Clams from God

Yes, I sit before you so full I may die.  So full of Peking duck, some mustard green and pork soup (complete with mystery yellow discs of wonderfulness) and clams from God.  And yes, I may die before I finish this post, but in case I survive (or don't depend on how you look at it) I have to spread the good news.

Jeff, my friend who I mentioned earlier who took me to the symphony, took me tonight to an amazing Chinese restaurant technically in Nolita called Yong Gee Seafood (or possibly The Dining Room Management Group, Inc...you know how Chinatown can be) at 102 Mott Street, a little bit north of Canal.  He had been there a while back and had the best food in forever, so we decided to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

And yes, the soup we had as an appetizer was delicious.  Mustard green and pork soup: a heaping bowl of pork and mustard greens and funny little yellow discs that looked like egg yoke but where the consistency of shellfish roe in an amazingly light but rich broth that we didn't finish, much to the chagrin of the lady in charge of our table.  Not because we were already full, but because we were anticipating the feast to come...because naturally we had over ordered.

Peking duck...miss ordered, but crispy and wonderful, and gladly accepted in place of what we had really been looking for.  The first and last time I had Peking duck was in Beijing, not the same, but yummy and worth the mistake.  And seeing as we're adults we ordered a vegetable: mustard greens with dace and something else.  Since I have no idea what dace is I figure not remembering what the something else was doesn't really matter (although we came to the conclusion that dace must be some sort of preserved fish, which sounds worse than it tastes, which is pure yum).  Both of which were excellent.  But nothing compared to the dish I picked out...

Clams cooked House Style.

Or as they should be known from now on...Clams from God.

The most amazing clams, with HUGE pieces of garlic, and green onions, and scrambled egg and minced pork...yes minced pork...and tiny sprinklings of heaven (which to the untrained eye are invisible but very, very tasty).  Each one perfectly tender and well just...perfect.  I've never tasted anything that made me so happy.  And I may be serious about this, or I could just be so full that all the blood has left my brain and is so busy digesting that I just don't remember having ever eaten anything before tonight.  I honestly don't even know what to say about them, except I will dream about these garlic and pork drenched mollusks for years, and although the place is not expensive I hope that I'll be able to convince my parents to venture south of Times Square when they next visit New York so that they too can have their eyes opened to the wonders of Clams cooked House Style.

I've never been so happy.

This is the aftermath...as you can see no clams...lots of mustard greens.

Go! Go and eat Clams from God! Go and spread the joy and the waistlines! Go! And let me know when  you're going so I can have some too.