Canton Cafe

This place was «ok» wasn’t what I expected. The dim sum was not as good as I thought. Maybe because we came late. Since the crowd died down. Anyway. I’ll try this place again to see if I really do like it.

Glads their close the store now, the food was sucks!

Service = blech.
Food = eh. only the soy sauce chicken is really good, I’ll admit that.
I used to come here often when I was little, it wasn’t impressive then and it definitely isn’t now either.
Random complaint: We tried ordering appetizers here and on the menu they have a good variety. This is how it went down.
Us: Can we order the pan fried dumplings?
Them: We don’t have any more
Us: Can we order the shrimp tempura then?
Them: We don’t have any more
Us: Okay. can we try the crab rangoon?
Them: Sure
Us: Yay!
Them: Oh wait we don’t have anymore. (Translation: JUST KIDDING WE DONT HAVE ANYMORE — CUE EVIL LAUGHTER)
Us: Then what do you have.
Them: You can order the spring rolls.
Now let me tell you — well first off, we didn’t order the spring rolls — that out of at least around 10 – 15 appetizer items only the spring rolls were available. What the actual heck?
Looking for a place to get your Chinese grub on? Call 1−800-SURE-AS-HELL-NOT-THIS-PLACE-UNLESS-YOU-WANT-SOME-SOY-SAUCE-CHICKEN

BREAKING NEWS: Giant cockroach found in dim sum. Period.

Typical, traditional and tasty! Although my wife and I do not frequent Chinese restaurants much due to her soy allergy issues, Canton Café we consider to be one of the best the Springfield Area has to offer! They’re friendly, service oriented, attentive, the ambience is very 60’s Chinese Restaurant style, and the food has always been consistently delish with no over-​powering soy or teriyaki overdoses. From their beef and broccoli to their General Tso’s… you can count on getting your good portions and great taste here!

We’ve been coming here regularly since we had a blowout with our usual dim-​sum place.
We come on a Sunday right when they open around 11am. They usually have 2 carts of hot food and then a dessert cart. Can I say that I LOVE their shrimp Shumais?! They are filled with 4 – 5 shrimps each! YUMMM The sticky rice in banana leaf is soo good too!
My favorite part is the dessert… I tried the pineapple bun there for the first time and it was sooooo delicious!!! The custard on the inside was smooth and creamy and not too sweet. Last time we went in I got the egg tarts and damn were they GOOD! The tart was buttery and crispy and the egg custard was smooth and soo yummy!
Can’t wait to go back next Sunday!!! =D

My family had been patrons of Canton Café for at least 8 years. They were really great in the first couple of years, even remembered us every time we’d walk in for dinner or to pick up take-​out. Their Cantonese food is actually Cantonese food. (My family is not Cantonese, but based upon several Cantonese friends’ recommendations.)
Unfortunately, their quality of their service has plummeted, they’ve switched management numerous times, and their turnover rate for waitstaff is atrocious. Sure, we could deal with that for a while but what did it for us was once it impacted their food/​prices…
The worst part of it all is that their prices have shot up and their portion sizes have halved. Goodbye, Canton Café. We had good times.

Finally stopped by since I had a reason to be in this area.
It was pretty much deserted on a Saturday afternoon, but they were still serving dim sum. This joint reminds me of the Café Asia in Rosslyn. Lost of blonde wood, sterile, with uncomfortable seating.
The dim sum lady (one cart going around) descended upon us when we got there. I told her to cool her heels until I got my tea first. I sampled the har gow, siu mai, tofu skin rolls, chicken feet, and shrimp crepes. The crepes were really good. Most of the other stuff on the cart was not hot, but tasted OK. Dim sum lady still hovered after giving us what we wanted.
I ordered a pan fried dish and that was OK also, but the beef was not marinated well or flash fried. Service was attentive, if not overbearing. They have a BBQ display in the back of the restaurant, so at first blush, you wouldn’t know that they offered it. Most joints have that BBQ stand in the front of the restaurant.
Overall, not a bad pit stop for some quickie dim sum. Prices on the high side… kind of like HK Pearl.

Definitely the worst restaurant experience I’ve had. Let’s do a bulleted list:
— The food took a while to come out.
— Ordered noodle shredded duck but didn’t really get much duck.
— Waitress slammed my glass of water on the table after filling up my glass.
— Found a thin metal wire in my food.
— Waitress hovered over our table waiting for my friends and I to pay up.
I can say for sure I will never step foot in that place again.

First thing I think about when going to Canton is their pork chops. Bet me 5 bucks you can’t find a better one around this area. The portions are huge, so if you take it home and microwave it the next day… EVEN BETTER! Werid, I know.
I’ve been here a few times and their food is pretty good. Its real chinese food… well most of it anyway. Their wonton is great as well, they give great lunch deals and its a great place to go in groups. Give their dim sum a try on sunday mornings too.

