Hua $ang Seafood Restaurant

Hua Sang Seafood Restaurant
41-43 Baldwin Street, Toronto

Yes, that's Sang with a dollar sign ($). And just in case you didn't notice it the first time, you're reminded by the dollar sign that accompanies the business card. Though the tackiness is taken to a new level, Hua Sang definitely achieves with their famous seafood dishes.

I've been to this restaurant about three times now, venturing out from as far as Mississauga just to dirty my fingers ripping apart the skeletal remains of my lobster. While I devoured, I couldn't help but remember that Simpsons episode where Homer ate his pet lobster Pinchy, enjoying every bite while crying. Reflecting shortly, I begin to personify my lobster and also name him Pinchy.

For those familiar with the typical Chinese-style lobster that is stir fried with green onions, ginger and plenty of garlic, Hua Sang does this differently by making this dish exceptionally unique. The lobster is first fried with a special coating that really locks in the rich seafood flavor. This is followed by a stir fry with green onions, ginger, and garlic. The lobster is left quiet dry and becomes almost crispy when the meat is eaten with the special coating and spice mix. Other mentionables include the Dungeness crab cooked in their various methods reminiscent of Asia and clams in black bean sauce.

Don't let the dollar signs fool you! With a full house on weekends and a price range penniless students can even afford, this is definitely one of Toronto's best kept secret and one of the best lobsters you've ever had. So sorry Pinchy......

Rating: 2 stars
Price: $$ - cheap

Nam Neung Rolls with Red Tofu Peanut Sauce

Tonight I had dinner at Diane's house - increasingly she's been having more ethnic food in her diet (and by ethnic, I mean Asian). On the menu for this evening was nam neung rice rolls with a red tofu peanut sauce. This dish is Vietnamese intertwined with Thai influences. Nam neung is Vietnamese style 'meatball' that is rolls into sausage shapes.

In the rolls we put in lettuce, a variety of herbs, cucumber, green mango, and vermicelli. The dipping sauce for this meal I found to be quite robust and heavy on its own, but when eaten with the rolls, the myriad of fresh and crisp vegetables balanced out the weight of the sauce, but still retained the robust peanut flavour. The sauce had minute amounts of spiciness that helped further enhanced the overall bite.

The sourness of green mango truly balanced out the warmth and slight greasiness of the nam neung, while the lettuce and cucumber gave it extra crunch, and the herbs added fresh fragrance. And certainly the vermicelli helped make this meal truly filling.

Unfortunately I don't know where to get this meal other than at Diane's house, making this meal positively unique. To top it off: the nam neung was homemade!

So You Think You Can Food Critique

To further legitimize what little authority I have in the food critique world, I decided to do some research into the necessary qualifications required to become one. Shockingly, there really isn't any requirements at all! You obviously need to know a little something about food, but most importantly, you must be able to communicate your sensations to an audience.

Considering that I almost failed high school English and never learned what a thesis was or let alone write an essay, this will definitely be a personal challenge. Besides, I don't think my style of writing is in any way entertaining. Do one-liner work emails count?

Pardon the digression. Just as I was about to lose hope, I inadvertently discovered the Association of Food Journalists - a network of "journalists who devote most of their working time to planning and writing food copy for news media worldwide". After a bit of browsing, I found the AFJ's Food Critic's Guidelines. Jackpot! Though these guidelines aren't enforced in any way, it does serve its purpose by providing me with a starting point. To be exhaustive, I'll attempt to summarize the guidelines while providing the link here:

Ethics
Restaurant reviewing should abide by standards of journalism. Though I think general ethical standards would suffice.

Anonymity
Apparently you should remain as anonymous as possible. And here I was thinking that I'd become famous and would be invited to feasts of free food! Wishful thinking.... which will still come true, less the review.

Multiple Visits
Two to three visits are recommended. Food, service, and atmosphere can vary throughout the week. This makes sense to me, as a Saturday will be a different experience from a Monday. These multiple visits allow the critic to observe and gain a better experience of the restaurant. Try a weekend and weekday.

