Always Investigating: Marco Polo Café

GutterGourmet — May 12, 2010

Moo Goo Gai Panini at Marco Polo Café in the East Village.

Did Marco Polo introduce Italy to pasta by bringing Chinese noodles along the Silk Road in the 13th century? Who cares? His namesake café on St. Marks was conceived on what was probably a myth, but the mélange of Italian and Chinese dishes at this 8-seater on St. Marks is for real.

It culminates with the signature dish: Moo Goo Gai Panini. The owners, a husband-and-wife team (she Chinese, he Italian-American) do much of the cooking too, behind a shoji screen partitioning the room.

Start with the scallion-topped Shanghai pan-seared pork buns. Then the savory, steamed Char Siu Bao that are stuffed with minced pork. They do not suffer from the sticky-sweet red sauce found in many dim sum palaces, and are available (with a variety of wontons and dumplings) prepackaged to steam at home. Marco Polo Café also offers ravioli and dumpling pairings, and recently added a Chicken Empanada at the suggestion of their Latin American cook.

Not everything works— an Italian Tuscan Bison Meatball sandwich on spongy bread is better left untasted. But the signature dish will convert even the anti-fusion purists. The Moo Goo Gai Panini sounds like a bicycle crash involving Chinese and Italian take-out delivery boys, but it is fantastic. Tender, white chicken is blanketed by fontina, mixed with scallions and crunchy pickles, then pressed in chewy, griddle-marked bread. There are shitakes in lieu of the traditional Moo Goo button mushrooms.

Chinese? Italian? Delicious.

Location: Marco Polo Café
Address: 102 St. Marks Place
Contact: (212) 228-8456