Torbay Rd. Mall
Ph. 754-2892
Dinner and
a show sounded like a good idea. So it was that my companion and I took
ourselves to China House Restaurant on a recent Saturday evening for a meal of
Chinese buffet, to be followed by a couple of hours entertainment at the
musical, CATS. I picked China House because it was relatively close to the Arts
and Culture Centre and I was peckish for Chinese.
China House
had changed its appearance since my last visit. I remember it being a room with
not much design. Now it looks considerably more interesting. There are a couple
of raised dining areas, one at the end with a fireplace and another along one
of the sidewalls. Several Chinese decorations provide some colour and
atmosphere to the room, including a striking picture of a beautiful lady in
Chinese dress doing needlepoint. I also liked the lighting fixtures that hung
from the ceiling, designed to look like Chinese lanterns.
The buffet
on Friday and Saturday evenings was advertised as a “deluxe” buffet, as opposed
to their regular weekday buffet. I have not experienced the weekday buffet but
I thought the buffet on Saturday evening was pretty standard fare, nothing I’d
describe as deluxe. However, I was out for something inexpensive and China
House fit the bill nicely. Two can dine on their buffet items, including
dessert, coffee or tea for less than $30. That was a great deal, no matter how
you look at it.
Rather than
pile large amounts of food on my plate at one time I decided to dine
incrementally, organizing my meal into courses. I began with China House's won
ton soup. It was hot with rising steam that suggested pork inside the soup's
white won ton wrapped bundles. The soup's flavour was improved with the
addition of chopped fresh scallions found near the soup pot, as well as by
adding a few drops of soy sauce from the bottle on our table. The won ton
wrappers offered little resistance in my mouth as they slid off the nuggets of
pork contained inside each of them.
The egg
rolls were much like the frozen ones you buy at Sobey's or Dominion, a la Chun
King. They were crispy and quite palatable with a good dollop of packet plum
sauce. Their deep-fried cousins were equally palatable. Some American style
onion rings had good colour and crunch, as did China House's very large fried
won tons. I could have eaten a basketful.
One of my
favourite offerings was a mixture of tender beef and fresh green and yellow
beans. A sauce incorporating the flavours of beef and root vegetables helped
bring focus to the entire dish. It reminded me of a homemade tender beef and
vegetable stew that does such a great job of taking the edge off winter.
Plenty of
carbs appeared on the buffet including fried rice, Chinese noodles and
requisite vegetable dishes. All were quite ordinary, however I did favour the
fragrant noodles as well as the guy ding. The ding was loaded with tasty
vegetables and a few pieces of very tender chicken. The chop suey and fried
rice were decent enough but not exceptional.
Another
favourite for me was the barbecued chicken. A tray was filled with chicken
drumsticks and thighs that had been finished on the grill or broiler in a
liberal coating of sweet and tangy southern Texas style sauce. Some pieces were
a tad dry from standing but overall they were moist and tender.
The
battered pork in pineapple sauce contained good flavours as well, although some
might have found the soggy texture of the batter to be out of context.
While the
"other white meat" was encased in a soft, moist batter, such was not
the case with the China House deep-fried chicken balls. They were large -
mostly because of batter volume - and very crispy. Anyone who loves chicken
balls and red sauce would have been in heaven.
The beef
and broccoli was a disappointment, mainly because of the broccoli. It tasted
and looked very much like frozen broccoli. The florets were mushy, flattened
out and tasteless.
Dessert
consisted of a choice of frozen versions of strawberry shortcake, coconut cream
pie and a sugary coffee cake. I tried the coconut cream pie and while it was
nothing like a good freshly made pie, I had no problem enjoying it.
I recommend that China House replace the
dinner plates at their buffet station. They were the most worn out and
unattractive plates I have ever seen in a restaurant. Their centers were
literally gray from wear. The other crockery pieces looked okay but the dinner
plates carry most of the meal and therefore should enhance the appearance of
the food, not take away from it.
Coffee and
tea came with the meal. I ordered tea but my companion ordered decaf coffee.
Unfortunately, while our server affirmed the availability of decaf coffee she
neglected to say that it was "instant" decaf. When it arrived my
companion made a face capable of stopping Big Ben. The cup may have been under
companion's nose but I, like him, had no problem recognizing the smell of
instant coffee - perhaps Sanka - that had been sitting in an envelope or bottle
for some time. Companion didn't taste. Instead he picked up the cup and moved
it away to the other end of the table - its own Siberia. I sensed an
uncomfortable tension.
Before I
had a chance to offer my tea, the poor server returned with the proverbial,
"Is everything okay?" With that he pointed to the offending coffee imposter
and said,” That is absolutely horrid. I asked for decaf coffee, not
instant." It didn't help when, missing the point completely, she offered
to put more water in the “instant” for him. Talk about pouring fuel on the
fire. The ensuing frigid glare was enough to make her scurry off like a
frightened rabbit. It was just as well. The sudden drop in temperature caused
by Mr. Freeze, probably would have frozen her on the spot. I prayed that seeing
CATS might soothe his “savage breast." Mind you, I could understand the
consternation because I’m also of the opinion that restaurants should never
serve instant coffee, especially without warning.
Things got
worse when I tried to pay the bill. The counter was having problems with the
debit machine. Apparently it had a clogged paper roller. A gentleman tried to
extricate bits of paper from it with a pair of tweezers but returned to the
kitchen leaving the lady cashier to fiddle with it while processing VISA
payments manually. An increasing crowd of customers - all with plastic - was
wanting to pay for take-out and in-house food. I began to see visions of myself
climbing over people in the dark at the Arts and Culture. My watch showed the
time to be after 7:30 and curtain time for CATS was at 8.
Meanwhile
as I waited to pay my China House bill, I realized that people have little
patience for waiting in restaurants, even when it’s just 5 minutes. In a short
time, I began to hear comments like, "This is ridiculous," spiced
with a few expletives. Relief came when I asked if there was an instant teller
nearby so I could pay in cash. There was. It was literally next-door at the
CIBC. In this case “instant” was a good thing. Like the pied piper of Hamlin, a
small clutch of the recently disgruntled followed me to the bank machine. But
would I get to the theatre before Grizabella sang Memory?
I hurried
back clutching two twenty dollar bills. Companion had given up and left for the
parking lot still muttering under his breath about that offensive beverage. I
pushed forward to pay and even contemplated just throwing the cash at the
counter and sprinting off, to make up for lost time. Still, I had to wait while
change was made for another customer. I wanted to scream, “But I have tickets
for CATS! Rum Tum Tugger! Bustopher Jones! Mr. Mistoffles!” Finally I laid down
my cash and bolted.
We made the
play with a few minutes to spare, and yes, it was worth the ordeal. Companion
left the theatre with a tiny hint of a smile on his face. World peace was that
much closer.
Our buffet
meal for two at China House - including two glasses of red wine and tip - cost
approximately $38.
The noise
level at China House is moderate and it is wheelchair accessible.
Best
Points:
Improved décor.
Areas for Improvement:
Serve fresh decaf coffee and get new plates.
Ratings Category:
China House Restaurant gets a rating of 7
points out of 10.