NING TU RESTAURANT (Shanghai)

Ning Tu’s Beef Roll:  5/6  I would order this again.  I would have liked more scallion and hoisin, but I liked the texture of the wrapping and the meat was thinly sliced and quite delicious.

Peking Duck: 2 courses.  I’ve broken down the elements of the dish… 1st course:  The Peking crepe skins were soft:  5/6

Duck skin was very good: 5/6.  You place a piece of skin, a piece of scallion and hoisin sauce on the Peking crepe.  Wrap it up and eat.  It is a delicious combination of flavours.  Decadent too.

2nd course: Lettuce wrap with duck:  4/6
The second course of a Peking Duck meal consists of the meat of the duck stir-fried with vegetables.  You wrap this mixture in a lettuce cup and top with hoisin sauce to eat.  I found the duck mixture too heavy on the white onions. The onions were chopped a little too  chunky for my liking and they were not as well cooked as I would have liked. 

An assembled lettuce wrap with duck.  See that onion?

Xiao Long Bau: Little steamed juicy buns.  4/6
These were steamed on little carrot slices.  The bun skin was not as thin as I would have liked but maybe this was so that the soup inside the buns would stay inside.  I hate it when the skins explode during the steaming process before you even get it onto your plate. 

Shanghai Noodles: 4/6.  The girls didn’t like this as much as Lin’s on Broadway because there wasn’t as much “wok hei”. 

Garlic Pea shoots: 4/6  Kind of blah and stringy.  Could have used more garlic

Honey Beef with Steamed buns: 5/6  Unfortunately, the picture is fuzzy.  The steamed buns were a hit with the kids and the honey beef was tender and delicious.  I’d order this one again too.

This restaurant was packed at 6pm on a Sunday.  The prices are reasonable.  The portions are good.  The restaurant is located on Kingsway and the parking is pretty good.

It's not a hole in the wall, but I really dislike coming at lunch as they employ the dreaded white plastic sheets on the tables during the lunch hours.  This is my biggest pet peeve (next to disgusting washrooms!) about eating at Chinese restaurants. Some bonehead in Hong Kong or China thought up this idea that it would be more efficient to use white plastic sheets as tablecloths.   You see, this stems from the stupid notion that speed, efficiency and high turnover should trump diner comfort.  After customers finish eating, the waiter picks up the four corners of the sheet and lifts it up (with all the dirty dishes inside!) to speedily change and "clean" the way for the next customers.  The restaurant would have stacked a number of these sheets on the table so there would be a clean one underneath ready to go. However, I think these plastic sheets are tacky and I hate how they feel.  If you spill any soy sauce or tea or anything it slides around and pools. Sometimes it can run down the cloth and onto your clothes as tables aren't always level.   It is such a terribly ugly way to cover a table. It's not unlike eating on a plastic garbage bag spread out before you. I don't know if Ning Tu still does this at lunchtime because as soon as I saw them at lunch one time, I told Stomach I wouldn't be back for lunch.  I don't care if it's a good deal.  Or even if the food is good.  The dinner service doesn't employ the plastic sheets and that's why I'm okay with eating dinner here.

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