Phoenix Garden
242 E 40th Street

The grand caveat over this snapshot is that I know next to nothing about Cantonese cooking, other than what I've picked up over the years from visiting the local second rate chinese restaurant. I know all the sauces shouldn't be the same color and flavor, and that one should taste something, but other than that, I haven't the slightest clue. Still, I think there's a certain extent to which someone with a decent sense of taste can say, "yes, this is likely to be a good example of X", even if they don't know much about it.

On that note, I'll say then that I think pheonix garden is probably quite a good cantonese restaurant. I was genuinely surprised by the sheer flavor of a few things I ate - there were these astonishing steamed pork dumpling, set aside from the usual unfortunate effort by the large chunks of pork tucked in each chewy ball - that's always been my complaint about dumplings, honestly - if you can't taste the meat, why not use something else? And the simmered eggplant in a clay casserole was tremendous - like the turkish/armenian/generally middle eastern iman bayadi, but interesting - with ginger, and spices, and, well, taste. My only regret about the place was that I didn't know about their bring your own booze policy (no corkage!), and that I didn't realize how aggressive you had to be to get served in the busy, crowded space. Still, next time I'll know to show up with beer, get in people's faces, and order what the people who seem like they're from Canton are ordering. And if you make a mistake - no matter - for almost everything's under a tenner. Other sources list Phoenix Garden as some of the top Chinese in the city - at this price, it's a flat out bargain.