It’s nice to see a popular food cart–in this case, SoHo Gourmet Cuisines–open a restaurant. While I appreciate being able to get the multi-ethnic cuisine at-will, I’d like to see some improvements in service before making this place a regular stop.
The rice plates and pan-fried dumplings ($6 for six, $9 for 10) from the food cart are the stars of the restaurant’s menu. The Shanghai braised pork belly ($11) is super tender and comes with a slight crispiness from the splash frying. I also enjoyed the Korean-style beef ($10) for its grilled flavor, but I wish the strips of beef weren’t well done. The accompanying kimchi was some of the best I’ve had; the spice level was perfect.
The other rice plate I ordered was the Hong Kong curry ($9) with chicken. The portion of chicken was generous, but there wasn’t much of the mild curry sauce and barely any potatoes or carrots.
The dumplings are part of the “share plates” menu. First, you have to try the mac n’ cheese dumplings. The macaroni is stuffed inside the dumplings, and you get a cheese dipping sauce with them. Chicken, beef and pork make up the other fillings; I liked that the pork dumplings weren’t loaded with vegetable filler.
My favorite item is the Cantonese fried tofu ($6.50). They’re perfectly fried and moist, and they sit on a bed of chopped garlic, green onions and soy sauce. Calamari is another appetizer; salads comprise the rest of the short menu.
My hope is that the restaurant hires some more cooks to speed up service (my 15-minute order took 35 minutes). Others in the restaurant had been waiting just as long as I was, and it’s awkward to listen to the owner yell at his staff in the open kitchen.
SoHo Gourmet Cuisines is open for lunch, dinner and carryout every day.
I’ve heard 
I fell for the Best Philly Cheesesteak in Madison ($8.95). It’s got some merits–the sandwich is cooked right on the spot, comes with a generous helping of toppings and includes lightly grilled bread. However, the two slices of cheese were inadequate for the size of the sandwich, and the green peppers and onions needed to be sauteed longer.
It can be hard to review Chinese restaurants when their menus are so standard. That’s mostly the case with 
Meal combos come with fried or white rice (note the fried rice is barely fried) and two crab rangoons or soda at lunch or fried rice and an egg roll at dinner. The only other dish that caught my eye was the General Tso’s shrimp ($8.35 at lunch, $9.95 at dinner). I liked that the jumbo shrimp was not overly breaded, and the sauce met my expectations.