I enjoyed my first visit to Canton Café. I had heard mixed things about it, but decided I wanted to sample Cantonese Cuisine. I had not had Cantonese in quite some time, as nearly all Chinese restaurants today are Hunan-​Szechuan style. There is something of an old-​fashioned Chinese restaurant ambiance about Canton Café, which I mean in a positive way.
I ordered the Hong Kong Style Wonton Soup and Beef Chow Fun (beef with wide noodles). The Wonton Soup included shrimp in the dumplings, something new to me. The Beef Chow Fun was very flavorful and the beef tender. Very good. The portion was ample, too. I took half home in a box for lunch
I think the restaurant is a bit understaffed. There were two waitresses handling the entire floor and the restaurant was fairly full. There was a bit of a wait to be seated and I never did have an iced tea refill. Yes, I suppose I should have ordered hot tea.
I’ll try Canton Café again.

This is my second favorite place to eat in Springfield (after Thai Café). My boyfriend’s family has frequented this place for years and has used this place as a gathering place for birthdays, funerals, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, promotion celebrations, and everything else in between. Basically, it’s the Asian version of a Sunday night dinner type restaurant — comfort food all around!
My favorite dishes are the Hong Kong style wonton soup, crispy beef, shrimp pan fried noodles, beef chow fun with gravy, Chinese broccoli with garlic, and sauteed pea shoots. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu here.
The servers are usually very friendly and make me feel like family whenever I visit.

Not sure if you’ve ever eaten at a restaurant where everyone appears to be on break, but on my most recent excursion to Canton Café, I felt like I had ordered a big olé plate of Cow Dung Woo Fung.
I had been to Canton Café before for dim sum and even though I thought it wasn’t that bad, I wasn’t truly blown away by the quality. It was during that visit that I thought, «I would try this place again.» Well last night I did while running errands in and around the Springfield area.
When I entered the restaurant there were three parties already there. One large table, already served, and two small booths one in the process of ordering. I was eventually seated as it seemed the wait staff preferred chatting it up with customers than taking orders and moving on to the next customer.
As it had been some time since my dim sum experience and it was evening, I went off the main menu and ordered some of my go to dishes. I probably should’ve gone with Cantonese dishes, but wanted some mainstays — hot & sour soup and kung pao chicken.
The soup was great,…almost cold, but great if it had actually been warmed to more than room temperature. The kung pao chicken (all white meat as the menu claimed) was tasty, oily and not all white meat as can be identified by the texture when one chews a piece of chicken.
Beyond that, the wait staff honestly seemed disinterested in actually serving people or bringing out the food. Then one chatty party shows up with whom the wait staff is familiar, ordered some entrees and gets most of them before I get mine. Wow, that’s how you keep new or infrequent customers, give someone you know better service.
Let me put it this way. I normally tip 20% minimally everywhere I go, because I realize getting the food right and expediting it is not always up to the wait staff. Last night was one of the first times I had considered leaving no tip and providing exact change in a very long time. I reluctantly, however, left slightly less than 15% with the knowledge it will be quite some time (read: never) before my return.

BEST CHINESE FOOD IN THE DC METRO AREA!!!
I am from Hawai’i, and I am part Chinese (Cantonese) — we take our Chinese food seriously back home! All of these take out joints with greasy rice & noodles is just gross! Canton Café is NOT that kind of place!
The food is great and the staff is attentive and very accommodating! Our hula halau eats here regularly after performances — even late at night — and they always welcome us with smiles! Weve also held baby showers & wedding showers here.
When my mom came to visit this summer, I wanted to take her here to try the food and to see that I can get great Chinese food in VA!
My favorites are the chicken w/​sour cabbage, walnut shrimp, beef/​chinese broccoli with pan fried noodles, fried beef, the DUCK (OMG, the DUCK!), kung pao chicken, etc etc. And their hot & sour soup… so ono! Oh, ono = delicious in Hawaiian.
Sidenote: I did try their dim sum once a few years back and I did NOT like it. My advice — stick to the regular menu for lunch or dinner.

I think Canton Café used to be better. I frequent this place because a good friend loves it. It has undergone a renovation, and is now trendier than before, with a very nice bar. The high prices still remain, but quality has deteriorated.
I recently ordered a standard Chinese order for my friend and I — kung pao chicken, spring rolls, pork fried rice. Kung pao chicken was way too salty and covered in an awful, gelatinous brown sauce. Asking for extra spicy still resulted in minimal heat. I barely touched it. Springs rolls were fine and pork fried rice was tasty. I also recently had the duck at Canton Café — OK, but a little dry. I tried a couple dimsum dishes (dumpling type things), which were fine, but did not wow me. I really want to like this place, especially as the owner is friendly and funny, and the staff is great. However, I would not rush here.

