My co-worker loves congee and thinks it's great comfort food. Although I agree, I've never heard of anyone actually having a craving for it, let alone who wasn't raised on it.
Congee, a rice porridge typically eaten for breakfast in many Asian cultures, can be of various styles and consistencies that can be accompanied with a variety of ingredients. Like chicken soup, it's served as therapeutic nourishment for those under the weather as it's light, and easy to digest. It's also an inexpensive meal in a bowl that's tasty and sating.
As we discussed where there might be some good spots I could think of any number of places, but only in Markham or Scarborough. I wondered if there was a match downtown for my favourite place, Congee Wong (8390 Kennedy Road, with other locations in the GTA) where I've been going to for over ten years. Every visit includes the seafood superbowl ($7.75), a must have. Good for sharing, arriving in a bowl that looks to be about a litre in size, the smooth soup holds ample slices of soft salmon and white fish, plump shrimps, delicate scallops, and tender cuttle fish. The rice broth has a richness and depth of flavour that speaks of umami - the so-called fifth flavour. Also on the menus is the Chiu Chow style of congee in which the grains of rice are less cooked down, more distinct and separate from the liquid.
I'm told that a good standby in the city is King's Noodle House (296 Spadina Avenue). However, when my co-worker gives the thumbs down to their seafood congee - skimpy shrimp and cuttle fish - we opt for a place only steps away. The Goldstone Noodle Restaurant (266 Spadina Avenue) seafood congee ($5.95) could be a light meal for one. A garnish of scallions and ginger slivers were zingy punctuations in a mildly briny porridge. They also accentuated the soft sweetness of the seafood; plump pink prawns, fragile scallops and white fish that flaked at a touch. A tad much ginger and the broth being sludgy like the dregs of the pot were the only displeasing elements.
Further down Spadina, there is no shortage of restaurants that serve congee. Taste of China (338 Spadina Avenue) lists many flavours on its menu while E-Pan (369 Spadina Avenue) offers only three flavours during lunch from 11am-3pm.
Other options include Bamboo Cafe (494 Danforth Avenue) in the east end, and many Vietnamese restaurants also serve a version of chicken congee.
Although I'm happy to know that there are plenty of restaurants serving congee downtown, I'll probably still save my trips to Chinese restaurants for when I'm up in Markham. Thinking of Shyam Selvadurai's February article in Toronto Life's about the power of food nostalgia, Congee Wong, will probably always be my favourite. The sixth flavour of memory can never be reproduced, and thus never challenged.
Hi Susan,
Did you only try two places? I think you missed House Of Gourmet (484 Dundas Street West; (416) 217-0167) which would be my choice for congee in Chinatown. The congee there is also swimming with chunks of fish, abalone, etc., boasting a list as long as that of your favourite restaurant. Indeed, it's hearty and served in huge bowls - although not swimming pool sized like Congee Wong, Congee Time, and all the other Congee named establishments.
thanks Renee! House of Gourmet was one of the possible choices but ironically I was sick and could only muster the strength for one pick - I'll be sure to try it out :)