Fantastic Curry Crab

Saigon Star
330 Highway 7 East
Richmond Hill, Ontario
(905) 731-7221

I don't usually like the drive from Toronto to the suburbs of Richmond Hill (Highway 7 & Bayview), but the allure of crab in a creamy curry sauce made it impossible to resist (translation: will travel for food). I was a little nervous about making this trek because it had been a couple of years since I had been there. It really stinks when you remember a restaurant being really good, but then being disappointed the next time you go. In this case, our family was not let down.

We started out with the appetizer plate, which consisted of deep fried spring rolls, white vermicelli, pork satay, some kind of meat (spam like), beef rolled in a thin rice noodle, and shrimp cooked on a stick of sugar cane. We wrapped the contents in lettuce leave provided, and dipped it in fish sauce... it was so good! Our second starter was fried clams in a black bean sauce. While the clams were small, they were sweet - but this dish had a spicy kick at the end. We all liked it.

Our main courses were black cod, which was nicely done - very tasty and light. We also shared 3 large shrimp ($10 each) which were really large.. they looked like mini-lobsters! I thought they were a little over cooked. In this case, size did not matter. If given the opportunity, I'd pass on this dish next time.

My wife ordered her favorite Chinese broccoli - with pieces of salty fish. My Mom also loved it - I can't say - because I didn't try it... I generally don't like vegetables or salty fish. We also had lemon grass short ribs, which were nice, but not memorable. The pineapple fried rice was quite refreshing and light - they used real pineapple.

The 'main attraction' of the meal was the crab in the curry sauce. When we walked in the restaurant, almost every table had ordered the crab dish. This is definitely the house specialty. We ordered one crab, for the five of us, and it was more than enough ($30). The yellow curry sauce was creamy, but not too spicy, and the large crab was cooked just right. We also loved the small loaves of french bread that were served warm, which were dipped into the sauce. We ended ordering 3 loaves (we started with two, but ordered a third later... which was a great idea because they are served warm).

While Saigon Star advertises itself as a "Vietnamese" restaurant - it is run by Chinese owners. The decor is nothing to write home about but it is a good place to come for a group - lots of large tables. We came for dinner at 8 pm on a Sunday, and while we didn't need reservations - I think it would be busy on Saturday night. Beware of bad Chinese drivers - located in a Chinese strip mall, its parking lot is usually busy - don't let your kids run around the parking lot if you like them.

The restaurant is clean (remember everything is relative when we are talking Chinese restaurants), with good service (also refer to above bracket), but the most important thing is that the crab is as good as I remember. We are going to be back here sooner than later.