Angry Dragonz
300 River Rd., 613-627-0013, angrydragonz.com
Open: 4 to 10 p.m. daily
Prices: most items $8 to $12
Access: steps to front door
Of Ottawa’s 40-plus food trucks, Angry Dragonz, which serves a curated menu of Asian hits, enjoys a convoy-leading reputation.
At streetfoodapp.com/ottawa, it’s chalked up the most “likes” — more than 400, which tops the second-ranked truck by more than 100. That sign of support made me keen to try Angry Dragonz’s bricks-and-mortar edition, which opened in early September on River Road near Limebank Road.
There’s a bit of irony in the fact that Kin Tran, who with his wife Bonnie Wong launched Angry Dragonz during Ottawa’s 2013 food-truck boom, had sold his previous business, the restaurant Koi Asia in Bells Corners, because he wanted to open a food truck.
Now, husband and wife are back in a restaurant kitchen, serving dinner until 10 p.m. each night after they’ve wound down the truck’s lunch-time activities downtown.
The restaurant’s menu is larger than the truck’s trim collection of starters and rice bowls, adding a half-dozen soups, some sandwiches, tacos and fried rice. But it’s still a modest offering compared to the output of many an Asian eatery, with their multitudes of pho or proteins mixed and matched with sauces. There’s no seafood to be had at Angry Dragonz — if you’re craving shrimp with lobster sauce, look elsewhere.
But what I’ve eaten from the Angry Dragonz kitchen has more than satisfied. Within the menu’s limitations there’s still sufficient variety, quality and flavour for a casual family dinner. Plus, a meal eaten here (or taken out) will leave you happy for the money remaining in your wallet — the menu’s priciest item is $12, with tax included.
My first visit to Angry Dragonz was to pick up food. We brought home well-packed containers of the classics — egg rolls, General Tao’s chicken, hot-and-sour soup, pad Thai, “dragonz” fried rice, which was studded with chicken, barbecue pork and bacon.
Even after the 15-minute drive home, the open-ended egg rolls were crisp and, happily, there was a good ratio of seasoned pork to vegetable in their filling. After one bite, I felt a surge of nostalgia for the Chinese-Canadian food I ate in my youth, but have rarely eaten since.
The fried rice, not too oily and flecked with good pieces of meat, prompted the same happy feeling, although you or I could make even better at home. General Tao’s chicken would have been more crisp eaten on site, but it was still meaty and respectably sauced.
Thick and almost gloppy hot-and-sour soup would have been improved with some pork slivers among its many components, but it was otherwise savoury and it definitely delivered its namesake flavours.
Pad Thai had some welcome tamarind-y tanginess. Its chicken was dry, but then again, the ride home perhaps didn’t do it any favours.
Last week, we ate at Angry Dragonz with the goal to eat some of its more “contemporary” Asian fusion fare. It was a no-frills experience. The restaurant’s renovated interior is clean and spartan, seating 30 or so at a few tables with either chairs or high stools and a window-side counter. But food is served food-truck-style, in that it’s ordered at the cash, served in take-out containers and eaten with plastic cutlery. You would likely be much more comfortable eating at home.
Two more reasons why you might prefer getting your food to go: Angry Dragonz is unlicensed and the only dessert option is fortune cookies.
Eating on site, we began very well with chicken, beef and lamb skewers. The meats could have been a bit more tender, but big flavours won us over. The chicken tasted of tangy tamarind while both beef and lamb were cumin-y and chilied, in the Northern Chinese style. But they were also sweeter and less gristly than what I’ve eaten at Northern Chinese restaurants in Ottawa.
Pork belly buns (called “sliders” here) were immense, brimming with almost twice as much meat and filling as would have been sufficient. The meat was a lot less fatty than anticipated, and its garnishes added sweetness, heat and crunch.
Gearing to solo eaters, Angry Dragonz’s main courses generally layered sauced meat and fresh, gingery, crunchy slaw on top of rice. For the sharers at our table, we were able to have the rice on the side and containers of mains.
On the authenticity scale, the bulgogi beef and the very peanut-buttery panang chicken, made with pieces of dark meat, were a little wanting but still enjoyable, the panang more than the bulgogi. Beef brisket noodle soup featured a nice, warming broth, chunks of daikon and pieces of tender meat.
So, a bit of a reality check: The dishes from one of Ottawa’s favourite food trucks are good, but they are not as artisanal as food-truck-fare on TV. Nor do they top the better versions of Korean and Thai items that inspire them.
Still, the pluses of food-truck cuisine do apply, especially for Ottawa residents who live south of the Ottawa International Airport. They should be happy that Angry Dragonz is nearby and quick, making crowd-pleasers that hit palates that crave old-fashioned or more trendy Asian dishes, and at prices that are hard to beat.
phum@postmedia.com
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Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews
