Living a 5 minute drive away from Terra Nova, my mom accidentally discovered a Chinese restaurant in Terra Nova called Imperial City Bistro and we decided to have a family dinner there.
It was a somewhat empty night when we came in, and for some reason, getting someone to give us the menu, let alone to take our order, was taking practically forever. I was almost full from drinking tea. While sitting through the waiting, I took a picture of the table setting. I like the shape of the utensils they use.
Alas, the food!
Our family orders sweet and sour pork ($14.80) almost every time we dine in a Chinese restaurant. The sauce was very good. The skin of the pork was very fried and crispy, and I ended up using more strength than I thought I would to bite down the pork!
This is one of my favourite dishes- Pan Fried Long Bean with Minced Meat ($14.80)– the literal Chinese translation would be “four season beans.” It is a bit on the salty side, but it tastes delicious with steamed rice. It could have been more spicier too, but still a decent dish.
This is the Imperial Bistro Tofu ($16.80). The tofu was nice and soft, but the sauce and green peas wasn’t outstanding to me. A forgettable, satisfactory dish.
The final main course dish was 賽螃蟹(Egg white + crab meat, $16.80) Sorry before I could take a picture my parents dug in, so I didn’t end up taking a picture! It was fairly delicious and I love the combination of smooth egg whites and crab. Not too salty!
We also had three bowls of steamed rice, $4.50/3.
For dessert- the complimentary dessert soup was some bowl of egg yolk + tapioca! It was fairly delicious and new to me. It was lightly sweetened. Plus, any dessert soup that is NOT red bean wins in my book of Chinese- restaurants- free- dessert- soup- book.
We also ordered a side dessert- my mom’s favourite, 蟹殼黃($6.80 – sorry guys, my mom asked for this when she didn’t have the menu, and there was no English translation on our reciept. The literal meaning of it is “crab yellow shell”). It was freshly made, hence it was hot when it came to our table.
Although the word “crab” is in it, there is no meat in this pastry! The pastry resembles the shell of a crab, hence the name. Sesame seeds cover the top of the pastry. It was nicely fried and steaming. It is a bit oily, so watch out for those calories/cholesterol when eating these! There is some kind of sweet coconut paste in it. I recommend this Shanghainese dessert for those who love sweets and never tried this before! It’s great to share!
Overall- the food was decent, despite the initial slow service. However, the people who work there are very friendly, so props for that! The bill came to a total of $83.44 for 5 people. I do think it’s a tad overpriced compared to other Chinese restaurants that have similar dishes, such as the sweet and sour pork. This place does make a nice get together in Richmond as it is located in a quieter area.
