Wontons with Chili Peanut Sauce
I was back in Toronto this past weekend to compete in a martial arts tournament. (For the curious, no, I did not medal in my event.) But back to Toronto...
We made a navigational error on our way up there. We meant to get off the 401 and on the QEW, which would take us straight downtown and only a mile or two from our hotel. We missed the QEW exit because the navigator, yours truly, was asleep and ended getting off the 401 on Yonge Street, but this part of Yonge was in the city of North York, which is quite some distance from downtown Toronto. A wrong turn took us past a restaurant with a sign reading "Northern Gourmet Cuisine". We had dinner plans with friends at a Persian restaurant masquerading as a Greek restaurant called "Souvlaki House" (you have to know to ask for the Persian menu), so Northern Gourmet Cuisine would have to wait. (Souvlaki House is also on Yonge, but it's actually in Toronto, a few blocks south of Bloor street.)
On our way home from the tournament, we found ourselves on westbound 401, hungry, and heading toward Yonge St. once again.
"Northern Gourmet Cuisine's" real restaurant name is "Asian Legend." There are four Asian Legend restaurants in the Toronto area, including one downtown on Dundas St. The North York one is beautifully decorated in contemporary designs featuring smooth dark wood and renderings of Chinese ink drawings. We were served fresh jasamin tea immediately, and the table was set with chopsticks — no forks or knives in sight. Good signs!
Asian Legend's menu features a large menu with dishes not found on the average U.S./Canadian-Chinese restaurant (plus the usual ones too). We quickly focused our attention on the appetizers and selection of "Northern Chinese Dim Sum".
House Special Crispy Chive Pancake
We tried:
Hot Soy Bean Milk, sweetened
Crabmeat and Corn Soup
Wontons with Chili Peanut Sauce
Sweet Sesame Biscuits
Onion Pancake Roll filled with sliced Beef
House Special Crispy Chive Pan Cake
The House Special Crispy Chive pancake was a wonderful "rice flour omelet" filled with chives and bean threat vermicelli shrimp and egg. The smaller image shows the insides. Click on it to enlarge the image.
The wontons were very nice with thin dumplin skins around pork in a not-very-spicy but tasty chili peanut sauce.
The sweet sesame biscuits were flaky pastry sweetened and covered in sesame seeds. They'd make a great treat for an afternoon tea.
Joe found the hot soy bean milk too bland, but I really loved it. Smooth and calming, it was perfect after a tough day with very little to eat. I expected a glass, but I got a sizeable bowl that could easily serve four. I drank it all.
The small portion of crabmeat and corn soup was sized to serve 2 people easily, and 4 if small portions are served.
Onion pancake with sliced beef — looking very much like a gourmet sandwich. It's served wrapped in tin foil, which is easily peeled away. Click on the picture for a larger image, but please forgive me the camera shake.
The amazing part is, we forgot to bring a camera to the *Persian* restaurant. Alas.
Posted by: Joe | September 27, 2004 at 04:56 PM