The Sweet and Sour

First a word from our sponsors - Salient - about the content of this column. In the main we will be dealing with eating houses rather than restaurants. That is the column will be more of a food guide than a gourmet one. Because of this, most of the places I and others will review will be the cheaper ones about the place.

In the immediate future, one more chinese restaurant will be reviewed (The Canton) followed by the Northener Train meals and the meal part of Downstage. Next term it is planned to do pub lunches as a catergory, separate because they are subsidized in one way or another by grog.

Lastly, correspondence is encouraged. If you think we have been too easy on a place or too hard.... say so.

Today's restaurant is the Sweet and Sour. (That's it's name)

The beef dish was good. Pan fried beef, vegetables and noodles but with bean sprouts predominating. Hot, well cooked and tasty. Portion size good.

The sweet and sour dish was simply battered pork pieces with a sauce - surrounded by a few tomato pieces and limp parsley on top as decoration. Different restaurants have different ideas on what constitutes a sweet and sour dish - without any hint on the menu. It is important therefore to ask if the dish is a single item (as in this case) or a meal with vegetables etc. as well.

As to the dish itself, the limp parsley was a detraction and would be better left out. The port pieces themselves were deepfried in a batter rather like a fish and chip batter and were not therefore as exotic as others I have reviewed. The sauce was almost jelly-like in texture, and is a matter of taste. Not my favourite.

Overall the dish was only warm and the side bowl of rice (extra) was cold. A request for chilli sauce brought a very weak teaspoon full in a small dish and an extra charge of 15c.

That probably sums it up actually. Nothing special.

Next Week: The Canton Cafe.

— Robert Lithgow