Then it seemed that things began to slip. The warm, delicious, sweet rolls that they had always served and which we looked forward to were no longer available. When we asked the waiter about their absence he said that they were “too costly” and that the management wanted to keep the prices of the entrees down. Then there was the uneven service that seemed to plague the restaurant for a while. On one visit, for instance, we ordered a bottle of champagne for a toast. The waiter, seeing that we were a party of six, declared that one bottle would not be enough and that we should order two. Maybe we are thin skinned, but we found this aggressive salesmanship rude and embarrassing. Or, on another occasion, we sat forgotten way too long for our simple desserts which never came. Finally we packed up, paid and left, finishing up with a coffee at Kleckolo (when they used to stay open past
So when we read the rave 5-star review in December’s Hartford Magazine, we were eager to go back and see if things had returned to their former glory. Bottom line:
We went on a weekday night and the restaurant was probably a quarter filled. The hip-trendy décor was still the same, augmented in the last year with gold wallpaper in the front of the room that was mood-setting and attractive. The table settings are also appropriate and attractive with fine stemware and rattan-like placemats over the black lacquered tables. The banquettes and chairs are comfortable and the jazz appropriate for the candlelight.
We ordered two appetizers that were delicious. The seared-tuna with a Jalapeno sorbet was creative, very tasty, and beautiful to look at, too! The chef came out to our table and explained how he made up a batch of the jalapeno puree every day, how he cribbed the recipe from a California chef, Frank Slaughter of the French Laundry, and how he colored the neutral sorbet with crushed lyche nuts. He was delighted with his sushi-grade tuna and jalapeno creation.
He also answered questions about the caramelized onion, chanterelle mushroom and Chinese sausage and bacon plate we sampled, giving us the techniques used to age and dry the pork and even the percentage of meat to fat in the sausages. The plate of lightly sauced, earthy mushrooms and tiny sausages and bacon bits went particularly well with a Faively Bourgogne Rouge 2006. We were very glad to have his knowledgeable attention.
The main courses we tried were also successful. Medium-done seared duck breast with sticky-rice and porcini mushrooms was flavorful, ample and cooked to perfection. Tofu Ravioli with shiitake mushrooms and Asian greens in a lightly-spicy Sar-Char sauce was excellent and good to the last drop. The craved-for but unavailable delicious rolls would have been well used to sop up sauces!
Before leaving we also got the story on the one-source wine list. When the owners were just starting up no distributor, except one, would extend them credit to put in a comprehensive wine list. To this day the restaurant remains exclusively loyal to this distributor. Seems somehow appropriate in an Asian sort of way. Besides, the list offers rarities as well as good variety and interest.
If you go, try the special of the week or center on the appetizers, which are very good. A few of these, some rice, and a bottle of wine would be an exceptional taste-treat for a couple that liked to share.
Price: Two appetizers, two entrees with a $38 bottle of wine and one coffee came to $106.00
Service: Friendly, educational and attentive for the most part (once our entrees were served no one checked in on us).
Complaints: Bring back the rolls!
To date our best by far and most costly (and most enjoyable) Middletown restaurant experience!
11 comments:
Is tofu ravioli back on the menu? Ate there a few weeks ago and I didn't see it. It was one of my favorite dishes!
the food is so delicious because it's LOADED with MSG. they have a hundred pound barrel in the basement at all times if that gives you an idea of how much they use. the food is fantastic and creative, it's really too bad, they won't even make dishes without it! call it fear maybe?
i love this restaurant and the design and atmosphere is perfect, the service is excellent, the drinks are amazing and wine selection is extensive. why do they refuse to remove this poison from their food!? And if you doubt this statement, do some research, msg is nasty stuff, no matter what the FDA says. . .
I'm glad to hear that Fortune Garden is back to form. It was one of my favorite restaurants. However, the last few times I was there I was disappointed. Everything was OK, but not up to what I had come to expect. The food, service and menu selections had all seemed to slide. I am looking forward to going back soon.
Are they still doing their lunch specials? $4.95 for a great meal there is a real bargain.
I totally agree with the reviewer that they really should BRING BACK THE ROLLS!!!!
What exactly is "in an Asian sort of way" supposed to mean?
David- Forbidden City, not Fortune garden... yes?
NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT MSG
Yes, MSG, the Secret Behind the Savor
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Published: March 5, 2008
Japanese mayonnaise is flavored with MSG and rice vinegar, giving it an addictive roundness and tang. It is the main ingredient in dynamite sauce, a mix of mayonnaise and chili sauce that has become a staple of sushi bars here and in Japan. At Ginza in Boston, a dish called hotate hokkaiyaki — baked shellfish with dynamite sauce — has had a passionate following for more than 10 years.
