Restaurant review: Congee Delight

The strip mall located at 3555 Don Mills Road (Skymark Place) on the northeast corner of Don Mills and Finch in North York always has a Chinese restaurant serving congee, noodles, wontons/dumplings and assorted stir-fried dishes. Right now the role is filled by Congee Delight (正斗粥麵小炒), where I went for a light lunch the other day.

For a fast and filling lunch that is also economical, I ordered the Abalone Clam with Chicken Congee (鮑貝雞絲粥,$4.95) and a “Chinese donut”/”Ox-tongue pastry”/Sweet Cruller (牛脷酥, $1.50) for dipping in the congee.

The quality of the congee was good, with smooth texture and nice taste. There was a proper amount of abalone clams as well as chicken strips, so I got good value for the money. The pastry was hot and tasted great with the appropriate level of sweetness and texture. Service was quick and I must award bonus points for the congee and pastry being ready at the same time, so I was able to start with both from the beginning: had the congee came out much later the pastry would have cooled down during the wait, and had the pastry came out much later there may not be enough congee left to fully submerge the pastry.

Bottom line: Congee Delight met expectations in terms of value, quality, and service. I plan on returning to try their wontons and noodles.

Restaurant review: Crêpes à GoGo

I have a strong affinity to French culture since my early days in high school. Even though it can be challenging to indulge in Gallic ways à Toronto, there are various pockets in the city that immerse one in a French vacation without leaving this side of the Atlantic. One such place is Crêpes à GoGo, which serves authentic Parisian-style crêpes in the middle of downtown Toronto’s Yorkville district.

Located at 18 Yorkville Avenue on the corner with Yonge Street, Crêpes à GoGo conjures up the image of a chic and elegant café. I was wise to have arrived a bit earlier than the lunch hour, as the place filled up quickly for those dining in. I ordered La Québecoise ($8, all prices include HST) plus a cold Limonana ($3), and took a seat where I can see the crêpes being made. When mine was ready, it was so hot and the aroma so wonderful that I took a couple of bites before remembering I was supposed to take a picture of it intact for this blog. Whoops!

The taste of the crêpe was as good as it smelled. It had the perfect level of sweetness like the ideal hot breakfast. As for the Limonana, it reminded me of the nice peppermint teas served in the meat kosher restaurants in Israel. It was the first time that I was able to experience that great taste outside that country, which was an unexpected but welcomed surprise.

My error was not ordering another crêpe for lunch, as while one crêpe filled me up for a while it takes two to sustain me throughout the afternoon. Not to mention that I could have tried another style of crêpe to see how good that is. For an afternoon snack, however, one crêpe plus a Limonana is an excellent choice.

Bottom line: J’aime Crêpes à GoGo (I love Crêpes à GoGo), and I will endeavour to have at least one crêpe whenever I pass by the neighbourhood in the future.