Heritage Asian Eatery
1108 W. Pender St.
778-737-1108
EatHeritage.ca
Open Mon.-Fri., 8am-8pm
Among the thousands of dishes I’ve tried over the years, few stand out as truly unforgettable – even those that achieved excellence. Rare is the bite that has captured both palate and mind, sticking like a burr in the memory for years afterward.
One such dish was delivered from the hands of chef Felix Zhou, back when he was cooking at the lamentably short-lived Big Trouble. From the tiny corner of the dining room that was laughably referred to as “the kitchen,” Zhou produced the most epic and sublime salad of all time, composed of radishes and Kalamata olive “dirt.” Ridiculously simple in terms of ingredients, the resulting flavours and textures were surprisingly complex and revelatory.
About a month ago, Zhou finally opened his first place as owner/operator: a casual counter-service eatery called Heritage, its name a reference to the dishes and flavours he grew up eating. A far cry from the more exalted menus he previously served up at places like Beach Bay Café and Patio, the food here is all about comfort – albeit with a Pan-Asian bent and a focus on local, seasonal ingredients.
Breakfast is served until 11am, after which the lunch menu takes over. No weekend hours yet, but hopeful whispers of brunch are swirling around like the scarce leaves in this restaurant’s financial-district ’hood. Communal banquettes line both sides of the minimalist room, and the line-ups hit hard and early around lunch time, so be prepared. Otherwise, arrive a bit early to snag a table and avoid the wait (or just order your meal to go).
I normally avoid restaurants that have been open less than a month. Even the best chefs need time to settle into a new kitchen, train staff and work out the inevitable kinks of launching a new business. Heritage has adjusted quickly, working out those kinks with laudable dispatch and forging an impressive learning curve.
My first lunch included some of the bao (four varieties; $7 each). The pillowy buns were beautiful and, when filled with slow-cooked pork belly, kimchi daikon and crispy onion, made for fantastic sammies with which to fill up. The shitake mushroom version was tasty but, on that first visit, too gloopy from the sauce, needing more textural contrast. A couple of weeks later, it was much improved. The duck bao, done Peking style (with pickled cucumber and more of that crispy shallot), was well-balanced and delicious.
An even more impressive use of duck was in the breakfast crepe ($6). The soft, paper-thin crepe was wrapped around a slim, buttery omelette, which in turn was wrapped around slices of the duck and slivers of pickled cucumber. The crepe was then topped with Peking sauce and crispy shallots. A knife and fork are provided, but this is something you want to get your hands around.
Despite the repetitive use of certain ingredients, Zhou manages to make each dish feel unique and noteworthy. The pork belly made another appearance in a breakfast bowl ($12), this time over crispy-edged rice “cakes” with wood-ear mushrooms, soft strips of sautéed red pepper and a couple of perfectly runny sous-vide eggs. The lunch bowls I tried were equally impressive, especially the marinated eggplant ($11).
Zhou is a young chef, but he is innovative and knows how to adapt quickly. Five-spice, gluten-free chicken wings ($5 for a basket) had, on an early visit, a juicy interior and shatteringly-crisp skin, but were on the bland side. Fast-forward a few weeks and they had become so explosive on the taste buds that the first bite had me closing my eyes at their almost-too-salty taste – more addictive than Mickey D’s fries at a beach picnic.
Heritage is serving up some seriously good food and looks to be on track to becoming one of the city’s most promising new casual eateries. The financial district isn’t known for its big weekend crowds, but if the brunch menu ever materializes, be warned.
Food: ★★★ 1/2
Service: n/a
Ambiance: ★★★
Value: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★ 1/2
All ratings out of five stars.
★: Okay, nothing memorable.
★★: Good, shows promise.
★★★: Very good, occasionally excellent.
★★★★: Excellent, consistently above average.
★★★★★: Awe-inspiring, practically perfect in every way.
Anya Levykh is a freelance food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @foodgirlfriday.
