Mission Chinese Food, LES, NYC

The new digs of Mission Chinese are much more palatable than old divey basement ones, where Danny Bowien launched his scorching menu of eccentric Chinese food.

Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest to this establishment for a complimentary meal. All opinions expressed in this post are my own

At his new location, the menu helmed by Chef Dimayuga offers classic favorites along with toned down dishes that veer away from all the ‘heat and burn’.

I was invited for a special lunch at Mission Chinese with L.A. Times food critic Jonathon Gold, to celebrate the launch of his movie “The City of Gold”. Needless to say we had quite a feast laid out for us.

We started with the ‘Green Papaya and Banana Blossom Salad’, which was absolutely outstanding. This plate combined elements that were pickled, steamed, fresh cut and fried which all worked so well together. For me, this was one of the standout dishes.

You can’t go to Mission Chinese and not have some of the searing signature dishes. We tried the “Chongqing Chicken Wings’ and the ‘Mapo Tofu’ made with heritage pork, aged beef fat and doubanjiang. Both these dishes provided great heat to get those juices flowing.

There was a beautiful plate of ‘Chewy Green Tea Noodles’ flavored with ginger and dusted with matcha. This refreshing dish provided a great balance to the chili and pepper infused dishes we were treated to earlier.

There is a lot more on Mission Chinese’s menu that makes it all the rage that it is. I will say that it’s nowhere near cheap but there’s something about this Danny Bowien’s Chinese kitschy den that makes you want to keep coming back for more.

Here is some of what we ate: