THE WEE man is 34 years old and Vitally interested in learning the all-consuming art of restaurant reviewing. So I consulted recently with the five-man editorial board that directs Table-Hepping activities, got approval to include the wee man in the budget and took him along to the Ambleside Chinese Restaurant.

It would be, my colleagues and I concluded, a relatively basic review of relatively basic Cantonese cuisine.

And the wee man, I knew, had the raw materials for food ap- preciation: a good nose, a hearty appetite and a passion for real food over its contrived and super- ficial counterpart.

While he listened eagerly with Crayolas and Sesame Street note pad at the ready, I discussed a few basic tenets of food assessment. First, said I in bocming fatherly

16 - Friday, October 2, 1987 - North Shore News

Entertainment NO UNPLEASANT SURPRISES

Good, basic Chinese fare found at Ambleside eatery

taurant that offered a perhaps too expensive and eclectic selection of

Chinese food, the field has dwindled, in the main, to the long-lived Capilano West and the Ambleside.

The Ambleside, therefore, mines the rich if somewhat bland middle of the Chinese food road, and must be assessed with that in mind.

Second, I told the wee man while he scribbled frantically, it is

NEWS photo Neil Lucente

AMBLESIDE CHINESE Restaurant owner Ken Sung presents a steam- ing plate of prawns with green peppers and onions in a black bean sauce. The dish

specialities.

tones, all restaurants are not created equal and should be judged accordingly.

The Ambleside Chinese Restau- rant, for example, serves familiar Cantonese fare. Its predecessor was Wong’s Wok, which, despite an arsenal of annoying puns that had wok substituting for a host of innocent verbs, failed to impress a large enough following to keep it alive and punning.

The restaurant’s current owner- ship has disposed of the puns and concentrated instead on what it bills as gourmet Cantonese.

West Vancouver has few Chinese food restaurants. With the closure of Pisces, an excellent res-

‘

is one of the West Vancouver restaurant’s Cantonese

vital to sniff out the true character of food.

Is it made with care or is it thrown together? Does it pretend to be what it’s not?

Ambleside Chinese Restaurant food has no unpleasant surprises, and it does not masquerade as aristocratic Chinese cuisine.

We ordered Lettuce Wraps ($4.50, small order), a milk and Heineken ($1.75), Singapore Rice Noodles with curry ($5.25); Lan Far Prawns ($9.75) and Pan Fried Squid in black bean sauce ($8.50).

An interesting diversion while waiting for orders at the Ambleside is to ponder the restau- rant’s astrological placemats and

table hopping

by Timothy Renshaw

find out if you were born in the year of the dog, pig, mouse, etc.

The character summaries make for illuminating reading.

A better pastime, I pointed out to the Wee Man, than repeatedly knocking over milk in the too-large glasses that most restaurants insist on presenting to young folk.

The Lettuce Wraps, with their crisp, refreshing lettuce crust and

flavorful filling of diced ham, cel- °

ery, carrot and onion, showcased the Chinese mastery of combining food textures for maximum culi- nary attraction.

For the wrap rookie, the dish is presented with filling and lettuce leaves separate to allow diners to fill, to his own specifications, his individual wrap. Accompanying black bean Hoi Sin sauce makes an excellent sweet and savory wrap dip.

Our Singapore Noodles were presented with shrimp and in- vigorated with a restrained curry spice.

The Pan Fried Squid dish in- cluded good slabs of squid in a de-

cent black bean sauce, but was ac- .

companied with far too much green pepper and white onion fill- er.

Billed as a house speciality, Ambleside’s Lan Far Prawns came with a more exotic cross-section of vegetables including bamboo shoots and jumbo prawns, but again the chef was a little too en- thusiastic with filler, this time in the form of broccoli.

From the Wee Man’s notes: good toleration of children, a rea- sonable Won Ton Soup ($2.95) and good wall decor for exciting matches of 1 Spy. Milk glasses meant for arm wrestlers, not children.

The Ambleside Chinese Restau- rant serves basic quality Chinese food with few culinary flourishes but few culinary faux pas.

Open every day for dinner and every day except Monday for lunch.

TASTY MORSELS THE MEDICI DINING ROOM, AT THE COACH HOUSE INN, 700 LILLOOET ROAD, NORTH VANCOUVER, 985-3111

This mew restaurant serving good Italian cuisine on the second floor of the Coach House Inn is currently featuring weekly meal specials.

A recent example headlined Warm Shrimp Salad, a choice of Baked Lasagne or Balottine Di Sogliola (sole in a moussellini cream sauce) and Key Lime Pie all for $11.95.

LA TAVOLA CALDA, 112 WEST 15TH STREET, NORTH VANCOUVER, 980-2772

Boasting what its owners say is “the best authentic Italian cuisine on the North Shore’’ this restau- rant is also cooking up a series of meal specials.

Starting Oct. 1, La Tavola will serve two for $9.50 pasta dishes to patrons presenting coupons clipped from the special Flavours section in the Sept. 30 issue of the News.

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Scandinavian Ed Lark takes viewers through the country, home to some of the most spectacular and interesting sights and sounds anywhere in the world.

Viewers can admire Denmark’s crown jewels and watch the tradi- tional changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace as well as a collection of other scenes.

Shakespeare buffs can see Hamlet’s Elsinor Castle with the dungeon intact.

Denmark will be shown twice —

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