Chong's Restaurant 鍾記海鮮食館 (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON CHONG'S RESTAURANT [HERE]

I was craving for Hon's potstickers (only the New Westminster location) but at the same time I wanted seafood, that took Hon's out of the picture. I thought why not try Chong Qing in Burnaby? Before I parked, I noticed that their crab and lobster prices are higher than most restaurants (not comparing to "ghetto" or "dirty" Chinese restaurants). If I am going to pay $16.95/lb for crab or $22.95/lb for lobster, I rather biasly pay slightly more to have dinner at a "higher end" Chinese restaurant. I want to try Chong Qing eventually… but with many other options and an empty restaurant on a Saturday evening, I will pass for now.

Since my first visit to Chong's Restaurant was a few months ago, I always wanted to revisit because the dishes tasted pretty good and the staff was very friendly. To be honest, the soup of the day (slow cooked soup) is what won me over. The restaurant's interior has quite a few tables for four, six, and larger parties of eight to ten. When we walked in, the left side of the restaurant was almost full and I had no problem sitting there. However, the waitress offered to seat us in the right corner which was more private. Even though I did not think it was necessary, it was nice of her for giving us a more comfortable and quiet seat.

SLOW COOKED VEGETABLE SOUP, PRAWNS WITH PEPPERY SALT, LAYERED PORK WITH TARO ROOT HOT POT, STEAMED TILAPIA, LOBSTER IN CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE, RICE, SINGAPORE STYLE FRIED VERMICELLI, DEEP FRIED TOFU WITH PEPPERY SALT, AND RED BEAN SOUP.

COMPLIMENTARY SOUP OF THE DAY. The soup has a clear tofu vegetable broth taste, and tender pieces of beef, sliced carrots, tofu, and bean curd skin. The soup tastes very light, healthy, and could of used a bit more salt. The soup of the day is always different and the soup we had on the first visit definitely tasted a lot better. On the first visit, it was a slow cooked pork with vegetable soup, yum.

2 1/2LB CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE LOBSTER ($16.80/LB). I consider the price for the lobster a bit high since they only had one claw lobsters. Usually one claw lobsters and crabs are cheaper since they only have one claw. The sauce tastes creamy and buttery, but does not taste as flavourful or tasty as other restaurants (hey, at least the sauce does not taste bland.. like Phekda's next door). The lobster tastes slightly overcooked and has no nice bounce or snap. After reading my first post on Chong's, I forgot that I mentioned their cream and butter sauce tasted weak. If I remembered, I would have chose their supreme broth instead. Chong's also had cheap crabs at $8.95/lb but they were fairly small, only 2lb.

PRAWNS WITH PEPPERY SALT ($6.95). The prawns are perfectly crispy and a bit over deep fried, but tasty enough. The seasoning lacks the peppery salt taste but does not taste bland at all. For roughly the same price, Congee Noodle King serves a larger portion of this dish.

COMPLIMENTARY RICE WITH PURCHASE OF DISH. The rice tastes a bit too hard.

DEEP FRIED TOFU WITH PEPPERY SALT ($6.95). The tofu is nicely battered and deep fried, but is missing the peppery salt taste like the prawns. The tofu has pretty much a perfect crisp on the outside, and tastes moist on the inside.

SINGAPORE STYLE FRIED VERMICELLI ($8.95). The vermicelli has a light curry taste and tastes perfectly cooked, not oily or salty. The dish has a decent amount of BBQ pork, green onion, red pepper, bean sprouts, sliced onions, and egg. I would have preferred if they charged an extra dollar or two and added more ingredients.

1 1/2 LB STEAMED TILAPIA ($16.80). The steamed tilapia tastes moist, tender, and not overcooked.

LAYERED PORK WITH TARO ROOT HOT POT ($9.95). The taro tastes slightly overcooked and mushy. For the layered pork, it could have been braised longer. The lean part of the pork is quite chewy, the fatty part is slightly chewy, and the skin tastes tender (of course). The sauce tastes like a thick fatty pork taro taste and does not taste too salty. The pork could have been sliced thinner to taste more tender, and thinner pieces could have absorbed the sauce more to taste yummier. The layered pork tastes average, passable, not the worst, and enjoyable for those who like fatty pork.

COMPLIMENTARY RED BEAN SOUP. The red bean soup does not taste too sweet and is a bit watery, but tastes rich.

POSITIVES

- Friendly staff and owner

NEGATIVES

- Cream and butter sauce as well as peppery salt dishes can improve

- Average eats

LITTLE THINGS

- First post on Chong's [here]

- I think my thoughts that I really liked Chong's was highly influenced by the soup of the day and dessert soup from the first visit