At first glance, there has been little change in the decor. They took over another Chinese restaurant that had lasted less than a year, so most furnishings were still new.
We chose some simple dishes in order to test the skills of the chef.
Soymilk (salty). The soymilk has a nice creamy consistency. Imo a stronger soybean taste would be nice, but the thickness of the soymilk was perfect as a soup like breakfast item.
Sliced beef with tripe in chili sauce. Allergy alert.... lots of peanuts, which really accents the marinated beef. I like that they make it less saltier than many other restaurants.
Steam dumplings. Juicy and holds its shape, this dumpling has a medium thickness skin that holds up to being picked up by chopsticks. Juicy and slightly chewy skin. Although not the thinnest that I have tried, it was still above average.
Ji Cai dumpling soup. A little on the oily side, but not too salty. The dumpling is a little denser than some that I have tried but I prefer the one at The Place restaurant on Granville & 64th because they add seaweed and egg floss to the soup.
Shanghai style pressed meat with noodle. Generous portion for the noodle. The pressed meat is standard for most shanghai restaurants.
What I liked:
- Good and attentive service - they refilled our tea regularly
- Spacious and clean - still relatively new restaurant
- Competitive price point and good quality good
What I did not like:
- Stereotypical food pictures outside the restaurant made it less appealing
- Very large space that is hard to fill with patrons
I think they have everything done right, good service, higher quality food at a competitive price point. I will definitely revisit this place to check out the consistency of its food.
3 1/2 out of 5 ( reserving the other 1/2 for consistency the next time I come here)
