T’ang Court 唐閣 (Hong Kong)

Posted on Sunday, May 27, 2018 by

Dining as a table of two in a Cantonese restaurant can be difficult given dishes are generally for one type of food (i.e. protein, vegetable, grain) rather than a complete meal. T’ang Court does offer tasting menus for smaller groups, but they’re comprised of the abalone, shark fin, and swallow’s nest offerings … love-it or detest-it type dishes. Luckily, they do offer some items per person and even proactively suggested changing our noodle dish to a half order to better fit our table.

It’s this helpful attitude that aided T’ang Court to earn and keep their three Michelin stars. Indeed, their staff is attentive (god forbid you try to pour your own tea), patient, and professional … qualities that are rare in other Chinese restaurants since the customer to staff ratio is overwhelmingly high. It’s also surprisingly calm and quiet: my husband and I were seated at a table that in similar places would fit six and the tables were well-spaced for privacy. 


We even received an amuse bouche, which wasn’t the typical bone broth, but rather a fair-sized scallop. While the pastry was a bit floury at the bottom, the seafood was sweet and meaty and the pickled vegetables a nice fresh contrast against the deep-fried scallop. In fact, the amuse closely mirrored our dishes to come – deep fried and roasted options that made for an indulgent meal.


You can’t go wrong with the baked stuffed crab shell ($180 each); if you like crab cakes, this brings it another level! Break through the crispy panko crust and you’ll be treated to forkfuls of the crustacean mixed with bit of onion for contrast in a light creamy sauce. It’s a fantastic dish that while priced per person can also be shared as it’s a significant portion of seafood. 


To make the roasted suckling pig ($330) in the BBQ duo lighter, the chefs remove the layer of pork fat (after cooking) and replaced it with a thin slice of steamed bao, which adds a softness against the thin crackling skin and delicate tender meat. Oh it’s good, the best roasted pork I’ve had. The duck’s meat is also succulent and encased in golden crispy skin, but needs some plum sauce as it’s fairly neutral tasting.


I don’t know what we were thinking, with all the barbequed meat, we really didn’t need half of a crispy salted chicken ($300) as well. Another tasty version of a classic dish, the skin well-rendered and crisp, the chicken meat still moist, and everything seasoned adequately so you don’t need any condiments.


The Inaniwa noodles with fresh shrimp dumplings and mixed vegetables in fish soup ($130 for a half order) was a welcomed respite, the hot broth helping to cleanse the mouth of the oilier dishes. The noodles, a thinner udon, were silky and soft and still a sizeable bowl with the half portion. While the wontons were plump and filled with prawns, the actual seafood didn’t taste of much. I was happy there were vegetables included, something sorely missing from the rest of the meal due to our haphazard ordering.


To end, complimentary sweets consisting of a ‘pear’ made of dry pastry filled with red bean paste and goji berry jello that could be a touch sweeter.


T’ang Court’s dining room is of course regal and comfortable. Yet, I couldn’t help but notice the interesting choice of artwork: directly in front of us a large portrait of moldy strawberries. 


Indeed, it could be a well-known work of art, but while eating, the last thing I wanted to see was rotting food. Perhaps it’s me, after all, art (not unlike food) is in the eye (or mouth) of the beholder.

Overall mark - 8 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
 Address: 8 Peking Rd (Langham Hotel, 2nd floor)

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Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


CLOSED: Pick 6ix (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2018 by

Pick 6ix is Drake’s latest hospitality venture in collaboration with Montreal’s Chef Antonio Park. Having lived in South America, Canada, and Japan and coming from a Korean background, you can see Chef Park’s multi-cultural influences on the restaurant’s menu. In a single dinner I sampled dishes from all the countries!

He seems proficient in creating recipes from each of the geographies as the three stand-out dishes, for me, varied from Korea, Argentina, and Japan. The best was the 8-hour braised kalbi style short rib ($38), which I’d expect from Chef Park’s background. The slightly sweet soy marinade is bang on in terms of flavours and thickened to form a glaze on the meaty rib. It was moist and tender, but you could still taste the beef.


Pick 6ix’s beef empanadas ($18) reminds me of a meatier Jamaican patty in an empanada shell. The filling is lightly flavoured with Argentinian spices and goes especially well with the chimichurri sauce, which adds a tangy herby bite.


