Last night, I attended a fund raiser at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant for a local Newton Alderman Amy Mah Sangiolo. It was my first time at this restaurant. It was very busy on a hot humid Thursday night and we had the back room space. Going to events with Chinese menus you usually have banquet style. This time, the food was very good and when there is usually a lot of leftovers, this event did not have any!
Starting off the menu was the seafood soup---simple with bits of seafood and egg swirled within the velvety broth. Next was their version of Pei Pah Tofu (usually served lightly fried cubes of tofu with ground shrimp) but here they roll it up for easier eating and it was a very nice touch. Not overly greasy and the wrapping made it easier to dip and eat compared to the traditional style of Pei Pah Tofu. Then came the seafood stir fried with vegetables in a fried tarot root basket. Again, the food was very fresh, the sauce light and the fried tarot basket was a hit! Then came the beef and broccoli (american) with the marinated beef in a brown sauce with the great crispy broccoli florets decorating the edges hit the spot.
One of my personal favorites and a rarely seen item at a fundraising menu is Crabmeat sauce over peapod stems! Peapod stems tend to be a bit on the pricey side but are very healthy and delicious. You can get them usually stir fried with garlic but with the crab sauce it was light and healthy. More seafood came with the big shrimp with walnuts and mayo (one of the big hits of the night) there is something about this combination that attracts many fans to it! The roast duck was great too with crispy skin and the meat was tender and juicy. The general gau's chicken was not overly breaded or in an extremely spicy sauce---just mild and good for a banquet style meal (as not everyone can handle spicy foods).
The meal ended with two traditional items a rice and noodle dish, the noodle dish was a regular stir fried noodles and the fried rice was Yang Chow style studded with bits of char siu (roast pork) and shrimp.
The service was attentative, we always had our water glasses filled (not bad with so many people on a busy night), the food came out a a good pace and everyone had a great time. If you live kind of far from Chinatown and you do not want to make there, go to Newton Center to Jumbo seafood!
**Majority of the items were taken off the Chinese language menu.
I give it 8 forks out of 10 forks.
