For Joyce Cai, the past 12 months have combined the drama of a Real Housewives episode with the identity shenanigans of a John Woo flick. The restaurateur experienced the highs of success with Chuan Fu in Winter Park, and the lows of confusion with Chuan Lu Garden. In a nutshell: Cai and her ownership group purchased Chuan Lu Garden near the corner of Mills and Colonial in 2019 from Leon Liu, also owner of Peter’s Kitchen near Orlando Fashion Square. But, when Cai temporarily closed Chuan Lu for renovations, Liu abruptly changed the name of Peter’s Kitchen to … Chuan Lu Garden. The gossipy saga’s plot twists included cease and desist letters that weren’t heeded and, ultimately, a name change of Cai’s Chuan Lu Garden to A Gourmet Chinese Cuisine, subject of this week’s review. To top it all off, the Chuan Lu Garden run by Liu is no more, and now goes by Ming Garden, a concept from the owners of another Mills 50 mainstay, Ming’s Bistro.
OK, back to A Gourmet Chinese Cuisine. As mentioned above, after five years of ownership, Cai et al. felt an interior renovation was in order. So out are the koi pond, life-size horse-drawn chariot statue and any remnants of chinoiserie, and in are undulating ceiling panels, sexy curves and all the contemporary trappings of a 21st-century restaurant. The space feels even more cavernous than before, and perhaps a bit austere in its push for a tranquil modernity, but the food is as indulgent as ever. However, the Sichuan fare of the Chuan Lu Garden era now takes a backseat to Cantonese cuisine.
Yet starting a meal at this restaurant (whatever its name) with a plate of poached, free-range “mouthwatering” chicken in Sichuan chili oil ($14) has become a ritual I can’t seem to get past. What I like about the version served here is that it comes with cucumber chunks, negating the need to order a side of cucumbers in garlic, which they also happen to offer for $10. Our enthusiastic server sold us on the Sichuan peppercorn marbling beef ($33), one of the many “chef’s recommendations” on the menu. The side of steamed broccoli sitting next to the plush chunks buried beneath a heap of fried chilies and cilantro had all the makings of a safe, entry-level dish.
But as great as both Sichuan options were, they didn’t quite match the excitement of the Cantonese classics we sampled — classics like the salted fish, chicken and eggplant hotpot ($22). Sure, the ammonia-like funk of the fermented flounder can be off-putting, but its umami-packed flavor is why the restaurant has a devoted base of Cantonese regulars. The accompanying rice was more granular than sticky, pleasing everyone at the table. So did the plate of pea shoots ($21) stir-fried with minced garlic and a Chinese “superior broth” of dried scallops and century egg sauce. Two other Cantonese classics — beef chow fun ($19) with house-made noodles and Hakka-style braised pork belly ($19) with preserved mustard greens — are as good as it bloody well gets. The latter, its luscious slivers marinated in red fermented bean curd sauce lending the pork a rubescent hue, is a dish of fatty consequence (and magnificence)…