Ling Kitchen - Chef's Table

[hornian 5,207]

I went with my wife and some friends to Ling Kitchen last night for my birthday. It's a chef's table dining experience in North Austin (near Ohlen Road and 183 - so not the best part of town - they have you park in the back behind a gated entrance that you have to have a code to get into). It's by Chef Ling Wu, who also runs Ling Wu, Qi, and Lin Asian Bar in town. You have to make reservations ahead of time (duh), and they don't open up reservations for the following month until the first of the preceding month.  

The setup is a 10 course tasting menu, $150pp, reservations only in groups of 2/4/etc. They advertise it as a 10 seat experience, but last night there was at least double that. Still small, and intimate - but they must have gotten their sea legs and feel comfortable with a larger group now. The dining table is in the kitchen, so you see most of the dishes being prepared - but it's not obtrusive at all. 

Let me get it out of the way - this is worth doing. It is one of the best dining experiences I've had in Austin (not the best - that would be at Restaurant Jezebel (RIP)), and well worth $150 per person. They do not do a wine pairing, but they have an extensive wine list and spirits list, so you can certainly add on as you please. There is only one seating a night, and only 3 nights a week (Friday/Saturday/Sunday), so you do need to book out in advance unless you get lucky and they have a last minute cancellation. 

The dinner starts at 6:30, but they have a hot tea/champagne meet and greet starting at 6:00, and they ask you to be there on time so that they can star at 6:30 on the dot. Start to finish, it is just about 3 hours, and you don't feel rushed or like it is dragging on. The do have some breaks in between the courses, and they do things to make it more communal (like having you go around the table and introduce yourself and give a fun fact - which sounds corny but it was actually fun - I guess I'd had enough wine by then). 

Long cat post with photos in the spoiler below:

Spoiler

Here's last night's menu - I had to take 2 photos to get it all:

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First course - which was on the table when we were seated, was the lamb tartare. The ring around it looks like chocolate, but was actually black garlic:

 

Second course was the dumpling trio. It started with a squid/cuttlefish dumpling, followed by a beef dumpling, and finished with a crawfish stuffed money bag - from left to right they were good, better, best.

The third course was the pan seared pork belly. It was served wrapped in lettuce along with a micro greens salad with some picked daikon. It was outstanding, but I had to take a second picture to show there is actually pork belly after I took a bite. 

 

Fourth Course was the wok seared shrimp. They were served in a nest of fried taro roots ontop of another salad. They asked you to eat the shell as well, which I did (except the tail), and although I prefer not to eat shells on shrimp, I would eat them again in this preparation.

 

The fifth course was the Peking Duck, served in a treasure chest with mesquite smoke, along with a bao bun - there were several different shapes on the buns, mine was a heart, my wife's was a butterfly, another friend had a boar, etc. The duck was in two slices, one with foie gras and caviar, the other with some sort of green onion that escapes me. And that weird thing all the way on the right - that's a sezchaun peppercorn fried chicken tongue. It was crispy and spicy and delicious. It was top three dishes of last night for sure. 

 

The sixth course was a stuffed/fried squash blossom, filled will shimp and tofu. It was light and not greasy at all, and the dipping sauce was something you could practically drink on its own:

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After the sixth course they served a palate cleanser, which I've already forgotten what it was made of (it is based on a Singaporean fruit I had never heard of, made into an ice-cream in the shape of a fruit wedge) - but it was citrusy and cold and delicious. I could have eaten three more of these

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The seventh course was the sea bass - and while it was a very delicious sea bass, and the peppers were outstanding, it was the least impressive dish of the night. Don't get me wrong, if I had ordered this as an entree somewhere without the other courses, I'd be very happy with my dinner. But it was the least interesting dish of the night. 

The eighth course was one of, if not the, best dishes of the night. It was a laksa curry dish, with fried tofu, noodles, lobster, and scallions. It was bowl licking good. 

 

Course number nine was another candidate for best dish of the night. It was a lobster cream puff, wrapped in in activated charcoal mochi and shaped like a little mouse. It was so, so good. 

The tenth and final course was dessert - tonights' desert was a mandarin sorbet with a delicate cake inside and a green tea macaroon. Both were light, delicious, and a great end to the meal. The chinese characters say "Luck" according to the host (and verified by another dining guest who is from China), so at least we weren't being called names for enjoying our meals. 

 

It was a great experience - I would gladly go back for future special occasions (so if anyone wants to invite me, feel free). With wine and drinks and tip it was close to double the price as the food alone, which is not unexpected, but want to make sure that people aren't surprised. I do wish they had a wine pairing, because I'd rather have several different wines instead of sharing a bottle or two, but that's just a personal preference. All in all, I'm happy I finally made it there, and I'm glad we have this restaurant in Austin. 

 

Edited March 3 by hornian

[royiv 9,177]

Where did you stop for burgers on the way home?

[hornian 5,207]

 

21 hours ago, royiv said:

Where did you stop for burgers on the way home?

 

[UnivTex34 1,763]

We went to Ling Wu back in the fall, and it was some of the best food we have had in Austin in several years, so I'm not surprised. We are far south, so just haven't had a chance to try Kitchen, but it has been on our list. Damn that looks good.