147697 Thu Apr 15 01:04:26 -0700 2004 15 12 Boston Area 0 791697 No I haven't been yet, but Golden Gate on Beach street, a few doors down from Imperial Seafood, just opened last week or so. Hoping to hear about it. Thu Apr 15 01:04:26 -0700 2004 0 Limster 1 791725 Golden Gate is a "reopen." They've been around for years and was often the spot to go after the bars closed. This was in 1978 when I moved here and I know it was like this before that. I remember (barely) ordering rice or noodle plates and "cold tea." Thu Apr 15 11:34:09 -0700 2004 791697 0 9lives 2 791755 This thread reminds me that I've been meaning to post on the history of Boston's Chinatown. I did this for Toronto (my home town) once and it led to an excellent thread of soulful memories. My problem is that I only date back to 1979 here and need others to fill in, so please assist if you can. The only places that have remained to my knowledge are Quality Cafe, Ho Yuen Ting and the Imperial Tea House, then the only dim sum palace with carts though one could order off the menu at The New House of Toy (now Ginza). New House of Toy was a small family run place one of the few places that you could get frogs legs. I recall Bob Lee's Islander, a faux Polynesian place with carved tiki columns outside and umbrella drinks inside. This morphed into Golden Palace that had a couple of nice dishes like shrimp and fried cream, Peking spareribs, and good dim sum. Golden Palace has now become Big Fish and Shabu Zen. Moon Villa is gone, replaced by Dynasty I think (is this now gone too). Bo Shek was a small restaurant specializing in BBQ meats on rice is now represented by the BBQ meat market that is still there serving an excellent roast duck and Korea House. Grand Chau Chow was Golden Dragon and Noodle Alcove was Peking Cuisine but I can't remember what was there before. I also can't place what was there in place of current favorites Peach Farm, Taiwan Cafe, Chau Chow City, Ocean Wealth, China Pearl, East Ocean City, Jumbo etc. So hounds, here is a start that I hope will trigger fond food memories. I'm sure I've forgetting a lot and mixing up thing. Thanks for posting. Thu Apr 15 14:34:17 -0700 2004 791725 0 gpurmaniac 3 791756 Peach Farm was the Four Seas, frequented by the Boston mob, who owned many downtown & Kenmore Sq. clubs, who'd turn up after 2AM & get served nips along w/their orders. Thu Apr 15 14:44:22 -0700 2004 791755 0 Taralli 3 791760 Lucky Dragon, not Golden Dragon, was the former CHau Chow City...They had an absolutely stellar version of oysters with ginger and scallion. Big oysters(not Peach farm half-shell size), coins of ginger...All juicy.. Bo Shek had way more than meats, back then (mid 70's)....This was the place I had my Helen Keller moment, and understood that the "Chinese food" I'd grown up with in the suburbs of Boston had nothing to do with the real item...;) It happened over a plate of their Hong Kong Style crispy noodles with vegetables...."N-O-O-D-L-E-S....." Where Yan's Best is (or next door) was the original Chau Chow....What could charitably be called a hole-in-the wall...Great clams in black bean sauce, ditto for the oysters with G&C.... Link: http://www.bistrodraw.com Thu Apr 15 15:02:37 -0700 2004 791755 0 galleygirl 4 791805 And before it was the original Chau Chow, it was Henry's, with similarly delicious fare.... Fri Apr 16 14:11:41 -0700 2004 791760 0 silversaxophone 3 791788 I can’t offer much personal experience but my 1974 Boston Phoenix Guide to Cheap Eats has an interesting perspective: of the 7 Chinese restaurants reviewed, only 3 are in Chinatown. The Shanghai, 21 Hudson St. 4 of 5 stars for quality. Recommended for adventurous diners: traditional Mandarin Moo Shee ($3.50 with pork); sweet and sour pork ($2.65); hot szechuan spiced chicken ($3.50); lion’s head ($3.15); bean curd with mushrooms ($2.65). Tai Tung, 227 Harrison. 4 stars for food. Cantonese food; does not offer egg rolls, fried wontons or chop suey. “The less familiar the dish is, the better it will probably be.” Recommended: pork with cashews ($3.25); various noodle dishes ($2); crispy roasted duck ($8.50 for a whole one); winter melon soup ($3.75 for 4). Yee Hong Guey, 34 Oxford St. 2 ½ stars for food. “Unfortunately Americanization.” Cheap prices, adequate but bland food. “Even with an appetizer and the ritualistic fortune cookie, .. your meal should be under $4.00 per person.” Mentioned under Late Eats: Kim Toy, Beach & Tyler, open 24 hours. The other reviews: Chautara, in a private home in Pembroke. I’d never heard of it. Good heavens. “The entire experience, including a set five-course Mandarin or Nepalese meal, continual refills of wine, and excellent service (no need to tip) costs $35 a couple.” “On Thursdays [Mr. Sternin] makes a trip into Boston’s Chinatown where he buys the ingredients