The spicy salmon maki ($12) was simple but delicious: the rice thinly layered and brimming with salmon with a significant dollop of spicy kewpie on top. So flavourful that you wouldn’t need the house-made low-sodium soy sauce.


Although the soft-shell crab maki ($18) was still good, I would have thought there would be greater interest with so many ingredients - avocado, tobiko, mizuna (a Japanese mustard green), and pickled radish. In reality, all I could taste were the leafy greens until the soft-shell crab kicked in, at the end.


The fried rice ($26) combines the Chinese staple where the chicken and shrimp is presented almost teppanyaki style, layered on top. Everything arrives in a hot stone bowl with a fried egg and sauce drizzled over top, a nod to bibimbap. It was decent and a good option if you just want a main meal.


We didn’t know what to expect with the choripan asiatico ($18) but all the dishes elements – sausage, guacamole, kimchi, mustard slaw, salsa creola and crispy shallots – sounded enticing. Look out traditional American hot dog, the choripan asiatico is an extreme version of one. Through all the crunchy textures the spicy sausage heat shone through, the heat further amplified by the gochujang spiked ketchup accompanying the fries. It is a rather heavy sandwich, so this is best for sharing.


The pork gyozas ($16) were fine but seemingly plain compared to the other dishes. While the meat filling was tasty enough, it could have incorporated an unusual element (perhaps kimchi) to give it more interest. Moreover, they’d be even better if they were pan fried (instead of deep fried) as I love the contrast between the chewy dough and crispy crust, a small nit-picky personal preference.


Although beef carpaccio ($19) is known for being thinly sliced beef, it would help if the kitchen overlaid the slices for this dish as with the dwarf peaches, olives, puffed quinoa, crispy wild rice, carrots, and plum emulsion the beef became lost; all I could taste was crispy rice with sauce. Overall, aside from this one miss, the other dishes were as I expected: good interpretations that were satisfying but not out-of-this-world.


Similarly, the décor was swanky, as anticipated, in a cool retro way. While the furnishings look great, the tables aren’t exactly designed for dining – the large booth style ones along the sides makes sharing plates difficult and the small ones in the centre have so little room that sharing would be impossible. Oh well, maybe none of that matters… after all, the city loves Drake.


Overall mark - 7 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 33 Yonge Street


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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

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CLOSED: The Kolkata Club (Mississauga)

Posted on Monday, May 21, 2018 by
Picture courtesy of Parv
Hement Bhagwani, the restauranteur who created the Amaya chain and Indian Street Food, recently opened a place that’s very different from his last two ventures: The Kolkata Club, a restaurant that’s influenced by the social clubs established during the British Raj period in India. Most clubs were exclusively for British officers and their families; while they would hire Indian citizens to work at the clubs, the workers weren’t allowed to eat in the dining room.
Then in 1907 the Calcutta Club opened, the first social club whose membership policy didn’t restrict based on race. Hence, when Hement started the Mississauga restaurant, he chose to pay homage to the more lenient Calcutta Club. When the British left India, the 'clubs' remained and was returned to the people, despite there still being an element of exclusivity. Today, the affluent are favoured. Luckily, dining at The Kolkata Club, in Mississauga, doesn’t require years on a wait list, a vast family fortune, or an impressive surname.


Kolkata’s menu is inspired by the choices found in India, often reinterpreted for the British palette, with their own twist. It also includes Asian options gleamed from India’s neighbours such as momos, dumplings popular in Tibet cuisine, filled with vegetables ($11.50) or chicken ($13.50). With the chicken ones sold out by 7:45pm, we stuck with the vegetable version. I was worried they’d be bland against the thick chewy dough, but the garlic vegetable medley was flavourful enough and works as a lighter starter. Served with gravy and chili sauce on a sizzling plate, generally found at chop suey restaurants, the momos developed a crispy crust and stayed hot.


Catering to British taste buds does mean dishes don’t incorporate a lot of spice. While my friend warned the Bengali chingri prawns ($18.50) would likely be spicy, the use of green chilis was subdued with the main flavours being the curry and a hit of something tangy. Personally, I would have liked this to be spicier - if only I stopped the waiter from taking away the chili sauce accompanying the momos, it’d be perfect! Yet, if curries could be refreshing, this dish fits the bill.


