Snow Garden's decor introduces East to the West

Type of Cuisine: Chinese (Szechuan and Mandarin)

Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-3pm, 5pm-9:30pm; Sat 12pm-3pm, 5pm-10pm

Seating: Approximately 110; handicap accessible

Price Guide: $$ (Two can dine for $25-45); cash, debit, major credit cards accepted

Chef Specialty: Crispy rice, cashew chicken/beef and broccoli, shredded pork in sour garlic chili sauce, smoked duck, fried apple with honey.

Spirits: Red/white wine, sake, domestic/import beer

The Scene: At Snow Garden, husband and wife team John and Karen Hung have seen their share of good and hard times. After a couple of decades of long hours and tireless nights, the Hungs are now happy to devote themselves to their smoothly-run Snow Garden.

Set in a room that combines contemporary design with classic Chinese touches, Snow Garden Restaurant offers casual yet exquisite dining with an extensive menu.

Snow Garden has kept up with the times as culinary tastes evolve. They serve age-old Chinese-Canadian favourites such as cashew chicken or beef and broccoli, but boldly stack their menu with more exotic fare like chilled jelly fish appetizer, kidney chow mein, or braised fish maw with sea cucumber. Such delicacies are ideal for the adventurous type.

One traditional northern Chinese dish that is a success with North American palates is crispy rice. This labour-intensive dish takes several days to prepare. In a multi-stage preparation process, the rice must be cooked, dried, and laid out in thin layers to be baked. When customers order the dish, the prepared rice is deep-fried to a golden crisp. It is then finished off with a variety of toppings customers can choose from such as shrimp, sea cucumber, and mixed vegetables.

With an extensive menu to choose from, the Snow Garden Restaurant is great for their duck dishes, in particular, smoked duck. Another dish to try is the fried shredded pork in a sour garlic chili sauce, which is the chef's specialty.

To finish off the meal, Snow Garden offers a variation of the fried banana with honey; they serve a fried apple with honey dessert, which is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.