Ordering
Try to sample a full range of items from appetizer, main course, and desert. Of course going by yourself limits the variety one can taste. So go with friends! What a better way to enjoy and critic food then with your friends. Order dishes with varying cooking methods, styles, and ingredients. Don't forget to order what the restaurant is famous for! Order different dishes on repeated visits while repeating a previous order to experience consistency.

Payment
Don't accept free meals. How rediculous......

Variety
Try to review the full range of possible restaurants from prices, ethnic styles, and neighborhoods.

New Restaurants
Try a new restaurant a month after it is established. This allows the restaurant to settle in and give it time to perfect everything. This makes a lot of sense and I have rarely considered this. It's only reasonable, and to be fair, they deserve the time as a new business.

Ratings
Its always been difficult for me to value a restaurant in terms of stars. But the below seems to do a great job. I'll try! (These are all taken from the AFJ)

FOUR STARS: (Extraordinary) Transcendent. A one-of-a-kind, world-class experience.
THREE STARS: (Excellent) Superior. Memorable, high-quality menus frequently accompanied by exciting environs and/or savvy service.
TWO STARS: (Good) Solid places that beckon with generally appealing cooking.
ONE STAR: (Fair) Just OK. A place not worth rushing back to. But, it might have something worth recommending: A view, a single dish, friendly service, lively scene.
NO STAR: (Poor) Below-average restaurants.

Changes
Restaurants can get better or worst from its fame. I especially hate it when restaurants go downhill once they've become established. Nothing ticks me off than a restaurant that takes advantage of their customers and ignore the importance of quality.

Negative Reviews
Try to keep negative reviews fair. Some of these restaurants can be a person's lively hood. So please be considerate and ensure that you've sampled many items on their menu to make a fair judgment.

Fact Checking
Ensure all facts are correct like any good journalist.

Well, these are the guidelines. Hope this will take your food trotting experiences to the next level!!!!

Posting Backlog!

So it's been a week or so since my last posting. And since then, I have been to numerous restaurants and have yet to trot about it! This is bad start.......

To that end, I will attempt to cover the following dining experiences:

Ambassador Chinese Cuisine
Nando's
Restauran Malaysia
Hua Sang Seafood Restaurant
Bahn Mi Factory
Jaadu
Dao Vien Pho

Crap.... I didn't realize I've eaten out so much this week! I'm even sure that I'm missing a few from that list. Well, I guess I have quiet a bit to write over the next couple of days!

Note: Never order two dishes and attempt to eat both. Yes, it can be done. And Yes, I finished both plates completely!

Caribbean Bistro

Caribbean Bistro
2439 Yonge Street, Toronto

Ever since coming back from St-Lucia, my curiosity for Caribbean food was heightened. Sure, I ate mostly at touristy venues, but I still took my chances by asking the locals to buy me food. Yes - while most tourists are asking for the freshest "herbs", I was asking for authentic local food! I'm sure you can already imagine, to their dismay, a very perplexing high look on their faces. In any case, they scattered off and quickly returned with curry fried king fish and jerk chicken, accompanied with a side of root vegetables (which I postulate as arrow root, plantains, sweet potatoes, and taro) and curried vegetables. The spices they used for this food was so unique, I simply wanted more! Though they say it's a mix of Creole, French, and West Indian influences, I really didn't see how the French fit it. I mean, they were by no means considered small portioned.

So on to the Caribbean Bistro, where I wanted to revisit the pallets I experienced on my vacation. I've already had their Roti Chicken from a previous time, something which I highly recommend but bears no comparison to the Malaysian counterpart. Today I ordered their Jerk Chicken and I was unfortunately disappointed by its lack of spice! Though their hot sauce is home-made, it also failed kill the tongue in comparison to my Baron branded hot sauce from St-Lucia. Would I return? Yes, for their Chicken Roti and because I walk past it every day after work.

Price: $$$
Rating: YY