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East meets
West Island
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Li-Chee Garden exudes old-style Chinese exotica
by SARAH MUSGRAVE
This meal started out more like a dare than a resto review. The car
was cruising through Pierrefonds when I first caught sight of Li-Chee
Garden. Its pagoda-shaped sign beckoned from in front of a weird time-warped
building, clearly a throwback to an era when the local Chinese restaurant
was the most exotic eatery around. Did anyone actually eat here? I wondered
aloud.
My question was answered as we turned into the parking lot—completely
empty. I hesitated outside, listening to the spooky sounds of the pigeons
roosting under the roof, but my dinner companions called me a coward
and yanked open the door. Upon entering, we found ourselves in the midst
of an ode to late-1960s Orientalism. Every inch of the interior was
filled with elaborate retro decorations: ornate lanterns with silk tassels,
colourful murals, a pair of golden dragons wending their way around
columns—all set against green walls and a sparkling ceiling. It
was as though nothing had changed since the place opened almost 40 years
ago.
Moments later, footsteps squeaked against the plastic-covered carpet
and a strange little woman came forward to greet her only eat-in guests
of the evening. She turned on a few lamps and handed us the menu, a
classic list of “Chinese and Canadian dishes.” It’s the
type of cooking that our now Asian-savvy palates barely notice anymore:
egg foo youngs, chop sueys and chow meins. We urged her to suggest some
dishes (code for what’s fresh?) and she complied.
We started with egg rolls (75 cents each), which tasted far more authentic
than expected. The dense filling of musky-flavoured meat went well with
the plum sauce, once we managed to coax it out of the rarely used container.
The Cantonese chow mein ($8.95) was one of the better choices, obviously
freshly tossed together. It consisted of noodles, bok choy, bell peppers,
finely sliced BBQ pork, chicken and decent-sized shrimp. It was almost
like eating the décor in terms of colour and complexity, and
also because it had a faintly dusky/dusty taste (definitely deliberate
if slightly unusual).
Predictably, we also got pineapple chicken ($5.75). The deep-fried balls
were topped with pineapple chunks and a sauce that was a deeper red
than the super-fake kind you sometimes see—and pleasantly more
tangy than sweet. The “special” fried rice ($6.95) was dotted
with peas, corn and lima beans (recognizable from frozen veggie packages).
It was cooked up with egg, bits of barbecue pork and shrimp, for a fairly
satisfying result. There were five kinds of spare ribs listed, and I
think we got the version in brown gravy ($5.75), judging from the thick,
sweetish sauce on the platter. They were very meaty, but they weren’t
anything to write home about. The best part of this selection was stainless
steel water bowls to wash our fingers in.
It was a little hard to concentrate on the food, since the surroundings
filled me with a mixture of trepidation and fascination. Our host proved
to be a fairly insightful finger reader, intermittently assessing our
lives by looking at our hands and disappearing behind the door to talk
to her husband/cook. “This place is old style,” she said proudly
as we left. “Not like those new restaurants!”
Although I don’t know the area very well, I think I can safely
say Li-Chee Garden is the weirdest restaurant on the West Island. I
survived the meal with no ill effects, so I dare you to pop by for a
bite before it disappears and becomes a Soto Express. :
Li-Chee Garden
Address: 11709 Gouin W.
Phone: 683-3300
Hours: noon–midnight (approx)
Best features: no chopsticks!
Alcohol: no Vegetarian friendly: no
Credit cards: cash
Wheelchair access: no
Price: $9/person before tax, drinks or tip
Rating: H out of HHHH
Feedback?
restoagogo@hotmail.com
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