THA: The Canton House

Har gow with embellishments!

As I strolled down Yaowarat Road in the heart of Bangkok's Chinatown, I observed the endless row of restaurants. Since I had eaten too much for breakfast, I was looking for a simple lunch. When I saw the menu, I couldn't help but say this to myself, "Wow, this is gonna be the cheapest dim sum meal in my life!"

Three-Coloured Steamed "Ha-Kao" THB (~S$0.70)

Taste: 6.5/10

The ubiquitous steamed shrimp dumplings, or har gow, were made more visually appealing by using three ingredients: broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. The dumpling skin was a bit too thick for my liking, and the shrimp inside each dumpling wasn't that juicy.

Steamed Prawn with Spicy Yellow Curry THB 18.00 (~S$0.70)

Taste: 7/10

The meat of the prawn was chopped and added into a dough before it was steamed with the curry which wasn't terribly aromatic, but tasted more like chili oil.

Steamed Fish in Soya Sauce THB 18.00 (~S$0.70)

Taste: 7/10

The fish was pretty juicy and firm. The soya sauce wasn't too salty, but I believe a few slices of ginger would break the monotony of it.

Steamed Pork Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce THB 18.00 (~S$0.70)

Taste: 5.5/10

The spare ribs weren't really tender, and I was wondering where were the black beans. The only good thing was the right degree of hotness.

Steamed Sweet Cream Buns THB 18.00 (~S$0.70)

Taste: 7/10

Pardon me, I should've taken a picture with at least one bun being divided into two so that we can see the inside. Anyway, the buns were fluffy, but the custard filling wasn't very creamy, although it was adequately sweet.

 

Deep-Fried Crab's Leg THB 18.00 (~S$0.70)

Taste: 8/10

Probably the dish that stood out among the rest, the deep-fried crab meat actually wasn't terribly crispy on the outside, but the inside was moist and sweet. Also, it wasn't oily.

 

Deep-Fried Banana Fritters THB 18.00 (~S$0.70)

Taste: 7/10

The banana fritters lacked the crispiness I was looking for, but they were pretty good as the bananas inside had the right degree of ripeness. Eaten with a bit of sweetened condensed milk, they weren't cloyingly sweet.

 

Sesame Dumplings in Ginger Juice (Small) THB 30.00 (~S$1.20)

Taste: 7.5/10

Yes, I learnt my mistake very quickly and remembered to cut open one of the dumplings before I took the picture. Anyway, the dumpling skin wasn't as chewy as I expected it to be, but the black sesame filling was pretty creamy and sweet. Thankfully, the ginger soup wasn't overly sweet, but it could do with more gingers for a kick.

 

Chlorophyll Juice THB 20.00 (~S$0.80)

Taste: 8/10

The vegetable juice had a nice cooling effect. It wasn't excessively sweet, and it didn't have the raw taste of the leafy greens.

 

Coconut Juice THB 30.00 (~S$1.20)

Taste: 9/10

Looking at the picture just made me drool. Served cold, the coconut juice was heavenly with a strong aroma of pandan.

Melon's Rating

Taste: 7/10

Ambience: 7/10

Service: 7.5/10

Overall: 7/10

Even though the restaurant was kinda crowded, it wasn't really noisy inside. Service was pretty efficient, and the staff who took my order could speak English. Pika's advice: I noticed a lot of people seemed to relish the fried rice. You may want to give it a try!

The Canton House

530 Yaowarat Road

Bangkok

Thailand

(Daily: 11.00am - 10.00pm)

*Prices quoted are nett prices.

Have a nice meal,

Cliff(y)