Tasty China is a Chinese restaurant on the northern corner of Telephone Road and Petit Ave. They serve authentic Szechuan (Se-Sh-Wan) cuisine, and are said by some to be the 8th best Xiao Long Bao (Zsh-Ow-Long-Bow) spot, a type of soup dumpling, in North America. Tasty China prides themselves in creating traditional dishes that satisfy their customers.
The first time you spy this hidden gem, don’t be fooled. The exterior of the restaurant is an unsuspecting front located in a small strip mall on the east side of Ventura, Calif. without any decor or elaborate signage that could attract your attention. However, when I set foot in the door I was greeted with a warm welcome and smells of the kitchen which overpowered the unflattering neon green plaster covering the walls.
The restaurant has a small interior and only 24 seats, resulting in the majority of orders coming through their kitchen being takeout. Because of this your food will occasionally be delayed and the front door can get crowded with eager customers waiting for their pre-ordered meals. I’ve tried the takeout option before and I personally think eating in is much better. Not only do you get to enjoy the traditional Chinese cooking youtube videos, but most items on the menu are better when eaten straight off the stove.
When I sat down, the table setting was simple, but appealing. I was provided with an ice cold cup of water, a plate equipped with a small fork and a pair of chopsticks and a sheet of paper acting as a table mat describing to me the 12 characters of the Chinese calendar.
Before I chose my food, I ordered a pot of jasmine tea which really hit the spot. After that I got down to the good stuff: the food.
Xiao long bao (Zsh-Ow-Long-Bow)
Let’s start off with this Chinese eatery’s signature dish. The steaming broth was delicious paired with the firm shrimp and pork center, and it was all pulled together by a soft and slightly chewy dumpling skin turning these Xiao Long Bao into savory balls of flavor. On top of that, a sour soy sauce based topping added a nice tang to the heavy dumplings. However, when you plucked the Bao from the steamer and placed it on your soup spoon it almost always ended up with a struggle to fit the dumpling into your mouth without losing half of it on to your plate. The pastry ripped easily and the broth and bits of meat would fall making it hard to fully enjoy every bite.
Rating: 9.5/10
Wood ear mushroom salad
This salad was a little bit out of the ordinary. The wood ear mushroom is a type of fungus that grows on the bark of elder trees and doesn’t exactly look the most appetizing when uncooked. Sticking to its name, it looked somewhat like a deformed elephant ear and had a slight crunchy texture when you bit into it. The mushrooms were bathing in a pool of a vinegar based sauce and a garnish of cilantro and sliced onion. They soaked in these flavors beautifully. My only issue with this dish was that it didn’t exactly pack a punch, but maybe that’s what you’re looking for after a course of heavy dumplings.
Rating: 9.5/10
Beef and broccoli
The beef and broccoli presented a more common taste to the table. The beef was fried and soaked in a semi-sweet sauce with broccoli and carrots on top. It tasted good and the beef and vegetables paired nicely, but the meat had a strange soft gummy texture that didn’t sit right with me. However, it was a solid dish that I would order again.
Rating: 8/10
Green onion pancakes
These pancakes are simple, savory pastries that are fried with a crispy outside and chewy middle. The inside is packed with green onions adding flavor to the simple side plate. They tasted amazing and were a great appetizer, but lost their quality quickly once they got cold. They can’t really be described as the star player, but they serve their role well as long as you don’t order take out.
Rating: 8.5/10
Pork bun
The last course of the night was disappointingly average. The pastry was dense and had no real flavor, the inside of the bun’s pork filling tasted somewhat like meatloaf and there was no real way to eat the bun without the pork falling out of the pastry. The flavors surprisingly worked together in a way I wouldn’t have thought of before, but I still would have traded it out for another one of Tasty China’s elements.
Rating: 7/10
All of this food added up to $60.84 and filled me and two others to the brim, taking only one small box home. Tasty China not only left me full but satisfied and happy. Even though a couple of the plates didn’t live up to their full potential,my fellow patrons and I had an amazing time, eating and enjoying Tasty China’s authentic Szechuan delicacies.
