We finally had a chance to try Fey last night. Arrived at prime-time, 7:00 or so. Place was jam packed. Just the 2 of us so wait wasn't that bad, maybe 15 min or so. What a wonderful addition to the Menlo Park area! So good to have a restaurant of this caliber close to home.
Here's what we had:
#42 Smoked Tofu Pork with Sichuan Pickles $9.50
#48 Xinjiang Fried Cumin Lamb $11.95
#139 Sichuan Spicy Cold bean jello (hot oil) $7.50
#142 Stir fried Sichuan Salty Long Beans $9.95
Each dish was beautifully prepared with precise knife work and complex flavor. I highly recommend the Smoked Tofu Pork with Sichuan Pickles. This dish just sings with flavor. The precisely cut pork strings, smoked tofu and Sichuan pickles show much care and was addictive.
The Stir Fried Sichuan Salty Long Beans were indeed salty but in a totally appetite stimulating way. The beans were cut into about 1/4" pieces so precise as were the other ingredients. There was what looked like finely ground meat but I'm not sure if it was pork or maybe chicken. Haunting flavors.
The Cumin Lamb was good but the proportion of meat to veg was a bit skewed. Again, intense flavors.
And the Spicy Cold Bean Jello in Spicy oil: This is another dish that I'm liking more each time. This version included toasted soy beans as a garnish. Again, very tasty but no Sichuan peppercorn in evidence.
We really loved all the dishes but the absence of Sichuan Peppercorn was disappointing. I believe that what might have happened was the misconception that we didn't want authentic flavors in the dishes. When we were seated a dish of fried wonton wrappers amply dusted with coarse sugar (!) was placed on the table. I looked at them and wondered where was the dish of spicy cabbage or something on that order. When our server came near I asked about it and she went and got us some. I guess they don't want to waste them on folks who might not appreciate this appetite stimulator. I can't imagine anyone wanting to eat sweetened wonton chips before a meal...
When it came time to order I began with the Bean Jello in Spicy oil - our server tried to talk me out of it but I reassured her that we have had this dish and like it plus we are not afraid of "spicy"! Same with the other dishes. Query about spicy, me telling her yes, spicy. Dishes were not spicy so next time I'll have to be more emphatic.
On the seating: In front there are a number of booths that seat 2-6 or so. The middle section has round tables that seat 6-8, maybe 10. The next room back has larger round tables. In the back there is a room that can be closed with double doors - last night there was a huge round table with what looked like 16 diners.
Everyone in the restaurant looked like they were having a grand time, including us. We are looking forward to working our way through the menu. I hope they will be able to maintain the quality they have now and that business continues to be good. The hostess mentioned that Friday and Saturday nights are very busy but that it is quieter on week nights. We'll have to go back soon to check that out.
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