but to have them with strong drinks. So, most favorite Russian appetizers were all kinds of pickles and cold meats which go best with ice cold vodka. But not only vegetable pickles were used in Russian cuisine, the abundance of sea and river food provided cooks with a wide range of various fish appetizers.   

The Russia House’s streamlined menu features small plates, which are small samples of Russia’s traditional dishes, and full size portions located under the large plates section of the menu. We ended up ordering borsch, pelmini, pierogis, wild game sausage sampler, pickled herring croquette, roasted garlic beet dip, and pan seared duck breast (large plate). Wikipedia notes that soups are extremely important in Russian cuisine. In addition to the the most well-known and featured soup on the menu, borsch, Russian cuisine also features several other traditional staple of soups such as shchi, ukha, rassolnik, solyanka, botvinya, okroshka, and tyurya.      

Russian soups can be divided into at least seven large groups:   

• Cold soups based on kvass (a fermented beverage made from black rye or rye bread) or sour milk (a.k.a. buttermilk), such as tyurya, okroshka, and botvinya.
• Light soups and stews based on water and vegetables.
• Noodle soups with meat, mushrooms, and milk.
• Soups based on cabbage, most prominently shchi.
• Thick soups based on meat broth, with a salty-sour base like rassolnik and solyanka.
• Fish soups such as ukha.
• Grain- and vegetable-based soups.

Wikipedia has some interesting facts about cold soups, the history, and their relationship to hot soups:   

Tyurya is very similar to okroshka, the main difference being that instead of vegetables, bread is used. It is rather historical meal, that was consumed during rough times (WWII, WWI, Revolution) and by poor peasants. Also, due to its simplicity, it was very common as a meal during religious fasting. Comparing to other cold soups it is based on water and rarely on milk.   

Botvinya is one of the most typical cold Russian soups. It almost became extinct because it is difficult to make. Some modern cookbooks list recipes showing how to prepare it “easily” by substituting some of the ingredients, but cutting corners tends to diminish much of the authentic taste.   

A full botvinya consists of three parts:   

1. The soup.
2. Boiled “red” (most prized) fish (salmon, sturgeon, or stellate sturgeon), that is served separately from soup.
3. Crushed ice, served on a separate platter or cup.

The name of the soup comes from the Russian word botva, which means “leafy tops of root vegetables“, and the ingredients are in line with the name: leafy tops of young beet, beetroots, oxalate sorrel, green onions, dill, cucumbers, and two types of kvass, then some mustard, lemon juice, and horseradish as spices.   

It is eaten as the first course or right after a hot soup, before the second course as an appetizer. It is eaten using two spoons and a fork: the fork is used to eat the fish, the first spoon to sip the soup and the second spoon to put ice into the soup, so it stays cold for a long time. Botvin’ya is eaten with fresh rye bread.  

We had a woman from Russia along with us, and she informed us that the borsch served at The Russia House tasted as she would expect it to and that there is a lot of variation in the preparation of borsch in Russia and Eastern Europe. Wikipedia notes that borsch is Ukrainian in origin, and owes its popularity in the U.S. due to Jewish immigrant populations. Borsch usually includes a stock made from beets, although there are some kinds of borscht that do not use beets (instead sorrell or tomato). Borsch is commonly served with sour cream and white bread and in other regions (like Lithuania) can be served hot or cold. In Poland “borscht” (barszcz) may include bacon or dumplings. Unlike borsch, which Westerners most likely identify as the most popular Russian soup, in fact, shchi (cabbage soup) had been the main first course in Russian cuisine for over a thousand years.  

We were not able to try kholodets (not on the menu), which are traditional “jellied chopped pieces of pork or veal meat with some spices” or shashlyk (featured on the large plates menu), which is a form of Shish kebab (marinated meat grilled on a skewer). We did try one of the most traditional Russian dishes: pelmini. Ruscusine.com has some interesting facts and a recipe:  

Most people associate pelmeni with Siberia, and many recipes and references to the dish call it “Siberian dumplings.” Pelmeni probably did originate in Siberia, where hundreds or even thousands could be made, and then frozen and stored outside during the long winters. However, the dumplings became very popular all over Russia. They are closely kin to “pot stickers,” “pierogies,” and other similar dumplings found in many cultures.  

