Ming Dynasty offers an extensive selection of generously portioned fat-free and fat-saturated Szechuan dishes. Busy students appreciate the option of dining in or getting delivery. Such possibilities are to the restaurant's credit. And, they are not the problem. The problem is that meal options are only as good as the meals they represent. At Ming Dynasty, the meals are just not good, no matter how you cut the fat.
Just down Emmet Street, next to Golfzilla, rests Ming Dynasty, a narrow, little restaurant composed of a colony of circular tables and row of booths. Unpretentious in décor, Ming does not pretend to be what it is not, an establishment of fine dining. For all of its humble appearance, its prices are not so modest, especially for Chinese food. Specialties such as the Kung-Pao Treasure, a dish that incorporates shrimp, chicken, beef and vegetables in a spicy brown sauce, is priced at $10.95 while the love shrimp, a chef recommendation, goes for $14.
Starters are much more reasonably priced. Ming Dynasty offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian menus that feature diverse selections from appetizers to main courses. Unfortunately, whether one is pro or anti-vegetable, there is little to please the palate. Spring rolls ($1 each) are greasy and cabbage-laden. Won-ton soup ($1.50) is warm, but bland. The same can be said of the hot and sour soup which, although "hot" in temperature, lacks the distinct flavor for which it is named.
Equally bland is the tea which comes complimentary with every meal, but does little to complement any meal. Tepid and watered down, the tea's token treasure lies in the delicate blue and white cups and saucers in which it is served.
The entrees, sadly, do little to redeem disappointing starters. On the fat-free side of things, it is hard to hold the restaurant completely accountable. Chinese food, like most good cuisine, is flavorful and savory as a result of some inclusion of fat. The elimination of fat leaves food as it appears on the diner's plate at Ming dynasty - bland, colorless, and limp.
Steamed, rather than stir-fried, all of the fat-free entrees at Ming Dynasty are oil free and low sodium. They are, as a result, good for you, even if they are not good.
Both the steamed shrimp with vegetables ($9.95) and the steamed chicken with vegetables ($7.95) are served in hearty portions and contain some heaping fronds of broccoli. Served with either white or brown rice, such entrees come with Szechuan or ginger sauce, which not only should be used, but must be used if the diner wants to experience the sensation of taste while consuming the meal.
Vegetarians who crave some designer-imposter meat product can be satiated at Ming Dynasty, but only if the meat product which they desire is one of an ambiguous or, perhaps, fictional nature.
Although Ming boasts of its vegetarian chicken, concocted by melding soy and special spices, the particular chicken flavor seems elusive to the taste.
In particular, the vegetarian chicken with cashew nuts ($7.25) is an utter disappointment as the imposter chicken tastes, not only unlike chicken, but unlike any identifiable thing we'd ever had. Further frustrating the dish is that the taste is a rather repugnant. Its identity is blurred by being drenched in a thick, sticky and disagreeable brown sauce.
Slightly more agreeable are the legitimate chicken dishes. For $8.95, Ming cooks up a reasonable, but overly sauced sesame chicken, deep-fried and then glazed with both brown sauce and sesame seeds.
For those who crave spicy cow, Ming makes an edible beef with orange flavor ($9.25) which is just as it is called, slices of beef sauteed with orange peel and hot pepper sauce, lots of it.
The waiters, though, are nice. And, at the end of the meal they bring slices of oranges to cleanse the palette. It's just that no orange is up to such a task. Ming Dynasty is not horrible, but neither is it good.
Before leaving, we broke our fortune cookies. One said, "Tomorrow will be an important day for you." This I wish to Ming Dynasty. But tomorrow is a long time coming.
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