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| - Eating here felt like I would be cheating on a girlfriend. I have a heavy allegiance to northwest Calgary's Peking Garden - it's been the only Chinese food place I'd dare to eat at for well over 10 years now. If ever there was a monogamous relationship with a restaurant, PG and I were in it.
But, my roommate's mom was having her birthday here and because I bring a special kind of pizazz to every party I'm invited to (read: Invite me to your parties, I'm super rad), I was brought along for the ride. I wore baggy clothes and considered a wig, lest anyone from Peking Garden should happen to be walking by when I entered. In the end, I opted out on the wig. I'd make a terrible woman.
We ordered Ginger beef, lemon chicken, salt and pepper squid/scallops/shrimp/seafood, sweet and sour pork, a noodle dish and the sizzling rice. We probably got a few more things, but those are the only ones I can recall as I allowed the party hosts to order up the food while trying desperately to avoid calling up Peking Garden and confess everything. The guilt was tangible.
The Silver Inn is pretty big, decor is pretty simple and prices are pretty affordable. Unlike other reviewers, I have no clue what "Authentic" Peking food even is, so I'm fine to shuck up to some westernized Asian food and down it like there's an oncoming famine. No complaints on authenticity here, all it needs to be is edible.
How did it stack up?
As much as I hate to admit it, this place DOES have the better Ginger Beef. It's sweet, saucy, powerful and crispy. Every bite of that adulterous dish made me feel alive in ways I hadn't felt in a long time. It was magic, discovery... it was so wrong that it was right. I was left licking the sauce of my own infidelities from my fingertips, simultaneously emboldened and ashamed. Whether they invented it or not, it's really good.
The salt and pepper squid was also delicious; a good portion and not too salty. It wrapped me in its warm, tentacle embrace, and for a few moments I thought to myself, "Peking Who?"
That said, the sizzling rice was a bit underwhelming. I'm used to bountiful portions, lots of toppings and a sauce that you would crawl over glass to lick out of a bowl.
The noodle dish we had was big and delicious (but nothing special) and the lemon chicken was a plus as well - perfectly deep fried and soft in the center where it counts.
Fortune cookies were also delivered, I think mine had something to do with smiling in the face of opportunity or something.
At the end of the day, I won't be leaving the ol' PG too soon. Everything there is a home run. I'll stay as true as I can, but I hope you won't fault me for ordering a discretely delivered plate or two of Ginger Beef from the Silver Inn.
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