Congee Time

In Toronto, you're bound to come across a variety of 'congee' type restaurants. There's Congee Wong, Congee Queen, and Congee Time (that I know of). They're all franchises that have more than one location, but there's only one Congee Time location in Toronto. They pretty much have the same premise, serving congee with family style Chinese dishes that are meant to be shared for cheap, affordable prices that would make both your wallet and stomach happy. 

Basically, congee is just a type of rice porridge that can be hyped up anyway you want. Add beef, fish, soy sauce, pork, chicken, duck - basically anything - that would make you happy. I suppose it's because  of the many different variations you can have from congee that there's so many different congee type restaurants, but maybe all these different congee franchises are owned by the same person who likes to compete with himself. Who knows. 

My family has personally celebrated one too many birthdays at Congee Time. It's a very fast paced atmosphere since all the waiters are in a hurry to clear tables, bring you your dishes, seat customers, and deal with takeout: all of which they all do with very hurried steps and mannerisms and, not to mention, loud noises. So, if you just want bad but fast service and to be left alone to chat with your family, Congee Time is the place to be. 

They have a very extensive menu, ranging from Super Bowl Congees to just normal bowl congees to fried rice to noodle soup to super noodle soups to bbq platters to side orders and more noodles. The art of ordering from these types of menu's is to order one dish from every category, that way you'll have a bit of everything. 

Typical Chinese restaurant plate settings. I have a particular fondness for the fat teapots which are often abused and neglected. Poor things. 

These are fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, and hot pepper paste type sauce. The hot pepper paste sauce is not as spicy as it looks, but you have to make sure to drain the oil and just get the pepper flakes. Also, ever wonder why they have salt in Chinese restaurants? Everything is already laden with msg that the salt is really useless. Maybe it's just for show. 

Fried Bean Curd.

This can come in as spicy if you specifically says so. 

Supreme Super Bowl Congee.

Rice Noodle with Beef and Vegetables Chow Mein. 

Since this is stir fried, the noodles are very greasy. You have to mix the dish to get the right texture. 

Lemon Chicken.

This was a disappointment. The chicken was overly fried. The Lemon Chicken at Congee Wong is a lot better. 

Double Boiled Chicken and BBQ Pork on Rice.

Cold Rice Jello with Coconut Milk. 

This can come in hot as well. It's a little bit sweet and is soupy but very good. 

Milo with Tapioca. 

I've yet to see milo served anywhere else, especially as cold and with tapioca. This was good without being overly sweet. 

Ovaltine.

There's a certain hit and miss factor to Congee Time. Some days the food will taste better than other days, such as their congee, just like how some days you'll have better service than other days. But I always enjoy the food here when I visit, especially because the menu is extensive and there's always something different to try.