"China Cottage serves up excellent fare in Scarborough Off the eaten track !"
Last week, I had the opportunity to partake in some excellent fare in the heart of Chinatown in Toronto. At our table, a comment was made that Scarborough had some pretty great Chinese restaurants as well. To that end, a visit to China Cottage did not disappoint and was every bit as pleasant experience as my downtown affair. I visited the Cottage with my eldest son and the waiter was shocked at the amount of dishes we ordered for two. He didn’t understand that a takeout container found in the fridge in the middle of the night is the equivalent of heaven for my two boys. So we disregarded his well-intended advice and ordered a heap of dishes. China Cottage has a great Thai menu, and also cooks Indian and Pakistani dishes. We decided to keep to the Chinese specialties this go around.
The spicy fried rice is a must order, golden with bits of chicken and vegetables with just a touch of spice around the edges. My son wanted to try the sweet and sour chicken, which I normally find too sweet. Not so at the Cottage. It was perfectly balanced and leaned to the tangy side. It was a delicious rendition to this classic dish. Kung Pao chicken (sauced with soy, sesame and chilli paste) was just as good. We tried the orange beef which was crisply fried before being combined with carrot and bamboo shreds and glazed with an orange sauce. It was really good, but a bit rich overall. Steamed rice was delivered for good measure free of charge. I am a big fan of Federicks further west on Ellesmere, but I found China Cottage as good, if not better. I do prefer the dining room here. It’s small, but pleasant, in red and gold hues with bamboo wall accented with fans. I will definitely be going back to sample the Thai food. If it’s as good as the Chinese far, China Cottage is going to become a regular haunt. And yes, all the leftovers somehow mysteriously vanished by the next morning.