Luckily, we had an order of pulao ($15.95) and plain naan ($3.25) to soak up every drop of the sauce from the murg methid Dhabe wala ($15.50), which was aromatic, flavourful, and rich without being heavy. The menu describes the dish as being ‘country’ chicken, likely due to it incorporating large pieces of bone-in dark meat. In my books, this is the best cut for braised chicken – the bone adds flavour and keeps the meat moist – and I’ve always been partial to dark meat instead of white.  Needless to say, we finished this dish with gusto.

Picture courtesy of Parv
The chicken curry went well with the forest mushroom, truffle, and morel pulao ($15.95). While I couldn’t taste any truffle or morel, there was plenty of white mushrooms incorporated into the rice and when the bits of fried onion seeped into curry, they added another depth to the sauce.

Picture courtesy of Parv
While dining at The Kolkata Club during their first month operating, the kitchen was dealing with growing pains. Aside from the lack of chicken momos, the British Raj influenced steak roast was also unavailable. Nonetheless, both dishes require prepping ahead of time, hence stock outs are somewhat understandable. However, when the kitchen was too busy to make chai, an after-dinner drink that’s synonymous with Indian cuisine, it was a bit odd. Surely, even if the tea had to be steeped ahead of time and reheated later, it’s better than not serving it at all.
A hot aromatic drink would have gone well with the saffron mango cheesecake ($8.50), a contrast against the cool light dessert with a pronounced tropical mango taste. I did enjoy the generous sprinkling of saffron over top, its umami essence adding an interesting element to the cake.


These surprising twists are even evident in their cocktails. The aam panna mojito ($12.50) is described as the tangiest cocktail on the list. While still sweet, the drink is refreshing from the aam panna (or green mango drink) and well muddled mint. A hit of chaat masala gives the cocktail an almost savoury finish.

The Kolkata Club feels different compared to traditional Indian restaurants. Like the pictured social clubs along the restaurant walls, customers tend to come in larger groups and many dressed to impress. Dinner was a well-paced leisurely affair, lasting well over two hours for the three-course event. In the days where reservations come with two-hour seating limits, this laissez-faire attitude is a welcomed reminder of the good old days.  
Overall mark - 7 out of 10
Disclaimer: The above meal was complimentary. Rest assured, as noted in my mission statement, I will always provide an honest opinion.
How To Find Them
 Location: Mississauga, Canada
 Address: 488 Eglinton Avenue West


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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

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Wong Ming Hee 黃明記粥粉麵家 (Hong Kong)

Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2018 by

There’s something about the wonton noodles in Hong Kong that’s better than our options in Toronto. While stopping in Wong Ming Hee for lunch, their owner offered a hypothesis to my observation – they use fresh noodles made with eggs (rather than other binding agents) so they don’t have to add gan suy to them to give the noodles a springy consistency. That additive alters the taste of the delicate noodles.

Of course, she warned, this does mean their boiled seasonal vegetables, in this case Chinese broccoli ($16), isn’t as crisp. It’s true, but the sizeable portion makes up for it.


Wong Ming Hee’s brisket noodles in soup ($33) was delicious – the beef tender, well seeped with flavour, and incorporating an even marbling of fat. The broth arrives hot and just salty enough to pair with the aforementioned springy egg noodles.


It’s much better than the squid and fish balls noodles in soup ($33). The squid balls are floury while the fish ball’s consistency a bit to bouncy for my taste. They get better as I leave them in the broth, which isn’t as flavourful as the brisket; maybe they need to be cooked longer.


While Wong Ming Hee doesn’t grace any travel guide lists of must-try noodle places, I was more than happy with their brisket noodles and not having to wait, even during the lunch hour rush. They were also one of the friendliest casual dining places we visited, the owner even asking if we wanted an extra bowl of broth when she saw ours was half depleted. A great find for stopping at after a walk-through Kowloon Walled-City Park.

Overall mark - 8 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong
 Address: 80 Kai Tak Road

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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

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  • On Lee Noodle Soup

On Lee Noodle Soup 安利魚蛋粉麵 (Hong Kong)

Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2018 by

Located by the Pacific Ocean, it’s no surprise that fishing was and still is a major industry for the city. With access to fresh seafood, fish balls are a traditional food item you have to try in Hong Kong. On Lee Noodle Soup is one restaurant, frequently touted by bloggers and travel sites, as a go-to location.

