North Garden restaurant, specializing in Szechuan cuisine, has long been a favourite of mine. However, for one reason or another I’ve never written it up. The last week, I’ve enjoyed food from North Garden twice. One was takeout and one was dine in. Fortunately, the food in each case was equally good.
The takeout was part of an annual tradition. Every year on Christmas Eve my brother and his family get together around Chinese food from North Garden. When my Christmas Eve allows me, I’ve joined them. This has been a pleasant Christmas tradition for several years.
The dining in experience involved the supper club which I dined with at the King’s Head Pub. Again, great company adds to the quality of the dining experience. Which is also true of the family Christmas Eve dinner.
A great way to start off a meal at the North Garden is with one of their soups. I’ve tried the Hot ‘n Sour, Corn Chowder, and Deluxe Wonton Soup. Each of them is quite good, but I think the Hot ‘n Sour being the stand out.
Both of the last two meals involved the Kung Po Chicken. It’s a little spicy by my standards, but others might find it more so. As one of my fellow diners commented Monday, the chicken was also incredibly moist. We also ordered the Mapo Tofu, which is chunks of tofu, in a somewhat spicy sauce. Another dish with a bit of kick in it was Pan Fried Green Beans with Minced Pork and Chilis, which was made even better by the beans being cooked to the just crisp stage. (As always, approach my comments on spiciness warily, as I really like spicy food).
Ginger beef, a family favourite, featured in both meals. It was moist with the ginger coming through just enough to give it a little kick.
One thing I like about North Garden is that almost all dishes have some vegetable in them. So, although we only ordered Gai Lan as a vegetable Monday, there were plenty of peppers, onion, and mushrooms spread throughout.
I’m not going to comment on all the dishes that were tried over the last two visits. I will say, I would order any of them again. These include: Lemon Chicken, Plain Mixed Vegetables, Dumplings and one or two others. Put it this way. There isn’t much North Garden doesn’t do well. I realize, if you don’t like shrimp, you likely won’t like North Garden shrimp dishes. However, if you are open to new tastes, North Garden is a good place to gain experience with them.
One thing to note, the service is not always the fastest. Monday, the service was nicely pace, with dishes coming two at a time throughout. At times however, it has been a little on the slow side. Nevertheless, the food is worth the wait.