Congee Town

a bit of a long wait(can't blame them the food is amazing) but its worth it.

Good chinese food! The prices are good, the service can be good depending on who you get but that's chinese restaurants for you...but they make up for it by being fast and serving delicious food. There usually about a 15 minute wait for a table which isn't too bad. We've never had a dish we didn't like yet and I love their house dessert when you get a combo dinner meal. Much better than congee queen on hwy 7.

Great food for a Great PRice. The food here is Awesome . You need leave feeling hungry. Portions are great and prices are just right.

So to get some congee to cure Anna, we decided to go to Congee Town, a popular restaurant in northeast Scarborough. We’ve been there before and knew that it’s a solid bang for your buck.

The Food:

Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee, 皮蛋瘦肉粥 ($4.25)

Anna: The preserved egg and salted pork congee is one of my favourite types of congee and this variation does not disappoint. Of course, it is pretty hard to mess up congee (Dan: It is most certainly possible though, heh). The pork was quite salty, which complements the congee very nicely, there were lots of preserved eggs, and the congee was cooked to gooey perfection.

Dan: When I could get congee when I was younger, I’d always ask for this kind. I’m not sure what part about black eggs and salted meat in rice boiled until it’s goopy I was so enamoured about, but this always hit the spot. Congee Town gives you a large bowl of congee with an excellent ratio of stuff to congee, stuff being admirably large pieces of egg and pork. In fact, it’s around the amount you’d expect if it were homemade congee. The pork was salted thoroughly and the egg was flavourful. This is how this dish is meant to be made.

Shatin Chicken Congee, 太皇走地鸡粥 ($4.95)

Anna: I think chicken congee is the Chinese equivalent of chicken noodle soup: it’s nutritious and it’s easy to get down when you’re sick. If you were wondering, Shatin (沙田) is a district in Hong Kong that is famous for their, you guessed it, chicken congee. The Congee Town version is filled with chunks of chicken (skin, bones and all), thin ginger slices, and green onion.

Dan: Now this is theoretically made with free-range chicken, but that’s really hard to tell once it’s cooked up, chopped up, and in your mouth hehe. Like the other bowl of congee, Congee Town gives you a lot of chicken that’s made well and reasonably sized. It’d have been nice to have the bones removed, but that’s a fair bit of work and for the price you’re paying, I’m sure you can manage.
Steamed Sticky Rice & Chicken Wrapped in Lotus Leaf, 珍珠鸡 ($2.80)

Anna: The lotus leaf-wrapped sticky rice is a perennial dim sum favourite and as such is only available on the dim sum menu. Congee Town’s dim sum menu is quite small, consisting of only a few of the classic dim sum dishes, like shrimp dumplings and siumai. Other than the fact that it took about 20 minutes to come (the waitress did warn us that it would take a little longer), I was a little disappointed that it was not steaming or even hot by the time we started eating.

Dan: I agree with Anna. For the time it took for this dish to get it us, I expected it to have been made fresh and steaming hot from the kitchens. Except it was sort of hot. As you can tell by our photos, the soy sauce flavouring wasn’t dispersed very thoroughly, nor was there much chicken. All told, this dish was very meh.

The Price:

Anna: While this definitely isn’t the cheapest place you can get congee in Scarborough, you can get a very sizeable portion of congee for under $5. If you spend $3 extra you can go for one of the supreme congee bowls, which are huge, stuffed with goodies, and should feed 2 to 3 people. Their congee menu is quite extensive so give it a read through and something delicious and cheap should catch your eye.

Dan: With the amount of food that Congee Town gives you, this place is popular for good reason. It gives you a good amount of quality congee at a reasonable price. There’s not much else that you can really ask for from a congee joint. There are other places out there, but Congee Town is among the best in the GTA when it comes to congee.

The Ambiance and Service:

Anna: Let me just say this is one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been in in Scarborough. It’s super clean, has really modern decor, and they have lots of booths on all three sides of the restaurant, perfect for couples or small groups of four. It does, however, have a very eclectic music playlist for background music, switching between your Top 40 Hits (think Miley Cyrus, Lorde, and Rhianna), K-pop (I definitely heard Girl’s Generation being played) and possibly J-pop. In the evenings it gets a little busier, a little more crowded, and a little louder, so the music won’t be a problem in the evenings, which can be good or bad depending on your preference.

