Southland Restaurant
20 – 2855 Pembina Highway
204-261-3510
January, 2009
In some of life’s adventures, a challenging journey can make the treasure at the end of the hunt more desirable. That should not be the case when going out for a meal. Despite ample warning that Southland Restaurant is difficult to locate, I circle the block twice before finding it, prominently sitting in the middle of a Pembina Highway strip mall. The problem is not so much that Southland hides among the shops; the problem is that Southland’s sign is so poorly designed that you can stare right at it and not know what you’re looking at. Southland shows off a huge, bright yellow sign with tiny Courier-type (the most unremarkable) font that fades away into the blur of the strip mall. I suggest to Southland that they invest in hiring a sign design company to rework their storefront. No diner wants a searching adventure prior to a meal—Winnipeg has too many Chinese restaurants to lure the hungry diner away from the search. To hopefully save you the grief, Southland sits on the west-side of Pembina Highway, jutting out of the block-long strip mall. Good luck.
Step into Southland and you feel no different than when you enter any generic Chinese restaurant. The big, round tables dominate the huge dining room, while smaller tables hug the walls. The occasional peacock and dragon creep along the walls but otherwise, the dining room looks pretty bare. An ample buffet counter sits in the back corner, luring the masses who can’t be bothered to sift through the 250+ items on the menu. Yes, you walk into Southland and you have no reason to believe that it’s different from the standard Americanised/Canadianised Chinese restaurants—you might as well toss me the dough-laden chicken balls right now.
I do see a difference between Southland and the typical Sino-slop; Southland boldly features a glass-paned, barbecue kitchen, where the pork, ducks and chickens hang glisteningly and enticingly. The barbecue chef stands prominently in the window and tosses the flurry of meat effortlessly. Seeing him gives me one important insight: Southland prepares all of their dishes from scratch. Now I dare to anticipate that the food won’t be another round of Marigold-esque sweet and sour pork.
The server circulates the menus and we quickly learn that she speaks absolutely no English. I still find it difficult to believe that a server in a Chinese restaurant doesn’t understand the simplest words of Chinese restaurant-speak, like “tea.” And she isn’t alone. In fact, of the squadron of servers that flit about merrily, only two command passable English. That’s enough though, as they effectively and efficiently convey directions that satisfy all our needs.
Walk into any Winnipeg Chinese restaurant and you expect that the “wine list” limits to Jackson Triggs, and if you’re very lucky, Mission Hill. When I ask what wines they carry, they reply that they have red and white. Nice. At least they feature Chinese beers, which generally accompany the food quite well. Chinese beers taste sharp, almost gingery, which cuts through the food acutely, since most Chinese dishes come oozing with grease—but that’s another rant. If you want to splurge, Southland (again, like all Chinese restaurants) offers high-end cognac. The Chinese love their cognac; what’s not to love?
If you ask Marigold frequenters what Chinese staples are, they’d list the usual egg rolls in with sweet and sour sauce, sweet and sour chicken balls, honey-garlic chicken balls, sweet and sour shrimp, sweet and sour pineapple pork…do you sense a trend here? Now if you ask a Chinese person what Chinese staples are, they’d normally start with spring rolls, deep-fried crispy chicken, barbecued duck, barbecued or roasted pork, steamed fish, dry-breaded pork and possibly some egg foo young. We opt for the fried chicken, roasted pork, dry-breaded pork, shrimp egg foo young and breaded seabass in soy.
When ordering deep-fried crispy chicken, most Chinese restaurants will present you with a desiccated fowl that screams out foul. Deep fried chicken ends up being sun-dried chicken that falls apart in strips, not like pulled-pork, but like beef jerky—yes, it’s THAT dry. Heed my advice, if you eat in a Chinese restaurant outside of San Francisco, Vancouver, New York, Toronto, or any city where the Chinatown has fewer than five beat-up hovels, do not order the deep-fried crispy chicken. How did Southland’s crispy chicken make out? Well, let’s just say that it’s better than the normal fried cardboard. It’s not great, but it’s passable, which is an exceptional grade for local crispy fried chicken. As for the rest of the food, Southland did a wonderful job in bringing downright delicious food onto the table. The roasted pork bursts with flavour and the requisite crunchy skin didn’t disappoint. The breaded pork came out a tad on the dry side but I’ll take a little dry over the grease-sopped fare any time. The fluffy and velvety soft egg foo young, teeming with plump and juice shrimp, tastes delicious. Finally, the seabass comes done to perfection. The light breading doesn’t take away from the delicate nature of the fish, and the mild soy tastes just strong enough to augment the fish without dominating it. The perfect degree of doneness ensures that the rich nature of the seabass stays intact, allowing the divine flavour of the fish to shine. Note: the seabass isn’t part of their normal menu and you need to ask for it specially made. Ask for the breaded, fried seabass in soy and scallions (green onions)—you won’t regret it.
