Beijing/ Northern Chinese food in Denver?

[bens]

All I'd like to eat is some pi dan dofu, ge dar tang, or tu dou si .

[caviar_and_chitlins]

Bumping this thread up because.....

Went to East Asia Garden for some take out (Cross Bridge Rice Noodle Soup, natch), and it was really slow. And by slow, I mean that at 12:15 on a weekday (Wed or Thurs), I was the first arrival. An older caucasian (was that PC enough?) couple came in around 12:25 and groused because all they had was chinese food there- really? What about the name and decor made you think otherwise?

Anyway, I know it's not the best neighborhood, and maybe they have busy times, or a booming delivery business, but I'd hate for this place to disappear. Go forth and eat soup! Spicy food on a hot day- makes the blood happy!

[tatamagouche]

Right on C&C! That's how I feel about the place too.

[eade]

There are at least two restaurants in Denver that have chefs from Northern China.

1. Ocean Forest Cafe: The chef is from Beijing. Before he introduced his "Chinese" menu, those in-the-know would call him a few days ahead of time and order special dishes. Currently he has Beijing lamb hot pot, Beijing noodle and Beijing dumplings on the menu. You could try to call him or visit the restaurant and ask if you give him advance notice, would he make these three particular dishes for you. http://www.oceanforestcafe.com/8.html

2. China Jade: The chef is from Tianjin. He has Tianjin and Sichuan dishes on his menu. I don't recall whether these three dishes in particular are on the menu. You could try to call him as well. I don't see a menu online, but you can find some of the Tianjin dishes mentioned here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/china-jade-au...

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China Jade
12203 E Iliff Ave Ste D, Aurora, CO 80014

[tatamagouche]

Also East Asia Garden—some Dongbei dishes mixed among the usual stuff.

[cheesemonger]

fyi- before you drive all the way out there (unless you live there) OFC has been "closed for repairs" recently (tried to go again just 2 days ago), so call first.

[tatamagouche]

Oh no! Do you really think it's temporary?

[cheesemonger]

Don't know- looks like that whole end of the strip is undergoing some change. The sign was hand written, and actually said "close for repairs" on pink paper. The workmen were going in and out, but I didn't ask about the nature of these fixes/changes.

[tatamagouche]

Huh. Hope all's well—they do great Chonqing chicken, red chili dumplings...

[caviar_and_chitlins]

Went to East Asia Garden on Friday. As others have said, the surroundings are bleak. We had a few things: Tofu Skin appetizer (I often love this, but this was too tough and chewy), Sichuan Shrimp (too sweet), and the Mysterious Secret Recipe Rice Noodle Soup (or something like that- it's on the last page of the menu)- Spicy. While I'd swear on a stack of bibles that those are spaghetti noodles, this soup was awesome. Great depth of flavors, the broth was so complex and with good heat present. I just finished off the leftovers- it's a BIG bowl of soup.

It was lunch, so I got soup (exceptionally bland egg drop) and an eggroll which was simply a vehicle for the hot mustard, but the soup was worth a trip. It's super close to I-25, so an easy on/off, and I will be stopping for that soup again when I travel through.

[tatamagouche]

Cross Bridge Rice Noodle Soup. It's her specialty...

I've had really good tofu skin there, hmm. Love the buns, not so much the dumplings. My favorite thing though is still the black eggs and tofu.

[bens]

Black eggs and tofu is one of the foods that I started this post in order to find!! Thank you!

[caviar_and_chitlins]

Yes- the Cross Bridge Rice Noodle Soup- it has a description about "mysterious recipe" something- it's really great. I added more Sichuan Peppercorn oil to the leftovers, 'cause I really love the heat. As I drove past B'way on 25 today, and I seriously thought of stopping.

Sorry to hear about OFC as well.

[eade]

OFC used spaghetti for its Sichuan cold noodle dish. It did leave one desiring more authentic noodles. It was a splendid dish though, we kept ordering it despite the spaghetti.

Btw, it appears OFC is closed for good.

[tatamagouche]

What a shame. That one meal I had thanks to you was superb.