Ming Du is Back For Now

Perennial open/closer-due-to-sanitary-issues Ming Du is back in business again! Cleared to open by the DoH on 12/17, business is good at the crown jewel of the 8th Ave steam table Chinese empire. The roast meats hang again in the window and the line stretches to the door, but a specter still hangs over one of the strong contenders for some of the best Chinese this side of Canal.


That’s a C, as low as it gets, in the window. It takes the place of the “Grade Pending” that awaits a search for Ming Du on the DoH’s restaurant inspection site as of the writing of this article. If this is a holdover from their previous graded inspection on 7/31/12, it’s one hell of a bad holdover seeing as that inspection only had 3 points of violation items, dealing solely with a “non-food contact surface not properly constructed.” I mean, non-food causing a C? I dunno.

This may be par for the course as per commenters, but I know plenty of MLers wouldn’t even think twice about it. Methinks it’s time for a proper review post-closure sometime soon. Maybe on a certain day when post-weekend blues require ingestion of roast meats or bitter melon, no? What do you guys think, do we give them a shot or maintain our current gastrointestinal DEFCON level?

12 Comments

  • Odds that they’re open albeit illegally?

    Also, who the hell cares about the DOH signs? Can’t spell “Character” without C.

  • Speaking of Chinese steam tables on 8th ave, I stopped in Sushi Osaka on 36th the other day and noticed they have them hidden in the back, 2 toppings over lo mein or fried rice, or 3 toppings over white rice, $5 each. There were about 12 options to choose from.

    • I pass by that place all the time… right on 8th by 36th, right? I always kinda pegged it as generic dragon. Did anything look interesting/out of the ordinary worth a visit?

      • Yep, that’s the place. I didn’t take that close of a look at the time, just some pictures. Looking at them now (and they came out pretty blurry), it looks like sweet and sour chicken or pork, sliced beef, roast duck, one or two more meats, I can’t make out in the pic, then various greens or other veggies. As far as worth a visit, its cheap and in a funny location, so I’m probably going to try it sooner or later. They were really nice when I went in (all I was getting was a small white rice to have with my homemade lunch) so that’s good too.

  • A group of us went en masse last Friday. I stuck with the vegetarian options. Coworkers went for the roast duck. We are all at work today.

    • Did they have bitter melon when you went? I spent today hopped up on Dayquil at home in Jersey for the worst possible reasons (legit being sick) and I’d kill for bitter melon when I’m back to work.

  • Oooh. I forgot. Good stuff, but I didn’t see it. Whenever I go in there it’s an adventure in guessing and pointing.

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    I pulled up the Ming Du menu on MenuPages; are those prices for real???

    Harvey

  • Their food is nasty!

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