Beijing Bistro

On a recent Sunday evening, before the Tig Notaro comedy show at the Count Basie Center in the twee town of Red Bank, we grabbed an early dinner at the newly renamed Beijing Bistro (formerly Temple Gourmet Chinese). We have dined here several times before, including when we ordered our wedding rings at nearby Tiffany & Co. I remembered it as having had amazing Hot & Sour soup, but I forgot it was BYOB, so we order soft drinks. Next time we’ll bring our own libations (a great way to save a few clams),

When our waiter Tim comes by, I order that Hot & Sour soup again. J gets wonton soup. We pair it with Shanghai spring rolls with shrimp because they look crispy as hell on the menu. Then, because we’re headed to a show and don’t want to deal with takeaway, we decide to split an order of Velvet Chicken served in a rice wine sauce with seasonal vegetables. 

After Tim leaves, we take another look around the place. One side of the restaurant is an attractive room with an impressive Asian bar and table seating. The adjoining room is a weird gray box with a series of slightly unsettling holes in the walls—think poison gas holes in a Bond film (but they’re probably just the remains of some previous wall-mounted décor. Busy yellow wallpaper flocks the lower walls. And there’s some odd, homemade lighting above that adds a college study hall lighting scheme. 

Oddly however, the attractive bar side is empty but doing a brisk trade in takeout, while the weird gray room is medium-full of couples and families. It’s inexplicably like that every time we visit. Also, the kitchen looks like it’s located in a utility room.

But that can’t be right, can it? Because the food is usually so fresh and good, with prices that are reasonable like $5 for soup—of which they have wonton, Hot & Sour, chicken egg and corn, crabmeat asparagus soup and Beijing Soup, which is described as “a light mélange of chicken, beef, and shrimp in our homemade chicken broth.” The entrees run about $17-20, feature many gluten-free options, and in addition to the usual suspects, include unexpected dishes like Basil Chow Fun, Sizzling Tofu Steak, Lobster Fried Rice, and Black Pepper Filet Mignon. The portions are huge, and the food is fresh and usually very well prepared. 

The table across from us gets that chicken lettuce wraps appetizer and it leaves us longing. When the mom asks, “Anyone want some?” I almost say “Yes.”

I truly do end up wishing we’d gotten that appetizer when the shrimp spring rolls arrive and they’re not homemade—and mine is cool inside. I told Tim and he took it away but returned 90 seconds later with the same spring roll—like I was going to eat if after who knows what in the kitchen. Noes ways. 

But anyway, the Hot & Sour soup is good, with big mushrooms and a nice broth but a bit heavy on the white pepper this time. Js wonton soup is loaded with juicy and meaty wontons with a nice broth. And the soup came in big legit soup bowls, not tiny cups.

The entree arrives and it is clean and unfussy. There’s lots of chicken and vegetables like sugar snap peas, peppers, broccoli, and shiitake mushrooms and they are crispy and fresh. The rice wine sauce is invisible and innocuous. It’s a very sensible dinner. 

The waiter checks in on us and he’s perfectly adequate, but somehow the food seems not as good. But because it’s been pretty tasty in the past, I still recommend this place for a tight lunch or affordable pre-show dinner.

You get a fortune cookie with your bill and that’s A-OK with me. Dinner Is $54 with the tip and we are out the door in 40 minutes. It’s only a block from Count Basie so it’s a nice place to pop in before a show. I’m left with many questions about the operation of this place, but the chef is obviously skilled so maybe work out the kinks? And start to seat your guests in the nice dining room with the beautiful décor and impressive-looking Asian bar that apparently serves no drinks; life is short—what are you saving it for?

Beijing Bistro
91 Broad Street
Red Bank, NJ 07701732-212-8858
Beijingbistro.net
Sunday-Thursday 12-9 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 12-9:30 p.m.

Save a Few Clams

Come for lunch 12-3 pm on weekdays and get a huge platter of food with salad, soup, and an entree for $15. It’ll be enough left over for dinner if that’s your thing. Also, save clams via BYOB.