Sun Gong

*Restaurant is now closed*

After a long staff meeting, I was ready to crawl into my bed and sleep. After all, I still hadn't recovered from 3 days of late night hockey. However, I still had to pick up Pomegranate and make the long drive home in traffic. Seeing how we were both tired and not wanting to cook dinner, take out seemed to be a good idea. Driving along, we considered sushi; but really, it's best eaten right away. That is when Pomegranate remembered that Sun Gong was on the way home. Hey, this place is a dive, in the true essence of the word. The place is strictly take-out and let's just say that the outside does not prepare you for what you'll find on the inside. With a milk crate doubling as a washroom trash can, a pink kid's bike parked right next to the toilet and a plastic takeout container doubling as a cash register, you'd think we were in another country. Nope, we're in Coquitlam and if first impressions were important, I'd really never ever consider visiting the place. Rather, I tend to eat anything and have a place in my heart for dives like Sun Gong. It's a mom & pop operation where you'll find good prices, huge portions and decent Chinese/part North American Chinese fare.

While we were heading there, Pomegranate looked up the phone number on Urbanspoon. He did all the ordering and when we got there, the lady exclaimed that "your friend is Chinese!" I guess she was surprised since I ordered all the typical North American Chinese favourites. If good prices and good portions aren't enough, there is free Wonton Soup for orders over $25.00. Okay, all pork wontons have never been my favourite; however, these ones were actually quite good. The meat was not gritty and had a nice "rebound" texture to it. The addition of water chestnuts added a nice crunch. The soup itself was pretty light and was not really memorable.

Now for our dishes starting with the Broccoli Beef. With lots of garlic and a nice dark soy colour, the beef was tender and well-seasoned. I liked how the beef wasn't over-tenderized; thus exhibiting a bit of chew. The broccoli was perfectly cooked with a nice crunch. The BBQ Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice had a good amount of cold water shrimp; but could've used a bit more BBQ pork. The rice was slightly chewy and dry (maybe slightly too dry). Texturally, the rice was ultimately fine while it probably could've stood for a bit more salt. For the kiddies, I got the Chicken Chow Mein. The owner-lady was nice enough to give us a call back immediately to make sure if I wanted the deep-fried version or the "wet" version. I went for the wet version for the kiddies' sake. This was an okay chow mein with lots of chicken and cabbage. Again, it could've used a bit more soy; but nothing inherently bad about it either. With that being said, the noodles were on the softer side.

Our last dish was completely different than the others where it was not only flavourful, it was a flavour explosion. The Ginger Beef was laced with a gingery/vinegary sauce that really needed a side of rice. It's too bad there was too much sauce. Rather than thin strands of unidentifiable crisps, the beef was actually in large pieces with some chew. For what it's worth, the food at Sun Gong is cheap, plentiful and decent. Sure, it won't be my first option for Chinese food; but if I'm in a pinch and needed something quick and won't hurt my bottom line, it does the job.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Large portions
- Honest, nice owners

The Bad:
- Not going to set the Chinese culinary scene on fire
- Inside looks like hell; but really doesn't matter since it's take out...