Chinese restaurants have started to open again in Novosibirsk, and they are very different – from potentially trendy places to street eateries. The observer of the NGS gathered together all the new items, and at the same time walked through the long-running establishments that deserve attention or simply did not get into our reviews.
A new reincarnation of the “Peking Duck” that has worked here for a long time. The owners have not changed, they just decided to make the place easier with minimal costs. For this, modern Chinese posters were added to the interior of the old “Duck”, the menu became shorter, the portions were smaller, and the prices were lower.
To get completely closer to the people, even their Chinese round baozi dumplings are here called “poses” (30 rubles a piece), and similar to jiaozi dumplings – just dumplings (180 rubles a portion). Well, so as not to explain a hundred times. All names, however, are duplicated in Chinese, and everything is named correctly there.
The set of dishes (and more importantly, their execution) looks quite authentic. Some kind of stewed pork knuckle with soybeans in a thick spicy sauce (190 rubles) – you can’t imagine such a thing especially for the local market. Because it looks scary. Although if you love shank (and pork in general), then you simply have to try it. There are soups, interesting salads, small snacks, while prices do not go beyond 200 rubles per item. The portions, of course, are not gigantic, but even one hot one can eat up. Perhaps the only inexpensive Chinese café today with real national food.
A new restaurant on Gogol Street in the building where the Five Elements complex used to work. The owner is the owner of another Chinese establishment, Xinglong. The interior is made fairly neutral – oriental motives are present in it with hints. Large windows overlook Gogol Street. During the day, this sight is not particularly joyful, but in the evenings, when the grayness outside the window turns into a bustle of lights, the place becomes romantic.
In addition to the large common room, there is a separate room for the company with a huge table on which a massive rotating disk is placed. This is a typical Chinese restaurant gadget that allows you not to reach across the table for a dish served to a company.
The menu contains a fairly balanced mix of exotic things (beef tripe, raw potato salad) and familiar, but prepared differently products. The same potatoes are served here in the form of noodles (raw, with a sour cold hot sauce) and fried in sweet caramel. There are almost no dishes cheaper than 400 rubles, but before placing an order, you should clarify the portion size. Here you can find small snacks and a bowl of soup for half a liter, or even more. The cheapest dishes are wontons (a type of dumplings) in broth and Chinese cabbage salad (350 rubles).
The combinations of seafood and meat are interesting. The most expensive dish – “Sichuan Trash” (lamb, king prawns, beef stomach, pork belly, tree mushrooms, and so on) – costs 1,400 rubles, but this is a huge dish weighing a kilogram. In short, despite the obvious attempt to make a more European establishment, it is better to come here in a company of at least 3-4 people to take a dish for each and taste a little bit of everything.
Big pavilion between GUM and Sun City. On the walls, there are dragons and other Chinese decorative trivialities. On the menu – noodles and rice in boxes. Nothing outstanding, but as an attempt to bring some new colors to the local kingdom of shawarma and samosa is respectable.
The quality is worse than that of Sushi Make (where the noodles are made), but the portions are such that a box for 130 rubles per eye is enough for a hearty dinner. A definite plus and spacious (for this kind of establishment), clean room with large windows
The restaurant is in the top place – the house of the merchant Sumiko (Krasny Prospect, 22), which combines real Chinese cuisine (the chefs are all from the Middle Kingdom) and a modern European approach. No lanterns and goggle-eyed dragons, stylish furniture, only enamel mugs with Mao Zedong from typical Chinese. Well, and a double boiler, brought out to the very center of the hall.
The only Chinese establishment that clearly defines its specialization – it serves Cantonese cuisine (Guangzhou and Hong Kong). The fact is that China in the gastronomic sense is almost as broad a concept as, for example, Western Europe. And, you see, a purely Italian or Czech restaurant is more credible than a place where pasta, onion soup and “boar knee” are cooked at the same time.
The headliner of the local menu is dim sum (from 220 rubles per serving) – another name for steamed dumplings that are typical for southern China. The noodles are good – they pull it here on their own and you can feel it right away, because it tastes good on its own, even without any sauces. Of the dishes that will decorate your Instagram, one cannot fail to mention the “claws of the Phoenix” – chicken legs cooked in a complex sauce. A separate word is the wine list, which is collected here from trendy organic, natural and biodynamic wines. Some of which may be rather odd, but it is this oddity that sometimes fits surprisingly well with the bright or, on the contrary, the delicate Cantonese cuisine.
