Rain Modern Chinese

The flu took me out of commission for a good full week with little to no appetite. Now that I am on the road to recovery and don't feel like death, my taste buds are ready to tackle everything in sight. What a better come back to the dining scene than a little bit of everything with dim sum. We decided to check out Rain Modern Chinese, crossing off one of many new local eateries from our 2014 to eat list. 

If you've ever been to Shogun, its sister establishment located just around the corner, you'd be familiar with its modern and chic decor. The same atmosphere is echoed at Rain and the sleek renovations from a former clinic to contemporary restaurant is very impressive. We appreciate a beautiful space but the food is where it's at. Dim sum is only served on the weekends and we wanted to take advantage of that. Greeted by the owner himself, Mr. Lee made sure to tell us that since dim sum here is made to order, not to order too much at once so our food wouldn't get cold. Mr. Lee doesn't know how much we can eat in one sitting. 

Despite eating nothing but chicken soup for a week, soup was just what we needed to warm up on a frigid afternoon. We decided to be adventurous and ordered the crab and fish maw soup. What is fish maw? It's not exactly the most appetizing by definition (http://bit.ly/KZsFBz) but it really adds a fun spongy texture to this seafood egg-drop soup. There was also a generous amount of real, sweet crab meat. A spoonful of red vinegar, something I've never come across at Chinese restaurants, elevated the soup bringing just the right amount of tang to create a sweet and sour soup. Soup portions are generous and serves more than the suggested soup for two. 

It's nice to see another dim sum option in the Capital Region. Standby dim sum orders for us includes rice rolls, soup dumplings, and pork buns. We've had our fair share of soup dumplings from Ala Shanhai and wanted to compare with a taste from the "modern" chinese menu with an order of Hudson Valley foie gras soup dumplings. The dumpling skin was a bit too thick but the broth itself was tasty enough. I was expecting the filling to be super rich but the foie gras was mixed in with pork and ginger and didn't really add anything special or different than a classic soup dumpling. Perhaps we should have ordered the shu mai shooters for more of a fusion/modern take. 

The steamed pork buns on the other hand exceeded my expectations. Most pork bun fillings are overwhelmed with fat but Rain's version had plenty of meaty bites. The most disappointing plate of the afternoon was the shrimp rice noodle rolls. Not only were they dry and thick, they came out plain without sweet soy sauce. Regular soy just didn't cut it. 

On a whim, J and I added an order of chicken feet. Neither of us have ever tried it and to our surprise this was our favorite dim sum plate of the day. Chicken feet might look intimidating but it really is delicious. It's like eating the best part of a chicken wing--the skin! Plus the sweet and savory seasoning is reminiscent of a bbq sauce. Can you imagine eating chicken feet at a Superbowl party? We would totally make the swap. Chicken feet isn't as scary as you think and totally worth being adventurous.