Fathers Day! Dad‘s favourite is BBQ Peking style duck so off we went to Chinatown once again. His favourite for takeout is Yang Sheng but we’re eating in and the ambience there is a little(!?) iffy at times. We decided on Jadeland. There were 5 of us —we ended up with enough food to feed 10 but it was all good. We asked for no MSG, spring rolls and BBQ are the only items we cannot have MSG free.
Daughter had just returned from a trip to China and ordered a few different items. We tried a couple of dim sum items:
Rice wrap with BBQ Pork and spices. The pieces of pork were generous and the seasoning subtle.
Rice Wrap with steamed shrimp—shrimp moist, wrap a tad soft and thick, but tasty. This was the least salty &/or seasoned item we had. Note__I had to be unauthentic and use a fork to get this manageable enough to eat! The rice wrap is much thicker than daughter had in Shanghai and Nanjing.
Steamed Rice in Palm Leaf. This was steamed in green tea and had a very distinct tannic flavour. A change for my tastebuds but it grew on me. It had spiced fried tofu bits and some greens—I would highly recommend trying this if you want to try some “un-American” Chinese food and are leery of unknown items!
For more Canadian style Chinese food we each had a spring roll—2 vegetarian and 3 regular with pork/shrimp. Both were light, not too greasy or dark. The veg ones ended up tasting better—lots of dark, flavourful mushrooms. Both had coarsely shredded cabbage and crispy fried onion strips. The pork was very moist and they were chunks, not ground and were big enough to carry a distinct flavour. Different than any I’ve tried around here but possibly the best. The sauces here are plain—plum, hoisin and a vinegary one.
We always order lemon chicken. This one had a slightly heavy batter but the breast was moist and tender. The sauce was thin and not artificially yellow or cloyingly sweet. There were actual lemon slices on top. Daughter tells us she did not have this in China (she also couldn’t read menus as does not speak Cantonese or mandarin) It may not be “authentic” but it sure beats sweet & sour chicken balls!
We order something elsewhere that is called Imperial pork but here it is “Peking Style Pork Chop”. Being a child of the 70’s it sort of reminds me of garlic ribs but not—spicier, less cornstarch, less garlic, less sweet and pork riblets, not ribs. We “unauthentics” love it!
Dishes with vegetables include 1. a special for the day—Steamed Baby Bok Choy with Garlic. This was a large plate of delicious greens, delicately flavoured, a hint of sesame—especially considering garlic was the main seasoning. Good texture. Probably my fav of the day. 2. Fried Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables. This was the fried egg noodles in a slightly oily, sesame scented sauce—lots of water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots (all canned?), but carrots, green peppers, onions, snow peas and greens also. Not outstanding but we had pretty much ordered this for a “basic” and the noodles were firm and a nicely barely crisp texture. Chicken was steamed, not fried. I didn’t try the Peking BBQ duck (didn’t want to push the MSG problem) but it looked crisp and fresh and all liked it. “Dad” likes the extra sauce at Yang Sheng but IMO there looked like plenty for soaking.
No room for desserts!
Salt Factor—not too bad a few hours later. Here they only offer water if requested but they do keep the complimentary green tea topped up. Very friendly, attentive service. Décor a bit stark and it was noisy when full. Full Chinese drinks menu, a few bottled beer choices, house wine and basic cocktails. They definitely did not add MSG as requested—I know immediately. Good experience, we’ll be back. Oh yes—quite reasonable in price.
Note: they definitely have a different menu for those who want authentic—2 tables close by had a completely different menu and the dishes looked very interesting to say the least!
W.C.
silver
Daughter had just returned from a trip to China and ordered a few different items. We tried a couple of dim sum items:
Rice wrap with BBQ Pork and spices. The pieces of pork were generous and the seasoning subtle.
Rice Wrap with steamed shrimp—shrimp moist, wrap a tad soft and thick, but tasty. This was the least salty &/or seasoned item we had. Note__I had to be unauthentic and use a fork to get this manageable enough to eat! The rice wrap is much thicker than daughter had in Shanghai and Nanjing.
Steamed Rice in Palm Leaf. This was steamed in green tea and had a very distinct tannic flavour. A change for my tastebuds but it grew on me. It had spiced fried tofu bits and some greens—I would highly recommend trying this if you want to try some “un-American” Chinese food and are leery of unknown items!
For more Canadian style Chinese food we each had a spring roll—2 vegetarian and 3 regular with pork/shrimp. Both were light, not too greasy or dark. The veg ones ended up tasting better—lots of dark, flavourful mushrooms. Both had coarsely shredded cabbage and crispy fried onion strips. The pork was very moist and they were chunks, not ground and were big enough to carry a distinct flavour. Different than any I’ve tried around here but possibly the best. The sauces here are plain—plum, hoisin and a vinegary one.
We always order lemon chicken. This one had a slightly heavy batter but the breast was moist and tender. The sauce was thin and not artificially yellow or cloyingly sweet. There were actual lemon slices on top. Daughter tells us she did not have this in China (she also couldn’t read menus as does not speak Cantonese or mandarin) It may not be “authentic” but it sure beats sweet & sour chicken balls!
We order something elsewhere that is called Imperial pork but here it is “Peking Style Pork Chop”. Being a child of the 70’s it sort of reminds me of garlic ribs but not—spicier, less cornstarch, less garlic, less sweet and pork riblets, not ribs. We “unauthentics” love it!
Dishes with vegetables include 1. a special for the day—Steamed Baby Bok Choy with Garlic. This was a large plate of delicious greens, delicately flavoured, a hint of sesame—especially considering garlic was the main seasoning. Good texture. Probably my fav of the day. 2. Fried Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables. This was the fried egg noodles in a slightly oily, sesame scented sauce—lots of water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots (all canned?), but carrots, green peppers, onions, snow peas and greens also. Not outstanding but we had pretty much ordered this for a “basic” and the noodles were firm and a nicely barely crisp texture. Chicken was steamed, not fried. I didn’t try the Peking BBQ duck (didn’t want to push the MSG problem) but it looked crisp and fresh and all liked it. “Dad” likes the extra sauce at Yang Sheng but IMO there looked like plenty for soaking.
No room for desserts!
Salt Factor—not too bad a few hours later. Here they only offer water if requested but they do keep the complimentary green tea topped up. Very friendly, attentive service. Décor a bit stark and it was noisy when full. Full Chinese drinks menu, a few bottled beer choices, house wine and basic cocktails. They definitely did not add MSG as requested—I know immediately. Good experience, we’ll be back. Oh yes—quite reasonable in price.
Note: they definitely have a different menu for those who want authentic—2 tables close by had a completely different menu and the dishes looked very interesting to say the least!