The Russian variety traditionally is made of flour, milk, one egg, and salt. The dough is rolled out fairly thin, and cut in circles approximately two inches in diameter. The filling is usually a mixture of minced pork, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.  

Wikipedia notes that one theory about the history of pelmini is that they were brought to Russia by the Mongols from China. Pelmini literally “ear bread” in the native Finno-Ugric Komi and Mansi languages. The ones we tried more resembled and tasted like tortellini than the pelmini we saw in photos online.  Pelmini often are put in soups. Wikipedia also describes the difference between the pelmini and the pierogi:  

The most important difference between pelmeni and vareniki and pierogi, is the thickness of the dough shell — in pelmeni this is as thin as possible, and the proportion of filling to dough is usually higher. Also, the feature of pelmeni is that they do not have a sweet filling, thus differing from Ukrainian vareniki and Polish pierogi, which do sometimes have sweet filling. Another distinctive feature is that the filling of pelmeni is usually raw or uncooked, while the filling of vareniki and pirogie is pre-cooked.  

We also read that store-bought and machine prepared pelmini resembles tortellini, which may account for why the pelmini at The Russia House resembles tortellini rather than the pelmini we saw online. Although, these are a lot larger than traditional tortellini and the ones we ate were standard size. 

We also thought the pierogi we were served were interesting, since they came in a puff pastry shell rather than the pasta-like shell of the Polish pierogi. We couldn’t find much information on the Russian pierogi, so we think that although they were listed on the menu as pierogi, they really meant this food item: 

Pirozhki (singular: pirozhok; diminutive of “pirog” (pie)) are small stuffed buns (pies) made of either yeast dough or short pastry. They are filled with one of many different fillings and are either baked (the ancient Slavic method) or shallow-fried (known as “priazhenie”, this method was borrowed from the Tatars in the 16th century). One feature of pirozhki that sets them apart from, for example, English pies is that the fillings used are almost invariably fully cooked. The use of chopped hard-boiled eggs in fillings is another interesting feature. Six typical fillings for traditional pirozhki are: 

1. Fish sautéed with onions and mixed with hard-boiled chopped eggs.
2. Chopped boiled meat mixed with sautéed onions and eggs.
3. Rice and boiled eggs with dill
4. Mashed potatoes mixed with dill and green onion.
5. Sautéed cabbage.

Online they appear to be more bunlike, but the ones we were served were in flaky pastry crust. In addition to these, the blini is also traditional (which we did not try as it was only available with caviar): 

Blini are thin pancakes (very similar to French crêpes) which are often served in connection with a religious rite or festival in several cultures. The word “blin” (singular of blini) comes from Old Slavic “mlin”, which means “to mill”. Blins had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times since they were a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of the winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun during Maslenitsa (Масленица, Butter Week; also known as Pancake Week). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox Church and is carried on to the present day, as the last week of dairy and egg products before Lent. Bliny are still often served at wakes, to commemorate the recently deceased. Blini can be made from wheat, buckwheat, or other grains, although wheat blini are most popular in Russia. They may be topped with butter, smetana (sour cream), fruit preserves or caviar. 

Other traditional dishes include kotlety (a type of meatball similar to Salisbury steak), syrniki (fried curd fritters, garnished with sour cream, jam, honey, and/or apple sauce), and vatrushka (a kind of cake with a ring of dough and tvorog [cottage cheese] in the middle, often with raisins or bits of fruit, from about five inches to two and a half feet in diameter). 

Fish is especially popular in Russia because Orthodox fast days prohibit the consumption of meat. Herring is also popular in Russia, especially pickled, salted, and smoked. Ruscuisine.com notes that “Russian brined herring is cured without any sugar or wine vinegar. The best herring is the one brined whole, with the head on and its innards intact. Cleaning it is actually easier than it looks. Unfiltered sunflower oil is available at Russian supermarkets. It should be dark yellow and slightly cloudy.” Our Pickled Herring Croquettes were large balls of pickled herring covered in fried breading. They still tasted strongly of pickled herring. 

