For a restaurant that’s been around forever, Taste of China still surprises its enthusiastic clientele of late night diners. The seafood is a focal point (apparent by the live lobsters hanging out in the tanks in the back), but ardent regulars come back for the mix of unapologetic Cantonese flavours in dishes ranging from chop suey to elaborate banquet dishes. There isn’t a better place to be introduced to the smoky seaside funk of XO sauce slathering pork cheek and king mushrooms, the oddly addictive acridity of bitter melon in a beef stir-fry and velvety chunks of lobster in a black bean sauce. Each of these faithfully rendered dishes is a quiet, reliable luxury.
