Double Chin, Boston

Double Chin is an Asian fusion restaurant in Boston, on the edge of Chinatown, owned by the Chin family (who own several establishments on the street).

"We specialize in Chinese dishes with modern twists—Asian Fusion done right. Here you can find innovative salads and sandwiches but also glorified comfort food classics. "

It gets mediocre reviews, and seems mostly known for a few very Instagram worthy signature dishes, both sweet and savory.  Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just dessert, and open super late (4am!).

The menu really drew me in, regardless of the lack of glowing reviews.

Spam and Taro Fries?!

The front of the restaurant is plastered in menus with photos, and articles about their goods.  They clearly set out to draw you in. Which worked, on me.

Interior.

And so in I went.  6pm on a Tuesday night, and the restaurant was nearly empty, at least, void of customers.  Uh-oh.

It wasn't empty though - there was a lot crammed into the space.  Like, um, a porch swing.  It felt crowded, even though there was only one occupied table.  Something just felt kinda tacky to me.

Seating.

The tables were clean though, nothing was dirty, but the crowded, cluttered nature left it feeling unclean, in a strange way.

It didn't help that one table was clearly just used by the staff to put down their own person drinks.

Bathroom Stall.

I always say I don't post about bathrooms unless they are interesting, but, this one was interesting!  The stall was filled with what looked like magazine pages, filled with recipes of Asian cuisine.

I can safely say, I've never seen this before.

Food

So, yeah, the menu.  Yes, it drew me in.  Fascinating items like peking duck fries, lobster rangoon, mac and cheese made with wide Chinese rice noodles, waffle fries poutine topped with "kimcheese" ... and don't even get me started on the shaved ice creations, ridiculous mounds of cube toast, and other extremely photographic desserts.  I think many people visit just for dessert.

Spam and Taro Fries. $8.

But I wanted, yes, the signature, totally ridiculous, spam and taro fries.  If you dine-in, they come served in an actual Spam container, standing up, but I got mine to go.

I dug in ... immediately.

Unlike many people, I actually ordered this for the taro fries, more than for the Spam.  I planned to try the Spam fries of course, but I was really excited for the taro fries.

The taro fries let me down.  They ... weren't crispy at all.  Just, soggy kinda, but hard too (although soft inside).  I tried several, I tried dunking them in things, but the texture was just ... wrong.  Honestly, they seemed like they had been cooked way in advance, and warmed up in a microwave or something.  I couldn't get myself to like them, as much as I wanted to.

But the spam fries?  Well, they were ... delicious.  Fried, super greasy, totally unhealthy, porky, salty ... and somehow apparently exactly what I wanted, even if I didn't realize it.  Best dunked in the provided sauces, but I think they'd be great chopped up on a salad or something too.

I wouldn't get this again, but I did really enjoy those spam fries.

Sriracha Aioli.

The fries come served with two dipping sauces, sriracha aioli, and classic Kewpie mayo.  I opened my bag to see only the former.  I turned *right* back around (I literally hadn't even made it out the front door) and asked for my Kewpie mayo.  The staff were friendly, apologized, and quickly filled a container for me. 

The Kewpie mayo I loved for its simplicity and, well, it just is killer mayo.  If you've had it before, you know what I mean.  The spam dunked in it was a nice pairing, greasy/salty/porky with a simple creamy/fatty dip ... it worked.  The taro fries didn't go as well, they wanted something more flavorful to pair.

Like, the sriracha aioli.  It had some slight heat, was perfectly creamy, and went better with the taro fries (although it couldn't save them), and it went well with the spam too.

I really liked both sauces, and I'm not sure which I preferred with the spam.

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