Penang Queensbay Mall - Canton-i, 香港粥麵家 (Round 2)

Dining at Canton-i previously brought me memories of my first visit to Shang Palace at former Shangri-La Hotel and I was a little kid. Those were the glorious days when a number of Chinese Restaurants were manned by Hong Kong chefs. I absolutely miss those flavours.

Now, I have the chance to savour those flavours again.

Hmm...Although some might not agree that Canton-i serves good food but I enjoyed them a lot. So I guess its the matter of personal preference and individual tastebuds?

This time, we get to sit at another part of the restaurant.

Flowering Red Amaranth (水中花篮, RM5) tea again and the flower had bloomed before it reached my table! Ish...

This is the fillings of the garlic chives with prawns dumpling (韭菜虾饺, RM9). Normally, I do not take garlic chives but their dumpling was delicious.

After asking dad about pre-made dumplings, he rectified that the dumplings had to be pre-made and stored at the fridge, so they can move on preparing other things. Normally they would be made the night before or in the morning. Unless the ready made dumplings are sold out, the chefs would have to make more. This situation usually happens at Hong Kong restaurants where the demand exceeds the supply. So you would see the chefs keep on making fresh dumplings on the fly.

I did not detect any fridge smell so its considered fresh to me and tasty too. I would say pretty good results for a person (me) who doesn't take garlic chives at all :)

Among other dim sum we ordered was Char Siew Bao. RM 6 for 2 buns :P

Like Precious Pea mentioned "Hong Kong char siew bao sticks to your teeth but the fillings were delicious." Pork flavour was distinctive and not overwhelmed by the dark soy sauce.

The char siew bao served in Canton-i is exactly like the char siew bao made during the olden days and you can buy it at 60-80 sen each... Still available at the streets, provided if you can find the stall :)

2 Combination (Roast Pork & Char Siew) Wantan Noodle , 双洴捞面 - RM13.80. Hahaha this way, you get to taste the noodles, some soup and the roast pork with char siew XD

The egg noodles (全蛋面) were very springy and they do not expand a lot even being left aside for some time. No sign of lye water smell which is good. The egg noodles were flown in from Hong Kong but I am not sure daily or weekly.

According to their brochure, those Hong Kong style egg noodles were produced using Beijing eggs and Canadian flour. Still using eggs and flour but there is a difference.

Beijing eggs has thicker consistency compare to our local eggs and Canadian flour (high gluten) is the best flour in the world. And no water is added in the process of making the noodles.

No wantan mee stalls in Penang would serve 100% egg noodles as they cost alot. However some noodle producer do make egg noodles specially upon orders from restaurants.

This time the Char Siew is delicious. Equal proportions of fat and meat made it softer compare to my last visit. Slightly charred fat definitely adds depth and smokey flavour to it. The char siew is very similar to the Char Siew sold at Tengkat Tong Shin, KL. Every bite was a joy :D

Japanese Stew Pork Wantan Noodles (猪软骨面,干- RM12.80）

Japanese Stew Pork Wantan Noodles was one of my parent's favorite item. The pork (including the tendons) was soft with a bit of springy texture and there were several huge chunks of it! Although its named as Japanese Stew Pork, I am pretty sure the recipe of making the stew had been changed to Hong Kong style with addition of spices and less salty.

Roast Goose (Drumstick) Wantan Noodles (烧鹅面 - RM26) . The goose skin was tasty as they used maltose (麦芽糖) as one of the marinating ingredients. I think we had the left drumstick again XD Additional RM8 for the juicy drumstick :P This should be the last plate of goose we're gonna have. Too expensive.

Never look down on this bowl of soup given together with all dry wantan noodles.

I disagree with NKOTB that the soup had strong alkaline smell. The flavour was actually coming from the dried flat fish (左口鱼) they used. Very common ingredient used in Hong Kong style soups and they are quite pricey these days.

My grandfather absolutely love the soup as the flavor was nostalgic to him.

