New Canton - Chinese, Sacramento

2523 Broadway, Sacramento CA 95818
(916) 739-8888
Parking: small parking lot, street parking

Last Visited: May 16, 2010

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 2 to 3 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Part of the same restaurant group as Asian Pearl in Richmond, we felt that New Canton would likely serve authentic Cantonese cuisine. Like its sister restaurant, New Canton offers some of the standard dishes, but it also had a few more innovative ones like the beef ribs below with papaya. Prices are also less than its sister location.

Upon arriving at New Canton on a late Sunday afternoon, my first impression was that the parking lot was a bit small, but it was the entrance that grabbed my attention. It reminded me of what would have been cool in the 1980s. Small squares of patterned were glass used to create a larger pane. It made me think I was about to enter a karaoke bar or that neon lights would be just around the corner.

After entering, there is a dining area to the immediate left, but we were quickly ushered upstairs for seating even though nobody was downstairs. I don't know if the downstairs is dedicated to other activities. Upon being seated, despite seeing at least two servers, the menu took about ten minutes to come to the table. Then, it took about twenty minutes for a server to come take our order. I don't know if they understand the definition of service here. Fortunately, they had a television turned on in the background, but that's not enough to entertain someone. When more patrons arrived around us, they seemed to be ready for service. My thought is that if you're not ready to serve, you should let people know you're not open for x amount of minutes, thereby offering a choice to the patron about whether or not they would like to stay. The upstairs setup could also be more refined; it currently feels very bare and in flux with tables and chairs stacked against the walls - there is definitely room for improvement.

After taking our order, about ten minutes later, a bowl of soup, served free with our meal, arrived at the table. This was a nice surprise. It wasn't as hot in temperature as I would have liked, but it was fine in taste.

- Beef Ribs Papaya Clay Pot - This was a great dish. Slightly sweet from the sauce and the papaya, the ribs were sticky and good. Cut like you would find Korean ribs, these had a lot of great flavor and although it was a stainless pot, the cooking and serving temperature were super hot. Great. $9.50

- Tofu and Veggies with Black Mushroom - This is a standard dish where tofu is fried, then braised with Chinese mushrooms and fresh greens. The tofu was also very hot and had just the right texture inside - smooth and silky. At their sister restaurant, this would probably have cost at least another dollar or two more. Good. $8.50

- Fujian Fried Rice - A healthy serving of rice is covered with a sauce made with dried scallops, chicken, shrimp, straw mushrooms and other items. While the flavor was good, this dish is not typically made with chicken breast, and as a result, the texture was a little more dense and firm (dark chicken meat would be more tender) than I would typically prefer. More vegetables, usually the stalk of a Chinese green cut into disks, would also give the plate a better visual appeal. $8

Service near the end of the meal was also very attentive - much more so than at the start of the meal. Based on the food alone, I would go back to New Canton, but considering how few patrons were present at the start of the meal and how long the meal took overall due to the initial waiting time, I will probably continue to search for good quality authentic Chinese cuisine in Sacramento.