The Russia House also boasts a selection of caviar, including beluga, osetra, sevruga, and American sturgeon. We couldn’t afford any of this caviar, however, we did learn that Russians typically consume caviar on special occasions, despite its price. Although only fish eggs from sturgeon can be considered true “caviar,” Russians also eat black and red salmon roe. The Russia House serves all caviar with “blini, chopped Eff, minced red onion and Crème Fraiche.” We also read it is traditional to eat caviar with toast and butter. 

Wikipedia has some interseting information about teh types of caviar: 

This elegant and expensive appetizer is simply sieved and lightly salted fish roe (eggs). Sturgeon roe is premium and considered the “true” caviar. The four main types of caviar are beluga, sterlet, osetra, and sevruga. The rarest and costliest is from the beluga sturgeon that swim in the Caspian Sea, which is bordered by Iran, Russia and other ex-Soviet republics. Wild caviar production has now survived only in Iran as Russia maintains a self-imposed ban on caviar trade from wild sturgeon. Beluga caviar is prized for its soft, extremely large (pea-size) eggs. It can range in color from pale silver-gray to black. It is followed by the small golden sterlet caviar which is rare and was once reserved for Russian czars, Iranian shahs and Austrian emperors. Next in quality is the medium-sized, gray to brownish oestra, and the last in the quality ranking is smaller, gray sevruga caviar. 

Russians doe consume some meats, primarily fowl, offal, and veal. We ordered the wild game sausage sampler, which included rabbit, boar, and venison. We found a reference to sausage in Russia as an upper-class dish. We also ordered the pan-seared duck as a large plate, which was tender and elegant. Although we did not try it, we decided to read up on the infamous Chicken Kiev (chicken stuffed with seasoned butter and then breaded and fried). All we could find about this is from Wikipedia, which notes that “This famous method of preparing chicken is probably not of Ukrainian origin as the name Kiev, the national capital, would imply. The Russian food historian William Pokhlebkin claimed that Chicken Kiev was invented in the Moscow Merchants’ Club in the early 20th century and was renamed Chicken Kiev (kotleta po-kievski) in one of the Soviet restaurants in later years.” 

The Russia House has an emormous drink menu, as well. We did not try any of the many vodkas they serve, but we did try some beer, although it has only been open from 1990. One of the featured brands on their menu is Baltika Brewery, which is the largest brewery in Russia and the second-largest in Europe. Baltika is based in St. Petersburg and they also sell beer under the Arsenalnoe, Zhiguljovskoje, and Leningradskoebrand names. They also serve a variety of vodkas from a variety of countries. Other traditional beverages we read about where medovukha, mors, kvass, and sbiten. Medovukha is an ancient drink similar to mead and mors is a type of berry juice. Kvass is an extremely common Eastern European drink that dates back to 989 made from fermented rye bread. Originially it was served during the summer, but today it is commercially packaged, served year-round, and part of a multimillion dollar industry. Commerical kvass production is akin to the manufacturing of soda pop. There is a lot of variation in home brews. Sbiten is another traditional drink served hot, which sounds similar to a cross between mead wine and mulled wine. These traditional drinks were not served at The Russia House and not being inclined to drink straight vodka, we ended up sampling their mixology cocktails or drinking beer. We found their cocktails to be fancy and delicious.

NOTE/WARNING: We do not recommend going here as a large group, as we had a bad exprrience. Although they claim they will split checks, they won’t actually do this in the restaurant. They also won’t charge more than four credit cards per party. Because of the chaotic nature of the service, they may make mistakes on your bill. For us they insisted they were right and were openly rude when we disputed the fact that we were charged for drinks we did not order. Finally, they advertised drink specials on their website that were unavailable to actually order.

