SUN FORTUNE
Neighbourhood: Fort Garry
Address: 15 – 2077 Pembina Hwy
Phone: 204-269-6868
Entrees: $11 – $69
The city’s best Chinese cafes are as likely on Pembina Highway as Chinatown. International Chinese students attending university create a natural demand for homey food and Sun Fortune delivers comforts piping hot.
Revered by in-the-know regulars, this brightly lit eatery serves all the classics, from soups to sizzling plates. Choosing what to eat from a three hundred item menu may overwhelm even the most seasoned eaters. Rest assured; the kitchen is as adept at delivering dishes that set palates aflame as it is tamer bowls of noodles.
Large round tables fill the sparely appointed center of the room, revealing the communal nature in which Chinese people eat together. Congenial babble of English, Cantonese, Mandarin fills the air, creating a warm atmosphere to settle into. Organized chaos adds to the allure at this often-crowded spot.
Choose from pan-fried preparations as well as softer selections (appearing floating in flavourful sauces and broths) to get the most exciting texture and flavour variety. Try something new and unfamiliar at this trusted spot and you are sure to be rewarded for your palate pushing enthusiasm. Hot tea arrives at the table immediately after the menus to offer clarity.
Chef suggestions make outstanding choices for an entire meal. Extra spicy fish and sour mustard vegetables arrive as a chili spiked bowl of oily broth brimming with mustard greens, delicate whitefish and wide glassy noodles. Each mouth tingling slurp is the essence of restorative.
Szechuan seafood and eggplant hot pot is laden with perfectly tender vegetables and morsels of shellfish bathed in sweet spicy sauce. Slices of beef coated in Maggie soya sauce balance salt with sweet with a lingering snap of ginger.
Fresh ingredients shine in Cantonese chow mein. A medley of seafood, meat, mushrooms and greens are heaped on a pile of soft yet crisp vermicelli style noodles proving perfection can be achieved simply.
Crisp fried morsels of chicken spiked with Korean gochujang sauce kick up each crunchy bite. Barbequed duck is also a rare treat, served by half bird or stir-fried with vegetables to wrap in crepes or lettuce.
Sun Fortune’s traditional Hong Kong style dishes have earned high approval from Chinese students seeking homey comforts and Winnipeg’s wide culinary community alike. In an industry defined by trends, it is reassuring to know that ancient traditions are alive and well in world cuisine.
