It's been quite a Journey learning of Hakka cuisine in the Toronto scene. It's amazing to realize how little I knew/know of this Hakka Indian-Chinese offering. This being said, I'm sure there are even more people that know even less than I do or not at all. Some people will love it and other dislike it, while as for myself...
I can definitely feel myself being bias without initially realizing it and it is simply because this cuisine is confusing to myself as a Chinese descendant. We're probably looking/dissecting for that Chinese element and flair in every dish while not understanding this is not Chinese food but rather it's own distinctive cuisine, Hakka Indian-Chinese.
To see the brilliance of this cuisine is to see it in the eyes of the people of this culture and the people that frequent Hakka Indian-Chinese restaurants. To breakdown each part of the Hakka, Indian, Chinese individually and then assemble it back together to make it altogether something unqiue, unfamiliarly-familiar if you will. 2.5'd
It's just very unfortunate that I've figured that when I break the dish down to it's particles, that I know the reason for my natural personal MEH for this cuisine at no fault to the cuisine itself. Factors such as deep-frying, overly starched Soups/Sauces, orange/brown colored monotone presentation, hot spices. Just as where I cannot force someone to love Stinky Tofu nor Duck Tongue, I have a preference for some Hakka Indian-Chinese dishes over majority of others.
Chicken Pakora - Love that spicy Chimichurri-esque dipping sauce(+0.5 Star). The Tandoor spice on the Chicken gives the Croquette a darker tinge than other places but at the same time less flour-coated due to the smaller size. I like the juiciness and spiciness.
Chilli Chicken(Gravy) - Bland starchy Gravy doesn't give much to the lightly floured deep-fried Chicken. I still don't understand why they call this Chili Chicken when no hint of spice was there. This looks more Canadian-Chinese if I wasn't in a Hakka restaurant.
Manchurian Noodle - First experience with this dish and basically felt like it was a version of Shanghai Fried Noodle with the distinctive Indo spice. See what I did there? Refer to Chinese again, my bad! Give me time...
Manchurian Vegetable Egg Fried Rice - First experience with this dish, so you already know by NOW what I'm going to say so peace out.