Chong's Restaurant 鍾記海鮮食館

REVISIT POST ON CHONG'S RESTAURANT [HERE]

When I try new restaurants, sometimes I do not feel like having expectations to prevent myself from being disappointed. Sometimes when I look for restaurants, I keep in mind that the food may not taste good, but passable, which was Chong's in this case. When I entered Chong's, it reminded me of a smaller and quieter restaurant than Congee Noodle King. Chong's menu has less options by 35% and the prices are cheaper by $1.00.

THE COMPLIMENTARY SLOW COOKED CHINESE PORK WITH VEGETABLES SOUP, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB, ROAST PORK HOTPOT, STEAMED TILAPIA, CRISPY SKIN CHICKEN, YEUNG CHOW FRIED RICE AND WATER CHESTNUT AND CORN SOUP DESSERT.

COMPLIMENTARY SOUP OF THE DAY, SLOW COOKED CHINESE PORK WITH VEGETABLES. As we were looking at the menu, our waitress brought us soup! I have not been to a Chinese restaurant for the longest time that still brings complimentary soup. The soup tastes very home cooked, healthy, and flavourful with no heavy taste of salt. The pork as well as the vegetables taste tender and yummy. I wanted to finish the whole soup to myself, seriously, and the only thing stopping me to leave one bowl is because I felt greedy.

2 3/4LB CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB. The crab is cut smaller so every piece can taste more flavourful. The cream and butter sauces tastes weak and could have tasted more flavourful. The sauce does not taste flavourful and has a very slight cream and butter taste. At least the sauce does not taste bland right? Surprisingly it happens at a few restaurants (Phekda next door).

YEUNG CHOW FRIED RICE. The fried rice has a good amount of bbq pork, shrimp, eggs, and green onions. The rice tastes good, properly fused together, not overly oily or salty, and is properly made.

STEAMED TILAPIA. The steamed tilapia tastes fresh and not overcooked.

ROAST PORK HOT POT. The hot pot tastes very flavourful, not salty, and the tofu is very tasty. The roasted pork however, tastes very chewy, tough, and dry. I prefer roasted pork on its own rather than in hot pot because I like the crunchy tasting skin, and fatty taste. Roasted pork in hot pot resembles a beef tripe texture which I like, just not with roasted pork.

CRISPY SKIN CHICKEN. The skin tastes crispy without tasting over deep fried, but the chicken could have tasted more tender. The chicken does not taste too chewy, it just could have tasted a lot more tender. In general I am not really a fan of crispy skin chicken because I rather have a juicy, tasty, and fatty BBQ duck. Or, I rather have a Hainanese chicken for the fresh, clean, and refreshing taste.

COMPLIMENTARY CHESTNUT AND CORN SOUP. The soup tastes sweet (not overly sweet), has a nice thickened texture, and the pieces of water chestnut tastes crisp. The chestnut and corn soup is a nice break from the usual red bean, green bean, and coconut tapioca soup.

POSITIVES
- Another alternative to avoid the long line ups at Congee Noodle King
- Faster service than most Chinese restaurants since the restaurant is smaller
- Family and waitresses are very friendly and attentive (partially bias because we were the only table)

NEGATIVES
- Cream and butter sauce can improve

LITTLE THINGS
- Revisit post on Chong's Restaurant [here]
- Soup of the day won me over!

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 4.5/5