 TOTAL: ~$500 (for 16 people) or $31 per person

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On February 13-14, the National Museum of the American Indian is having its annual food festival, The Power of Chocolate. The festival features “tasty demonstrations,” hands on activities, and presentations on the history of chocolate. Additionally, they are featuring some films and various exhibits. This is a good opportunity to try Native American cuisine and attend a free screening. Events are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a break for dinner at Mitsitam. Mitsitam is the only restaurant in the area we could find that features Native American food (“Mitsitam” means “Let’s eat!” in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples).  Their full menu is typically offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., but during the festival, it will be available 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., as well. The winter menu features soups, venison, buffalo burgers, fry bread, etc. organized by region. After the dinner hour, they will show a movie, Burwa dii Ebo/The Wind and the Water:

Panama’s first-ever narrative feature film, produced by the Igar Yala Collective, a group made up primarily of rural and urban Kuna youth. This contemporary coming-of-age story introduces two young Kuna: a boy raised by his grandfather in his ancestral homelands and a girl who has never been there.

The movie starts at 7 p.m. The movie is free, but you must register online. We’ll follow up on the festival after the 14th.

UPDATE

One of the most complicated aspects of examining the food featured at Mitsitam and Native Amerian cuisine in general is the influence of other regional cuisine on Native American cuisine, as well as the regional variations within the food throughout the Americas. Although the festival was called The Power of Chocolate, we did not see any chocolate samples and the festival mostly focused on a few tables explaining how chocolate grows and is cultivated (some focusing on children) and live dancing.

Mitsitam was out of many of the foods around 5 when we arrived, but we were able to sample some of the cuisine there (although not the chocolate soup, venison, buffalo, or wild rice salad). The restaurant is on the ground level of the museum and has a high end cafeteria buffet feel to it. The menu items are grouped by region, which is kind of interesting. The plates of food are mostly small, similar to tapas, with the exception of some larger entrees. After selecting the food we wanted to eat, we paid and were able to find a seat by the window. The cafe has large windows that look out onto the fountains, which is nice.

Native American cuisine is extremely varied due to environmental aspects. Mitsitam’s cuisine focuses on several regions and arranges the food items by region, which makes it easy to understand the context of all the different dishes. The Northern Woodlands features ingredients like oysters, maple syrup, pumpkins, wild mushrooms, venison, turkey, cranberries, dandelions, sunchoke, watercress, wild rice, duck, corn, and winter squash. South America features escabeche, hearts of palm, fish, salsa, chicken, coconut, ceviche, tamales, peanut sauces, pork loin, tomatoes, squash, amaranth, jicama, guava, flan, and blue corn. The Northwest Coast features ingredients like clams, salmon, steak, roots, blueberries, sweet potato, birch bark syrup, wild mushrooms, tomatoes, wild rice, pumpkin, and bison. Meso America includes burritos, plantains, chili sauce, spinach, tortillas, mole, squash, pumpkin, guacamole, corn chips, carrots, cotija cheese, and pepitas. The Great Plains food items include buffalo, pinto beats, fry bread, chayote, cinnamon, honey, berries, heirloom beans, wild onion, pinion cookies, popcorn balls, and sarsaparilla. The cafe also has a wide range of desserts and the menu changes seasonally. Based on what we read on Native American food, these items reflect typical food items that were eaten by Native Americans. Wikipedia also has a lot of information on Native American cuisine.

Mitistam reflects the wide range of food in native cuisine and the different staples that come out of lifestyles based on hunting, fishing, gathering, farming, and the use of domesticated animals. We ended up trying only a few things because each plate was rather pricey, even with the discount. Also, a lot of the food items were unavailable because of the high demand thanks to the festival.

