So why do people like Zoe’s? Well, on some spicy and unusual dishes, it’s incredible. Double-cooked pork ($7.95) is a completely different reading of this Sichuan classic. It’s plenty hot, but most of the heat comes from the flavorful stir-fried green chilies that seep into the slices of pork with a streak of fat and over a bed of mixed vegetables. Green chilies also combine with numerous dried red chilies (don’t eat these!) and seeds in “dry diced chicken with hot chili” ($8.95) to make an incendiary flavor like coriander seed. (It may also have Sichuan peppercorns in the mix.) This dish is less breaded than the Somerville version, and even better for it. Ma po tofu ($7.50) has a milder version of this flavor, on silken tofu and ground pork. And lamb with cumin and spicy sauce ($12.95) is a terrific dish, from a Chinese Muslim cuisine we seldom see in Boston, served on a bed of fresh parsley that makes a nice contrast to a dish that is only moderately spicy.
Almost as enticing were two appetizers of cold noodles: chilled with sesame vinaigrette ($3.95) and dan dan noodles with minced pork and vinaigrette ($3.95), which differ mainly in details. Either one is a fine dish of cold, spicy spaghetti. Chopped pork ribs with the house special sauce ($9.50) is another comfort-food dish that uses five-spice sweetness on falling-off-the-bone cubes of spare rib, plenty of black mushrooms, and other vegetables.
One thing you can rely on at every meal is very good rice: already fragrant, but made even better with some of the simpler sauces, such as the light garlic-soy used on the vegetables of the day. These, too, are variable, but a recent platter of Chinese broccoli ($7.95) was excellent: stemmier but also sweeter than Italo-American broccoli. House special fried rice ($6.50) is white, somewhat oily, and filled with nice morsels of shrimp, pork, and vegetables.
The tea is weak Pouchong and the only dessert is fortune cookies. The room is quite nice, though, so no one remembers that it was once a gas station. Linen tablecloths and napkins with square plates add to the experience, and chopsticks and Western flatware are set for everyone. On a recent visit, there was even old-fashioned Chinese music, so umbrella drinks will surely follow — and maybe even lighter fried dishes.
Zoe’s Gourmet Chinese Cuisine, 92 Harvard Street, Brookline | Open Sun–Thurs, 11:30 am–10 pm; and Fri & Sat, 11:30 am –11 pm | AE, DI, MC, VI | Beer and wine | No valet parking | Sidewalk-level access | 617.731.9778
Email the author
Robert Nadeau:RobtNadeau@aol.com.
