Cantonese | Sybaritica
Date of Visit: March 22, 2012
I wanted to visit this place after reading a brief review at Ottawa Foodies, where it was misidentified as the ‘Hung Sun’ restaurant. Apparently, the establishment is quite new and the reviewer in question described it as something of a gem that he hoped would be kept ‘secret’. I suspect that the owners of the place might have some different thoughts on the subject but I can certainly appreciate the sentiment as I very much enjoyed my meal there and would hate to see it change its character to cater to more ‘mainstream’ tastes… Read more
1999 Simon and Schuster Ltd. ISBN 13: 978-0684847399
The title of this book suggests that it provides a broad overview of dishes from across China but, as we learn in the introduction and notes to the reader, the focus is almost exclusively on Cantonese cookery. It is not just a bare collection of recipes, though; Ms. Young, who grew up in a Chinese-American family, spends a lot of time introducing the reader to some of the philosophy and traditions of this particular regional cuisine… Read more
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2003: Anness Publishing Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1903141632
My library is full of books on general Chinese cooking and these days, unless something looks particularly special, I try to limit new purchases to those that focus on a particular regional cuisine or some specialized type of cookery. Accordingly, I was rather excited when I came across this title at Amazon.
Unfortunately, purchasing books online, as I am mostly forced to do given my location, doesn’t really allow you to browse through them first. The cover of this particular volumes promises that it will help you ‘Discover the vibrant foods of Cantonese, Shantou, Hakka, and Island cuisine’. Leaving aside the fact that Shantou is a city in Guangdong Province and therefore Cantonese (albeit with its own particular style), the omission of Fujian from the list is rather glaring. Fujian cookery is traditionally one of the eight classical schools of Han cuisine and Fujian, by most reckoning, is definitely in the South. It seems odd, then, that this province should be neglected in a book about the cooking of Southern China and, had I noticed this before receiving the book, I might have twigged to the fact that I was ultimately going to be disappointed… Read more
Ambience and Service
This is a fairly small Cantonese restaurant seating 76, which occupies the second floor of the building it occupies. With the exception of some rather plushly ornate curtains at the front windows, the place is a bit shabby and not terribly well maintained. The cashier counter area was very cluttered and untidy and there was a stack of empty beer boxes against a pillar in the dining room. It did not look to be cleaned with much frequency but I can’t say that it was noticeably dirty either. All in all, it actually seems like quite a cozy place, actually Read more
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Ambience and Service
The restaurant is quite large and spacious and is much more nicely appointed than dim sum palaces often are. It was very full when I arrived during the middle of the dinner hour and was quite noisy as a result. Actually, though, the bustle and hectic noise were not at all a distraction and rather added to the dim sum experience. I liked the atmosphere on the whole. Read more
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Ambience and Service…
The service on arrival was so rude and abrupt that I almost left. The elderly man who greeted me was waved me to a table in a surly manner, threw down a menu and then walked off without looking at me. Later, I had ask to a waitress to bring me dipping condiment and they were brought without a bowl to mix them. I asked the same greeter person to rectify this and he came back with much ill grace and rolling his eyes as though he had been put upon unfairly. The waitresses who brought me my food and drink were much better, though. One spoke little English and I didn’t interact with me much, but another was very friendly and was quite helpful in answering my questions about the food. Read more
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Ambience and Service
Chu Shing is a very spacious and high-ceilinged room on the second floor of the building it occupies. The décor is fairly plain and unremarkable. I arrived alone at 11am or so and the there were about 10 tables of various sizes that were occupied while the majority were empty. The place was beginning to fill as I was leaving and one could see that it was going to be a fairly hectic and noisy place when the lunchtime service really got going.
Although there is an a la Carte menu, lunch at this place seems to be mainly cart service dim sum. The cart servers were of average of friendliness and help for this type of restaurant and there were a number other individuals who escorted me to my table, brought me beverages and cleared away clutter as it accumulated. On the whole, the service was quick and efficient and I was never left unduly waiting for anything. It was a bit hard tell whether he service would remain as good during busier periods but I certainly had no complaints through my meal. Read more
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Ambience and Service
August 19, 2011: This is a very small place holding about 50 people. It was almost full when I arrived near 1pm and I was unfortunate enough to be seated at a table right near the door, which I dislike. Luckily, the lunchtime rush had slowed a bit by the time I got to the place so I wasn’t bothered by too much traffic around my table. The service overall was adequate, if a bit rushed and perfunctory, but I noted that there were only two servers covering a pretty good size crowd so I suppose I can’t complain too much in that regard. The interior is a bit plain but not uncomfortable and it seemed to be reasonably clean. The menu is fairly extensive but doesn’t contain a lot that can’t easily be found in countless other Chinese restaurants. The sign out front states that Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine but, really, most of what on offer is more Cantonese in character with just a nod to Sichuan.
(*Note: The menu link above is to the takeout menu only, the regular menu is better) Read more