We started out trying a chocolate arepa, which was warm, savory, and had a rich chocolate flavor. The sweetness was not overpowering and it tasted similar to a pupusa without any filling. We learned on Wikipedia that an arepa is a bread made from corn that is popular in Columbia and Venezuala. The corn patty is unleavened and flattened, either by grilling, baking, for frying. A lot of variation exists from region to region on the consistency, color, size, thickness, garniture, and fillings of the arepa. Wikiepda notes that “Arepa is a native bread made of ground corn, water, and salt which is fried into a pancake-like bread. It is either topped or filled with meat, eggs, tomatoes, salad, cheese, shrimp, or fish.” Our arepas seemed to be more Venezuelan than Colombian since they were about 3/4 of an inch thick and were “arepa dulces,” or sweet arepas, which are common in Venezuala. Although most arepas are savory, ours tasted delicious.

We also tried the empanadas with chocolate sauce (an empanada is stuffed bread or pastry). We were curious about the history of the empanada and learned that they are Spanish and Portuguese in origin. The name comes from the verb empanar, which means to wrap or coat in bread. The Spanish empanada is usually larger and more circular, but cut into smaller portions for consumption, while the South American empanada is smaller and more half moon shaped. The empanada was brought to South America by colonists. Empanadas vary tremendously from region to region. Their fillings can include meat, potatos, or sausage, etc. We looked up whether there are sweet empanadas, and found that these typically exist in the Columbian city of Leticia, where they are often filled with tropical fruit. These sweet empanadas exist in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Haiti, in addition. We couldn’t figure out which region ours was from, but they were small and reminded us more of a wonton than an empanada. Ours were savory, with the exception of the chocolate sauce they placed on it, which was syrupy (not like a mole sauce).

We were especially pleased that the cafe had fry bread, which we love and is hard to find in this area. Fry bread is distinctly American and was first made in the 1600s. It is a flat dough deep-fried and then topped with various ingredients. Mitsitam features the Indian Taco, which we thought was their invention. However, we learned from the taco entry on Wikipedia that “Indian tacos, sometimes known as Navajo tacos but served in various parts of the American West and Midwest, are made using frybread instead of tortillas. They are commonly served at pow-wows, festivals, and other gatherings.” Their Indian Taco is $11 and consists of buffalo chili, pinto beans, picklled chilis, lettuce, tomatos, and cheese. We found it to be extremely filling and delicious. We also liked the fact that we got to try buffalo. We also learned that fry bread (also written as “frybread”) has such a large role in Native American cultures that it was named the official “state bread” of South Dakota in 2005. We also tried the fry bread with honey, which is another way fry bread can be served (also powdered sugar can be used instead of honey). This was also pretty yummy. We ended up getting an agua fresca, which are refreshing beverages of various concoctions that originated in Meixco, but now are popular all over the Americas. Ours was milky, mild, and sweet. We probably ended up having agua de horchata, which is a type of agua fresca that is made from either almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernuts. The drink originated in Valencia in Spain and then spread to Latin America, so we don’t know how typically native it is. Ours was tan and milky, so we think we got more of the Mexican variety, which often is made from rice and has a cinnamon flavoring.

We would have liked to have tried more food items, however the food was fairly filling and some of the more interesting dishes were sold out. We were offered a sample and were able to try amaranth; we recommend asking for samples if it seems possible. Amaranth is a grain that is cultivated in Asia and the Americas. It was one of the staples of the Incas and known as kiwicha in the Andes. Compared to other grains, amaranth was very tiny and had a harder texture. Amaranth, although not well-known, was incredibly important to native cultures like the Aztecs, who used it in their ceremonies and created compositions of the gods using the grain and honey. It also apparently is referenced a lot in literature and music.

TOTAL: ~$30 for lunch for two people

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Although Hong Kong was never considered a sovereign nation and is now considered part of China, Wikipedia writes that “[i]t has a highly developed capitalist economy, and has a ‘high degree of autonomy’ in all areas except foreign affairs and defense.” As a result, I’m considering it separate for the purposes of the project.

The Washington Post  has recently done some critics of the popular restaurant, X.O. Taste. As a result, I checked it out for myself. On a Saturday night, it was full with both Asian and American diners, with people waiting outside the restaurant for a seat. The restaurant is bright and open with large round wooden tables and modern/unusual lighting and bright wall colors, giving it an urban vibe. There seemed to be one waiter working the whole restaurant, which was pretty amazing considering the number of people eating. Inside, many large families and groups of people were eating. The round tables have a clear glass lazy Susan on them, making them ideal for family style dining. The restaurant itself was noisy and informal.

