There are a myriad of Chinese restaurants in downtown Toronto and most are just average. Every once in awhile you hit upon a gem and New Sky is one of them.
I celebrated a birthday recently and decided to go back to my epicurean and cultural roots - Chinese.
The only problem was, what restaurant to choose among the dozens and dozens that dot the two Chinatowns in downtown Toronto? I had a hankering for seafood and as I gazed at several menus and storefronts on the Spadina Avenue strip, I found a refreshingly spotless resto with an alluring list of dishes.
New Sky is basically Cantonese and has a big menu of items, of which I could discern some mouth-watering seafood dishes. I made a reservation.
Since we're on the subject of restaurants, you might want to check out Devorah Stone's tips on choosing the right restaurant for healthy eating.
NEW SKY'S SYMPHONY OF SEAFOOD
We began the feast with fish maw and crab meat soup, which had the precise blend of soft spongy maw, crab meat and egg. It's meant to be a tad salty and with a sprinkling of white pepper, a great starter to a fabulous meal to come.
By the way, fish maw is the air bladder of large fish and is usually bought dried. Cooks are required to either soak it in cold water to soften or simmer it for awhile. Fish maw is apparently beneficial for blood circulation and is traditionally served during the Chinese New Year.
Our epicurean adventure into seafood was cemented with the arrival of deep-fried crab (pee fung hai), chopped into chunks and deep fried with shallots, garlic and roe. Grab a piece, lick off the utterly divine crispy bits and suck on the juicy meat inside. This is finger-lickin' territory, folks.
Next came the lobster stir-fried with spring onion and ginger and what a gorgeously-cooked meal it was! Fried just so and be sure to ladle some of that sweet sauce onto your white rice. You will eat every grain, trust me.
Not far behind the lobster was the scallops with tofu in blackbean sauce. Succulent large scallop with lightly-fried-but-soft-inside tofu was yet another great dish to mix with rice.
Our one nod to greens came in the form of long beans in XO cognac and chili's, fried with green onions. A piquant dish and a great companion to the seafood stuff.
For me, the ultimate dish of the night was the Fu-Kin noodles. They were so good, my 65-year-old father declared "these are the best Fu-Kin noodles I've had since leaving Malaysia." We left that country 30 years ago! He wanted to order more but we prevented him due to the birthday cake that we still had to ingest at the end of this rich and deeply satisfying meal.
Fu-Kin noodles arrive looking like a strange version of bird's nest - a slightly-hard, crisp exterior of interlacing yellow noodles which turn soft towards the centre, topped with peas, asparagus and BBQ pork. Even with all the delectable seafood around me, I found this dish to be my favourite of the night.
Since I've tasted the delights of New Sky, I did discover another article written by a food critic, who also recommended the crab steamed with rice, Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce and the Peking duck.
New Sky 353 Spadina Ave., Toronto, 416-596-8787.
