Western Lake Chinese Seafood 西湖海鮮酒家

Western Lake is an occasional dim sum restaurant of mine but I have never been here for dinner! On a weekend evening, we made last minute reservations just in case the restaurant was busy and when we walked in, there was a family of six waiting for a seat by the entrance. The staff was very busy and no one paid attention to the door, however, when our reservation time came up, one of the waiters came to look for us. This was nice considering that we were not forgotten. The restaurant's interior is clean as well as simple and not too cramped.

GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP, SCALLOPS WITH SNOW PEAS, LOBSTER IN CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE, STEAMED TILAPIA, GREEN BEAN SOUP WITH TAPIOCA, AND BRAISED SQUAB.

SOUP OF THE DAY, GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP ($18.80).
Our waiter was kind and gave us a heads up that the soup is only available in one size which is usually meant for eight people. I thought that was nice of him considering there was only the two of us and some may be surprised at the huge bowl. However, it worked for us since I can always have soup, especially the healthier kinds. The ingredients from the ginseng chicken soup is scooped out and put to the side before serving. The soup tastes flavourful and has a rich chicken broth with a light refreshing ginseng taste. 

BRAISED SQUAB ($14.80). 

The braised squab has a nice slight crisp exterior and tastes juicy, flavourful as well as tender. Western Lake serves one of the better tasting squabs!

2 1/2LB LOBSTER IN CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE ($18.80/LB).

The lobster comes with a generous amount of cream and butter sauce. Generous as in double or even three times the amount compared to every restaurant that I have been to. The generous amount of sauce makes it a great opportunity to add yee mein noodles, however, since I am quite picky with my cream and butter sauce, we did not add any just in case the sauce tasted bland. The sauce has a nice consistency as well as a light cream and butter taste, although a pinch of salt could have been added to bring out the flavours more. I also like the good amount of diced onion in the sauce. For the lobster, the meat tastes tender as well as bouncy and perfectly cooked. 

SCALLOPS WITH SNOW PEAS ($16.80).

I really wanted to try the scallops in melon rings with broccoli but since the restaurant did not have any hairy melon, we settled for the snow peas. The snow peas taste perfectly crunchy and although slightly oily, it is the good kind of tasty oil, not too greasy. Next, the scallops taste properly rinsed and I honestly cannot remember the last restaurant that I have been to, that has properly rinsed them! Only those who have had improperly rinsed scallops with a bit of sand or milky texture, will understand how satisfying as well as how big of a difference there is, to eat carefree without that slightly crunchy sand taste. The scallops taste moist as well as buttery and has a light refreshing taste.

2LB STEAMED TILAPIA ($12.80/LB).

The tilapia is steamed, topped with a light soy sauce then hot oil for that nice smooth taste, green onion and cilantro. Although I am more of a rock cod fan than tilapia, the fish surprisingly tastes really good. The tilapia is not overcooked and the meat tastes moist as well as flaky.

COMPLIMENTARY GREEN BEAN SOUP WITH TAPIOCA.

The green bean soup tastes flavourful as well as slightly sweet, not watered down and has a good amount of tapioca. BF thought the tapioca was a bit too hard but I liked it.

TOTAL: $134.40 + TIP $20.60 = $155.00.

Overall we tipped 15% because the food tasted good and the staff was friendly. Our waiter promptly followed up with us when a dish was not available and also suggested to change seats after we were done ordering. This is much appreciated since at some restaurants, the staff asks us to move in the middle of dinner or even worse, keeps the food heated in the kitchen! Oh man… by the way, every table ordered king crab! Although I could not justify $28.80/lb for just the two of us, Western Lake has been a restaurant where I want to try king crab. Mostly because of their third course fried rice.

POSITIVES

- Friendly staff

- Above average eats and nothing is heavy on the salt or oil

NEGATIVES

- Restaurant does get busy and may have long waits

LITTLE THINGS

- Reservations are recommended
- Dim sum is alright but I would not line up for it. I do think Western Lake's dinner is better than their dim sum though

Food: 3/5

Service: 3/5