Yangtze: Good Old Fashioned Chinese
In those times, Yangtze was renowned for having the best egg rolls in the city - to go with great 'Jewish' Chinese food - otherwise known as Cantonese. That location was gutted by fire on December 4, 2011 - and soon thereafter rose from the ashes in its second life as Tchang Kiang by Yangtze on Sherbrooke. I have been there a handful of times - and had heard from a friend that the old cook from the Van Horne restaurant had given the secret recipe for the egg rolls to the new owners and that they were finally as good as previously.
I had been dying for Chinese food for several weeks now with several attempts thwarted by unforeseen circumstances. Today I was determined to have my fill! Because of the stormy weather outside - I opted to take my car - and got to the restaurant a little after 4:30pm. Besides a couple of people who came by to pick up orders - I was the only person in the place. I placed my order for the No. 3 Special for one - featuring two egg rolls, chicken chow mein, chicken fried rice, dry garlic spare ribs and I changed the chicken and vegetables to pineapple chicken.
The waiter brought me a glass of water and a plate of fried noodles with plum sauce - a special bonus! It was just the thing to kick off this meal. When I had finished the noodles - my egg rolls came out of the kitchen. They were plump and piping hot. I launched into them - and while they were not as amazing as I remembered Yangtze on Van Horne's egg rolls to be - they were very good. I finished them off in a heartbeat!
The waiter marveled at my speed and I told him that I inhale my food - especially when I am enjoying it - which I was! He cleared away my plates and within a matter of a minute - returned with my chow mein, rice, spareribs and pineapple chicken. When I saw the volume of food I thought to myself 'great - now you don't have to worry about dinner tomorrow as you'll have plenty of left-overs.' I scooped 1/3 of the chow mein onto my plate followed by 1/2 of the rice and poured the sparerib sauce over my rice. I dug into the spareribs and had 2 or 3 immediately. They were excellent and fall-off-the-bone. I went back to the chow mein and deftly lofted large portions of noodles paired with nice pieces of chicken into my mouth. I thought of my brother-in-law Allen Van der Wee - whose favourite dish at Yangtze is their chicken chow mein. I finished that portion of the chowmein and moved onto the fried rice. Chicken fried rice is one of my favourite meals - especially when paired with sparerib sauce. I savoured every mouthful and finished what was on my plate in a flash. I then speared two pieces of pineapple chicken with my fork and enjoyed them immensely.
So - now the question was - am I going to save the rest for tomorrow? Can I save the rest until tomorrow?! The answer came quickly as I grabbed the chow mein plate and served myself up half of the remainder - then placed the rest of the rice next to it on my plate and covered the rice with what was left of the sparerib sauce. I ate everything - with the exception of about 1/3 of the chow mein. My waiter jokingly asked me if I wanted to take it home with me!
The bill for this very big meal was $26.50 plus tax and tip. A dinner for one would easily serve two people with an average appetite - making it much more reasonable. My favourite Szechuan Restaurant - Emeraude Bangkok in Dorval is $30 for their taste menu - so Yangtze's fare is very reasonable. I had a great experience here today and highly suggest you give Yangtze a try if you are looking for really good - fresh Cantonese or Szechuan Chinese food.
Wishing you peace, love and joy always...
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