We’re going to start 2023 with a bang. Literally. A meal at this place felt like a straight body-shot to the gut. You may not know it but not only does Montreal have great Chinese restaurants, but we are home to restaurants that represent the various regional cuisines of China – as per my article for Tourism Montreal. The majority of restaurants in the city serve Cantonese cuisine- fried noodles, sweet and sour deep this and thats, rice dishes, sizzling platters, dumplings. It’s once you get into regional specialties can you tell the difference. The spices, the techniques, the ingredients. The regional cuisine that stands out is Szechuan. I recently discovered the small Szechuan restaurant – Mala Express – in one of the most obvious neighbourhoods in the city… Kirkland.
Chinese
There’s a misconception that a meal of dumplings is called “dim sum“. This is wrong. “Dim sum” is more than a meal, it’s an experience. An experience you’d get at some of the city’s various dim sum houses. It’s a meal that consists of various small dishes. Dumplings, steamed seafood, pan-fried radish cakes, pastries and desserts. Yes, you can eat dumplings AT dim sum, but it doesn’t make the meal. Like how a square is can be classified as a rectangle, but not the other way around. I visited Yin Ji Chang Fen. As their name says, a spot that specializes in a particular dish that’s served at dim sum – rice noodle rolls or “chang fun”.
What comes to mind when I say Chinese buffet? Large tables of people hunched over plates of questionable food stuffing themselves silly for a fixed price? Maybe hot tables haphazardly filled with questionable “edible” food? Or dried out dishes sitting under heat lamps long enough to require a SPF sauce? Now, what If I told you there’s a new place that’s trying to dispel these misconceptions by updating the way you think of Chinese buffets? I had the opportunity to check out the newest Chinese restaurant hot spot in Laval; Cuisine Kung fu Légende. Cuisine Kung fu Légende is new concept Chinese buffet restaurant. “What’s wrong with the old concept?” You ask. Nothing! They are just updating and reinventing everything you know about Chinese buffet food!