Colleen Munro reviews
Lion City
1177 Central Parkway, West
Admittedly, I’m someone whose culinary tastes skew towards the plain and simple. But while Subway may be my on-campus restaurant of choice (six-inch roast beef with Swiss on Italian, please), I’m generally not opposed to trying new foods.
Mississauga’s Lion City certainly offered that opportunity. The colourful tablecloths and sleek high-backed black chairs create a welcoming ambiance in this quaint restaurant. Billed as specializing in food from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, the menu was full of unfamiliar but delicious-sounding dishes. The meal that my fellow Medium editors recommended was laksa, a noodle soup from Malaysia. The laksa lemak I tried consisted of round noodles in spicy coconut gravy, topped off with shrimp, chicken, fishcakes, and bean sprouts. Taking a tentative first spoonful, my initial thought was “This isn’t bad at all!”, but as I ate more and the spice crept in, my confidence wavered. The spice wasn’t unbearable, and for those with heartier palates than mine it wouldn’t be a problem. But for me, the spice overpowered the other flavours of the dish. The fishcakes (which I initially mistook for tofu) had a pleasant consistency and an inoffensive flavour, and they were my favourite part of the dish.
Another dish I tried was char kway teow. This giant serving of stir-fried rice noodles topped with shrimp, sausage, egg, fishcake, beansprouts, and chives would probably be enough for two people to share for lunch. This dish was very mild, and made a nice contrast to the laksa. The flat rice noodles tasted better than the slightly slimy noodles in the laksa, and the flavouring of the dish complemented the simple base noodles perfectly. It was the sweet, thinly sliced sausage rounds that were the standout of the dish.
For those like myself who aren’t hugely adventurous in their culinary tastes, it would be hard to go wrong with the char kway teow at Lion City. Throw in the friendly and prompt service and great value, and might just find it to be a new go-to spot in Mississauga.
