JJ Dynasty |
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| 4514 Sunrise Hwy. | |
| Oakdale, NY 11769-1012 | |
| 631-567-2660 | |
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Hours:
Lunch, Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. dinner, Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. | |
A few weeks earlier, I had been impressed by the high caliber of the sushi and Chinese specialties at this unassuming strip-mall restaurant. But would they be open on a Saturday afternoon? I called around noon and learned that, while the restaurant was mainly in takeout mode, it would gladly accommodate us. "Will the sushi chef be in?" I wanted to know. "The sushi chefs are always in," the woman on the other end answered.
The fish-rolling team of Chao Chen and Joe Chen (who are not related) had won me over earlier with their black pepper tuna tataki, the fish artfully plated and pristinely fresh. Their "JJ Dynasty" roll -- spicy crunchy tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado and seaweed salad -- was an ornate combo, but it succeeded. So, too, did the impeccable "rainbow" sushi plate of tuna, yellowtail and salmon plus a salmon roll.
That afternoon, we were a heterogeneous group, both in age and in food preferences. Sushi eaters contented themselves by sharing a number of rolls, plain and fancy. Everything worked, from the simplest vegetarian items (a sweet potato tempura roll, an avocado roll), to the most rococo combinations (a "volcano" roll composed of eel, avocado, cucumber with spicy tuna on top).
Both the wonton and hot and sour soups surpassed the suburban norm; corn soup was full-flavored and satiny. I reaffirmed my aversion toward heavy items like egg rolls, shrimp toast and fantail shrimp, all of which had been fried to an oily crunch. Much better were pan-fried vegetable dumplings, bright spinach dough encasing colorful minced vegetables.
On my first visit, I had especially liked a "chef's special" that featured shrimp in a bright red chili sauce on one side of a platter and shredded pork with black bean sauce on the other. It was, quite aptly, called "double delight."
How, though, did one explain "the cowherd and the weaver girl?" A takeout-menu dish, it sounded more like a role-playing game than a mixture of chicken, beef and vegetables. We ordered it in the dining room and decided that its appellation probably referred to the liveliness of the ingredients and how well they played together.
That same compatibility informed the chicken and eggplant with garlic sauce, silky-textured Japanese eggplant and tender poultry in a heady sauce. Hunan beef had a subtle kick while kung pao shrimp (with peanuts and water chestnuts) delivered crunch as well as fire.
"Is everything here so spicy?" my mother asked. "Try the chicken with cashews," I advised her. While far from bland, this was a dish for those who like to eat on the mild side.
JJ Dynasty, I found out, has something for just about everyone.
Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 10/14/05.