Opening at 9am, there was already a line on our Sunday visit. Don’t worry, they’re a large restaurant with a number of communal seat-yourself tables holding six, so the queue was easily accommodated. On Lee is a well-oiled machine, noodles were flying out in less than five minutes, each bowl finished with a big ladle of soup and generous sprinkling of green onions.


The two items with rice noodles ($40) offered a taste of different toppings. Their fish balls are particularly delicate compared to the doughy versions we find in North America. Each bite sized sphere having an airy consistency with a light springiness to the bite. While the ones in Toronto often have a strong fish taste, these ones are lightly flavoured, akin to a freshly steamed fish.


Similarly, the shrimp wontons were also delicately packed, the smaller shrimp barely cooked through, although somewhat flavourless. Compounded by a plain soup base, a spoon of chili oil was really required to help add taste. Luckily, the rice noodles resisted getting soft despite sitting in the soup for at least 10 minutes (the broth is piping hot so I had to proceed cautiously). Moreover, despite looking like a small portion, a fair amount of noodles were packed into the bowl.

On the other hand, their braised brisket ($34) was terrible, the beef very tough screaming for some marbling, especially the few pieces were weren’t cut against the grain. Nevertheless, the soup base was much tastier, having that beefy soy sauce flavour and the thin wonton noodles incorporating a lovely chewy texture without the alkaline bite.


Shau Kei Wan, the district the restaurant is located in, lies on the far east side of Hong Kong Island. Although it seems out of the way, hopping on the inexpensive trams will get you there in less than an hour, On Lee Noodle Soup a further 10-minute walk from the station. While I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit the restaurant, if you’re going to take a long tram ride, you might as well make it a stop in Shau Kei Wan.

Overall mark - 8 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong
 Address: 22 Shau Kei Wan Main St E


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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

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Tim Ho Wan 添好運點心專門店 (Hong Kong)

Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2018 by

How different could a har gow be? I wondered to myself after hearing about Tim Ho Wan, a dim sum specialist restaurant in Hong Kong, which has long held on to its one Michelin star. After all, in Toronto, most shrimp dumplings are similar, the wrapper sometimes stickier, but otherwise most are filled with crunchy shrimp that have little taste. They’ve become larger throughout my lifetime, some of them reaching golf ball status, but the bland crunchy shrimp has remained constant.

Therefore, to draw comparisons, we stuck with the basics at Tim Ho Wan; I wanted to see what these “specialists” could do! Getting back to the har gow ($28), they indeed differ - smaller in size, the steamed dumplings are delicate so you can taste the shrimp’s sweetness (these are also tinier) with the seafood not packed together. The wrapper is soft, but not gummy, and has an elasticity to its consistency allowing them to be easily picked up. So, I stand corrected, har gows can be different.


Their steamed pork dumpling with shrimp ($28) or sui mai follows a similar recipe for success: big chunks of pork (as opposed to being pulverized) and shrimp combined loosely so there’s a juicy succulence to the dumpling. Oh, how I want more. 


The wrapper for the vermicelli roll stuffed with BBQ pork ($25) is impossibly thin, yet withstands the large pieces of BBQ pork stuffed in it. Personally, I like the bigger pieces of meat and full springs of cilantro placed throughout - you can taste the ingredients.


Tim Ho Wan’s glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf is the old-school format arriving as one gigantic package: a thick layer of chewy sticky rice stuffed with chicken, Chinese sausage, and mushrooms. The longer cooking time helps the lotus leaf essence seep into the rice, but having this dish again makes me realize I prefer the new miniature versions. The rice is softer and overall the dish more flavourful because of the gravy minced meat mixture used. Of course, the traditional way of making the dish requires experience (as you need to ensure everything is cooked throughout) and there is more filling, but you end up with one or two pieces of protein and big hunks of rice. 


Forgetting we already ordered the glutinous rice, the steamed rice with spare rib and chicken feet ($27) was too much; sadly, the rice was wasted. Frankly, unless you’re with a large table, this is a forgettable dish, the spare ribs and chicken foot both fairly average.


