Wednesday 21 August 2013

Great Chow

It didn't take long after moving here for me to look for some good Chinese food for dinner.  It's cheap, delicious and I crave it all the time after a long days work.  The town I moved from had a heavy Asian population and thus a large amount of delicious Asian food.  Specifically I looked around for some dim sum and was heartbroken to find none whatsoever at the time.  I soon realized that there were lots of Cambodian, Thai, Japanese and Korean foods however Chinese wasn't quite as popular.  I tried lots of places and was, for the most part, a bit disappointed at the same quality of foods.  I was especially sad at the amount of places that had a "spicy" dish that ended up being just covered in Sriracha sauce.  
Well it has taken me a while of trying to find a decent place and I can happily say I have found somewhere that has satisfied my need for Chinese!  


At the corner of Princess and MacDonnell st. there stands a restaurant that used to be a Ho-Lee-Chow (by the font and colour scheme you can drive by it and swear it was still a ho-lee-chow).  But don't be fooled, it's not just a spin-off or a part of the chain, it is a standalone restaurant.  As a side note I always love when restaurants have the pictures of the chef/owner on their ads and you can actually see them in person.  



It's not huge on the inside but it has just recently added a few more chairs and tables if you're looking to sit inside. It is very clean and simple on the inside, with a newly renovated front counter and a very old dot matrix printer still printing out the receipts.  


This is the 192 Combination plate, $6.95 from 11am-4pm or $9.95 4pm-close (a lunch deal until 4pm, wow!).  It includes Szechuan beef, chicken fried rice, and an egg roll, perfect plate size for one.  The Szechuan beef is a garlicky, gingery, spicy beef stir fry with onions, green peppers, carrots and peanuts.  What I love about this dish especially is that it often comes with actual pieces red chili peppers, very delicious!  The fried rice is as delicious as fried rice usually is and the egg roll is quite good too (though i often request the spring roll at additional charge anyways).  Overall it's a very filling and delicious dish, I can't count how many times i've ordered it now.


Shown here is the 196 Combination plate, General Tso's chicken, chicken fried rice and an egg roll (substituted for spring roll here).  I only ate a piece of the chicken since it wasn't my meal however it was quite delicious, there was also some vegetables that came with it but they had been eaten previously to this picture.  

The staff are always friendly here and I must say the fastest when it comes to delivery.  Though i'm only down the road from here i've gotten my food in 15-20 mins since ordering every time.  And when I decide to go pick-up food I enjoy the open concept kitchen that can be clearly seen from over the counter.  It always puts me at ease to watch as people are making dumplings, chopping fresh vegetables and frying rice.  I'd like to emphasize again not to think this is just another run of the mill chain restaurant, it's really great quality and always delicious.   
The only small gripe I have is with the amount of food, though it was cheap I often only get a few pieces of beef.

Overall i'd score Great Chow 

5/5

This is my favourite place to order food and it's been consistent each and every time.  

Did I miss an amazing dish that I should review?  Drop me an email and let me know!

-Liv 



About Me

Food reviews from the beautiful Limestone City! Contact me at oliviainkingston@gmail.com