Choice of the Orient (“COTO”) is a chop suey restaurant,
serving a “bit of everything” with dishes that have been adapted towards a Western
palette. Personally, I feel the “Western” palette has now transformed to enjoy and
desire more traditional fare. Yet, old school chop suey restaurants, which have
been in business for decades still have a loyal following. One person would be
my husband who insists we visit COTO annually to sample the Chinese food of his
childhood.
In all honesty, I would never go to the restaurant in my own
free will; there are so many delicious authentic offerings that paying
relatively high prices for okay food isn’t appealing. However, the restaurant
has grown on me throughout the years and I actually started looking forward to
one dish – their hot and sour soup ($3.50).
Only available by individual bowls, the soup arrives nice
and hot with a generous sprinkle of fresh green onions. It has a nice balance
between spicy chilies and tart red vinegar, working together to form a
flavourful broth. COTO doesn’t skimp on ingredients – there is tons of black
fungus, tofu, egg and bamboo shoots within it.
The Peking chicken ($12.95) is also pretty good: large
chunks of tender white chicken meat, deep fried and smothered in a sweet “ging
do” sauce that’s lightly caramelized on the sizzling plate.
Even the sweet and sour chicken balls ($10.95) weren’t as
repulsive as I expected. Although the breading looks thick, it’s rather fluffy
on the inside and has a crunchy exterior. If only COTO marinates the chicken to
give the actual meat more flavour, the dish would be even better.
Although not spicy at all, the stir fried broccoli with hot
spicy sauce ($9.95) retains its crispiness and the thick savoury vegetable
sauce on top is a nice addition to their rice dishes. Certainly, the chicken
fried rice ($8.95) needs the extra boost of flavour as by itself is rather
tasteless and bland.
The julienned crispy beef ($13.95) was the sole disappointing
dish that’s part of their specials board (although I’ve seen every year so it’s
likely a permanent stay). Sliced way too thinly, after the beef has been deep
fried, it loses all chewiness and ends up tasting like beef rind glazed in an
overly sweet sauce.
What impresses me most about COTO is their ability to carve
a niche for themselves and continue to serve this dedicated market for so many
years. Certainly, most of the Chinese restaurants of my childhood have long
shuttered and closed. So, to have a place that tastes like the days of your
youth, there’s something endearing about that.
How To Find Them
Location: Richmond Hill, Canada
Address: 9555 Yonge Street East
Address: 9555 Yonge Street East
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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