A dish that graced every table was their signature baked bun with BBQ pork ($21). Fresh from the oven, they are piping hot and the thin bun containing a large piece of BBQ pork. There’s a sweetness from the sauce and pineapple crust you’d expect, but it’s well balanced with the meat’s savouriness. For those who like it sweeter, allow the bun to cool down and the flavours intensify.  


The pan-fried pork and chives dumplings were also delicious, the meat cut into pieces (rather than minced) with enough vegetables to create a lightness to the dim sum. It’s wonton wrapper was so thin that it’s barely there, merely forming a fantastic crispy crust over everything.  


With only four desserts to choose from, we decided against the signature tonic medlar & petal cake, instead going for the tried and true deep-fried sesame dumpling ($18). At Tim Ho Wan, aside from the red bean paste they also add a piece of banana, which when heated turns into a creamy consistency. 



In the end, what makes Tim Ho Wan so good? From my experience: thin wrappers, ingredients left in chunks, and well-balanced flavours. If you don’t want to wait, head their as soon as it opens on a weekday, you’ll walk right in and find a seat at a number of tables. It’s a quick meal with dim sum flying out of the kitchen, which runs like a tasty, dumpling-making, well-oiled machine.


Overall mark - 9 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: North Point, Hong Kong
 Address: 2 Wharf Rd (Seaview Building, GF)

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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Amano Pasta (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2018 by

Amano consists of a pasta bar, café, and market. Within their small footprint in Union Station (in the concourse area close to York street) there’s a bit of everything: the “market” is really a shelf with cans and jars for sale; the café, a coffee bar, includes some takeaway items at the front; and the most sizeable portion of the establishment, the pasta bar, a sit-down dining area at the back of the restaurant.


While the menu isn’t overly long, there are enough tasty sounding options that makes deciding difficult. Their starters are relatively simple Italian staples. The arancini ($9; actually arrives with three) were decent, the best part was the molten smoked cheese centre. Yet, I found the risotto and in need of salt, so that the most prominent flavour doesn’t end up being the honey on the plate.


Nonna’s salad ($7) is a very lightly dressed pile of spring mix with cucumbers. A better salad option is the stuffed squash ($11), which also arrives with greens but also has an entire roasted squash with stracciatella, which makes it soft and savoury. Unlike the other starters, the squash doesn’t lack flavour thanks to the miso brown butter dressing, bread crumbs, and pomegranate sprinkled around.


Amano’s menu, not surprisingly, goes back to Chef Michael Angeloni’s Italian roots while blending in Canadian new world flavours. You’ll find this blend the most in the “not your nonna’s” options. The addition of the crispy shallots really makes the little ears ($19) dish pop, giving the pasta extra crunch and a zip of interest. Of course, the orecchiette is cooked perfectly and tossed with bite-sized roasted broccoli florets and plenty of cheese (white cheddar, aged gouda, and pecorino). It was a delicious main.


While you can’t taste the Dungeness crab or pancetta in the black trumpets ($22), the flower like campanelle pasta has a chewy al dante doneness and is vividly black from cuttlefish ink. Personally, I’d like the dish to have stronger seafood flavours, but realize it’s not everyone’s preference. In fact, with the healthy sprinkling of chives and mustard seeds, the dish has a surprisingly light taste.


For a more traditional option, Amano’s rigatoni is cheekily called fat tubes ($18). The beef Bolognese with parmesan is simple and not earth shattering, but hits the spot if you want a traditional hearty tomato-based pasta.


In terms of drinks, the Sophia Loren ($13) goes down way too easy thanks to the cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) and red wine, which covers the Pike Creek whiskey. It’s like grown-up sangria and works great as an after-meal cocktail.


Personally, I’d just go with another cocktail, in lieu of dessert. The leaning puff tower ($9) is really two profiteroles stacked on top of each other … that don’t even lean. They’re at least tasty cream puffs, stuffed to the brim with chocolate cream. It’s a dessert for chocolate lovers, with disks of it topping the cream puffs. It’s much better than the sweet cream ($7) or panna cotta, which tastes like Greek yoghurt - with the almond butter crumble and raspberry pieces, it’s like eating a parfait. Not terrible, but more breakfast than dessert.


I can overlook the disappointing dessert, it means more calories for delicious fresh made pasta.

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 65 Front Street West

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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:

Amano Pasta Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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