capital tea garden

Whenever I step out onto the porch of my new place I smell a delicious smell. It comes from Capital Tea Garden on T and 11th. I thought that nobody ever eats at this place but the smell was making me curious so I asked around. I got mixed reviews and decided it was best to try it for myself. The first time I went I got crispy duck, winter melon soup, and garlic bok choy. The veggie section on the menu is very sparse so we inquired about additional greens instead of bok choy and were told they had mustard greens (which were not on the menu). We ordered those but still got bok choy. Oh well. It was OK, very garlicky but also quite tough and not fun to eat. The winter melon soup was flavorless and gelatinous with small bits of duck floating on top. However, the crispy duck was the bomb. I enjoyed the flavor more than any duck I've ever eaten, probably because it wasn't very gamey. The cuts we got were not very meaty. I would have liked more duck, but it wasn't very expensive so I didn't feel ripped off. It came with a sweet dipping sauce that was a perfect accompaniment. Did I spell that right? I hate that word. The market around the corner, Cheung Hing, serves food in the back and shares the kitchen with Capital Tea Garden. Ella picked up some dim sum there on new years day to go along with the brunch feast I was making. She got pork shu mai and shrimp har gow. They were so fucking good! She also got a bunch of steamed pork buns. She said it helps to order all the stuff in Chinese so they know what you're talking about. Like if you just say shrimp dumpling they might not be able to help you, depending on who's working. The buns are something like Char Shu Bao. She also recommended the soy sauce chicken and the BBQ pork and seconded my rec of the crispy duck.

As I said this goes along with my new year's resolution to eat more Chinese food. I love living in Sac and one of the only things that occasionally gets me down is having to eat at the same few restaurants over and over if I don't want to drive into the burbs. I have not had a lot of luck with Chinese restaurants because I usually just try the same few things that I know and I already know what they taste like and that I will like them but not love them. A lot of Chinese restaurants have a different menu for more adventurous eaters (sometimes written only in Chinese) and I want to broaden my horizons. So far it's going great. I'll keep reporting back.