Stewed Beef Tendon and Brisket in claypot (原汁柱候牛腩 - RM13）. Its a bargain.

The beef was absolutely delicious and very cheap! With so many huge chunks in it and nicely cooked to perfection. Very flavourful and tasted just right. Too much sauce would make it salty. The white radish was juicy minus the pungent radish smell.

We had it with rice. Although RM1 per bowl, the rice was delicious too. Chewy and smooth. Nicely cooked.

We finished off our meal with great egg tarts (3 pieces for RM5) and winter melon wife pastry (老婆餅).

Multiple layer pastry spells good pastry base. Well it depends on the person. I like my pastry base like this. There was a hint of lard added to the pastry base which makes it fragrant and its fluffy too.

With the addition of lard, the egg tarts reminded me of Tong Kee Egg Tarts near Petaling Street. Tong Kee adds more lard and their pastry is slightly denser than Canton-i.

There is something different to their egg custard. The milk taste was quite prominent. I guess the milk added into the custard was also imported from HK.

Canton-i serves a different version (traditional type) of Hong Kong 老婆餅 . The winter melon wife pastry were stronger flavoured compared to the ones I'd tried before. I noticed the chefs here added more almonds together with some other non-regular items like nam yue and sweetened winter melon. It had a similar taste to Kai Chai Peng. Funny because they actually called it Lotus Paste Pastry in the menu.

Although I did not like the filling, I love the pastry wrapped around it. It has very strong buttery smell with fluffy texture.

I still prefer the other version of winter melon pastry made of steamed winter melon, some kind of flour (糕粉) and almond.



Besides ordering the baked items, we also had their Milk Tea and Yin Yeong (RM5.50 each).

The tea and coffee powder as well as the milk were imported from Hong Kong as well. The texture were smoother compare to Kim Gary and I like the idea of serving the drinks with crushed ice instead of cubes.

At least, the evaporated milk used contains real milk unlike our local brands :S

I did not mention all items in this post tho. Based on the receipt we (5 person) ordered:

1 pax Flowering Red Amaranth (水中花篮, RM5 perpax)
2 pax Vintage Pu Er (普洱, RM10 - RM5 perpax)
1 glass Yin Yeong (RM5.50)
1 glass HK Milk Tea (RM5.50)

1 plate Japanese Stew Pork Rib Noodles(猪软骨面, RM12.80)
2 plate Dumpling Noodles Soup (水饺面, RM23.60 - RM11.80 each)
1 plate Roast Goose (Drumstick) Wantan Noodles (烧鹅面, RM18 - additional RM8 for drumstick)
1 plate Two Combination (Roast Pork & Char Siew) Wantan Noodle (双洴捞面, RM13.80)
1 pot Stewed Beef Tendon and Brisket in claypot (原汁柱候牛腩, RM13)
1 basket Garlic chives with prawns dumpling (韭菜虾饺, RM9)
1 basket Char Siew Bao (RM6)
1 bowl White rice (RM1)
1 bowl Plain Porridge (RM4)

3 pieces Egg Tart (RM5)
2 pieces Winter Melon Pastry (RM4)
2 Jasmine Jelly, sea coconut, white fungus with iced Jasmine tea (RM18 - RM9 each)

Plus tax total damage was RM192.30

Quite a lot of stuff I would say.

Tips to save money when dining at Canton-i:

1. Just order 2 pax of tea (comes in a pot) and ask for more cups or just order hot water (RM1 per pax) XD Both are refillable.
   
2. Put aside the wet towels (RM1 each O.o) and tell the waitress you do not want them. They will deduct from the bill.
   
3. The stewed items were absolutely worth ordering! Perfect with rice~ The beef brisket was enough to feed 2 person :)
   
4. Dessert is huge enough to share (2 person)

*Disclaimer: All tips were thought of during time of dining only. Will not responsible if things happen the other way round :P

After 2nd round, I am sure I will not step into Dragon-i anymore (unless people belanja) :D

Happy reading!

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