Omnivores Ottawa Supper Club: Liang's Village

BC and I were able to sneak away from our children and spouses for a night out last week, midweek. What else would we do but go eat?

Alright, we planned to abandon them and go try some funky and fun sounding Chinese food, the January choice of Ron Eade, Food Editor of the Ottawa Citizen, and his partner in crime, Mike McCracken, at Liang's Village, a family run business in the St. Laurent are (if you live in Ottawa and want to try it for yourself.)

If you are interested, here is Ron's take on our evening out.

Please excuse some of my pictures - I decided to try using my son's little point and shoot camera instead of my own camera. His has a food setting. Which uses no flash, great, but I had no tripod, the table wobbled, the lazy susan spun alot, and apparently I can't hold still for 1/30th of a second.

Marinated jellyfish, Five-spice thinly spiced beef, Sliced Pork Hock, Sliced BBQ Pork, Sliced Marinated Octopus.

Deep-fried Crab Claw

Crispy Duck Skin served with traditional crepes, hoisin sauce and thinly sliced green onions.

This is one of my new favorite things to eat. I could eat it for breakfast.

Duck Soup with Chinese Vegetables

Duck meat served in lettuce wraps

Bean Cake with broccoli, baby bok choy, bean sprouts

Except I don't recall any bok choy or bean sprouts. Oh well, there were mushrooms instead.

Green beans with shrimp and mushrooms

Szechuan-style boiled fish fillet (catfish)

Fukien rice (traditional fried rice dish with sauce, including squid and bbq pork)

See that squiggle of squid in the middle - I ate that piece. And the rice with the liquid from the Szechuan fish was a great combination.

Toffee Banana

The ball, a piece of banana, surrounded by the dough and deep fried, was coated in the toffee and then dunked in the ice water, at the table, before being served to us.

It was a lovely night out, meeting some like minded foodies. I thoroughly enjoyed trying new things, exploring dishes I'd never had before, and am so glad I went.

Imagine, Chinese food without a fortune cookie in sight.

Many thanks to Ron and Mike for a lovely choice, and for Liang's Village, for all their work.