Where beef meets ginger
It’s worth eschewing the lunch menu at Lee Town Chinese Restaurant.
The five-year-old eatery in North York offers almost 50 lunch specials at $5.50 each, including soup and egg roll. A sister location with the same name opened 18 years ago on Yonge St. in downtown Toronto.
However, on my stepfather’s recommendation, I choose a dish from the regular menu: sliced beef with ginger and green onions ($8.50). He’s a regular customer, as are many of the nearby condo owners.
For three dollars more, I get a platter of slippery, spicy and well-seasoned meat.
The spice comes from finger-length slices of fresh, peeled ginger. Their sharp, sweet heat marries well to the abundance of chopped garlic, slivered cooking onions and green onions chef David Lin tosses into the stir-fry.
“Ginger is very healthy. When you have a cold, it makes your whole body feel good,” the waitress explains.
The ginger and alliums make up half the dish, tender beef the rest.
I spoon the judiciously salted and darkly delicious sauce on top of a $1.50 bowl of rice. At least, that’s what I do in public. At home, with no one watching, I’d tip the platter up to my lips and drink it.
Lee Town Chinese Restaurant, 4907 Yonge St. (at Spring Garden Ave.), 416-730-9398. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. apataki@thestar.ca www.twitter.com/amypataki