Dan: Hmm… this place reminds me of a Western-styled bar in China from back in the Colonial era, except brighter lit. The service is a bit lacking, but that’s typical of most Asian restaurants in Scarborough. You definitely can’t be afraid of waving or calling the waiter or waitress over. Since we went during an off-peak hour, it was pretty quiet and as Anna mentioned, expect the music to be less noticeable when it’s busier.

The Wrap:

Anna: I wouldn’t say this was some kind of amazing congee paradise filled with rainbows and unicorns that carry your congee to you (Dan: To all restaurateurs, please note that this is how you win our favour), because that just isn’t true. I would say that their congee is on par with most other specialty congee restaurants in Toronto. However, it does have a very extensive congee menu (abalone congee, anyone?), and at this price point, all things considered, it’s a great deal.

Dan: If you’re only having congee, Congee Town’s regular bowl size is definitely a good investment for one person. Don’t be afraid to try other dishes such as their side dishes and fried noodles or rices, but there are certainly better places for dim sum. All told, with the quality and quantity of congee you get, Congee Town is a solid choice.

The Location:

Located at the Woodside Square Shopping Centre, Congee Town is both accessible and has ample parking. Finding a spot though, can be sometimes a challenge, but don’t worry, there’s one somewhere. And yes we know, this is another restaurant in Agincourt, but we’re going to spread out real soon. :)

Overall the food was good. There are a few things that weren't that great. The rice we ordered came out warm not hot, although a big portion. The Cantonese chow mein is great, crispy noodles lost of flavour and again big portion. We also ordered general Tao and the flavour was good, not a large portion but decent. We did have to wait a while to out in our order and had to keep asking about getting some cutlery, which we never did end up receiving. No one was rude but not the best customer service. My rating is high because the flavour and portions are great.

Weekends and dinner time are packed. We tried lunch and yes it was busy but we were seated within a couple of minutes. Waitresses were super efficient and just the right degree of friendliness. We went with noodles all around and did not disappoint. Favourful, tasty and satisfying.

This place is always my favourite place to go to. The environment is bright and the staff are always friendly. We always get the free appetizer soup at the beginning and the free dessert soup at the end, for ordering a combo (usually a 3 dish combo). The dessert soup we got this time was a cold papaya sago soup dessert--a nice switch from their usual hot soup desserts like red bean soup. My favourite dish here is always the Guo Loh Yok (sweet & sour pork). You can't go wrong with it and it is always executed so well! We tried something different this time and got a coconut chicken taro pot. It tasted interesting. We got 3 bowls of rice for the 3 dish combo as well. The prices are amazing here--no wonder why this is one of my family's favourite restaurants for nights that they don't want to cook!

This restaurant has a huge variety of offers on their menu, they also have lunch specials and combo meals (which never make sense to me here, Becuase you save almost $3 over all and get two to three dishes no one will want to eat...). We ordered the lobster chow mien, which is my all time favorite dish here. The sauce engulfs the crunchy fried noodles in this savoury dish, and the lobster is always cooked just right (not rubbery, no raw..), and it’s always flavourful. We also ordered the super super supreme congee, what a fun name right? It’s A2 on the menu. The size of this congee could easily feed 4 people, and it’s great with a side of dip-able dough fritters. We also ask for ginger that’s been shredded to throw into this dish, and it’s that secret something that just makes it that much better. The squid tentacles I can’t say is a personal favourite but it’s still fried, a little chewie and has all the crunch you could want. But other than that, not really anything special, could use a little more flavouring.. We’ve been going to this restaurant for years now. The service is always on point, they are very attentive to their customers, each booth has a call button that calls servers to your booth. The food itself is always consistent, there are other restaurants where you can tell the chefs apart depending on the quality of your regular order, this is not one of them. The food has always been freshly served and usually comes to your table shortly after it’s been ordered.

Food was great! Friendly staff! The fried shrimp with mayo was really good.