for the Mandarin Chinese food served on Thurdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.” “A typical menu might include deliciously-seasoned black mushroom soup containing chestnuts, egg drops, and Chinese sausage; chicken in a fine oyster sauce with almonds, snow peas, and bean sprouts; spicy shrimp in a Mandarin sauce with straw mushrooms and Chinese broccoli; and beef with bean curd.” Also Joyce Chen (on Mem Drive); Peking Garden (Lexington); Peking on Mystic (Medford). Definitely reflects the whole Joyce Chen Mandarin/Szechuan craze just taking off. Put together by 2 people from Harvard Student Agencies, not Phoenix reviewers. Fri Apr 16 10:55:53 -0700 2004 791755 0 Aromatherapy 4 791790 Wasn't there a place Peking on Fresh Pond or something like that? Very vague memories... Fri Apr 16 11:46:16 -0700 2004 791788 0 barleywino 5 791800 Yes. I think it was near what is now Fresh Pond Seafood. Fri Apr 16 13:08:43 -0700 2004 791790 0 9lives 6 791899 Wasn't that where Tokyo is? ErstwhileEditor Tue Apr 20 08:17:48 -0700 2004 791800 0 ErstwhileEditor 5 791981 Re. Peking on Fresh Pond - yeah, I'm almost positive it's where Tokyo is now. I had my first Szechuan food there, discovered the joys of crispy spicy beef back in the day! The family who owned that also had a branch on Boylston near the Hynes - they were friends of friends, so I knew them to say hi to them, but this was *gulp* years ago. Would love to have their stuff now and see if I still liked it, it was great back then, all really fresh and spicy. Cheers, Paula(bear) Wed Apr 21 08:54:56 -0700 2004 791790 0 Paulabear 6 792696 OMG! You wouldn't happen to know how to make that dish -- the crispy spicy beef -- would you? If we're thinking of the same dish, I think it was called Pan-Fried Beef on the menu and it was quite spicy, saucy, savory and I know there was celery in it (aside from the beef, of course). I ordered it so frequently that Pauline (the chef at the time) used to know the sound of my voice and she'd say, "Hi, Chris, pan-fried beef, right?" I didn't realize that Peking on Fresh Pond was going to close so I never asked her for the recipe. I did stop by their Prudential (Hynes) location a while after that, and it turned out they didn't even have the dish on the menu -- it was a Pauline specialty. Wish I knew how to make that dish! Would you mind emailing me if you know how? tagttf@comcast.net Thanks!!! Sun May 09 11:32:20 -0700 2004 791981 0 Chris 4 791798 Thanks to all for the memories (misty soy sauce-covered memories). I also had that Boston Phoenix Cheap Eats book as a gift when I came to Boston but it has been long since disposed of. How naive we all were about Chinese food then. I don't remember any of the Chinatown restaurants listed except the Shanghai, which is still there as the New Shanghai. Thanks also to galleygirl for the correction on Lucky Dragon and I agree on the oysters and clams there. Also, Four Seas was a nice seafood place with good steamed fish. I remember that it was always deserted at dinner hours so I assume that gangsters eat late. Restaurants outside of Chinatown that I remember well from that time were in Harvard Square, the Hong Kong, Yen Ching, Young and Yees. The first two are still there and haven't changed much except in superficial ways. It was rumnored that Yen Ching was run by one of Chang Kai Shek's generals who came after the revolution. Young and Yees was a family owned place that was unchanged since the 50s and seemed outdated even in the 70s. It hung around until the 90s I think. Zoe's location was a really good place called Chang Feng which had a pork with bean paste that I ate ~100 times. Fri Apr 16 12:55:09 -0700 2004 791788 0 gourmaniac 4 791799 Tai Tung was a real "chowfind." It's a little away from the "tourist area" of CTown and is in the middle of more of a residential area. It was more for residents than tourists. I think it's a market now. Fri Apr 16 13:07:30 -0700 2004 791788 0 9lives 4 791808 I remember going to the old Shanghai with my family in the mid and late 80's (I was young at the time, since i was born in 1981)....they had the best fried dumplings (i have always loved dumplings).....then they closed, or changed names, or something.....I think we went back after it reopened and it wasn't as good as it had been.....but Shanghai is probably my first memory of any Chinatown.... dave m.p. Fri Apr 16 14:38:06 -0700 2004 791788 0 Dave M.P. 5 791900 Oh! And Shanghai's radish pies!!!!! Does anyone else remember them? That is the one tragedy about Peking Garden (Lexington) closing--they at least had radish pies (really balls there).... And sometimes the filling was rather good and reminiscent of the ones at Shanghai. The pastry was all wrong, but c'est la vie. ErstwhileEditor Tue Apr 20 08:20:53 -0700 2004 791808 0 ErstwhileEditor