Chinatown East: Zhong Hua Men Gate

[TKTKTK]

... sort of feels about as authentic as a chinese temple on Gerrard

Why wouldn't that be authentic? Is there something specifically un-Chinese about Gerrard?

 

[w.ll.am]

From what I've heard for the last 10 years is that is a dying neighborhood. Chinese are have been trying to sell from there and move to markham for years.

If you look on Realtor.ca there are more stores for sale on that portion of the street than any other in Toronto.

Perhaps we might see a turn around in the area once this recession ends. It's another area that's been eroding for years.

 

[shilly]

Perhaps we might see a turn around in the area once this recession ends. It's another area that's been eroding for years.

i agree. I remember as a kid walking by the corner of Broadview and Gerrard and seeing live crabs in a basket climbing out and getting crushed by cars.

It'll start to gentrify soon enough. Little India has done a good job of cleaning up it's image and it seems to be booming.

 

[Urban Shocker]

You're right about the baskets of little blue crabs - I haven't seen them in ages, occasionally making their bolt for freedom across Gerrard. And the live frogs - soooo delicious when cooked - are a retail treat from the past as well. The pale, desiccated, frisbee-shaped ducks in that grocery store on the south-east corner are but a distant memory, too. When we lived in the apartment on Cambridge in the '80s, my partner used to buy live eels in Chinatown East; they'd kill them for him, put them in a plastic bag, and he'd bring them home - still flopping around in their bloody bag - on the streetcar. Aaaahhh ... such fond memories from our urban hunter-gatherer past.

 

[shilly]

When we lived in the apartment on Cambridge in the '80s, my partner used to buy live eels in Chinatown East; they'd kill them for him, put them in a plastic bag, and he'd bring them home - still flopping around in their bloody bag - on the streetcar.

I think you scarred me for life with that thought. I used to eat there more when I was younger, but now the usual authentic chinese for me is Edens.

 

[wyliepoon]

Feb 7

Artist's impression...

I hope that it gets its cladding soon... and they've got to do something about that pole and the wires directly in front of the gate.

 

[ProjectEnd]

Perhaps they're going for a Chinese gate circa 1957.

 

[Urban_Frog]

I actually like the precast exposed. It looks like those old traditional stone gate...

Here is an example: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FKaAScHHeWQ/R_seGce5eYI/AAAAAAAAASE/zIVlB7P1vAg/DSC_0482.JPG

 

[Torontovibe]

Why is the gate going up on a parking lot? lol Shouldn't it go across Gerrard? It loses it's impact.

 

[interchange42]

It's a very disappointing location, I agree. Without a reason to pass under it on a regular basis, a gate will have no true significance to anyone.

42

 

[T-Squared]

You're right about the baskets of little blue crabs - I haven't seen them in ages, occasionally making their bolt for freedom across Gerrard. And the live frogs - soooo delicious when cooked - are a retail treat from the past as well. The pale, desiccated, frisbee-shaped ducks in that grocery store on the south-east corner are but a distant memory, too. When we lived in the apartment on Cambridge in the '80s, my partner used to buy live eels in Chinatown East; they'd kill them for him, put them in a plastic bag, and he'd bring them home - still flopping around in their bloody bag - on the streetcar. Aaaahhh ... such fond memories from our urban hunter-gatherer past.

ah, yes, people still buy live eels and crabs, the only difference is that they are mostly located in the suburbs where the bloody bags end up in the trunk of the car, offending no one. But nothing says fresh more than moving bags of seafood!

So if the gate is located on a parking lot, will there be stools and/or some other features that would create more of a public gathering place?

 

[egotrippin]

Perhaps the parking lot will one day, ideally, be turned into a small park/square of sorts.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Go with Bill's Lobster

I think you scarred me for life with that thought. I used to eat there more when I was younger, but now the usual authentic chinese for me is Edens.

While east Chinatown may not be thriving, it's not worse than 10+ years ago, either. We stop by for supplies relatively often -- particularly Bill's as our fishmonger of choice. Lots of live sea creatures, sushi-grade salmon and tuna, Bill's wife will shuck oysters for you, usually a few unusual specials.

Lucky Ka-Ka BBQ on Broadview does great Golden Duck and BBQ Pork for takeout. And they usually have the rice steamer and some veg to make a sub-$20 meal for our family of four. You can't even do that at McD's!

 

[Urban Shocker]

Yes, Bill's is great - they have Scottish wild salmon as well as the Canadian farmed - expensive but delicious. And that framed photo of an electioneering Jean Crouton holding a lobster still has pride of place.

But the restaurants have seen better days - the biggest, River Seafood House, had people lining up out the door for dimsum on weekends 10 or 15 years ago and now it's like a ghost town some days.

 

[ganjavih]

Lucky Ka-Ka BBQ?