For those of you who are fans of Chinese food, this place is a real find. It is on the outskirts of Chinatown, in an area not on the tourist radar. This restaurant is always packed and for evenings, it is best to get a reservation.

Decorated in Southeast Asian flavor, you almost feel like you are entering a Malaysian restaurant. It is a pleasant space. There is bamboo on the walls and a kind of maze is constructed to make it feel like you are in a tropical village. Cantonese food is the main focus and the menu offers many options.

To start, you must try it's namesake, the congee, a rice porridge that is especially well made here. The porridge base is the same, but you can choose the ingredients to mix in. Beef, chicken with mushrooms, sliced fish, lobster, abalone and frog, pork and preserved egg, these sound exotic but are delicious. Have it with the fried cruellers, long bread that is fried. Congee is especially good for mornings or late night snacks. Imagine it as being Chinese brunch, a lighter alternative to dim sum.

Other items on the menu include your basic rice and noodle dishes. These include things like beef and tomatoes over rice, fish and bean curd over rice, soy sauce chow mein, seafood noodle soup etc. Another specialty is the rice in bamboo pot. This is rice cooked in a clay pot with different ingredients on top. Salted chicken, salted fish, eel, preserved duck. This is a great winter dish.

For dinner, pick and choose from the house specialties, the casseroles, and sizzling hot plates. Satay beef and short ribs are popular. When my family came to visit, we were able to order lesser known dishes such as braised duck web, a special kind of Chinese vegetables (ask the staff what is fresh that day), salted fish and chicken casserole, and the eel with black bean sauce.

Don't let the exotic dishes I mention discourage you from coming here. I would ask your waiter or waitress for recommendations.

An update to the branch on the Upper East side: It just closed down in July 2001. What a big loss for the neighbourhood.

Congee (rice soup, cooked for hours until the rice has broken down) is the standard Chinese breakfast. Add a stick of fried dough (literally Oil Stick in Chinese) and a few vegetables and you will walk out knowing what supplies the Chi to fuel Chiantown. Congee Village specializes in this centuries-tested breakfast, and is known as the undisputed best restaurant for Congee in Chinatown. Choose the Congee of your choice (plain, with shredded scallop, with thousand-year-old egg, with chicken, etc.) and then grab a number of small shared dishes (veg, meat, etc.)to spice it up. Also used in a number of Medicinal preparations for its easy digestibility, it is a food of choice for those with easily-disturbed tummies.