A month ago, we tried the DDM as part of a dinner at Fey Restaurant in Menlo Park. This confirmed for me that the chef from Classic Sichuan is indeed here now . . . and reminded me of how awful Classic's version had been. To see the family resemblance, here's the gloppy mess at Classic,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/423798318/
At Fey, the waiter starting mixing the bowl of noodles furiously as soon as it was brought to the table. What is this obsession with flinging sauce droplets and abusing noodles at these places that cater to non-Chinese? Or perhaps he didn't want us to get a good look at the glop.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/8638750293/
Nonetheless, below is a close-in shot of a serving on my individual plate. Nearly pure peanut butter, the thick and creamy sauce was flecked with red chile flakes and some garlic. Instead of steeping chiles and Sichuan peppercorns in oil to bring out the oil-soluble flavor compounds, this version had a bit of peppercorn powder that added a faint citrusy scent and little numbing power. No ya cai either. The pork was cut into clumsy strips. At Little Sichuan where this chef used to work, the pork's cut into threads that are finer than the width of the noodles. This is a far cry from that knifework. And one final blow, the noodles were mushy and water-logged. We flagged down our server who took the dish back to the kitchen to be redone. She soon returned with an apology that all the noodles were like that, implying that the noodles are pre-cooked. This was taken off the bill.
Fey's is the worst version of DDM I've had in years.
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