Golden Bay
8828 Research, 377-2869Monday, 11am-10pm; Tuesday-Friday, 11am-1am; Saturday, 10:30am-1am; Sunday, 10:30am-10pm
Until about 15 years ago, Austin’s Chinese population was relatively small. In terms of Chinese food, there were few alternatives to chow mein and sticky pineapple sauces. However, the recent influx of Asian immigrants (not to mention immigrants from both coasts) led to a surge of exceptional new Asian restaurants. With the advent of restaurants such as T&S Seafood and Din Ho, the city got its first taste of how Chinese food is done in the more established Chinatowns of New York, San Francisco, and Vancouver. These are places where the clientele insist on freshness, particularly in terms of seafood, and so to accommodate, the owners keep tanks of fish and shellfish alive and swimming until they are ordered. They roast and barbecue their own meats then display them in the window for customers to evaluate. Above all, they offer voluminous menus that demonstrate the diversity and complexity of Chinese cuisine. The newest such restaurant in Austin is Golden Bay, specializing in Cantonese seafood and daily dim sum.
Not surprisingly, fresh seafood is what the restaurant does best. We ordered a whole steamed tilapia in ginger and scallion. One minute it was bathing in its tank; the next it had been cleaned and gutted, set atop the steamer, and then served with ribbons of peppers, ginger, and green onion. From steamed lobsters to crispy salt-and-pepper seafood to kung pao shrimp, Golden Bay delivers Chinese classics of admirable quality.
Slightly less orthodox but tasty nonetheless was the twice-cooked pork, which featured barbecued rather than braised pork that was then stir-fried with sliced bamboo and cabbage. We were not as pleased about the Mapo Tofu, a Szechwan classic made with minced pork, tofu, and scallions in a spicy fermented bean-and-chile sauce, which has always been a favorite dish of mine. Here it lacked the robust fermented bean-and-chile flavor I love, but tasted instead a little watered down.
On another occasion, we went for dim sum. The restaurant offers excellent versions of the time-tested standards: chunky radish cakes; dumplings bursting with stout pieces of shrimp, fresh chives, and cilantro; and steamed five-spiced rice with pork and Chinese sausage in a lotus leaf. However, Golden Bay distinguishes itself from other dim sum houses by offering some unusual options, as well. Thick rice noodles rolled and then stir-fried in soy, red pepper, and fresh scallions were delicious, as was the fried eggplant wrapped around a shrimp paste stuffing. We were thrilled to discover among the carts, tiny, deep-fried whole fish and glistening clams in black bean sauce, two classic dishes not typically seen on dim sum carts. The carts come around efficiently and often. My only complaint was that none of them were steam heated so that by the time the dishes were placed on the table, especially the steamed dumplings, some of them had begun to get a bit cold and sticky. This aside, Golden Bay’s dim sum is definitely top notch, and the restaurant is poised to become one of Austin’s better Chinese eateries.
This article appears in October 15 • 2004.
