Feast: Gung Hei Fat Choy! Part Two

I don't know...perhaps you can think of this and the first 2007 Chinese New Year posts as a study in opposites. Part one was from a local, but somewhat popular Chinese Restaurant, dim sum trolleys, with tasty and freshly-made food.

Part two was from one of a chain of Chinese buffet restaurants. There was some dim sum, but it tasted fatigued. The food was sort of fresh--we kept seeing steamer trays refilled, but the flavours were uninspired and the textures weren't right--the hot and sour soup was very viscous--too viscous. Of course, being a buffet (that included things like prime rib, cheesecake and sugar-free apple crisp), with items that would sit out for a certain amount of time, they had to flavour things to a common denominator. Okay--to be honest, I liked the spare ribs and the lychee ice cream. If I could get the ice cream to go, I'd be very happy. It was popular--we waited about half an hour to get in. It was also very rushed. With all the commotion of people refilling, refilling, refilling their plates, and the legion of waitstaff descending upon recently emptied tables, I found it difficult to actually sit down and enjoy my meal.

I know I shouldn't compare a stand-alone restaurant to a chain,--but I suppose it just made me really appreciate the little gems we have around here...






cheers!
jasmine

tags: Chinese New Year

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Feast: Gung Hei Fat Choy! Part One

Last week one of my favourite dim-summy places celebrated the Chinese New Year with a special feast. Yes, we know The Year of the Pig began on 18 February, but this restaurant does a two-week celebration. We were lucky enough to get a table (I called 11pm the night before for reservations)--throughout our two-hours of nibbly goodness there were queues ranging from four people to what looked to me of more than 20.

The last four images (as blurry as they are) are of the Lion Dance. The crampt restaurant had a special little dance just for that day--I've never seen one in person. I thought the puppeteer was quite good--he attacked a hanging lettuce head (a symbol of wealth, or so I was told) in a way similar to Mr. Bean and a bowl of left over chicken...At the end, pieces flew everywhere.









cheers!
jasmine

Chinese New Year

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To drive the cold winter away

I always assume if I know about any sort of storm, it either won't show up or it won't be as terrible as the weather forecasters try to make it seem.

This morning's radio show rattled off a long list of school buses that weren't running, delayed trains and schools that gave their children snow days. Quite honestly, I thought it could go one of two ways: the storm wouldn't be as voracious as the traditionally over-reactive radio personalities would want us to believe, or it would be really, really bad.

Well...the roads got bad. We were told to use our judgement about staying in the office...I made a few calls, changed my voice mail and left a couple of hours early. It's a good thing I did--my usual 15 minute drive took more than 45: trucks were slipping, people weren't able to stop safely.

More-than-ankle-deep drifts tipped into my boots with every step. I've been home for three hours and I've shovelled more than once. Snow made way for tickaticka ice pellets and soon freezing rain will appear. Winds are rattling windows and doors. Tomorrow will not be fun.

This is perfect soup weather.

I'm in the midst of trying out recipes for my next Canada Eats cookery book review. And I found the perfect soup, in the words of Loreena McKennitt, to drive the cold winter away: bowls of broth, ladened with kale, bok choy and Asian noodles, spiked with chillies and flavoured with nam pla and honey. Served boiling hot, it's a perfect meal.

jasmine

soups

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