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| - I have heard many aunties and uncles ranting and raving about how good the food is at Fancy Chinese Cuisine, and how hard it is to book a reservation. It is alleged that without a reservation you shouldn't even think about stepping foot in this restaurant - even on a weekday! It is also alleged that you must make reservations 2 weeks in advance. With all this hype - I had to go see for myself if these allegations were true.
The place was indeed pretty busy for a weekday. Upon entering, I noticed a sign on the door that said "FULLY BOOKED." I am just wondering if they keep that sign up permanently or if they really ARE that popular as I have passed by many a times and the same sign was hanging on the door. Fabricated demand (e.g. marketing tactic?) or truth? I would soon find out.
Whenever we go out with my uncle, we let him do the ordering. Tonight, the fate of my taste buds would again, rest in his hands. My uncle likes fried, or roasted things - things with a nice crunchy texture and he loves his carbs. So I was not surprised at his menu selection tonight.
Appetizer:
Daikon Radish and Pork Bone Soup - The natural "sweetness" of the daikon radish gave this soup a really refreshing flavour. Although it was not a highly concentrated soup, it was quite tasty. But it was not as "lo for" (old fire) as I've had. The term "lo for" refers to the amount of intense flavour that is attributed to the beef/chicken/pork bones that are used to form the soup base, usually, from long hours of slow cooking.
Courses:
Roasted Pork with Wakame Salad & Jellyfish - The pork was really salty and had an odd taste to it. The skin was not the crispiest either. However, I liked that the pork was the right amount of fat to meat as sometimes all you are eating are mouthfuls of fat. They could've been a bit more generous with the serving of jellyfish that accompanied the pork.
Garlic-Roasted Chicken - Chicken was tender and juicy though lacking in any real flavour. The skin was nice and crisp and I loved the fried bits of minced garlic. I hope I brought a stick of gum?
Ginger-Scallion Braised Lobster - This was a tasty dish, and the size of the lobster was bigger than most restaurants I've eaten at. My sister always goes for the tail, and she pulled out a substantial chunk of meat from it. The lobster was fresh, and meat was solid. Yum!
Yeung Chow Fried Rice - Pretty standard. Has chunks of barbecued pork, shrimp, and broccoli in it. It was not too oily nor too salty. Just right.
Fried Calamari w/ Tempura Jalapenos - This was an interesting dish. Portion sizes were mini-esque though. It was a spicy dish. The batter was light and not too oily.
Honey Garlic Beef & Chinese Broccoli - A tad bit on the sweet side for me. If you're bringing your nana do not order this dish as she might chip a tooth in her dentures trying to eat the Chinese Broccoli stems. If I were making a land model, the broccoli would've been one of the trees.
Sweet & Sour Battered Fish - The batter, again, was fresh and not soaked in oil. The colour was a nice pale yellow, which means they use fresh oil (thank goodness!).
Dessert:
What I loved about Fancy was that desserts are served in individual portions which meant that everyone could get their heart's desire. You could choose from: Red Bean Soup, Black Sesame Soup and Tofu w/ Simple Syrup. I ordered the Tofu w/ Simple Syrup and they neglected to include the syrup. I had to ask for them to bring it. I looked around and saw that other tables, in addition to their sweet soup of choice, got a plate of green tea cookies and sesame balls. Not sure if this depends on the amount you spend, or if you have to order their set dinners. But we didn't get to sample these.
Verdict:
The Chinese name of Fancy Chinese Cuisine is Li Ka Shing, which phonetically sounds like the name of the well-known Hong Kong tycoon who is the richest man of East Asian decent, and the world's 10th wealthiest. However, something tells me that if Mr. Li were to visit Toronto that he wouldn't choose to dine at Fancy.
Some of the dishes were a hit, some of them were a miss - but there was nothing that really stood out in my mind that differentiated their cuisine from other Chinese restaurants I've been to. Some points of differentiation from the service standpoint included: replacing dirty dishes with clean ones and providing wet naps. From a plating and presentation perspective, Fancy really doesn't make it a priority. The dishes came out at assembly-line speeds as we found ourselves eating at competitive speeds just to make space for the courses as they arrived at the table. However, the high-speed service came to a lull once we were finished our main courses. The bill appeared at the table even before dessert was served. It felt as if we became an afterthought once the main courses were served and the bill was paid. Parking was not a problem, but keep in mind I went on a weekday.
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