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| - First of all, A La Kitchen is fairly hidden as it is tucked behind First Markham Place. I did not even realize there was a plaza behind FMP until today.
I made a reservation for our party of 8 ahead of time, so we did not have to wait at all. It was not too busy at 12:30 PM, but a small crowd did start to build up around 1 PM.
We ordered:
-Chicken and corn soup
-Steamed pork dumplings
-Small wontons in red (spicy) peanut sauce
-Fried bread (Chinese silver bun)
-Mu Shu chicken with pancake
-Pork wrapped in lotus leaf
-A La house special fried rice cake with pork
-A La house special fried vermicelli with seafood
The soup was nothing special. The soup dumplings were delicious (comparable to Asian Legend). The wontons fell apart and the sauce was quite spicy (Din Tai Fung does this better). The fried bread was extremely disappointing - only the top was fried but it was not crispy at all, and the condensed milk was watered down (It's the best part! Why would they do that?). The Mu Shu chicken was all right, but the texture of the pancakes was a little hard. The pork was tasty and it was not too fatty. The fried rice cake was overcooked, but not too oily, and I believe it was fried with seaweed (??) which was interesting. I thought the fried vermicelli was nothing special with fried egg, ham and shrimp, but a couple people really liked it.
The food was not salty, and it was not too oily. (They make a promise of 'no MSG'.) The portions were decent, too. One thing to consider, however, is they do NOT accept credit cards.
I have dined at Din Tai Fung and Asian Legend before, and out of these 3 restaurants, I'm fairly certain I will only be returning to Asian Legend if I'm ever craving Shanghai food again. (It is often crowded but there are many locations and they have always been consistent. Their staple items are delicious. Without a doubt, Asian Legend makes the best fried Chinese silver buns!)
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