Pros
— Spacious
— Quick Service
— Open Late
— Tastes better than Chinese Fast Food
— Complimentary dessert
Cons
— Too pricey for less than mediocre food.
— The noodles are soggy and coated in oil. The beef is extremely chewy. The roast pork and duck are dry and rock hard. The snow peas tasted burnt. The only thing that tasted decent was their General Tao Chicken, Tofu and Soy Sauce Chicken.
— You have to beg for water.
— The service here is BAD. If you have something negative to say about the food or service, they immediately start to argue with you. In conclusion, the manager knows all and the customers are wrong.
{Note} Their dim sum is NOTHING special. Save your money!

Ok, I am updating my review part on the DIM SUM, not the other food.
Let me just reiterate that I love and have loved their food for a long time. I still do… I just would never come back for the dim sum. The first time wasn’t bad, but then I returned a second time with my mother who is Chinese and a hardcore judge on dim sum.
First off, the chicken feet were much better than the first time however still very mediocre. They tasted like they had too much flour and just got stuck in my throat and roof of my mouth. Not that great.
Next, the ha gow (Shrimp Dumplings) were so much smaller than before. They were pretty much bite size… disappointing!
The steamed veggie dumplings were disgusting. It had bamboo shoots, canned mushrooms, carrots and pickled veggies. I mean come on… when you make a veggie dumpling and aren’t using greens at least don’t used CANNED veggies. It was totally and über-​ly disgusting.
The sesame balls weren’t even toasty and crunchy. They were soggy and not friend enough. MEH
That was it for dumplings… like two options and that was it. BAH!
The only thing I thoroughly enjoyed was the tripe with ginger and scallions. On top of that, it’s not cheap dim sum.
Next time, I will stick to my usual place and drive that extra mile to go to Oriental East in Silver Spring, MD. Much much more worth it and surprisingly cheaper!
So the lesson here is… just because a restaurant may do a fabulous job in providing you with authentic Cantonese entrée’s, it doesn’t guarantee their dim sum is up to par.
The end.

The only good thing about this place was probably the size of their shu mai, and those of you from NYC will probably like the worchestershire sauce available at the table without your request. They used a café press for the chrysanthemum tea. but overall it boils down to what they actually serve for dim sum which is not much.
I think they only had 2 carts which both pretty much had the same content.

Stopped in for lunch today, dishes I had were OK but nothing stunning.
Egg drop soup was thick, flavorful, full of egg and not too salty, but needed the crispy strips for texture. If the bowl (really a large cup) had been any larger I probably wouldn’t have finished it all due to the overall heaviness.
Crab rangoons were a mixed bag. Loved that the triangles were plump and perfectly fried, almost flaky — not a hint of grease. But the filling was just oddly sweet and I didn’t really enjoy it. I did enjoy the Chinese mustard they were served with though. Was starting to get the sniffles when I headed in and the mustard took care of clearing my sinuses right out. Sadly — the mustard was probably the best of my meal.
Roast duck was disappointing. Skin needed to be crisper and the meat was a tad on the tough side and riddled with bone shards so you have to be very careful eating it. Finally my ¼ duck was served on a plate sitting in a pool of rendered fat and what I can only presume was suppose to be some type of flavorful sauce. But all you could taste was oil.
Finally, and the real reason I just can’t nudge this place up to the 3^rd star, the décor. I’ve eaten in some true hole in the wall joints. I’ve cracked open lobster tails sitting on a rock jetty in New England. I’ve eaten more stuff out of a street cart than my stomach probably would like to. I’m not affronted by the humbleness of a business. But as others have noted — Canton Café’s menu on average is pretty expensive. If I’m going to shell out the cost for some of these dishes, I guess I expect to be dining in a place with slightly better fixtures than furniture that escaped from an IKEA gallery and nailed together plywood booths (they could have at least slapped a coat of paint on them).

This place currently ranks below sampan for me. It’s more expensive, but the taste is subpar.
HK shrimp wonton-​authentic version suppose be coarsely chopped shrimp in a flour wrapper submerged in a savory chicken broth flavored with dried seafood (fish or squid). What you will see most of the time is that ground pork will be added to the shrimp as a cheaper filler. Canton Café uses little cubes of pure pork fat instead of ground pork. Yuck.
stir fried seafood and vegetable-​again cheap filler like fish cake and salad shrimp were used along with squid and large shrimps. The dish was also too watery, as if the wok wasn’t hot enough.
Canton style beef-​the beef had a strange almost hot dog like smokiness to it.