Devotees of the pan-Asian craze, check your sense of adventure at the door: Miss Yip is all about comfort food, the moo shu pork and pepper steak to Joe Allen's meatloaf and mashed potatoes. At her namesake eatery, Jenny Yip serves simple, clean, straight-ahead Chinese and dim sum. The bustling dining room, done up with lanterns and giant apothecary jars, is a dramatic spot for large parties. After dinner, head upstairs to lounge at Buck15, the unofficial rec room for Beach hipsters.
There really is a Miss Yip restaurant, after months of anticipation. And there really is a Miss Yip, as well. Jenny Yip is a Chinese-American restaurateur who decided she'd like to open a Chinese-American restaurant to go with Bond St., the Japanese spot she owns with a partner at the Townhouse Hotel. And that, in the late Bambu's Lincoln Road-side space, is what Miss Yip has done.
Open about four weeks, her namesake place serves simple, clean, straight-ahead Chinese. Devotees of the pan-Asian craze, check your sense of adventure at the door: Miss Yip is all about comfort food, the moo shu pork and pepper steak to Joe Allen's meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
For such a young and moderately priced place, Miss Yip is expertly run. Servers are in-depth familiar with the menu and ready to make recommendations. Food arrives promptly but well-spaced; when this place catches on, and it will, they'll be pumping turnover through like a machine.
An open kitchen is the centerpiece of a brightly lit, bustling scene. In the back there's a quiet, comfortable bar with small tables stocked with parlor games; you can eat in here and read a book away from the din.
The meal begins with an offer of hot jasmine flower tea, a fragrant and flavorful brew you shouldn't miss. Appetizers include the expected soups and a few dim sum items (there is a much larger dim sum menu at lunch). Hot and sour soup was the clear winner, leaning more to the hot, with aggressive black pepper hitting a fine flavor note.
Good, too, are salt and pepper squid flowers, the Chinese-American take on fried calamari. Dozens of chunks of squid (this is entree-size) are breaded and stir-fried. There wasn't nearly enough chili sauce, but the unadorned squid was still a winner, hot, tender and fresh.
Skip the under-flavored trio of vegetarian spring rolls (cabbage, carrot, mushroom) in favor of a dim sum favorite: pork-shrimp dumplings. These fat, juicy, steamed morsels pack in the minced pork, shrimp, mushrooms and carrot.
The Princess Jade sea bass entree, enthusiastically endorsed by our server, is not exactly what you would expect. The fish is in chunks, breaded and fried, served with a kind of mayo sauce with Chinese spices. It wins you over with beautifully fresh, faintly sweet bass, and plenty of it. Chinese broccoli completes the picture.
Random pieces of unchewable beef marred the Chinese pepper steak. We'd kick up the spicing of the mild black bean sauce and upgrade the meat, especially for $16.95.
Best entree was Peking shrimp, jumbo beauties butterflied and sautéed in a savory oyster sauce inspired by garlic, chile and vinegar.
Coconut pudding is not a creamy confection but a firm, jiggly gelatin-like thing. Coconut milk and half-and-half contribute flavor and depth, making it a refreshing finish.
