Dining Out Boston

After a long day of working hard (or hardly working) I met Bunches and Denny at Chau Chow City to fulfill my daily intake of MSG.

Chau Chow City could be considered one of the Big Three of Boston's Chinatown with its thousand-item menu and continual preponderance of real Chinese people eating inside. (I consider both to be marks of a quality Chinese food operation). Chau Chow City is almost as large as China, and similarly crowded on weekends when both floors open up for dim sum. On week nights meals are usually confined to the first-floor dining room decorated with display cases full of dried shark fins and other creepy sea relics.

The three of us have a fairly solid routine when eating Chinese: first course is hot and sour soup, second is any combination of appetizers, and third (and fourth and fifth…) are portions from three noodle, beef, and chicken entrees. This dinner was no exception, although I skipped the spicy hot and sour soup ($2.50) in favor of indulging early in crab rangoon ($7). At Chau Chow there's no pausing between courses to clear the table, refill water glasses, etc., etc. Within fifteen minutes of ordering your table is cluttered with steaming plates and it's up to you to delineate any progression you desire.

But, anyway, back to the appetizers. The crab rangoon were lightly fried and not overstuffed with the crab and cream cheese concoction, so I was able to consume several along with some pork peking ravioli while the boys finished their soup. The entrees beckoned soon after and I heaped liberal portions of vegtable lo mein $5.25), crispy sesame beef ($10), and general gau's chicken ($9) on my plate. (Obviously, we did not venture far from the classics this night.)

Chau Chow's lo mein noodles are much thinner than most others I've eaten, making each bit more dense with flavor. The crispy beef was somewhat underwhelming both in taste and portion; you could easily find larger pieces of meat with less sickenly sweet sauce. General Gau's chicken, Denny's perennial favorite, was the real winner of the night. The chicken pieces were tender, lacking any of the stringy disgusting garbage you find in lowest-grade meat, and the sauce had a nice kick to it; a welcome variation from tradition.

When the last peking ravioli had been eaten (by me, who else?) and the prophetic fortune cookies had been examined, we cautiously turned over the bill. Three alcoholic drinks, two soups, two appetizers, three entrees, and a big bowl o' white rice was….$51.00.

Gotta love Chinatown. And, for that matter, Chau Chow City.

The Info
Chau Chow City
83 Essex St., Boston
617-338-8158