If you have ever wondered what makes spicy tuna rolls so much tastier than plain tekka maki, dynamite sauce, or perhaps the MSG in it, is the answer.
In upscale restaurants, whether by tradition or by inclination, chefs are unlikely to use monosodium glutamate. “We don’t need to use Ajinomoto because we can get the ingredients that have natural umami: shiitake mushrooms, egg yolks, shellfish, masago,” said Sotohiro Kosugi, the chef of Soto in New York.
Although umami is only a bit player in Japanese cuisine, reams of breathless prose have been produced here on this elusive fifth taste, which is supposedly linked to the profoundly pure, deep-sea flavors of kelp and dried tuna.
Umami “is delicious,” Katsuhiro Utada told The New York Times in 1983, and a food-lovers’ swoon began. Mr. Utada, not coincidentally, was the president of the Ajinomoto Company — then, and now, the world’s largest producer of monosodium glutamate.
Whether umami is the fifth taste or the 50th — there is little agreement among neuroscientists — it has been positively identified as the flavor of glutamic acid, an amino acid naturally present in many savory foods, from seaweed to soppressata. Food writers lost no time adding umami to their mental glossaries. But this same crowd rarely mentions MSG, a cheap, synthetic route to the flavor of glutamate.
I keep kecap and (umami-rich) ketchup on hand, but MSG is not normally present in my kitchen. The spice drawer has never seen Accent, the canned chicken broth has a big “No MSG” stamp on the label and the hoisin, soy and fish sauces on hand are the food-writer-approved brands. Again, no MSG.
So the food I produced at home using Maggi sauce, MSG-laden bouillon cubes and Japanese mayonnaise tasted ... different.
I made two versions of pad kee mao, with and without Maggi, and while both were good, the one with MSG had the kind of round flavor I’d normally associate with homemade chicken stock or some form of professional expertise.
Tasted straight, though, the sauces had the chemical, tangy aftertaste common to many processed foods.
“Too much MSG and you get that harsh, acrid taste,” said Mr. Pelaccio, who uses an empty barrel of Ajinomoto-brand MSG he found on the street as a plant stand in his Chinatown apartment. “But get it just right and that dish will sing.”
The role of MSG in food, and its effects on health, remain controversial. Linda Bartoshuk, a director of the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste, who has studied the sensory effects of MSG for years, believes not only that MSG is harmful to health, but also that it has virtually no effect on the taste of food. “All this umami stuff is just marketing,” she said.
In 1995 the Food and Drug Administration issued a large-scale review by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, clearing glutamates as a health risk for the vast majority of consumers.
An international research review in 1987 by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations had come to the same conclusion.
“There was simply no clinical evidence for any of it,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University.
She did not even mention MSG in her recent book “What to Eat,” much of which is devoted to health concerns over food additives. “I thought the issue was settled, though I know a lot of people will never believe that,” she said.
NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
Yes, MSG, the Secret Behind the Savor
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By JULIA MOSKIN
Published: March 5, 2008
Pleased read this article about MSG.Without any proof pleased don't said that MSG is a poison food, don't try to blamed any people or any restaurant without knowledge.
If you worry about MSG, cook yourself please, if you worry MSG can poison you!
David Sauer,
Forbidden City Bistro never have an item at lunch menu cost $4.95 since they are open for business. I think you are right, is Fortune Garden, not Forbidden City.
David Sauer appears to be objecting philosophically to the expense of a meal. Is spending anything over a certain $ amount at a restaurant, immoral, wasteful and indicative of a corrupt, decayed society?
Just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying "Weekly Eater"!
It may be too late to weigh in on the MSG issue -- but since when did that stop me!
I am really allergic to MSG, and I have never felt sick after any of the many wonderful meals I've had at Forbidden City since they opened. Unlike one of the anonymous writers who apparently has spent time in FC's basement, I can't say how much MSG they have on site or how much goes into the food. But their food does not have that unmistakable chemical tang that heavy use of MSG gives.
(By the way, MSG is an ingredient in countless processed food items; dangerous or not, it's not some dread Poison of the East.)
(BTW - Speaking of, "Call it fear, maybe?" -- why not sign your name if you know what you're writing is true? Or do you work there and are afraid of getting fired? Inquiring minds want to know.)
Elizabeth Bobrick
This is the best restaurant at which I've ever eaten (just blogged about it again, actually). We know the owner personally, and he does NOT use MSG in any of his dishes.
I would recommend Forbidden City to anyone for its superb creativity and service.
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