Jing's Chinese Restaurant, 207 E. Buffalo St., recently joined the burst of new restaurants popping up all over the Third Ward. In the first floor of the Marshall building in a space that formerly housed Moondance Coffee, Jing's is sparsely decorated and has a bright, clean interior.
Our visit to Jing's brought good quality Chinese food at reasonable prices, but the dine-in experience left us feeling underwhelmed. The focus here is obviously (and smartly) on carry-out and delivery to the hundreds of condominium dwellers in the Third Ward.
Menus are simple takeout folded menus, and the restaurant is immaculate and is likely a great stop for a midday buffet lunch, although the atmosphere is lacking for an evening out. And unlike the numerous other Chinese restaurants in the Milwaukee area, Jing's features a very small, focused menu, with the appended statement, "We offer many other Chinese dishes. Ask us if your favorite dish is missing from the menu."
Jing's offers a modest beer and wine selection at reasonable prices for those who choose to dine-in, but there are some kinks in the dining experience that need to be worked out if it plans to subsidize its carry-out and delivery orders with eat-in diners.
Our appetizers were served to us on saucers rather than appetizer plates, and beer was served in a wine glass. We also needed to request chopsticks as they were not on the table. Service here, however, was friendly and prompt, if not technically perfect.
Appetizers at Jing's were above average with crab rangoons (6 for $4.95) plump with cream cheese and a generous amount of crab meat. Spring rolls ($1.50 each), too, were good, although the four we sampled varied in ingredients. My roll only contained cabbage, while the others also had shredded carrots. The flavors were good, and the appetizers were accompanied by mini ramekins of Chinese mustard and sweet and sour sauce.
The entrées at Jing's were somewhat muted in flavor for our palates, but in each of the four dishes we sampled, the meats were wonderfully tender, which is sometimes hard to find in Chinese restaurants.
One dining companion who frequently travels to China, was very pleased with the shredded pork in garlic sauce ($7.95) which was tender and carried just a slight hint of garlic. General Tso's chicken ($10.95) was also fork tender, but the breading on the chicken was slightly heavy and took away from some of the other flavors within the dish, which otherwise was very good with freshly steamed broccoli florets and a lovely brown sauce.
Mongolian beef ($8.95) and Singapore noodles ($11.95) also featured meats that were very tender, but, overall, these dishes were quite bland. The Singapore noodles were mixed with generous portions of shrimp, pork and chicken, but even ordered hot and spicy, had little flavor. The Mongolian beef, too, lacked the spicy sweetness of a good Mongolian beef dish, and simply sat nondescript on the plate and on the palate.
Dinner concluded with a complimentary plate of fresh orange slices (a rare treat these days at Chinese and Korean restaurants), fortune cookies and a very reasonable dinner bill with plenty of leftovers to take home.
And while I would not rush back to Jing's to dine-in, as a new take-out and carry-out option, this restaurant is a much needed and welcome addition to the neighborhood in terms of diversifying the Third Ward's ethnic dining options.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
