New Sky Restaurant – 353 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5T 2G3
Country: China
Must-try dish: Pollo Chie Jau Kay
Seating: Indoor seating only. 
Dinner guests: Ryhy & Suited Sebastien 
The high: This is one of the only restaurants in the city that serves traditional Peruvian-Chinese dishes. 
The low: They don’t advertise that there are Peruvian-Chinese menus unless you ask. 

Located in the heart of Chinatown, New Sky specializes in Cantonese and Peruvian-Chinese dishes, which is a popular fusion of both cuisines following migration of Chinese to Peru. These specialities have their own menu that you have to ask for, or be in the know of, to be able to enjoy everything about this marriage of flavours. We’re letting you in on the secret! 

New Sky is always busy, at all times of the day between people eating in and people taking out. The crowd is diverse in age, gender, and ethnicity, perfectly representing the mosaic of people that make up Toronto. The staff are attentive to each table but are hustling to make sure that the food comes out on time, and to the correct table. It’s an excellent opportunity for people watching while enjoying a good bite to eat. 

As usual, we ordered a number of dishes and shared them all family style. 

Peruvian Menu
It’s immediately evident while perusing the menu that there’s Spanish influence in the naming of the dishes with the Spanish words and the Spanish alphabet. It’s separated in sections for soups, chicken, barbecue, seafood, rice dishes, and more. 

One of the most famous dishes that blends both cuisines in Chaufa, which is a plate of rice with cooked vegetables and protein mixed with soy sauce. We opted for the Chaufa Especial because it has everything in it: chicken, beef, shrimp, and vegetables. The dish is served as a mountain that you slowly pick away at with a spoon until it’s all gone. This is on most menus across Peru, so we weren’t surprised to see it at New Sky. 

Despite all dishes from the evening being tasty, our favourite was the Pollo Chie Jau Kay. It’s boneless pieces of chicken that are battered and fried then dressed in a savoury sauce made up from oyster sauce, ginger, soy sauce, and house spices. What made this dish so exciting is that it was new for our entire group, but it also has the most interesting texture that was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a lot of sauce to manage the flavour. 

Chinese Menu
The Chinese menu is designed more similarly to a classic menu at a Chinese restaurant with Chinese characters, images of the food, and lack of descriptions of the dishes. 

The Sizzling Beef with Ginger and Onion was a hit in both taste and entertainment value. It arrives at the tables crackling with a mouth-watering smell of cooked meat and ginger trailing closely behind it. The meat is tender and it’s easy to take more than your fair share of pieces because of the flavours that pair so well with the beef when it is cooked. Good enough to maybe order one just for yourself? 

In keeping with the theme of beef, the Rice Noodles with Beef in Soya Sauce also went quickly once it arrived at the tables. It’s a simple dish with simple ingredients yet it’s a crowd pleaser between the winning pairing of beef and soya sauce mixed in with noodles. You can’t go wrong here. Our server recommended the Stir-Fried Grouper Fish with XO Sauce for our attempt at seafood. The fish was soft and meaty but compared to the other dishes, it has the least amount of character. But for those with a less adventurous palate, it might be the plate for you, unless you don’t enjoy fish, in that case stay away. 

Spicing things up for our final dish was required since the above dishes are flavourful without heat, and there was a terrific sounding Szechuan Chicken on the menu. The chicken morsels are stir-fried with vegetables in a tangy and spicy sauce made with pepper corns. It’s the perfect end to a meal. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)