2007 09 07
One more dish that Jadeland makes that I have not been able to get anywhere in Ottawa, or for that matter in Canada, but I am sure if one knows in TO or Van, one could find it, is 'Minced pork steamed with salty preserved duck eggs'. It is one of those 'mom it the best' type dishes and there is a long story there about allergy to chicken eggs, but this will work, ... etc...
See, I don't hate chinese cooks, as long as they cook chinese food, or what they are good at....
Unfortunately, Ottawa is full of these 'specialty' restaurants where they can't seem to get it all right all the time...
Jadeland also does a good job of Back Bacon cooked with preserved vegetables, beggars chicken, although they call it salt baked chicken on the menu ... all of which are not seafood....
And Jade Tree Chicken, which is a de-boned sliced chicken with ham slices and chinese broccoli, if you see it, you will understand... presentation is all..., but they don't like to make it as it is time consuming and they need specialty ham. The last few times I have been there, they have just put sliced deli ham..... bad...., but the chicken and veggies with sauce, is still excellent. The price though is expensive, for a half chicken... $25... but this and Yangtze, in Ottawa, are the only two places that can make it... alas they should try to buy the real thick canned ham to make it!!!
They also put oyster sauce in all their beef stir fries , like Wok with Yan....
2007 08 24
Here's a kudos first to Anne DesB. She did a great review of the Courtyard restaurant in the Citizen Sunday the 19th instant. Funny and to the point. Only thing I would add is $100 pp before drinks, tax and tip is way expensive and let's hope the food is as enlightened as Anne makes it out to be. Also think history on Marc Lepine is that he cooked at the French embassy or something, but that would have been an interesting aside.
That being said, Chu Shing is on par with Jadeland in terms of cost/benefit for food tastes. They are both cheap. $20pp all in, including a beer, for dinner, is cheap in my book. Chu Shing is better though for large groups of 6 or more. Format. But service really needs work. That's cause the owner hires young girls/women from china right off the boat. Slave labour and not trained in the service of the masses. (Beckta would be just the diametrical opposite on this front.) Jadeland is way small and kitchen cannot handle a crowd, as was witnessed by myself many times over, but especially when I brought a group of 7 over one evening with reservations for dinner. Because it is so small, the service is of course relatively better. But essentially there is not much difference in the food of either place, Chu Shing being slightly better. Seafood at Jadeland is not great per DesB review!
Mekong has one of the most creative, innovative chinese/viet restaurateurs in Ottawa. Long history there and we go back a long way to the days when he was a waiter in Yang Shing in the '70s. The selling of art on the walls, the hiring of chefs to do decent western style chinese cooking are all his ideas. Firsts in Ottawa and probably around Canada. But the only really outstanding dishes at this place is the Hunan Beef. Which, and one of the chefs who left and is at Ging Sing, very few can do as well. It is by far the best in Ottawa and Ontario. I am sure that if one tried hard, one could find similar in Toronto and Vancouver. But it is nonpareil. And the fish is done quite nicely here as well, especially steamed or flash fried with asparagus or pea shots. But you know, that's about it.... The other stuff that Anne raves about are just middle of the road and can be found anywhere in Ottawa. Mekong is also expensive..., run you about $40pp all in with drinks....
And knowing Anne is such an icon, she wouldn't mind a few hits, especially since she knows so little about Asian food.
Wok flavour, go to Royal Treasure..... fried seafood included, they don't steam because it uses up a wok, so they are out of touch there....
Older......
Have to knock Anne DesBrisay's recent review of Mekong and an older one of Jadeland.... in context.... have to think of a smart way to say it... in the works...
quickly though.. she's way off the mark on both Mekong and Jadeland and like I have said here before... she may know French/European food, but her appreciation of everything else is limited to her ability to taste the ingredients... And one would hope that a cuisine is more than the sum of its parts... synergy they called it in the '80s... but it's been around a lot longer than that....
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