Hi there. In this travel post, our group were in the Beijing Road area in Guangzhou, China. Most of the meals we had in China were budget meals. As we were near the end of this China trip, I wanted us to spend more on nicer stuff. Take advantage of the favourable exchange rate from CAD to Chinese Yuan. Food in China is so much cheaper than in Toronto.
We have late dinner at the restaurant Da Ge Fan. At the time, I did not know that it was a Michelin star restaurant.
Da Ge Fan Wait Time Was Very Long
The time was around 7PM China time. You let the staff at the front know the number of people in your group and you then get a ticket number. There were 3 ticket types based on table size.
- Table size of 1 to 2 was one group.
- Group 2 consisted of 3 to 6 people for a table.
- Larger groups of something like more than 6 people was for larger tables.
The wait time was very long. It took us 1 hour to get a seat. For this type of busy restaurant, it would be better to visit at 7:30 PM or 8PM for shorter wait times.
Getting Seated + Food
Once your ticket code is called, you go upstairs to the second floor to the dining area. There are staff there to help you get seated.
After getting seated, you are given a menu and the wait staff ask you what type of tea you would like. The standard stuff.
We got a corner table which was kind of semi-private. This table was suitable for maximum 6 people. In terms of environment, there was dim lighting and a lot of chatty diners (very normal).
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After ordering, food arrival times were pretty good. It was on the faster side of around 10 to 12 minutes.
Complimentary Dessert
To our surprise we did get free dessert. I don't remember ordering this. It was probably a gift for surviving the 1 hour wait.
It looks like jelly made from coconut milk. The one on the left looks like it has mango pieces inside. The three pieces in the middle have red bean inside and the ones on the right have papaya or orange pieces? This stuff was good and was not too sweet.
Steamed Chicken
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Barbeque Pork
When it comes to Barbeque pork, the local takeout places focus more on quantity. With this one, the quantity is not much. There are 6 pieces but taste of each piece was very good.
Each piece was very soft and the taste was very savoury. One of the best pieces of BBQ pork in my life. Excellent stuff. The little bowl contained apple pieces.
Rice With Pigeon Meat + Truffle
We needed a rice dish to compliment the steamed chicken and the BBQ pork. For the group, I chose the claypot rice with pigeon meat and truffle.
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This dish was somewhat underwhelming. There was not much meat and the taste was kind of bland. You can make it more tasty by adding sauce.
Closing Notes
This Da Ge Fan restaurant is pricier than most restaurants in the Guangzhou, China area. When you compare prices here versus Toronto Chinese restaurant prices, Da Ge Fan prices are affordable. It was something like 20 CAD per dish. The total came to around 60 CAD for the 3 of us.
What we had at Da Ge Fan could easily be 30 to 50 CAD per dish in the Toronto area. (Purchasing power of CAD in Toronto is kind of bad versus China)
Overall rating: 8 out of 10 (1 point off for the rice and 1 point off for long wait time)
If I were go to a famous and busy restaurant like this, I would go at non-peak hours for shorter wait times.
