The Lingnan

(Okay, so that *isn't* a picture of the Lingnan Restaurant. It's the logo for Lingnan University, but I couldn't find any images that would work for this post, so here you go.)

We went to the Lingnan Restaurant with the family-in-law tonight, to bid farewell to a grandparent-in-law from out of town. Anyway, this restuarant is located in an out-of-the-way, semi-slum neighbourhood near Chinatown. However, the restaurant itself is nothing like the Chinatown restaurants. This one, you could tell, caters to the non-Chinese. How do I know this? Here were a few clues:

-the decor was overly "Chinese," right down to the faux-gilded dragons and phoenixes on the pillars and the walls
-the servers wore "traditional" garb
-there were no chopsticks on the table anywhere, but there were knives and forks
-there were no rice bowls on the table, but they did give us large dinner plates right before the entrees arrived
-the placements had no Chinese characters on them, but rather a menu of the mixed cocktails available for purchase from the restaurant
-tea was not automatically given, but had to be ordered
-the teacup saucers were far too large for the teacups
-the after-dinner "dessert" was not oranges or red bean soup, but fortune cookies

Armed with my knowledge that this restaurant might not be very authentic (as in the style of cooking my very Chinese and very experienced chef-Dad uses), I was well-prepared to eat Westernized chicken balls and ginger beef. The family decided to get adventurous on me though, and ordered the Deluxe Combination Dinner for 6, plus an additional entree of mushu pork. As we waited for our dishes to arrive, they brought us a bottle of white wine and uncorked it for us. The wine was pretty tasty, but as a lightweight drinker who would have preferred to stick with tea and water, I thought it presumptuous that the server gave me the wine without my asking for it!

The soup was served first, and surprise! It was wonton soup (which we Chinese know to almost never be served as part of a set dinner!). It was also over-salted. Next came the entrees en masse. The highlights: The broccoli-beef stir-fry was very good, and actually reminded me ever so slightly of my dad's wokkery skills with stir-frys; it had good "fry-energy" (wok-hei). The cashew chicken and celery dish was also pretty tasty and the celery was crisp (indicating freshness); I particularly enjoyed those crispy fried cashews. The lowlights: The shrimp fried rice and Cantonese noodle dishes were very plain and not particularly tasty, and they were also not terribly "loaded," which was disappointing. The shrimp "balls" and lemon chicken were typically what you'd expect from a Western "Chinese" place: batter-heavy, deep-fried, and not meaty enough. The mushu pork was okay, but their sauce was a tad on the tangy and sour side of "sweet-and-sour," and I definitely prefer when the sauce leans to the "sweeter" side. As well, this entree was smaller than the other dishes, and didn't contain nearly as much meat as would be worthy of the cost.

Service was very good, as usual, and the server was incredibly hospitable and friendly, although he was a bit pushy when he insisted that we order that seventh dish rather than let us substitute it for one of the entrees that was already part of their combination meal.

Overall, this could definitely be a unique dining experience for those who have never tasted any Chinese food before. It offers a good stepping stone towards the real stuff, and the atmosphere of the restaurant, though tacky, does give the less-experienced Chinese food diner a chance to go to a place that "feels" Chinese. Lovers of chicken balls and egg rolls will probably adore the Lingnan. However, I would not recommend this restaurant to authentic Chinese food lovers, or to Chinese people, because you will definitely be disappointed more than you will be impressed. Speaking as a true Chinese chick with a love for the authentic fare, I'd have to say that I fall into the latter category.

Rating: 6.5 / 10