Mr. Bauer has filed his official thoughts on Martin Yan’s M.Y. China, the flashy new noodle emporium on the fourth floor of the Westfield mall. He likes the space, and the theater provided via noodle “dancers,” pulling dough into long noodles, although he says, “I’d rather see it in the kitchen and not the dining room.” He’s a fan of the noodle dishes he tried, including a beef soup with albeit tough simmered ribeye; and the wild boar scissor cut noodles, which Anna Roth also called out. The dim sum is “better than most places,” he sayss but “can’t compete with Yank Sing.” And he advises skipping the wok section of the menu, which he calls the “weakest link.” All told: two and a half stars. [Chron]
Jesse Hirsch says he never would have noticed Arabian Nights, the little Lebanese restaurant that opened in mid-2011 next to a smoke shop on Mission Street, unless a friend told him they had “the best Lebanese food in the city.” He says their version of hummus is one that will make a believer again out of the most “hummus-jaded souls,” and their grilled meats are “excellent,” especially the “adeptly spiced” kafta kabobs. Only the hardcore should order the kebbeh nayeh, he says, which is a lamb tartare dish very popular in Lebanon, and he says you can skip the phyllo-based dessert called knafeh bi jibn, as well. [Examiner]
