Top Cantonese Cuisine Restaurant 食為先酒家 : Alaskan King Crab

DIM SUM POST AT TOP CANTONESE [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT EMPIRE CHINESE [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT GOLDEN SWAN [HERE]

After seeing every table order Alaskan king crab at Western Lake, I wanted one as well and took BF out for dinner a couple of days later. Of course since it was only the two of us, thrifty me, called a few restaurants asking for the price. Most of the prices ranged from $28.80/lb to $36.00/lb. I thought AKC season already started?! Last year the prices were a lot cheaper and surprisingly the most expensive restaurants for king crab are currently Fortune House in Metrotown and Grand Place at Henderson Plaza in Coquitlam. Also surprisingly two not very good restaurants LOL… Anyway, Top Cantonese is only charging $20.99/lb and despite the frustrating table experience during dim sum a few months ago, we still made the visit.

9LB ALASKAN KING CRAB ($20.99/LB). 

Since my last post on AKC at Empire Chinese, something about myself has changed… I was no longer embarrassed to ask if I can snap a photo of the crab this time! Of course when it came down to taking the actual photo… I quickly took it while feeling awkward and embarrassed to mention that my photo looked blurry. Plus, it did not help when the waiter said the king crab was too heavy... Anyways, we made a reservation around 5:00pm on a weekend for 6:00pm, and when we walked in, the restaurant was already turning away tables! Top Cantonese was literally empty when we walked in and within five minutes, the restaurant was packed and every table was ordering AKC. The restaurant's interior is not too cramped and has comfortable seating arrangements as well as more than enough staff on the floor. Of course since literally every table ordered AKC, not one staff member was grumpy at all considering how much tips they would get at the end of the night!

GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP, EGG TOFU WITH DRIED SCALLOP SAUCE AND ENOKI MUSHROOM, MANGO PUDDING, ALASKAN KING CRAB, BAKED ALASKAN KING CRAB FRIED RICE WITH PORTUGUESE CURRY SAUCE, SPICY DEEP FRIED ALASKAN KING CRAB KNUCKLES, GREEN BEAN SOUP AND STEAMED ALASKAN KING CRAB LEGS WITH MINCED GARLIC AND GREEN ONION.

DOUBLE BOILED SOUP, GINSENG CHICKEN ($18.80). 

The soup is served after the ingredients are removed and although some people like to munch on them, I personally think there is no point since all the flavour has gone to the soup base. The ginseng chicken soup has a rich chicken broth with a flavourful ginseng taste. The soup does not taste salty and is a lot more flavourful than Western Lake's. 

FIRST COURSE, 

STEAMED ALASKAN KING CRAB LEGS WITH MINCED GARLIC AND GREEN ONION.

Top Cantonese serves the steamed AKC legs on one massive plate, rather than most restaurants that serves the dish on two smaller separate plates. The steamed legs taste fresh, juicy and tender with a rich sense of garlic that does not overwhelm the meat. The flavourful butter and garlic sauce does not taste salty or too oily and is a lot tastier than Empire Chinese's. I also like the green onions too.

SECOND COURSE, 

SPICY DEEP FRIED ALASKAN KING CRAB KNUCKLES ($10.00).

Some restaurants have an additional charge for the  spicy AKC deep fried knuckles, like Top Cantonese in this case. The knuckles are lightly battered as well as perfectly deep fried and just makes being cooked. Meaning, the meat tastes moist as well as juicy and is pretty much on par with Kirin as well as Red Star's. The batter has a light salt n' pepper seasoning taste with no hint of spiciness which I prefer when having AKC. However, some peppery salt with chilli powder seasoning is provided at the centre of the dish for some spiciness (as well as chilli flakes which is only there for presentation though). Comparing to Empire Chinese's, I like that the knuckles are cut smaller and the seasoning as well as batter tastes a lot better. I finished quite a large portion of these and Empire Chinese's was average at best, where I only wanted a couple.

EGG TOFU WITH DRIED SCALLOP SAUCE AND ENOKI MUSHROOM ($16.80).

The egg tofu is steamed and tastes smooth as well as tasty. For the dried scallop sauce, unfortunately the sauce tastes weak with no hint of dried scallop despite seeing a few shreds. But to be fair, the generous amount of enoki mushroom which have a nice crunch as well as juiciness, most likely masked the taste of the sauce. However, there are many restaurants that serve a flavourful dried scallop sauce with plenty of enoki mushroom. I would not recommend this dish for those who like dried scallop.

THIRD COURSE, 

BAKED ALASKAN KING CRAB FRIED RICE WITH PORTUGUESE CURRY SAUCE ($16.80).

The fried rice with portuguese curry sauce has a heavier curry taste than tomalley and the sauce tastes too overwhelming, it tastes basically like generic curry fried rice. Although the rice does have a good amount of green and red pepper as well as some frozen generic ingredients such as prawns and squid. The exterior also has a nice crispiness from baking.

MANGO PUDDING ($3.50) AND COMPLIMENTARY GREEN BEAN SOUP.
When requesting if mango pudding was available, I like that the waiter mentioned it is, for an additional charge. This was nice and of course, proper protocol considering that Victory Seafood offered a mango pudding without mentioning an additional charge. The mango pudding tastes slightly sweet with a pleasant mango taste and despite not tasting watered down, I have had worse as well as better. Next, the green bean soup tastes alright, not too sweet or watered down… although the seaweed tastes weird and did not pair well with the soup. The seafood taste was just, odd.

TOTAL: $272.80 + $27.20 TIP $ = $300.00
Overall we tipped 10% because despite that none of the staff members looked cranky, we did have to ask for plate changes and had no service. Also, $27.20 for a Chinese restaurant is a fairly decent tip for only two people dining. In the end, the dinner was alright and I only came here for the AKC, otherwise I would not bother having dinner here. The steamed king crab legs and deep fried knuckles are pretty good, but regular dinner items (in general, not just the posted items) are not that great and average at best.

POSITIVES
- Average eats
- Cheaper priced AKC compared to other restaurants including "dirty" ones such as Congee Noodle King and Kwan Luck

NEGATIVES
- Food could taste better

LITTLE THINGS
- Dim sum post on Top Cantonese [here]
- AKC post on Empire Chinese Cuisine [here]

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 3/5