Urban Stomach

Peas Sprouts With Garlic

When someone asks me where to eat in Chinatown, my list is usually short. I love Lychee Garden. R & G can do the trick for a banquet-style meal.
City View’s dim sum is a huge fave. For a tourist not from L.A., Boston or New York, House of Nan King is an easy crowd pleaser. It’s small, dumpy and crowded so it must be good? It’s fun once every two years or so. I dig Hing Lung on Broadway for jook but most people asking me about Chinese food aren’t looking for jook. Then there’s…there’s…there’s I don’t know. Honestly, my Chinese food consumption normally happens in the Richmond or Sunset districts. So I was particularly psyched to be invited recently to a dinner at Z & Y Restaurant in, you guessed it, Chinatown. Eight diners, all with food blogs . This was going to be good. Eight diners, all with cameras. This was going to be comical.

Spicy Numbing Beef Tendon

The photographers jostled for the best angle and then flashes began to pop wildly. Had Thomas Keller dropped by ready to get his spice on? Lady Gaga have a hankering for some Tan Tan Noodles? No. It was the red carpet arrival (well, unvacuumed maroon carpet) of our first course, Spicy Numbing Beef Tendon! And what a first course it was. Hung like laundry on a
mini-wooden rack, the presentation was a conversation piece all its own. Each thinly sliced piece of tendon was served cold with a slice of cucumber draped over it. We lazy Susaned (making up my own verb) the rack around the table so that we could each snatch a piece with our chopsticks. A small vat of “numbing” chili oil made for some fine dunking, creating a prickly but not spicy sensation in my mouth. The texture was what I imagine raw bacon would chew like with a mouth-cooling crunch provided by the cucumber. Quite the first impression.

Chicken With Explosive Chili Peppers

Oohs and Aahs were heard as we were presented with Chicken With Explosive Chili Peppers. Again with the cameras! Our table’s new celebrity was a mound of brilliant red chili peppers specked with Sichuan peppercorns. A few pokes with the serving spoon exposed a hidden treasure, small fried chunks of boneless chicken bathing in a pile of heat. The chicken was nice and spicy but not crazy. No one was sweating or anything. It was well fried with a good crunch but little grease.  While you’re not supposed to eat the peppers, I couldn’t resist and downed a few. These were hot and I’m quite sure the reason that I felt gurgling in my upper esophagus the next day. But it was worth it.

Special Pork Belly

“Special” Braised Pork Belly literally gleamed at our lenses and had the elegance of a 1940s Hollywood star. Eight square pieces lightly topped with a barely sweet sauce were quickly snapped up onto our plates, leaving behind a splotched platter with a few lonely pieces of broccoli. So much for elegance. But oh the pork belly! How tender was it you ask? So tender that we all cut it with only our chopsticks. Easily. The skin on top barely crackled and underneath was silky flesh with a mild porky flavor. In my world, “porky” is a huge complement. I loved the simplicity of this dish. Tricked out pork belly is getting old fast. Other favorite dishes included Yunan Style Steamed Chicken Soup, Eggplant With Garlic Sauce, and an exemplary Pea Shoots With Garlic. Hot Braised Sea Bass, presented as a disk topped with, of course, peppers, was moist and super flavorful. Again, spicy but not overkill. Cured Beef Wrapped In A Scallion Pancake, kind of a Chinese Stromboli, was a new one for me. I’d never even heard of it. I’d definitely order it again.

Chinese Stromboli

If you decide to eat at Z & Y, and I really hope that you do, I strongly suggest that you stay away from the Americanized items on the menu. Remember, because Z & Y is in Chinatown, they kind of have to offer Sweet and Sour Chicken, Beef With Broccoli and all of the other usual suspects. You want to come here for the Sichuan stuff! A huge thanks to @cookingwithamy for the invitation and the well thought out selection of amazing dishes. Also thanks to my new food friends and fellow foodarazzi @chefjen, @summertomato, @alphaprep, @divinacucina, @heatherhal and @Jeters. I can safely say that we’ve all found a new place in Chinatown to recommend.

The Menu
Spicy Numbing Beef Tendon
Scallion Pancakes
Yunnan Style Steamed Chicken Soup In Clay Pot
Peking Duck
Pea Sprouts with Garlic
Special Pork Belly (not on the regular menu)
Chicken With Explosive Chili Peppers
Hot Braised Sea Bass
Eggplant With Garlic Sauce
Cured Beef Wrapped In Scallion Pancake (courtesy of Z & Y)
Fresh Fried Mini Red Bean Cakes (courtesy of Z & Y)

Z & Y Restaurant
655 Jackson St. (near Grant)
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-981-8988
Monday-Sunday 11 AM-10 PM
Pre-Ordered Nine Course Meal For Eight: $200 after tax and tip (no drinks)