Can’t go wrong with takeout at Canton

Strip malls are no longer just destinations for multinational fast food chains. Over the years I’ve been surprised by the quality of cooking in small family-run restaurants. 

So when I saw a new Chinese eatery in a mall in Riverside South, I had to stop in. While they have sufficient space for diners in their modestly appointed room, I opted for take-out.

Cantonese cuisine has food that is generally less spicy than other regional Chinese kitchens and that was the case with this experience.

With the popularity of open-ended egg rolls, I always imagine that Golden Palace makes all the rolls that are sold at every Chinese restaurant in Ottawa. The Golden Palace rolls are the standard bearer, and they do have a large operation that cranks out thousands of these each week.

I’m glad that this is not the case and it was only on one occasion when I felt I might have had the original at a different restaurant. 

The Canton rolls are very much their own recipe and they could have been better. Where the folks at Golden Palace gladly shared that their rolls are 70% meat, the Canton rolls felt like 70% taro. The seasoning was fine but they were very starchy and caused a gumming effect in the mouth, almost like eating a tablespoon of smooth peanut butter.

Hot and sour soup comes in dozens of variations and this was a lighter coloured version that had approximations of hot and sour. 

It was pleasant but short on ingredients, with the two most recognizable being tofu and bamboo shoots. I like mine a little more seasoned and so I added white pepper, shrimp and a dash of good soy sauce. It did the trick.

Wonton soup is already very mild. You order it because that’s what you want: something light and unchallenging.

I found the shrimp and pork dumplings to be nice and the napa cabbage added a sweet crunch. While the slivers of faux char siu pork added a pretty pale pink to the bowl, their taste added nothing beneficial. I was grateful however, that the broth did taste of chicken rather than just MSG water.

I have a bit of a fondness for this bean dish. When the green beans are parboiled, then cold water shocked (to retain colour) and then flash fried, it makes for one of my favourite vegetable dishes.

The beans are then stir-fried with minced pork and spices. The Canton interpretation had larger pieces of slivered pork that were properly tender. 

It was tasty enough and close to some of the better versions I’ve had.  Some kitchens however need to learn that when cooking a dish for take-out customers, it’s best to undercook the vegetables as they will continue to cook in the take-out container.

As it was, the beans had turned a little limp by the time I’d served them.

In the Cantonese tradition, even the Singapore noodles were milder than I would have liked. It was also a little short on scallions and shredded carrots.

It was a very healthy portion and at $16 represented a bargain. The ingredients were fresh, the dish was colourful, but lacked the requisite curry powder and scrambled egg. Once again I needed to augment with a few kitchen staples.

The star of this dinner was clearly the beef with onions. It’s a great combination which you’ll find in cuisines around the world. This was a very saucy dish and I called it the “beef you can cut with a spoon”, because that’s what I did.

The onions were plentiful but a little underdone, and the sauce was mild with a hint of sweetness. That beef was impossibly tender, and if you’d lost your dentures, you’d have no trouble consuming this dish. Delicious.

Canton Restaurant does a nice job of delivering Cantonese dishes at fair prices for large portions. It could do with a few adjustments so that takeaway vegetables remain firm but all in all, it was a reasonable experience.

So to my readers, if you find yourself dining in, rather than doing take-out, let me know your thoughts.