Here's the problem with Mission Chinese Food being named one of Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants

Ma po tofu
via insidescoopsf.sfgate.com

This dish, the Ma po tofu, is so hot that it's practically inedible. I like spicy. This was magma. I hate to say it, but even though this may be authentic and the inhabitants of the Sichuan region have tongues of steel, most of us in California do not. Dear chef, know your audience.

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Nubian said…
Nothing worse. Did you send it back?
August 16, 2011 at 6:08 PM
altredego said…
Maybe they know their audience and you are not it? Maybe some people want to experience true authentic food without the "I'm an American and must be treated like a baby". Just because you can't handle the heat, doesn't mean you shut down the kitchen, it just means you should the hell out of the kitchen and eat your bland american baby food at the childrens table where you belong!
August 16, 2011 at 6:10 PM
toddx said…
@Nubian, no, I didn't send it back. I give restaurants the benefit of the doubt in most cases. Even though it was inedible, I was willing to accept the blame.

@alteredego You may be right. As someone who actually likes to taste his food, perhaps I'm not the right person to eat here. I, for example, believe multiple areas of the tongue's tastebuds should be stimulated--not murdered.

The historical need to mask the flavor of rancid, rotting food with hyper-extreme spiciness has passed. Or so I thought. It's possible, I suppose, that Mission Chinese chooses to utilize decaying foodstuffs in their dishes andbi should actually be grateful for their heavy hand with the spice. I doubt this, though. I think they just didn't know what they were doing.
August 16, 2011 at 11:13 PM
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