[URBAN NOTE] "7 restaurants to eat Hong Kong style Western food in the GTA"

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO's Darren "DKLo" Susilo describes an intriguing parallel to Canadian Chinese food: Hong Kong-style Western food. The idea sounds interesting, and I do note that there's one restaurant specializing in this cuisine downtown.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Hong Kong cuisine is the HK-style Western dishes. Found in small restaurants and coffee houses (otherwise known as cha chaan teng) this cuisine serves up interesting takes on various kinds of Western food items ranging from toast to macaroni. The term HK-style Western cuisine or Canto-Western (as Wikipedia puts it) is appropriate because the influences do not seem to come from just one country in the so-called Western hemisphere. After all, no other single country (as far as I know) combines toast, macaroni, and luncheon meat as breakfast items, but they all often harmoniously co-exist on the same table in these places. Hong Kong, you are truly a marvel.

So what wacky twists do the Hong Kong people put on these Western dishes anyway? Well have you seen steak that's been marinated with soy sauce and then served with a big spoonful of black pepper sauce? Or casseroles that are baked with fried rice? You haven't? Well then hurry down to these places and you'll be amazed. This is fusion cuisine before the terms "pan-Asian" or, well, "fusion" came into being.

Similar to my Cantonese Chinese list, there is no way this list can be comprehensive. The heavy immigration from Hong Kong that occurred in the 80's and 90's have contributed to a plethora of HK-style Western restaurants and cafes in the GTA. As such, I can only provide a smattering of places that I feel are good, solid locations to sample this unique delicacy. They are mostly simple places, and the good thing is that most are very modestly priced.