Hey everyone, I’m back at Gourmet Village after another ownership change. If the mods feel it would be better to just shovel it on my original topic feel free (or just archive that old one).
I’m a little curious at the direction of the restaurant since it seems to have a mash up of dishes you expect to see at Cha-Chan Tengs and a regular place for dinner.
First off tried the Baked Pork Chop over Rice and the Baked Seafood over rice. Both portions were relatively huge and I honestly thought they were very good. Pork chop was on the thinner side, but the sauce was on point. Just a little odd that they don’t have milk tea and the other associated drinks.
We also tried their sauteed water spinach with fermented bean curd. Though a little odd pairing with the baked rice dishes, they cooked the vegetables quite well.
We came back the following night to try a little more traditional style dinner.
Started off the night with their special of the night, a roast duck with tofu clay pot. I thought they did a good job on this dish. I felt like I was actually given a whole duck and not some random assorted boney pieces. Sauce wise, it was that umami oyster sauce braise that gave the tofu the necessary flavors.
We got the choy sum in supreme broth. The vegetables were quite crisp while the ham and broth provided a pleasant salty/umaminess to the dish.
We tried their sweet and sour pork spareribs and thought they did a nice job on it. There weren’t abnormally large amounts of fat clinging onto the bones (relatively evenly marbled in that sense). Even with the sauce, the pork chunks were relatively crisp. The sauce was not cloyingly sweet, and the pineapples were a nice touch.
To finish up our meal, we got the Guizhou braised fish with pickled veggies. I really liked this one though I’m sure I have no idea what the actual dish tastes like in Guizhou. Underneath the mountains of corriander there are cellophane noodles underneath the chunks of fish. The veggies were more on the salty side of pickling. From the picture, the dish is quite aromatic, though I do wish those black peppercorns could have just been shoved into a herb bag of sorts. The soup wasn’t too spicy but had a nice pungent pepper punch.
Overall, I am starting to really enjoy this iteration of Gourmet Village. I will add a note that they do not really do any double boiled soup (but a large table over did bring ingredients to them for making one). There also isn’t a dessert soup which is more of a plus for me haha.
And prior to posting this topic, we decided once more to check out the place. This time, we ate at a later time period around 7:30 and the place was packed. A small line was outside the shop and sadly it seems there just needs to be one additional server to help out with the pacing.
Our first dish that arrived was their house special baked sea bass. The sauce was quite similar to teriyaki but… seemed just a little touch of oyster sauce. The meat of the sea bass appears to be around the fish’s collar. The fish was quite moist and flakey and the sauce went well with the dish.
Next up we got their gai lan with sugar rice wine sauce. As per my comment about the number of servers, they probably didn’t have enough time to go back to the kitchen and grab the dish. The vegetables tasted just fine, just they were more on the lukewarm side rather than hot from the wok. A little evident on the visual look of it.
!
Did I ever mention that the restaurant was packed and service slow? We got our soup pretty late in our meal (after the fish was eaten and the veggies half devoured…). But I thought they did a nice job on it. This was their thousand year egg with tofu soup (and lots of cilantro). Very aromatic and a rather substantial portion for only 4.50 (small), I really can’t complain. I don’t think there was too much nuance with the soup but it was quite nice on a cold night.
Next up we attempted to order the basil and large clam stew but they were out of basil (and mentioned it to us well… about twenty minutes after we ordered). We switched to their stir fried clams. The clams were actually pretty large and they cooked it quite well.
To end our meal we got their sauteed dried beef floss with bitter melon. I’m not a huge fan of bittermelon but will still eat this style. The bits of beef went quite nicely with the bitterness and the eggs were a little on the greasier end but I think that’s the norm (I had it probably one or two other times).
Overall this meal was a little more of a let down since we went at a later and busier time. I thought the dishes were quite tasty, but the output of dishes was a little lacking (servers were not slacking, they just seemed to be constantly in motion).
I’d say this new re-reopening of Gourmet Village is worth trying.
