Birthday Dinner - Mr. Chang's

My favorite place to eat when I was living in Halifax was Mr. Chang's Chinese Food Emporium (corner of Morris & Birmingham Streets, just off Spring Garden Road, downtown Halifax). I haven't been there in YEARS, and so I was really excited to get back there for my birthday this year.

Happy to report that the food is just as awesome as always. I know some people who don't like Mr. Chang's, but I really can't see why you wouldn't like it! Everything is so freshly prepared, with nice sized, identifiable vegetables (and not all just celery like some places). Most restaurants around here use the VH Sauces that are found in every grocery store for their foods, but if you order from the authentic/specialty section of Mr. Chang's menu, you get incredibly awesome sauces you haven't tasted everywhere a dozen times before. So tasty! (but if you want the tastes you know, just order from the regular menu section). Seriously though, take a chance and order some of the authentic dishes, you will be SO glad you did!

The lo mein (bbq pork or beef) are incredible - nice chunks of veggies nestled into big udon type noodles. We had it the very first time we went there, recommended by the waitress, and it is the one dish we've had consistently every time we've gone. Great complimentary textures in this dish.

Chinese chicken and black mushrooms - wow. So incredible. Tastes like it has a sauce made with chinese 5 spice powder, shittake mushrooms in big yummy chunks (again, so you can enjoy the texture), chicken, and finely chopped strips of bamboo shoots. Delish!

But I think the hands-down favorite for everyone was Mr. Chang's Authentic Sweet and Sour chicken. Just an amazing sauce - perfect balance of sweet with sour, the chicken is breaded and fried before being coated in sauce, with nice chunks of well done peppers, onions and pineapple. Just incredible!

Aside from the dishes mentioned here, we also had wonderful egg rolls - we've never tried the vegetable ones, but the meat ones are very delicious!

Hopefully you'll get a chance to enjoy Mr. Chang's for yourself one day! It certainly helped make my birthday more special! Mr. Chang's is open for lunch and dinner, and open every day of the week.