Tag Archives: Chinese

03.25.15
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The Service Is Lacking Its Bloom at Purple Garden

Purple Garden Img_1080

Purple Garden Chinese Restaurant
#138-1551 Cedar Hill X Rd.
Saanich, BC
(250) 477-8866

E: There are times where I wonder if finding a good Chinese style buffet is even possible. I have memories of going to Raymond’s Restaurant and Szechuan City, Both are decent. With Purple Garden now added to the list — which has been doing buffet for just as long — is it even possible for the quality to go lower? Must I order dishes just to get some awesome sauce?

J: I think the problem for Ed and I is that we arrived near the end of the lunch rush. The food tasted old. That’s to be expected with barely any new food put out. The service was even lacking.

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02.26.15
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Looking for Sea Life at Ocean Garden

568 Fisgard St
Victoria, BC
(250) 360-2818

It’s not often that I’d swim with the fishes at Ocean Garden in Chinatown. If I want authentic Chinese, I’d go to China or ask my family elders to cook for me. But for tourists and many a local in this area, this establishment is a mainstay of the Victoria scene. Between this and four other places on this side of the road, just where I really like to go depends.

After watching the lion dance and kung fu demonstration to really kick Chinese New Year off to start in the “first” weekend of the lunar year, I was feeling a bit peckish. My friends and I thought a visit to the Ocean was required and while I pondered what I should grab from the sea, the choice ultimately boiled down to Deep Fried Prawns ($10.50), Beef and Broccoli Chow Mein (10.50) and a Seafood and Vegetable platter (8.95).

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02.22.15
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Gung Hay Fat Boys 2015: Don Mee Strikes Out

Don Mee Seafood Restaurant
538 Fisgard Street
Chinatown
Victoria, BC
(250) 383-1032

J: As a friend recently told me, Don Mee isn’t for Chinese, it is for Caucasians who like western style Chinese cuisine. Perhaps there is a ring of truth. After Ed and I had finished dining there for Chinese New Year, what we ate wasn’t close to authentic. He’s been to Shanghai and sampled the cuisine around this region.

Back in Victoria, however, I’ve heard there’s food you can order off the menu but perhaps if I had prior knowledge, It would’ve made for some wiser decisions.

My parents first came to eat here back in 1975 and I was to follow them 30 years later. I’ve had lunch here to some extent but never dined. On this occasion I was flying blind. Both Ed and I failed to notice the poster at the front door and the sign on our table advertising their new year’s special. But was our choice to go with a regular dinner for two (and an appetizer plate) the best choice to make?

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03.20.13
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Enter a World of Delights at Shanghai Noodles

2224 Quadra Street
Victoria, B.C. 
(250) 386-8802

J: Shanghai Noodles is located between two of my ol’ stomping grounds. Blanshard Community and George Jay Elementary. Between the two, one I liked and the other…well you know how it goes. It was to be a toss up for what direction this experience would take. I was hoping the coin didn’t fall over the George Jay line.

And once again Ed had to listen (or covertly tune me out) as I rambled on about the places I’d been, the people I knew and Heather, the girl I kissed.

E: Aw, isn’t young love grand? But we are not here to recount another version of “My Girl.”

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02.12.13
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Visiting Ming’s for Chinese New Year

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Ming’s Restaurant
1321 Quadra Street
Victoria, BC
(250) 385-4405

E: Either I’m far too critical about my culture’s approach to cooking a decent meal or I do not find Chinese food all that tasty anymore. Has my palate been spoiled? Or when it comes to dining out during the start of Chinese New Year, are the cooks at Ming’s feeling just too unsympathetic to wanting to create a tasty meal? What James and I ate here was a mixed bag of digestion problems.

Hours later, after the meal, I have to wonder if the MSG in my tummy is turning sour.

J: I think it’s possible Ed’s stomach was revolting on him. It may be the cultural background. My grandmother, a Newfoundlander, can’t look at seafood now without feeling ill or having bad memories resurface. Back in Port Rexton/Trinity Bay they used to use squid when growing the potatos> Back then it was used to fertilize the soil and now it is something I consider eating. Sorry granny but I love seafood.

I’m not sure if it’s a Scottish hand-me-down or having Newfoundlander in my blood but either way you and grandad are partly to blame. Perhaps in future I need to steer Ed clear of a Chinese restaurant or else I’ll be steering him to the closest open window. But in this small city of Victoria, the Two Hungry Blokes, like General George Armstrong Custer, are surrounded by them. Ed may commit Seppuku. I’m sorry Ed but I’m eating my way out of this one. Tell my future wife (or the closest facsmilie thereof) and my illegitimate children that I would have loved them…maybe.

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12.22.12
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Hurts so Good … at Ho Tong Restaurant?

Ho Tong Restaurant 
3388 Douglas Street 
Victoria, B.C. 
(250) 475-1398

An impromptu clan gathering had most of my family visiting Ho Tong instead of Jade Fountain Restaurant. Both were within a block of each other and I had to chuckle, wondering how competitive the two diners are. Also, depending on the inflection of how the “o” is pronounced, I thought, “Doesn’t that mean, ‘it really hurts?'”

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