where jess ate

While running some errands in the Highway 7 area one weekend, Mike and I dropped by New City Restaurant for a quick lunch. Located in Peachtree Plaza at Highway 7 and Kennedy, the parking situation can be a bit of a nightmare. But if you can find a spot, this HK-style café is well worth a visit.

We arrived around noon on a Sunday to find the restaurant packed. Throughout our entire meal, there was a constant crowd of people by the door waiting for a table. The seating is pretty cramped but you’re in and out of the restaurant pretty quickly.

One of my favourite parts about HK-style cafes are the drinks! I went for my usual Iced HK-Style Milk Tea ($2.30) which was pretty solid but not quite as good as the one at Phoenix. Mike opted for the Iced Lemon Tea ($2.30) based on a recommendation from a friend who said they make the best lemon tea in town. It was definitely the better drink between the two!

Having heard such great things about the honey garlic wings here, we decided to share some wings. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, we accidentally ordered the Fried Chicken Wings ($4.75) instead. I’m happy to report that these fried wings were still really great! They had a really crisp skin which wasn’t too greasy and the meat was nice and juicy.

Another one of my go-to dishes at HK-style cafes is the Baked Pork Chop on Rice ($8) which came with a choice of borscht or cream soup. We had the borscht which wasn’t anything memorable… but I never find the soups at these cafes to be anything to write home about. It’s just a nice supplement.

The dish came with a few large pieces of pork and I liked that they used fried rice as the base instead of regular white rice which added more flavour to it all. As for the sauce and the dish as a whole, it was good but I’ve had better.

What New City Restaurant is known for is their French Toast with Peanut Butter ($3.50). So, if there’s only one thing you’re going to order here, it better be this!

Usually, the French toast is stuffed with jam or marmalade so the peanut butter was a nice surprise. The thick toast was fried to perfection and was topped with a huge slice of butter which melted as we ate it. The best Chinese-style French toast I’ve had!

After a meal here, you can certainly see why they’ve got lines out the door. The food is cheap, quick and satisfying!

At a glance:
• An HK-style café located at Highway 7 and Kennedy (Peachtree Plaza)
• The food is cheap, quick and tasty
• The restaurant is usually pretty packed
• The French toast with peanut butter is a must-order

Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 3.5 stars
• Service: 2 stars
• Atmosphere: 1 star