Once you find it, you’ll never forget it

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/09/2009 (5845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If only all the Chinese restaurants on Pembina Highway were clustered closer together, we might have a vibrant second Chinatown — one where the many restaurants that line the highway were within walking distance of each other, possibly with a few interesting Asian grocery stores thrown in.

Ah well, an idle dream, I know, since even if they were all near each other, Pembina is hardly pedestrian-friendly, and we just have to be grateful that all those good restaurants do exist.

Finding them isn’t always easy, though, since many addresses on Pembina are near-invisible, and often when I crawl along, looking for numbers, it’s with a string of irate drivers behind me. Summer Palace is even harder to find than most, since, on the sign nearest the road that lists the occupants of the strip mall, its lettering is white on a pale yellow background. The key is to watch for the very visible Value Village sign (it anchors the mall), and make a note of it, since this is one of the most exciting new Chinese restaurants I’ve found in ages, for both the quality of the food, and its many rare offerings.

Most of the clientele on my visits were Chinese, and one reason is probably the menu that is written in Chinese. It does have handwritten English translations, which aren’t easy to read, but fortunately the staff were endlessly accommodating in guiding me through it. Though the English-only menu lists obligatory takeouts such as as egg foo yung and chop suey, it yields some lovely surprises as well. And both menus offer real value, with most prices ranging from $8.95 to $12.95 for remarkably generous portions.

One of the ways I decide a new Chinese restaurant might be worth investigating is to ask questions on the phone, one of which usually is, do they serve fresh seafood. When I was told that there were fresh clams — yes, in the shell, and yes, never frozen — they had me, so it was disappointing that when I turned up a few days later there weren’t any left. It was a measure of the niceness of the staff that someone actually went out and bought some for us. Sweet little meaty ones they were, steamed Taiwan-style with basil and green onions; another night’s version, with strips of bok choy in a clear broth, was pleasant but less exciting.

Three chicken dishes, all cooked on the bone for maximum flavour, were exceptional. One from the Chinese menu was the fabulous Three Cup Chicken — so named for the three basic cooking ingredients of rice wine, soy sauce and oil — but there are also such seasonings as garlic, basil and sugar. But two listed on the English menu were equally impressive. Crispy Chicken turns up often — a deep-fried half-chicken, cut across the bone — but this was among the best I can remember, with superb flavour and miraculously crunchy skin. It comes sauceless (No. 28) or splashed with a salty, ginger-spiked soy sauce and topped by shreds of green onions (No. 29). The other was Salt Baked Chicken — not a salt-crusted bird, but golf ball-size pieces cooked with near-caramelized bits of onion and a whiff of star anise in the seasoning.

Even though they skimp on the onions, the huge, addictively flaky onion pancake is wonderful. It is sold on its own but partners beautifully with the lamb dishes — grilled either with heaps of cilantro, or with little chunks of red and green peppers, both tender and rich in flavour. Another standout dish contained an assortment of wonderful Chinese mushrooms stir-fried with green beans and strips of beef tenderloin.

Add two pork dishes to the standouts — don’t let their names put you off, since both are terrific. Steamed Pork With Tofu is misleading, since it turned out to be crisp slices of pork belly (uncured bacon) glazed in a salty-sweet sauce made of fermented tofu paste. Collagen-rich pig’s trotters are (I swear) one of the latest anti-aging theories — if true, the full-bodied flavour of those tender chunks of meat, cooked with gai lan greens and Chinese mushrooms, might alone brighten those possibly wrinkle-free years.

One fascinating dish was deep-fried shrimp, crusted in duck egg yolk — big, plump ones and plenty of them, with an interesting surface flavour of egg yolk, but dry enough to need some kind of sauce or dip. Another dish that almost made it into the superlatives was short ribs, sliced across the bone (tasting a little like Korean kalbi) and paired with — a delightful touch — a little glass of port. My quibble is that, although the meat was tender and tasty on one visit, it was far too chewy on another.

A heaping platter of green beans stir-fried with bits of minced pork was excellent. Stir-fried, slightly garlicky water spinach, minimally streaked with shreds of duck, was an unusual, if somewhat under-flavoured dish, but not bad. Steamed sliced pickerel, on the other hand, was totally disappointing, blanketed in an incendiary sauce of pickled salty red peppers that, although it might clear your sinuses, couldn’t disguise the fish’s, well, fishiness. Other disappointments were beef chow fan rice noodles and Shanghai noodles — both passable, but bland.

The setting is simple but pleasant, with well-spaced tables, and a fairly tranquil atmosphere. The staff couldn’t be nicer or more obliging, and lingering isn’t discouraged.

marion.warhaft@freepress.mb.ca

DINING OUT

Summer Palace

1755 Pembina Highway, 261-9241

Licensed

Wheelchair access

Four and a half stars out of five