For our last evening in Maryland, we gathered for a big Chinese banquet at Seven Seas Chinese Restaurant Seven Seas Chinese Restaurant, where we had our own room for our party of 20.

We started with a set of cold appetizers, which were impressively presented. The first was Abalone, tossed in some spicy oil. This is a very traditional preparation and I love it.

spicy abalone

Jellyfish is another one of my favorites, a crunchy chewiness unique to this seafood. I was so impressed by the vegetable/fruit floral design on the side.
jellyfish

While the Mussels were good, it didn’t seem Chinese to me.
mussels

While the bay scallops were flavored with lots of cilantro, they also didn’t seem Chinese to me, but again, they were still good.

bay scallops

The dragon roll isn’t Chinese for sure but it was very pretty, like all the other dishes.
dragon roll

That was just the cold appetizers. Next, the soup of Tea Tree Mushrooms and Aged Chicken was definitely more Chinese. Nothing exciting though.

Aged Chicken Soup

The Lobster with Chinese Yam (I think they are referring to the Jicama) was over-cooked and the sauce was too slimy for us, but again, I’m so impressed with the plating.

Lobster with Jicama

I haven’t had Sea Cucumber in a long time and boy do I miss it. It’s one of the ugliest foods but if you can get past that, it’s great. This is the kind of sauce, you want to slather all over your rice.

Sea Cucumber with Scallion

The Frenched Lamb Chops were cooked perfectly, moist juicy lolipops (well, if you hold it by the bone). Do you see how big this plate is? Some of my cousins don’t eat lamb, so I got to eat a whole lot of these.
Frenched Lamb Chops

Crispy Mango Beef is kind of a fusion dish. They did a great job making it very crispy while tasting caramelized. Lon loved it but as you may be able to guess by now, it was too sweet for me.

Crispy Mango Beef

Braised Pork Butt is another very traditional dish. It reminds me of my grandpa who wanted this dish at every meal possible. The meat melts off the bone and the thick layer of skin and fat can be off-putting to those that are not used to it, but it’s a Chinese delicacy.

Braised Pork Butt

Lon loved the Tilapia Braised in Garlic Sauce, a classic Chinese preparation of fresh fish.

Braised Tilapia with garlic

My mom and I both kept raving about the Abalone with Tofu. Neither of us have had it before but it was comforting, yet light, and really highlighted the flavor of abalone.

Abalone with Tofu

The dessert was a Mango Coconut jello mold, which tasted like the liquid from canned fruit cocktail to me, but perfect because it wasn’t too sweet.

fruit jello

Since I haven’t been to many other Chinese restaurants in Maryland, I can only compare to what we have in NY and there are some interesting differences. I think they serve a mixed clientele here of Chinese and Americans, which results in a more fusion-ish flavor and much nicer plating. (Most Chinese restaurants in Chinatown coudn’t give two shi** what their food looks like.) Another huge difference is that this meal is a freakin’ steal. For $400 per table (so $40 per person), it’s a lot of food, with some pricey ingredients. The banquet is 10 courses, which is common, but the first course of cold appetizers, was really 5 dishes, and they don’t waste with filler (like fried rice and noodles). With this kind of quantity, you’re better off not liking every dish, haha.

In comparison, I still favor the places we have in Flushing, but according to my uncles, this is the best Chin
ese they have in town.

posted by jessica at 05:40 PM Filed under Asian, Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.