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Mama Lu
updated: Nov 27, 2010, 10:00 AM
By Ms. Lemonjelly
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I went to Mama Lu after attending an art exhibit opening
near the area. Pulling in, the car park was filled with young Asian students, over a
dozen people in the throes of bidding each other adieu after eating at Mama Lu's.
Inside, a woman working there confirmed - the place is popular with Chinese and
Taiwanese exchange students.
Another thing I noticed in the car park were the trees and
shrubs. They were all specimens fitting for an Asian garden, like hedges of bamboo,
an orchid tree (Bauhinia) and a Japanese maple, starting to turn autumn colors. If I
didn't already recognize these types of plants, I'd have walked right by them, because
they're all cut and maintained like generic street plantings, i.e. box and ball shaped.
There's a great infrastructure of horticultural gems there, they just need some shaping
under the guidance of someone with an eye for Asian gardening to bring them back to
their optimal aesthetic. It also goes
to show: this spot is perfect for serving up Asian specialties.
If any of you remember this spot when it was Hibachi, a
large center portion of the restaurant is the "kitchen" area, but back in those days, the
kitchen was in an open space. The center is still the kitchen, but walls probably closed
it in a long time ago, giving the impression of a much smaller dining space with the
tables lining the remaining outer ring of the building. You might never know your best
friend is sitting at a table just around the corner from you.
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The popular thing to do is the buffet, offering about 2-dozen
options throughout the day for just $9. There seemed to be a natural separation in the
restaurant, where buffet diners sat on the side of the restaurant to be closer to the
buffet table, and people who ordered off the menu sat on the other side. We sat on the
buffet side and were this close to ordering it, not because we were famished for
unlimited quantities, but because we were thinking we wanted salt and pepper shrimp
and it was in the buffet, whereas an individual
portion of it was around $12. Ultimately, we decided not go the buffet route, nor did we
order the salt and pepper shrimp!
Instead, we ordered items we weren't familiar with: a Fish
Hot Pot, Taiwanese style, and a dish of eggplant and ground pork. Plus tea and
rice.
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The tea comes first, where I let it steep a minute. My
experience with Chinese dining, it is customary for whoever takes the teapot to pour
everyone's tea before their own. Even later in the meal, if your own cup is totally empty
and everyone else's are still mostly full, you pour a courtesy amount of tea in the other
cups, or provide the opportunity for others to decline your offer, before you fill your
own. It's a sign of generosity and being gracious. While we are sipping our tea, the
kitchen brought out a small plate of hot salted
peanuts, and picking them up with chopsticks is excellent practice for the coming main
dishes.
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There was a beef hot pot option, but we got the fish and this turned out to be a hot
clay pot filled with a very hot and spicy fish stew, the kind of spicy hot that makes my
tongue tingle, because the dish is brimming with Sichuan peppercorns. For those who
find it too hot, have some rice with it. The portion was easily generous enough to be a
complete meal for two people, but we also had the eggplant and pork dish coming.
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This was equally tasty, although far less spicy. In fact, not
hot spicy at all, just good Asian flavor. The eggplant was in big juicy chunks, and the
meat in the dish was generous as well. Would I get them again? Yes! But not before I
go through more items of the menu.
The bill was about $25 for two people sharing. I took away
all the leftovers, and assembled my own bento box for lunch the following the day, and
the rest I delivered to my parents, who made a dinner of it the following the night. It
was a lot of food.
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Mama Lu
414 N. Milpas Street
Santa Barbara
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