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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Tour operator Verda Law knows the taste of authentic Chinese food, and she says Yellowknife's newest Chinese restaurant, Hees Garden, is the real thing.

Hees Garden owner Therance Tong stands at the lower level Centre Square Mall entrance of the new authentic Chinese restaurant. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

Through her tour company, Yellowknife Tours, Law regularly brings tourists from China to experience the Northern lights, and is proud to bring her guests to the new restaurant, which opened last Wednesday, in the lower level of Centre Square Mall.

"They really enjoy the food because they feel at home here, even though they're far from their home city," Law said. "If you go to a restaurant and you see people from that culture go to that restaurant and try that food, you know that is a good restaurant."

Owner Therance Tong has worked at other restaurants in the city since moving North in 2008 from Toronto, and felt the market was lacking authentic Chinese cuisine, bombarded with heavily battered and deep fried options like chicken balls and egg rolls.

"We want to slowly educate the people in town what is the real, authentic Chinese food," Tong said in Cantonese, through a translator. "It is very, very delicious."

To accommodate the wider market, Hees menu contains a long list of Western and Western-style Chinese dishes, including all-day bacon and egg breakfast, burgers and fries, and deep-fried chicken wings.

On top of that, Tong offers a variety of dishes prepared true to Chinese style, including his wok-cooked dry or sweet and sour pork ribs, which have been one of the most popular items so far, and Law's favourite dish, lobster served on a bed of noodles—one of the dishes served exclusively on the chef's special menu.

Presentation is important to Tong, who serves beef tenderloin with onions on a sizzling hot plate, rice in a triangular shape, and desserts such as the mango pudding, served in the shape of a fish and draped with blueberries, kiwi slices, and Carnation milk.

"How you present it is an art too," Tong said.

Born and raised in the culinary industry of Hong Kong, Tong named his restaurant after his father Bui Tong's chain of restaurants in China, Hees, which, loosely translated, means happiness. The word represents the honour felt in Chinese culture whenever you have friends at your place to have a nice meal, Tong said.

The Year of the Dragon on the Chinese calendar began earlier this week, and Tong believes the auspicious sign will ensure success for his new restaurant, despite the failure of restaurants previously housed at the spot, most recently, the shut down Robin's Nest. An increasingly quiet Centre Square Mall, coupled with the pricey rent, led many people to advise the entrepreneur against the location.

Tong is confident that his family-run business, currently staffed by himself, his wife Carmen, and her sister Winnie Shen, is here to last.

As the restaurant grows, he plans to hire more people to help run the 20-table dining room and delivery service.

The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner service, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Tong has applied for a liquor licence, and hopes to have the restaurant licensed to sell alcoholic beverages within the next three months.

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