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cityweekend

Here's to You, Mr. Deng

The foyer of this restaurant is graced by two giant pots and a kind of institutional soup-tasting station, but upon entering a tag-team of courtly hosts immediately sashayed us up to the saffron-swathed multi-mirrored second floor. This is Deng’s, named after its owner. The menu is concise but hardly superficial, with equal space provided for both Shanghai and Sichuan cuisines. Everything is prepared with a nice knowing touch. Fire-exploded beef slivers scattered with peppers and ginger strips (YY26) are eye pleasing and chewy and saucy beef cubes with sliced red peppers (YY28) are a riot--they come augmented by cornmeal bugles (a blast from the 60s snack pack?). Marble-textured dried tofu, glossy with garlic and sesame oil (YY16), is an excellent tangy starter. Urged by the server, we tried the roasted giant prawns in tomato sauce (YY38) which, although robust, were wearily Italianate. Overall, Deng’s offers a consistently fine-flavored and friendly experience--and we still have to come back and try the soup. --Katya Knyazeva