Congee Village

EATERY:

Congee Village

LOCATION:

100 Allen St, New York, NY 10002 (@ Delancey)

REVIEWS:

Finally New York is getting a little bit more like Fall season, which makes me want to curl up with a nice pot of congee and nestle with my dog. So definitely the first restaurant that came to mind is Congee Village situated in Chinatown and LES. If I want authentic great satisfying good home cooked congee otherwise know as rice porridge Congee Village is the place to go. The menu offers a huge selection of congee, from the exotic for example pork stomach to plain rice porridge; we got the Crab Porridge ($3.50) cooked with small blue crab. We found the whole crab that fit into a small cay pot; some of the main ingredients found in the congee were large chunks of ginger, green onion, and tiny slivers of dry scallops. Came sizzling hot all gooey and bubbling I couldn’t wait for my first slurp, the taste was brilliant the rice soaked in all the crab flavor along the supple rice where large cuts of ginger, a great complement. The heat of the ginger just reinforced the crab essence. Rice in Bamboo Pot was a cute idea but failed us a bit. The dish Chicken and Black Mushroom Rice In Bamboo Pot ($6.95) was good, and the flavor was just right however I felt the rice was way over cooked. The last entrée of the night was clam with special sauce in sizzling hot plate ($9.95), I was expecting a show but came with out the sizzle – sad. Nonetheless it was great had a hint of fermented black beans with some heat mixed with some green bell peppers, red bell peppers and onions.

RANTS & RAVES:

-A friend told me once that you can get a martinis for $4 and other tropical cocktail for the same price. We had beers Heineken for $3, Tsingtao for $3.50 and Corona for $4. -Decor is interesting to say the least you truly feel like you're in some kind of village or a forest of some sort or a “natural” wood furniture dealer. -The Lunch Specials are so cheap they range from $3.50-$4.95 can’t beat that.

TAGS:

New York Chinese Lower East Side