Chinese food in Canada these days is probably most well-known as takeout food. Easy, convenient and tasty. But it, like most food, is better at the source, with the temperatures and textures not suffering from the time waiting for pick-up and the drive to your front door.
This is what brought my wife and I to eat at V&E Chopsticks. Located on Westville Road, it's in what I'm sure myself and everyone else in the county who have been here more than a couple years will call 'the old Dragon Bowl' for decades to come.
We focused on the Chinese portion of the menu, which dominates the options, saving their Thai food for another time. Our order was way more than needed for two people, but we wanted to try as much as we could, and I even came prepared with my own containers for the inevitable leftovers.
I've always been a fan of the thick noodles in Shanghai noodles, so that was a easy choice when I spotted it. Ginger beef seemed like an appropriate choice while we were dining in, as the light coating on the beef would have a chance to shine.
Lemon chicken was in the same vein as the ginger beef, but with a full, proper batter that normally suffers greatly as takeout. For the last of our mains, we went with the spicy coconut vegetables, to add a semblance of balance to our meal.
The Shanghai noodles didn't disappoint, with its thick, pleasantly chewy noodles, plentiful cha siu (BBQ pork) and a surprise hit of spicy heat (but not too much, don't you worry your small-town palate). An assortment of tender-crisp veg rounded out the dish nicely.
I appreciated the crispness of the battered chicken in the lemon chicken, but the sauce in these types of North American-ized Chinese food are too sweet for my tastes. Amp up the lemon and acidity for balance, and then you'd have a winner.
The ginger beef's light crispness lasted for a bit before succumbing to the lightly sweet, and soy-based sauce. It of course had a prominent note of ginger, but none of the burn that often comes with it.
The spicy coconut vegetables were a bright mix of veg and tofu in easily-chopsticked chunks, and a thin coconut sauce. Don't let the 'spicy' label scare you off, you're in no danger of breathing fire in a Loony Tunes-esque manner. Honestly, I would have preferred more heat and a more prominent coconut flavour, but it was still a satisfying dish, nonetheless.
A bowl of steamed rice lasted the two of us for the meal.
V&E Chopsticks is putting out some solid Chinese food, and deserves a nod for bringing Thai food to New Glasgow as well. read more