The meal finishes with sliced oranges and fortunate cookies—typical of Chinese fare. Our dishes ranged in price from $6.95 to $9.95, very reasonable. Dinner for four with a beverage each totals just over $80, taxes and tip included.
Since we had such a good experience with the food, I feel obligated to return for lunch and try the dim sum. Ask any Chinese person where to find the best Chinese food and the likely answer you hear is one of the Chinatown restaurants. The old school of thought dictates that if you have any value as a Chinese chef, you would work in Chinatown. While Dim Sum Garden and Kum Koon Garden offer acceptable (and sometimes good) food, the former Marigold was a disgrace and its replacement, the Golden Terrace, isn’t much better. To be fair, I have yet to try the new Noodle Express and early buzz is that they have very good food. To date, my favourite dim sum comes from Victoria Seafood on St. Mary’s Road—far, far removed from Chinatown. Powered by the impetus of its delicious evening meals, I have very high expectations for Southland’s dim sum as I embark on my lunch visit.
Dim sum essentials include har gow (steamed shrimps, shrimp bits or shrimp paste wrapped in rice flour, siu mei (steamed pork balls), rice rolls, spring rolls and barbecued pork buns. When done poorly, har gow can taste sandy and gritty (because the shrimps were never deveined). Bad siu mei tastes greasy and lardy (because pork fat substitutes for pork meat). The rolls and the buns can be flavourless or even stale if you encounter badly made dim sum. While bad dim sum can be plain awful, good dim sum are a true delight—and I’m happy to report that Southland continues to impress. Southland believes in giving generous portions and great value for your money. All of the dishes come fresh, flavourful and smoking hot, although the spring rolls tasted a bit greasy. I especially like the har gow and can’t get enough of them. One of Southland’s specialties include pan-fried chive and pork dumplings; these taste delicious. Best of all, the stream of servers ensure that your table never stays empty for long—there’s no need to over-order on the first run.
Southland restores my belief that good Chinese food exists in Winnipeg, and it’s not in Chinatown. If you can find it, I’m sure you’ll like it. Put your car into search mode and take that drive down Pembina Highway.
****½ /5
Check out the revisit:
Southland Revisited
This is a free product that I'm happy to bring to you. If you enjoyed reading this, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads. This is the only payment I receive for offering this public service. Thank you as always for reading.
20 – 2855 Pembina Highway
204-261-3510
January, 2009
In some of life’s adventures, a challenging journey can make the treasure at the end of the hunt more desirable. That should not be the case when going out for a meal. Despite ample warning that Southland Restaurant is difficult to locate, I circle the block twice before finding it, prominently sitting in the middle of a Pembina Highway strip mall. The problem is not so much that Southland hides among the shops; the problem is that Southland’s sign is so poorly designed that you can stare right at it and not know what you’re looking at. Southland shows off a huge, bright yellow sign with tiny Courier-type (the most unremarkable) font that fades away into the blur of the strip mall. I suggest to Southland that they invest in hiring a sign design company to rework their storefront. No diner wants a searching adventure prior to a meal—Winnipeg has too many Chinese restaurants to lure the hungry diner away from the search. To hopefully save you the grief, Southland sits on the west-side of Pembina Highway, jutting out of the block-long strip mall. Good luck.
Step into Southland and you feel no different than when you enter any generic Chinese restaurant. The big, round tables dominate the huge dining room, while smaller tables hug the walls. The occasional peacock and dragon creep along the walls but otherwise, the dining room looks pretty bare. An ample buffet counter sits in the back corner, luring the masses who can’t be bothered to sift through the 250+ items on the menu. Yes, you walk into Southland and you have no reason to believe that it’s different from the standard Americanised/Canadianised Chinese restaurants—you might as well toss me the dough-laden chicken balls right now.
I do see a difference between Southland and the typical Sino-slop; Southland boldly features a glass-paned, barbecue kitchen, where the pork, ducks and chickens hang glisteningly and enticingly. The barbecue chef stands prominently in the window and tosses the flurry of meat effortlessly. Seeing him gives me one important insight: Southland prepares all of their dishes from scratch. Now I dare to anticipate that the food won’t be another round of Marigold-esque sweet and sour pork.
The server circulates the menus and we quickly learn that she speaks absolutely no English. I still find it difficult to believe that a server in a Chinese restaurant doesn’t understand the simplest words of Chinese restaurant-speak, like “tea.” And she isn’t alone. In fact, of the squadron of servers that flit about merrily, only two command passable English. That’s enough though, as they effectively and efficiently convey directions that satisfy all our needs.
Walk into any Winnipeg Chinese restaurant and you expect that the “wine list” limits to Jackson Triggs, and if you’re very lucky, Mission Hill. When I ask what wines they carry, they reply that they have red and white. Nice. At least they feature Chinese beers, which generally accompany the food quite well. Chinese beers taste sharp, almost gingery, which cuts through the food acutely, since most Chinese dishes come oozing with grease—but that’s another rant. If you want to splurge, Southland (again, like all Chinese restaurants) offers high-end cognac. The Chinese love their cognac; what’s not to love?
