After the widely successful Dragon-i, the investors did not waste much time but to continue on digging the Chinese cuisine gold mine – Shanghainese then, Cantonese now. If Kim Gary Restaurants are much too ‘novice’ to some, Canton-i would be your veteran level pick.
Their pink and white theme certainly is chic and inviting. Mirrors are designed all over its walls to give an illusion of a spacious compound. Too bad reality prevails, the tables are arranged so close to each other, you can even eavesdrop clearly what your neighboring tables’ discussions are. This may seem fine in Kim Gary that targets youngsters, but no so in Canton-i.
I’ve combined two visits to two different outlets here: one at Sunway Pyramid, another at The Gardens which is the latest.
Honolulu Coffee (檀岛咖啡) - RM5.50
Originated from Honolulu Coffee Shop (檀岛咖啡饼店) at Central (中环), Hong Kong. A must-try for all coffee kaki-s.
Ngo Jie’s Steamed Mixed Vegetable Dumpling (娥姐蒸粉果) - RM8
Looks more on the greasy side, most probably done it on purpose to prevent them from sticking onto the paper. They said it tasted alright, with rich variety of fillings.
One may wonder how the name ‘Ngo Jie’ Fan Guo(娥姐蒸粉果) came about. In the early 40’s, a maid named ‘Ngo Jie’ worked in a rich family. One day, the family hosted a dinner and asked Ngo Jie to prepare a few special dishes. She came up with the idea of using grinded rice and water to make dumpling skins, stir-fried some pork, shrimp, mushroom and bamboo shoots as fillings, then steamed them into dumplings. The guests loved them so much, it was the talk of town soon after. Then, a restaurant owner though he would earn big bucks with this new creation, bought over Ngo Jie to work at the restaurant. True enough, the restaurant became more and more popular as a result of these dumplings. Till this day, the dumplings were named after Ngo Jie and were recreated in numerous shapes and with different fillings.
Steam Rice Flour Noodles with Chinese Dough Fritters (广东炸两) – RM7.80
The look of this popular Gwong Dong style snack speaks bluntly for itself: fried crullers wrap in chee cheong fun skin, eaten with hot dipping soy sauce. The sticky cheong fun skin is not too nicely done, but the crunchy crullers still saved the day.
Wonton & Char Siew Noodles (双拼捞面) – RM13.80
How can we leave this place without trying their self-proclaimed famous char siew? So we ordered this combination, the char siew were nicely covered in sticky sweet honey sauce, just nice to complement the ‘average’ noodles.
Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Sliced Beef (铁板沙爹干炒牛河) – RM15
Ordered this on a different visit at Pyramid branch. It’s a rather big portion and very aromatic. You will eventually have a hard time finishing as it is quite oily. Most probably it’s the hot plate that traps oil~
Fried Noodles with Shredded Pork & Mushroom (银芽花菇肉丝炒面) – RM14
An ordinary-looking dish but much less oily when it is served in a NORMAL plate. They go generous with shredded pork and were not rubbery, the springy noodles were quite tasty too. But then again, it is hard to mess up something ordinary like this.
Fried Turnip Cake with XO Sauce (XO酱炒萝卜糕) – RM12
A generous portion as well with good looking big prawns. This is great! They fried the cubes until a little charred, making the outer layer a bit crispy. Very flavourful and addictive!
Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings (鲜虾烧卖) – RM9
Very pricey, but with four pieces per serving and a visible shrimp that topped each siu mai, I shall not complain.
Steamed Prawn Dumplings (状元虾饺皇) – RM10
I can see big fresh shrimps in each translucent piece… This must be devoured whole since the thin skin tears easily.
Steamed Prawn Dumplings in Soup (虾饺皇)
A different but common variation in soup - ordinary and forgettable.
Deep Fried Aromatic Duck Spring Roll (香酥鸭丝春卷) – RM9
Didn’t tried this but the others who did, have no complains or exclamations over it. I think the fried skin was too overpowering, making the duck fillings almost forgettable.
Steamed Egg Yolk & Custard Bun (香芋流沙奶皇包) – RM6
I’ve read and seen pictures of the oozing custard fillings. Yes, the violet buns are soft; but alas, where oh where is the wondrous overflowing picture?? This proves that there’s no QC around here. I’ll try this again at One Utama branch, MUST do so.
Steamed Fish Maw Stuffed with Minced Pork & Prawn (百花酿鱼肚) – RM13
This was included in their new menu. I totally enjoyed the texture of well minced meat with fish maw underneath. The fish maw was not gummy or tasteless but blends in nicely with good steaming techniques. Thumbs up for the innovative dim sum!
Sliced Fish & Lean Meat Congee (双拼粥-鲩鱼片 & 咸瘦肉) – RM11.80
Sliced Fish & Meatballs Congee (鲩鱼片肉丸粥) – RM11.80
A mixture of several types of rice and boiled for more than five hours – resulting these smooth-like-baby food kind of congee. Thick, silky and fragrant.
Red Bean with Black Jelly Sago Cream (红豆凉粉捞) – RM8
Ordered this for the sake of mum’s craving for sweet desserts. What black jelly sago cream… looked more like chin cau with melted cream. So tasteless and disappointing.
Sweetened Ground Peanut Puree (花生糊) – RM6
Looks sweet but to my surprise, it’s just nice and not gooey. I only took two sips, the next thing I knew, dad gobbled the entire serving in less than five minutes.
If price is not an issue, this is a good place for families to enjoy lunch before shopping. ACTUALLY, Canton-i’s main attraction is the so called famous roast pork but we did not try them as I think they were overpriced. I will revisit again, maybe to try the roast pork on one fine day if I ever come across with more recommendations!
Location: LG-202 & 203A, Lower Ground Floor, The Gardens
Tel: 03- 22846888
Website: www.canton-i.com
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