Come Along Seafood Restaurant 金龍船海鮮酒家 : Dinner (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON DINNER AT COME ALONG [HERE]

Having experienced more negative than positive experiences for dim sum at Come Along and only one undocumented horrible dinner, I decided to give the restaurant another try, half a year ago. On my last visit for dinner at Come Along, the food was surprisingly not bad! The two memorable items were the cream and butter sauce crab as well as the taro fried rice. Furthermore, Come Along frequently offers promotional prices on their live seafood and peking duck.

The peking duck special seems to be always available and is priced at $28.99. So, with two pretty good dishes from the last visit and a great peking duck value, we decided to head to Come along. Throughout the dinner, the service was great. The staff was friendly and attentive! Was it my birthday? Furthermore, the staff provided plenty of plate changes (not too excessively) without having to ask, which is a first for us here.

1LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS ($16.80/LB).

The prawns have a natural sweet flavour and are not over steamed. Also, I cannot help but notice that this season, the prawns are a lot smaller! Everywhere. Comparing to last season, 1lb was only seven to eight prawns, but they were huge.

PEKING DUCK TWO COURSE MEAL ($28.99). 

FIRST COURSE, PEKING DUCK SKIN AND CREPE WITH HOISON AND GREEN ONION.

For the first course of peking duck, the skin is wrapped in a crepe along with green onion as well as a dab of hoisin. The crepes are slightly doughy and took a bit longer than usual to chew which is fine. As for the green onion, I personally love it when it is brushed rather than shredded.

The skin has either quite a lot of meat or fat attached, and there are a couple of slices with just a bit of fat. Personally, I prefer the first course of peking duck as just slices of crisp skin, with no meat or fat. However, this is neither. The skin is slightly soggy and not that great. I hated it. Although there is a nice golden color. In addition, for those who prefer a large cut of meat attached, can get passed the soggy skin since there is a good amount of meat. If anything, I like how the restaurant served the legs on the side.

2 1/2LB CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB ($16.80/LB). 

On the last visit, the cream and butter sauce tasted quite good, so of course, we ordered it again. Unfortunately, this time the sauce tastes very bland and not flavourful at all. Furthermore, the crab is 2lb max and the shell is very brittle. 95% of Chinese restaurants overcharge consumers for live seafood by 1/4lb, the most. But, when restaurants (I have experienced less than six within the last couple of years) overcharge 1/2lb, it does make me upset.

SECOND COURSE, PEKING DUCK BONE SOUP ($14.80).

The soup has a light clear mustard green vegetable taste along with a barbecue broth flavour. If the soup was cooked longer for another five minutes, the broth would have tasted more flavourful. However, the peking duck soup was not bad nor bland.

CHINESE SAUSAGE AND TARO ROOT FRIED RICE ($13.80).

The fried rice is one of the only two reasons for coming here! On the previous visit, the fried rice was one of the best I ever had. But, unfortunately this time around, the fried rice is not comparable at all. The taro tastes hard, crunchy, dry and over fried, not soft nor moist like the previous visit. Furthermore, the fried rice lacks that nice fused flavour and tastes hard because of the taro. On the last visit, the fried rice was fluffy, light and the ingredients were properly fused. Every single ingredient was highlighted. This time, it tastes average at best and we should have just ordered a yeung chow fried rice.

THIRD COURSE, PEKING DUCK LETTUCE WRAP.

The minced duck meat along with fried vermicelli and water chestnut, results in a very crunchy texture. Furthermore, since there was a good amount of meat left on the skin for the first course, there is not much meat at all for the lettuce wrap. Although I appreciate the fresh and crisp pieces of lettuce.

COMPLIMENTARY RED BEAN SOUP AND CHINESE COOKIES.

The red bean soup tastes slightly sweet and not watered down. As for the Chinese cookies, they are heated before serving and tastes very buttery. The cookies are properly made, melts in the mouth and taste delicious. In general, I love these and of course, asked for a couple more. However, rather than receiving only a couple, we received more than a handful! Dessert wise, this experience was a lot better than the time we ordered more dishes, and did not receive any.

TOTAL: $125.65 + TIP $19.35 = $145.00.

Service wise, this is the best experience we ever had at Come Along. The staff was friendly, welcoming and did not act impatient at all. As for the food, it was average at best and to me, the highlight were the spot prawns along with the cookies. Furthermore, I was quite disappointed with the crab situation, flavour wise and being overcharged, as well as the noticeably different taro fried rice.

POSITIVES

- One of the cleaner restaurants in the area

- Friendly and attentive staff (on this visit)

- Extra cookies :)

NEGATIVES

- Food is inconsistent

- Cream and butter sauce tastes bland

LITTLE THINGS

- First dinner post on Come Along [here]

- Will there be another revisit? Probably not but if there is, I would try out the supreme broth rather than  the cream and butter again

- The darn little things such as heating up the cookies before serving

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 3.5/5