C&S Seafood Restaurant
Chinese
10725 – 98 Street
(780) 429-8829

Any restaurant with the name “seafood” gets my attention, since that is among my favourite foods. So, I eagerly went to try C&S Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown. It was a quarter to six on a Tuesday, and I was the only one there. Apparently, weekends are the popular times for this place. After a little “hello,” I was greeted by a server and promptly given tea and a menu.

In many ways, C&S is a typical Chinese restaurant: large aquariums, Buddhist shrines, bubbling fountains, framed Chinese characters, and a large television with Chinese programming. The menu, too, was “Authentic Chinese Food” – a comprehensive selection of seafood, chicken, pork, and tofu, in infinite combinations with various vegetables, sauces, noodles, and rice, all in the $12-$18 range. With many large tables, this place can host large groups very easily.

But as a single diner, I had to make choices. I opted for peach shrimp – it was a seafood place after all – and a green onion cake appetizer. The onion cake came quickly, piping hot. The taste was more cake than onion. I had high expectations for an intriguing dish, hoping for fresh shrimp and peaches, so I was disappointed that it was deep fried popcorn shrimp with cold canned peaches and a creamy sauce. It was tasty enough, rather sweet, but not quite the innovation I had hoped. As part of a multi-dish meal, it would have been a sweet complement to other dishes. By itself, it was almost a dessert in a main portion size. With the green onion cakes, I could have easier split the meal with another.

My little one-dish meal didn’t quite make it by itself, but I’d certainly like to have a go at a wider variety of dishes around one of those big round tables with 11 of my closest friends. Chinese seafood, anyone?

John lives in Boyle Street.