If you ask Marigold frequenters what Chinese staples are, they’d list the usual egg rolls in with sweet and sour sauce, sweet and sour chicken balls, honey-garlic chicken balls, sweet and sour shrimp, sweet and sour pineapple pork…do you sense a trend here? Now if you ask a Chinese person what Chinese staples are, they’d normally start with spring rolls, deep-fried crispy chicken, barbecued duck, barbecued or roasted pork, steamed fish, dry-breaded pork and possibly some egg foo young. We opt for the fried chicken, roasted pork, dry-breaded pork, shrimp egg foo young and breaded seabass in soy.
When ordering deep-fried crispy chicken, most Chinese restaurants will present you with a desiccated fowl that screams out foul. Deep fried chicken ends up being sun-dried chicken that falls apart in strips, not like pulled-pork, but like beef jerky—yes, it’s THAT dry. Heed my advice, if you eat in a Chinese restaurant outside of San Francisco, Vancouver, New York, Toronto, or any city where the Chinatown has fewer than five beat-up hovels, do not order the deep-fried crispy chicken. How did Southland’s crispy chicken make out? Well, let’s just say that it’s better than the normal fried cardboard. It’s not great, but it’s passable, which is an exceptional grade for local crispy fried chicken. As for the rest of the food, Southland did a wonderful job in bringing downright delicious food onto the table. The roasted pork bursts with flavour and the requisite crunchy skin didn’t disappoint. The breaded pork came out a tad on the dry side but I’ll take a little dry over the grease-sopped fare any time. The fluffy and velvety soft egg foo young, teeming with plump and juice shrimp, tastes delicious. Finally, the seabass comes done to perfection. The light breading doesn’t take away from the delicate nature of the fish, and the mild soy tastes just strong enough to augment the fish without dominating it. The perfect degree of doneness ensures that the rich nature of the seabass stays intact, allowing the divine flavour of the fish to shine. Note: the seabass isn’t part of their normal menu and you need to ask for it specially made. Ask for the breaded, fried seabass in soy and scallions (green onions)—you won’t regret it.
The meal finishes with sliced oranges and fortunate cookies—typical of Chinese fare. Our dishes ranged in price from $6.95 to $9.95, very reasonable. Dinner for four with a beverage each totals just over $80, taxes and tip included.
Since we had such a good experience with the food, I feel obligated to return for lunch and try the dim sum. Ask any Chinese person where to find the best Chinese food and the likely answer you hear is one of the Chinatown restaurants. The old school of thought dictates that if you have any value as a Chinese chef, you would work in Chinatown. While Dim Sum Garden and Kum Koon Garden offer acceptable (and sometimes good) food, the former Marigold was a disgrace and its replacement, the Golden Terrace, isn’t much better. To be fair, I have yet to try the new Noodle Express and early buzz is that they have very good food. To date, my favourite dim sum comes from Victoria Seafood on St. Mary’s Road—far, far removed from Chinatown. Powered by the impetus of its delicious evening meals, I have very high expectations for Southland’s dim sum as I embark on my lunch visit.
Dim sum essentials include har gow (steamed shrimps, shrimp bits or shrimp paste wrapped in rice flour, siu mei (steamed pork balls), rice rolls, spring rolls and barbecued pork buns. When done poorly, har gow can taste sandy and gritty (because the shrimps were never deveined). Bad siu mei tastes greasy and lardy (because pork fat substitutes for pork meat). The rolls and the buns can be flavourless or even stale if you encounter badly made dim sum. While bad dim sum can be plain awful, good dim sum are a true delight—and I’m happy to report that Southland continues to impress. Southland believes in giving generous portions and great value for your money. All of the dishes come fresh, flavourful and smoking hot, although the spring rolls tasted a bit greasy. I especially like the har gow and can’t get enough of them. One of Southland’s specialties include pan-fried chive and pork dumplings; these taste delicious. Best of all, the stream of servers ensure that your table never stays empty for long—there’s no need to over-order on the first run.
Southland restores my belief that good Chinese food exists in Winnipeg, and it’s not in Chinatown. If you can find it, I’m sure you’ll like it. Put your car into search mode and take that drive down Pembina Highway.
****½ /5
Check out the revisit:
Southland Revisited
This is a free product that I'm happy to bring to you. If you enjoyed reading this, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads. This is the only payment I receive for offering this public service. Thank you as always for reading.
I just went there for lunch and was pleasantly surprised! One of the noodle dishes had a slight burnt taste and it took them far too long to replenish the trays (ie 3 couples came in and there was no food) but overall it was really good.
ReplyDeletegood informative blog
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