Walking into SoSo Food Club, you would think you’re entering a retro hipster diner instead of a Chinese restaurant. The neon lit tunnel at the entrance is both trippy and wacky, I can’t help but think of Star Trek and going into hyper drive as I walk towards the host. Just pray you get seated at the plush banquettes by the window. The small circular tables by the bar are impractical when Chinese cuisine serves dishes that are meant for sharing – have fun trying to fit more than a dish, bowl of rice, two cocktails, and two water glasses on the desk-sized table.
If you’re feeling hungry, get one of the smaller bites to
start as the main dishes take a while to arrive. I’m glad our waitress,
Tabitha, convinced us to get the xiao
long bao ($9) to tie us over. Truthfully, they’re like the ones from Asian
Legend; nonetheless, they are well made: the wrapper thin with a slight
elasticity and holding a lot of broth. An extra flavour element was added into
the minced pork filling that I couldn’t decipher, maybe Chinese cooking wine?
It gives the trapped soup an interesting taste.
Every table seems to get the lobster mapo tofu ($29). An entire lobster is halved and the meat removed
from the shell then stir fried with soft tofu cubes, crab, and a thick spicy
sauce (the mapo really has heat,
especially if you eat the little chunks of red chilies strewn throughout).
Smartly, the kitchen leaves the lobster in big chunks, it’s the only chance you
can taste it since the strong sauce will cover any seafood essence. But there
is something indulgent about having lobster with a dish that’s typically
something served in homes. If only the rice it comes with was better, it needed
more water and didn’t seem to be the “perfumed” variety.
A lot of SoSo’s menu is spicy and I expected to their dan dan mian ($16) to be scorching.
Surprisingly, the heat was restrained with sesame sauce added to help mellow
the spice. The chewy noodles are made in-house and thick enough to hold up
against the thick spicy sauce. If there was some of the traditional crunchy
preserved vegetables added, the noodles would be even better, the crushed
peanuts just didn’t provide enough contrast.
For vegetarians, there’s also enough to choose from on the
menu. The Not Really a Buddha basket ($15) could work as a main dish as the
deep-fried taro paste pancake is pretty heavy. Covered with various chopped
vegetables in gravy, the fresh corn kernels were a nice touch and provided
crunchy elements against the soft taro. Adding some of the traditional Buddhist
vegetables to the dish, like jook sung,
would have made this even better as the vegetable would soak up the gravy, providing
a more flavourful bite.
Coming from a Chinese background, I know SoSo Food Club is
not 100% authentic. Yet, the creations are great representations of traditional
dishes, with original elements that make it special. Plus, they have a great
bar menu that is much better than the dusty bottles of alcohol or
run-of-the-mill “cocktails” found in the old school restaurants. Their SoSo
lager ($8) and Liefmans Yell’oh pineapple ale ($8) both intrigued me (and went
great with their food) … this is coming from someone who rarely orders beer.
SoSo encouraged me to enjoy Chinese food differently, in a dark day-glo
environment with drinks that are much stronger than tea.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 1166 Dundas Street West
Address: 1166 Dundas Street West
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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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