Canton-i was opened about half a year ago. Since then, the thought of sinking my teeth on their famous Roast Goose drumstick had been lingering in my brain for half a year since then. Finally, I made my way there yesterday :D
Their interior decoration was great. Regardless which corner they place you at, the only thing you would think of when you get into the premise was "Woa so beautiful..." Haha no kidding!
Although pink and green, they actually match! lol Contemporary design with floral/nature elements such as flowers and bamboo. I did think the ambiance in Canton-i is much better than Dragon-i. Definitely worth the delay of their opening. Heard that the kitchen is manned by Hong Kong chefs.
Another beautiful corner of the restaurant. If you come in 7 pax and above, they will lead you to this sitting area.
The waitress saw me taking photos of the place, luckily she did not asked for the photos to be deleted :P
The lighting of the restaurant was superb. Makes photo taking an abosolute joy.
For a start, we ordered a pot of Vintage Pu Er ( 普洱茶, RM10 - 2 pax).
On the other hand, I ordered Flowering Red Amaranth (水中花篮, RM5) which was also a beautiful sight. Hahaha. The dried flower was plopped into the glass of hot water and you can watch it bloom in the water. My camera died on my at that very moment! So no video of flower blooming in the water :S
The large bouquet of green leaves is Jasmine tea leaves. The Jasmine tea with a hint of flower fragrance could be overwhelming if you leave the tea sit too long. Worth RM5 because it still tastes good after my 5th refill :)
Among the sauces they provide was sweet and sour sauce, Chinese wasabi and Dried Chilli Oil with dried prawn.
This tiny plate of chilli is damn good. Very fragrant and you can taste the small chunks of dried prawns.
About 10 minutes later, Steam Pork and Prawn Dumpling (烧卖, RM9) arrived along with Steam Garlic Chives Dumpling (韭菜餃, RM9 also I think). By the way, the restaurant prepares every dish upon order to ensure freshness (Maybe steam upon request instead of make? (Joe) Lots of CRaVings says otherwise). So you would have to wait a while after ordering.
So what's the difference between local siu mai and HK siu mai you might ask.
Our local siu mai uses grinded frozen pork with prawn paste (or sometimes fish paste) and there is gamey smell that comes with it.
As for Hong Kong style siu mai (generally), its prepared upon order and they never re-steam the siu mai. The flour skin that wraps around the pork and prawns is thin and the stuffings are made of cut meats (切片肉), never grinded ones. Even their seasoning is kept simple. Therefore, HK siu mai's texture would be crunchy and taste fresh.
Ain't it pretty? This garlic chives dumpling (韭菜餃) was also very delicious. As you can see, the skin was transparent because its thin. Once steamed, you have to eat it hot and cannot be re-steam. If you do, the skin would be hard. Again, the taste was kept simple. Definitely witholds the dim sum spirit as the dumpling looks delicate and nicely crafted.
Besides dim sum, we also ordered Deep Fried Cuttlefish Pancake (RM13). Despite being deepfried till crispy golden brown, it did not feel rubbery at all. The sweet and sour sauce went very well with it too. However, initially I really thought it was deep fried prawn pancake instead :S
Noodles and porridge are the restaurant's signature dish. So I ordered Fish with Fried Pork Intestines Porridge (RM11.90). The porridge comes with fish slices and some fried pork intestines aboviously.
The porridge claimed to be cooked with 3 types of rice (三國米). Not very sure which country's rice they used but the result is smooth and thick consistency porridge. In fact, too thick for porridge. Mom prefers a slightly watered down version of porridge. But I love it and slurp them all up anyway.
Crispies (Bok Chui) was also provided, for us to add into our porridge. Good stuff as there wasn't any weird oil smell.
We also ordered some roasted items and a plate of vegetable (yau mak).
I was very lucky indeed to be able to get the left Roasted Goose Drumstick (烧鹅左腿) on my first try ;) According to some people, the left drumstick is the best part of the roasted goose.
The picture below is Roast Goose Platter (烧鹅双拼, RM38 + RM8) where you can choose 1 more variety out of the many roasted items available and an additional RM8 would be charged if you want to have the Roast Goose drumstick.
We chosed Char Siew as the 2nd item of the platter. Char Siew taste fine but a bit hard for my liking. The meat they used is the neck part of the hog. Resulting a crunchier meat texture.
The roast goose was meatier compared to roast ducks and tender-ly smooth too. The skin was fragrant and smells different from local roast ducks. During marinating process, the layer of red liquid drizzled over the roast goose before its roasted contains malt syrup. The sugar (plus a little bit of red colouring) would contribute glistening reddish brown crispy skin after roasting. Of course, the roast goose did not come straight from the fire pit.
Canton-i's Roast Pork Belly was a hit for all of us especially me. Every bite of the skin was like heaven. I had never eaten roast pork skin that was soooo cripy but at the same time, not tough!
The best roast pork I ever had and it was not thinly sliced like other eateries. You get to munch the super crispy skin and the savoury meat.
At the end of the meal, we get ourselves a Double Boiled Fresh Milk with Ginger Sauce & Lotus Seed and a White Fungus with Sea Coconut dessert.
Double boiled milk was very soft and silky smooth. However, those who do not like ginger might find the ginger taste a little overwhelming. Anyone who wishes to have this milk dessert would need to order in advance as they need some time to make the dessert.
This white fungus dessert was really a surprise. Amidst of snow fungus, nata de coco and honey sea coconut, there was hints of Jasmine fragrance in the chilled syrup. Very refreshing indeed and not overly sweet, spot on. Perfect wrap up of the meal.
Total damage = RM240
Pricey but I am willing to save up the entire month just to have a meal here. LOL
We did not pay for the physical food items instead, we paid for the essence of Hong Kong cuisine. A taste you would never find in any local eataries in Malaysia. Yupz, that's what we paid for.
Well...unless that chef is from Hong Kong too XD
Less crowd after lunch hour. The best time to have some tea and a piece of egg tart but I will leave it for my next round of visit.
Happy reading~
Location:
Queensbay Mall, Penang
Part of GF-12 & GF-13,
Ground floor (next to KFC)
Contact:
04-6456688
Canton-i was also reviewed by:
What2See
My Love My Food
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