Below Delancey

April 20, 2009 3:33 pm

As a native New Yorker, it is hard for me to imagine that anyone has never tasted a New York bagel (the only real kind of bagel), cheese pizza or Chinese food. When I learned that my roommate was one of these rare ladies that has never bitten into a crisp spring roll or stuffed themselves full of pork fried rice, I made it my personal quest to show her what she was missing.

Since my roommate, Courtney, had never had Chinese food, I wanted her to experience the authentic cuisine that cannot be found on a take-out menu. Embracing the lovely weather this past Friday, Courtney and I ventured down below Delancey to my favorite Chinese restaurant, Congee Village. The joint was poppin', so we took a seat at the bar while we waited for a table. Having fasted all day in preparation for a delicious dinner, I was antsy as I sipped my cocktail. Thankfully, by the time I was halfway done, we were walking to our table.

The menu was massive. Eight or nine pages of Chinese delights left us both a little overwhelmed, but since the service was less than speedy, we had plenty of time to make our decision.

In the spirit of trying new things, I chose to order something I had never had before. Since Courtney had considerable trepidations about the new cuisine we chose to split our meals, figuring she would like whatever I liked. And she did. Knowing that the Congee Rice Bowls are wonderful, we decided to order the rice with chicken and shitake mushrooms, and blue crab with cheese and butter.

We fiddled with our chopsticks while we waited for our meal. I knew that we were never going to be able to actually eat with them, so I risked being made fun of by the wait staff and requested two sets of utensils. I got two forks and two spoons, but it was better than nothing so I did not complain.

The rice arrived in a hollow log. As I lifted the opening to serve us, the wonderful smell of fried pork wafted into our faces. Using the edge of my spoon as a knife, I cut a piece of chicken and stabbed my fork with mushroom and rice. Mmm, mmm, delicious. The rice was perfectly sticky, the chicken tender and juicy, and the mushrooms jam-packed with the pork flavor. There were a few veggies mixed in, carrots and such, so I assumed that the yellow veggie was pineapple and bit right in. When the taste of ginger erupted in my mouth, I was less than pleased with my naive decision to taste before asking. I washed out the taste with the rest of my cocktail just as the crab arrived to our table.

Set before us was a large plate with lots of dismembered crab pieces and a shell cracker.

"Lexi, I've never eaten a crab before, let alone cracked any," Courtney said laughing.

"No worries, I got it. When you're from the North East, they teach you how to handle these at a young age," I told her.

With that, I placed my napkin in my lap and prepared to get my hands dirty. I cracked all the crab pieces and demonstrated how to suck the meat out of the little crabby legs. Courtney looked a bit nervous, but by the end of the meal, there was not a single scrap of crab meat left on either of our plates.

The butter and cheese caramelized together forming a crunchy crust on the body of the crab, and coating the smaller pieces with a delicious juice. By the time we had finished, I was too covered in sauce to lick my fingers clean, so I made a quick trip to wash my hands. I was gone less than three minutes, but the check was already waiting for us when I returned.

We paid up and headed off for some sangria and dancing at my favorite Mexican joint, Maryann's, in the East Village. Two pitchers of sangria later, I discovered that Courtney has also never been to the Met or out to eat in Little Italy. With only three weeks of college left, I sure do have my work as tour guide cut out for me.

—Alexis Popov

Congee Village
100 Allen Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 941-1818

Maryann's
300 East 5th St at 2nd Avenue
New York, NY
212-475-5939