From the first day I arrived in Salt Lake City, I have been on a sweeping search for the consummate Chinese dive. The kind of mom and pop place where few people speak English, but everyone communicates splendidly over hearty portions of authentic and exotic food, reasonably priced. After eating at Ming's my search still continues, but this small Chinese cafe in Foothill Village could possibly suffice until I find the true object of my quest.
For one thing, Ming's is far too clean and light, and the service is too friendly for it to be considered a dive. Located in a narrow but pleasant venue on the main level of the plaza, the dining room and the kitchen are immaculate, with no three-day-old smells radiating from the kitchen and clinging to the tables and floors, as you often find in restaurants of this nature.And the servers are attentive, prompt and eager to please. If they're not quite sure how certain foods translate into English, they are very willing to quickly find out for you.
I was grateful for this when I had a hard time identifying the very large and fresh fish filet in the Seafood Delight, one of the most enjoyable dishes on the menu. It was red snapper, tossed with sweet crab, scallops, shrimp and vegetables in a delicate oyster sauce, for $10.25. The portion was large - there would have been plenty for four.
Another of the menu's highlights was the Szechuan beef, not because of its particularly inspired seasoning, but because of the otherworldly blackwood fungus, which is not easily found in other locations. Black and slippery with evil-looking tentacles, it reminds you of something that would crawl up from your drain or out from under your bed in your worst nightmares. It's actually therapeutic to pinch these wicked little monsters between your chop sticks and pop them into your mouth, effortlessly chewing, swallowing and disposing of the heinous creatures. If only fears and other real-life demons could be dispatched so effortlessly, or taste so good and pungent. This dish can be made with either pork, chicken, beef, shrimp or vegetables and costs $7.25, a pittance when compared to the cost of professional counseling. The same blackwood fungus also comes in the Buddha's feast, a vegetarian dish for $6.45.
I can't say I enjoyed the other dishes quite as much. We ordered the Pao Pao tray in order to sample every appetizer. It came with fried jumbo shrimps, fried wontons, golden dumplings, Malaysian satay beef, egg rolls and paper wrapped chicken for $9.50. It was served on the de rigueur lazy susan-style wooden dish, with a flaming hibachi-type apparatus on top, upon which we could further roast the satay. It was nice for presentation, but not much more. Most of the fried dishes were overdone, especially the shrimp, which was large but completely overpowered by the thick, crusty batter. The best offering on the tray was the golden dumplings, or pot stickers. Their meat and vegetable filling made them plump and tasty, and a bit of cilantro added an interesting and unusual dimension to them.
In our efforts to try the traditional one beef, one seafood and one chicken dish, we ordered the pea pod chicken, for $7.25. It came with many varied mushrooms and pea pods we could actually witness being painstakingly snapped only minutes before in an obscure corner of the dining room. The vegetables were fresh but the sauce was unmemorable, rendering this dish about average.
All dinners at Ming's come with a covered, lacquer bowl of steamed white rice and your choice of Oolong or Jasmine tea, plus, of course, fortune cookies that arrive with your check. You know, I think I would pay extra and drive out of my way to attend a restaurant that made the extra effort to provide cookies with interesting, amusing and exciting fortunes, rather than the pithy, all-applicable statements that seem to be standard these days. Bland "fortunes" somewhat characterize the majority of Chinese food in the area, and Ming's rises just slightly above that.
Rating: * * *
Ming's, 1330 Foothill Drive, Salt Lake City, 582-1616. Open Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday through Saturday, through 10:30 p.m. and Sunday, 5-10 p.m. Take-out is available and promptly provided, with a 10 percent discount on a $10 minimum. Reservations are suggested for parties of five or more.