The menu was large and diverse. This place bears no resemblance to the normal Chinese restaurants here. There was no Orange Chicken and the only item that came close was Hot and Sour Soup (apparently part of Beijing cuisine). We had to ask the waiter about virtually all the dishes we considered ordering to get a clearer idea about what they were – even something like Sizzling Beef with Black Pepper seemed mysterious. The menu is enormous and overwhelming, serving congee (a type of savory rice porridge), noodle dishes, casseroles, soups, etc. and all varieties and makes of meat, everything from pork, chicken, sea cucumber, the infamous Dungeness crab, tofu, frog, duck tongue, etc. It is safe to say that all meats and parts are fair game. There was also a large range of sea food, which seems to be due to the influence of Chiu Chow cuisine that favors duck, goose, and seafood. Luckily, the waiter was friendly and patient with us. Hong Kong cuisine is strongly Cantonese influenced. They use chopsticks primarily, but at X.O. we were also given a small fork. The type of cooking seemed to be less focused on breading and frying and more on pan frying and steaming.

While drinking tea and deliberating over the menu, we ultimately became overwhelmed with all the dishes and instead tried to order a variety of meats. At X.O. Taste, they serve each dish as they come out (at record speed!) rather than all at once, ensuring that everything is hot and fresh.

Two dishes we ordered were Siu Mei (a style of Chinese rotisserie consisting only of meat). The first that came out was Baby Roast Pig, listed under Hong Kong Style Marinated and BBQ. This dish is served only in the evenings (banquet/dinner style) and only on weekends. We wanted to try the duck and pork because these are Hong Kong specialties, and because they display them on hooks at the front of the restaurant. The pork was surprisingly served cold with a crispy exterior, a layer of fat, and then the meat below it. The pork was marinated and very rich, probably due to the large amount of fat (even though the waiter said that the Baby Pig is less fatty than the adult Pig). The meat was tender and the marinade had a good flavor.

Next came Roast Duck on Rice, which was very tender and delicious. They served the meat in a layer of skin, meat, and bone, which through me off at first because I’m used to the bone being removed. The marinade had a slightly sweet taste and the dish was served warm.

Next they served Sizzling Steak in Black Pepper, which was indeed served sizzling. The meat had a good flavor but was a little tough for our vision of steak and very soft (not sizzled to crispiness).

The final dish that came was Tofu Stuffed with Shrimp Paste and Black Bean Sauce. I love tofu so this one was delicious to me. Large chunks of tofu had shrimp placed on them and them were fried so the outside was crispy and the inside was soft. The sauce was savory. This dish is a typical example of Hong Kong cuisine.

We also ordered Buddha’s Delight, another typical vegetarian Chinese dish, however due a mix-up the dish never came. The waiter said it was still in the kitchen, but ultimately it may or may not have been given to the table next to us. Luckily, the staff was polite and took it off the bill.

Afterwards, they served a complimentary dessert. It resembled tapioca pudding but was thinned to be a soup like texture and tasted instead like a warm sweet soup with pureed mung bean at the bottom. This type of dessert is called tong sui, translated to “sugar water.” There are apparently many varieties of tong sui, but this type of dessert is exclusive to Hong Kong/Cantonese cuisine and not served in other regions.

Obviously, more work is required to sample all of Hong Kong cuisine. Dim sum is a major part of it, which they don’t serve at X.O. Taste. Also, we didn’t sample any congee, seafood, or the casseroles. Or even the infamous XO sauce, which apparently is named after cognac and developed during the 1980s in Hong Kong. According to Wikipedia , the sauce is spicy and “served with seafood containing roughly chopped dried seafood, such as scallop, dried fish and shrimp that has been cooked with chili, onion, garlic and oil.”

Total: $61, excluding tip for four entrees. Most of the dishes are around $10.

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