The Canton reliably good Chinese food in Petaluma

Sometimes the best places to eat may exist under the radar and we have to seek them out. That is definitely the case for The Canton, at 951 Lakeville near Caulfield Lane located in the Gateway Shopping Center across from Lucky’s.

When I spoke to Andy Ling and Yixiao Chen, the owners of The Canton, they told me they prefer to simply do good cooking, and let the customers find them. They have had this as their business model since 1987, and are happy with the results. Many of us know about restaurants that are busy winning social media contests, but I prefer the ones that have delicious food, and The Canton fits that criteria.

The Canton does not even have a website, and they have very little online presence, but whenever I see informal polls about the best Chinese food in Petaluma, there are always people who speak highly of this small, clean restaurant, so I decided to give it a try.

The Canton is worth finding simply for the high quality of the food preparations. They have plenty of free parking in this strip mall environment with easy access from major thoroughfares.

On our first visit we went for the dim sum, which is one of their specialties. We tried the Shrimp Dumplings ($2.95), Pork Dumplings ($2.95), Green Onion Pancake ($2.95), Pot Stickers ($3.25) and Stuffed Eggplant (3.25). All of the dim sum items were delicious and well prepared, with the exception of the eggplant, which we found to be too oily for our tastes. Note that Dim Sum is only available during lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

We also tried the lunch combination, Wok Fried Fresh Vegetables ($6.50), which included hot and sour soup, a spring roll and fried rice. This was a huge amount of excellent quality food for an inexpensive price, with one of the best hot and sour soups I have eaten in Petaluma.

On our return visit with a group of nine people, we were able to try a number of their entrées, some appetizers and their other soups by ordering three each of their Family Specials. We ordered the Canton Dinner ($12.95), the Hong Kong Dinner ($11.95) and the Gourmet Dinner ($14.95).

We were able to try their won ton soup and their seafood egg drop soup in addition to the delicious hot and sour soup. The won ton actually had meat inside them, unlike so many Chinese restaurants that barely put any filling in them at all. The broths were all made from scratch and added nice background to the ingredients.

The appetizers included with our various family dinners included the pot stickers with their excellent and unique dipping sauce, the spring egg rolls, crab stars and fried prawns. Of the appetizers we tried, I definitely liked the pot stickers the best.

There were three entrées included with each family meal for three, so we were able to sample nine different main courses. We had so much food that we had to take a lot of it home, but none of it went to waste. The entrées we tried were Fresh Lemon Chicken; Wok Fried Vegetables with Beef; Mu Shu Pork; Sweet and Sour Pork; Cashew Chicken; Broccoli Beef; Black Mushroom, Snow Peas & Chicken; Walnut Prawns; and Sa Cha Garlic Beef, a house specialty finished with Malaysian Sa Cha sauce.

The Lemon Chicken was a big surprise to me because it was chicken breast encased in a crispy batter coating, something I usually find to be heavy and greasy, but that was not the case with this lovely dish. The lemon sauce also showed a light hand, so the entire dish was a well-balanced amalgamation of flavor and texture.

The Mu Shu Pork was perfectly done, not greasy, with a good balance of nicely cut vegetables and pork, and good pancakes for wrapping. The Cashew Chicken also had a nice ratio of chicken to cashews, and the sauce was typical Cantonese style, and not too heavy.

Ordering this many different things is not the easiest for a wait staff or kitchen crew, but they handled it with graciousness, and each dish was served piping hot, and nicely prepared.

Their menu does note the complete absence of MSG in their dishes, and an emphasis on less salt and less oil, as well as offering to prepare dishes without oil.

If you are looking for a clean, comfortable restaurant with nicely prepared, primarily Cantonese-style Chinese food, The Canton is the place you should try next. I believe you will become part of their quietly loyal fan club.