Winter Solstice is pretty big for Chinese families, so my mom said we needed to go out for dinner. We celebrated a few days early since it’s always difficult to accommodate with everyone’s schedule. She suggested we go to Jade Seafood Restaurant since they were having a Special Abalone Set Menu. It was $39.98 per person, which was a pretty good deal considering what we got and how full we were. The dinner started off with complimentary peanuts and XO sauce.

Double Boiled Soup

For soup, there are two choices. The Double Boiled Soup came in a clay jar and was extremely sweet and delicious. You could tell it had been boiled for a long time. If I tasted it correctly, it was boiled with chicken and conch meat, which brought lots of flavour.

Shark’s Fin Soup with Shredded Chicken

The second option was the Shark’s Fin Soup with Shredded Chicken, which was definitely less sustainable. I’m surprised they still offer it here since most restaurants have stopped selling shark fin soup. The broth was a thin gelatin consistency and came with ginger and shredded chicken.

Braised Whole Abalone

Next up was the Braised Whole Abalone, which sat on a bed of braised pea tips. Pea tips are one of my favourite Chinese veggies, and they were delicious soaked in the abalone sauce. The abalone itself was just alright. I found it a little too chewy and tough for my liking. The ones at Kirin are much better in my opinion, but also pricier.

Baked Conch with Cheese in Portuguese Sauce

Next was the Baked Conch with Cheese in Portuguese Sauce. The conch shell was presented as part of the dish, and you would’ve thought there would be conch meat inside, but there wasn’t even a bit! It was all mushrooms and onions mixed with the Portuguese sauce. We felt a bit ripped off because of that, but the dish was flavourful regardless.

Sauteed Chicken with Vegetables

A dish that was shared amongst the table was the Sauteed Chicken with Vegetables. It was a good mix of wood ear fungus, zucchinis, carrots, and onions. However, I found the dish to be a bit heavy on oil. The set menu also came with Fried Rice with Egg White and Dried Scallop, which I forgot to take a picture of. Each person got their own bow, and it was huge. Too much rice to finish off the meal.

Hot Almond Soup with Sesame Balls

Lastly, for dessert, it included the Hot Almond Soup with Sesame Balls. The almond soup was smooth and full of almond flavour. There were two glutinous balls filled with sesame paste. Not bad.

Overall, the set menu was a pretty good deal. I know that service is usually pretty bad at Jade, but surprisingly, we had really good service that night. Very attentive and our food came out just as we were about to finish the previous course. Parking of course was a nightmare though, as there are two other restaurants downstairs now.