page 18

'Get Stuffed'

The Canton Cafe

This is the last of the Chinese restaurants for a while. Like several around town, the place has had a face lift to make it look boring.

The Canton used to have the most beautiful old dark Oak furniture and carved mirror frames. Certainly it made the place dark, but also gave it a real character all of its own. All gone. The owners have now in thier wisdom replaced with wood grain formica and orange vinyl. The mirrors have gone, the light has penetrated... but it is not the same.

So much for nostalgia, they still serve food there. The first thing that you notice is the classy menu (plastic cover too) but clean and properly sectioned off into different types of dishes with a small legend to give you an indication of what you're getting.

It runs to several pages, with well over 100 different items to choose from. Prices range from $1.50 up to $4.50 for a four course meal.

You've heard about these dishes over the weeks so I'll only tell you the unusual aspects. First with the Chow Mein was the welcome inclusion of Broccoli. A good wide range of vegetables is hard to beat but once again the inclusion of frozen peas pissed me off a little. To answer enquiries let me say here and now that I love frozen peas, but not at the height of the fresh vegetable season. Otherwise the mein dish was good though not very hot.

The roast pork dish on the other hand had a very wide range of delightful ingredients including pineapple, sesame seeds, root ginger and spring onions as well as the staples. Again the only thing that detracted from this dish is that it was not hot. With those two particular items the portions were not as large as other places but they were adequate for a lunch.

The side dish of Won Tons arrived dry, i.e. without any sauce and seemed to be chippolata. Disappointing and not worth ordering.

To sum up the Canton Cafe: the food was very tasty, well cooked and had more than the ordinary variety of vegetables that are the life blood of the Chinese meal. On the other hand the portions were not generous and the meals were not hot.

Name:	The Canton Cafe
Where:	Courtenay Place right by the bus terminus.
Type:	Very wide variety of Chinese dishes plus some Kiwi Grills.
Price:	Prices from $1.50-$4.50 (special 4 course meal)
Rating:	* * * *

Key

* * * * *	All things considered price/type of place etc. I would go again encourage my friends to as well.
* * * *	Enjoyed the meal worth a look if you like that sort of thing.
* * *	Unmemorable or mediocre.
* *	Remembered with specific complaints.
*	If you ask me.... avoid it.

— Robert Lithgow