East Fusion Food
88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC
I have mentioned previously I seldom write posts on Chinese restaurants simply because to appreciate one, you must visit it in a large group. In a really odd twist, I was in the International Village, near Vancouver Downtown and was starting to get hungry. I could have gone to the food court in the mall but nah. Likewise, I could have gone to the nearby Costco and have some hot dogs or pizzas or whatever is sold in their food court area. But, no, instead, I waited to see other options and that’s how I ended up in East Fusion Food. While the name hints at Eastern food, if it wasn’t for my initial remark, that could have meant Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc. So, let’s try again, this is a mostly Chinese restaurant.
At first sight, East is similar to many HK style cafe. However, one thing that helps non-Chinese (or non-Chinese readers) is the fact there is no “secret” menu, i.e., a menu that is only in Chinese. Their English menu is the same as their Chinese menu (as far as I could detect). How do I know? Aside the fact there is nothing hanging around and the menu is written outside the entrance (openly for customers to browse before walking in).
One thing that I found interesting while I was being walked to my table is that glassed area. It happens that some cooking (like preparing noodles and some boil items) is done there. While it is something I have personally done long time ago, it is not something you often see in Chinese restaurants, not even new ones. Of course, some cooking is still done in the back…
But, enough wandering around, I was there for the food and that is what I ordered:
Wonton soup. Before I go on, there is a funny story I must mention: when the waitress was taking my order, I mentioned it in Cantonese “wonton toon”. However, somehow, she understood “wonton meen”. The difference? The first one is wonton *only*, the second one is wonton with noodles. I repeated myself and, for the second time, she asked me again for the (incorrect) dish. In the end, I just pointed to the menu… I know she speaks Cantonese (they were talking nearby in Cantonese before she walked by to take my order) but that proves that language sometime does not necessarily help… Anyway, back to the fod…
If memory serves me right, there were about 10 pieces of wonton, along with a single, token piece of leafy vegetable. The broth was just OK, not the best one I ever had. But the wonton had something I haven’t experienced in a while: The shrimp had a and my relationship”bite”, i.e., it was not soft/mushy, instead, it offered some resistance and then “broke” down. Unfortunately, that was about the only redeeming quality. Overall, the meal was not bad, just that it was not necessarily good either. However, at least, the food was decent for what it was paid. If I am in the area, I might drop by again. That is a big if, though…
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
In places where they have different menus, sometimes I find it’s better to speak to the waiters/waitresses to ask what they recommend. The wontons look really nice. What did they have on the menu that was fusion?
Wonton “toong” (I assumed you misspelled it) is asking for soup only, which is probably why she was confused.
Monchichi, oh, believe me when I say I have had better wontons! Fusion might be stretching the word, i.e., it was more on the lines of HK style cafe – Chinese food served western style.
Anon, transliteration is always a funny business. For ages, when I heard about har gao, it made me scratch my head. Was it a gao tzi (dumpling) unique to Vancouver? It was not until some time later that people pointed to the shrimp dumplings in dim sum, which I called haa gao (as I don’t recall ever hear or pronounciate myself ending the “haa” part with an “r”). Otherwise, call it a bad habit of calling it that way ever since I was a kid. Touché! ^_^;;;
when i order only wontons in cantonese, i say “jing wonton” so they know it’s only wonton. sometimes, depending on accents for those like me not born in hk or china, people have to double check what i’m ordering.
Perhaps the misunderstanding is because the wonton meen is offered at a special price at that restaurant and the waitress assumed it was what you wanted as it seems, when I went there, everyone ordered the wonton meen.
You must log in to post a comment.