Sunday 4 December 2011

Yangtze Restaurant burns away

I think I was a toddler when my parents first brought me to eat at the Yangtze Restaurant on Van Horne, just above Victoria. It has been part of my life ever since, serving up some of the best egg rolls, pineapple chicken, spare ribs and crispy beef this side of Decarie.

My friends and  I have often joked how this was the best Jewish restaurant in town, for on a given night 90 percent of the clientele seemed to be from the Jewish community.  I  was always amazed how the waiter could take an order for a group of 10, not mark anything down and get everything right. As he walked to the kitchen, someone would always yell out, "No MSG please!"

Well, I am sad to share the news sent to me via longtime traffic and  emergency reporter Rick Leckner  that the Yangtze went up in flames just after midnight on December 4. It was a third alarm fire and when I drove  by tonight it was all boarded up. Will the owners rebuild? I have to imagine so. We will have to wait to see how extensive the damage was. The photo below is courtesy of Securiteincendie.com.

See the updated version with news of a relocation. 


25 comments:

  1. I have been told that the present owners bought the place about one year ago. It is not the same family that made all those delicious meals. They did keep the same meals and their famous egg rolls but since they are so new they might not have the feeling of the place as also a community meeting place and decide to take the insurance pay out and re open some place else with less cost then doing renovations after a major fire. We could only hope that place will reopen soon.

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  2. I haven't eaten at Yangtzee in easily over 5-6 years since, well, it's not really very good anymore... but seeing an institution like that burn down still feels strange. I hope they re-build it and improve the quality of the food while they're at it. Maybe we'll start going back...

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  3. There has always been the debate as to who had the best eggrolls...Yangtze with the traditional folded over style with the flat ends or House of Wong's rolled style with the burnt ends. I vote for the burnt ends. Which restaurant you ordered from was determined by on which side of Decarie you lived...Yangtze east and. House of Wong west. Sad to hear about the fire..I hope they rebuild but glad i had a couiple of eggrolls just last week.

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  4. best eggrolls ever! we ordered Yangtze on our blind date in 1984 and have done it every year since!! I sure hope they rebuild!

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  5. Oh no! No more Yangtse eggrolls?? Might as well move toToronto now

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  6. Well done egg rolls? Their food sucks anyway...everything is served with a sweet sauce.

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  7. Roberta (Golden) ChaitovDecember 05, 2011

    It was an important part of my youth. I still remember the great food at the Yangtze! My mother lived on Bouchette Avenue across Northmount High School so we frequented there very often.
    Although having lived in Toronto for 30 years,I still think about the Van Horne & Victoria areas.
    Strangely near my home in North York,there is a Vanhorn Ave., & east to the corner is Victoria Park,so it always brings back memories for me of that location in the 60's, which was populated mostly by Jews who had upgraded their living from Mile End as it is now called.

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  8. Time to sit Shiva

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  9. I do hope they rebuild.
    Like you, I started going when I was a youngster,
    I still go with my adult daughters, it's a tradition.

    I learned of this sad news from my daughter going to university in Ottawa, all of us had the same reaction "Oh no". Please rebuild.

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  10. When I was a kid, going out to eat was a huge luxury. It didn't happen very very often- but when we did, one place of choice was the Yangtze. I vividly remember the booths and squeezing on one side with my brother and sister and most of all, my dad telling the waiter (more than once) that the soup had to be very hot. Recently I went back in for soup and egg rolls and a flood of fond memories came back to me. I hope they rebuild.

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  11. I remember many fun-filled late-night gatherings at the Yangtze, going all the way back to the 1960's, and the occasional dinner recently when in Montreal. A sad loss.
    > Mike

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  12. Larry BerbrierDecember 05, 2011

    I was just thinking of getting my Chinese cuisine "fix" this past Friday- have not had Chinese in a while - freaky! I hope they rebuild and,as soon as they can.I am thankful that no one was hurt.

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  13. I love Yangtze. It was obvious that the new owners of the restaurant (who bought in just two months ago) burnt it down for insurance purposes.

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  14. Real shame. I just ate there like two months ago and discovered that apparently it was being handled under new management. It has never had a fire, and just soon after it being sold to a new owner, there is a fire. Smells of insurance fraud to me.

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  15. sad news indeed...i remember the old classic chinese waiter who was there about 1000 years. i recall one time when he cleared the plates off the table and a spare rib bone fell on the floor, all he did was walk away...good times! im hungry now :)

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  16. Bernie WilliamsDecember 06, 2011

    It brings back many memories when I lived in Montreal. Quite a few good times were had there with friends and family.
    Hope they rebuild

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  17. They used to let us change the Chicken Chow Mein to Chicken Soo Guy. We ordered the Dinner For 3 (for the 4 of us) and asked for an extra 2 egg rolls.

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  18. I'm heartbroken. If that's not pain, I don't know what is...I'm suffering; withdrawal has definitely set in. I don't know know if I can make it 'til they re-open. Which cook was it that made the eggrolls, and is he available for hire?? What are we going to do... no eggrolls... so upset... I can't think straight now...

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  19. I vote for burnt ends, which figures since we lived west of Decarie and frequented House of Wong on Queen Mary for many years. I moved to Toronto in the 80's - home of the folded ends. If't very difficult to find any places that sell burnt end eggrolls!

    Although I never ate at Yangtze, I remember all the times I saw that sign from the 161 bus, wondering what the food was like there, knowing that it had a huge, loyal following.. And now I'll never know.

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  20. My immediate reaction was "oh no".
    Sunday dinner was almost a law in our house.
    Also remember the line-ups after Passover and Yom Kippur.

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  21. The five sisters are maorning the loss of our favorite restaurant.It was such a shock we still can't believe it's gone.Every year we would order from there to start the year off right...now our lips will never taste another Yangtze eggroll again.Knowing that we are not the only ones feeling the loss and the pain...we truly hope that Yangtze will re-open for the new year and our family tradition won't be broken.

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  22. So upsetting. I had the same memories from the early 70s with lines out the door every Sunday night. Egg rolls, won ton soup, pineapple chicken, spare ribs, fried rice... The usual.

    Been a few years since Tiger worked there but I can remember as a child I didn't want anymore water (can't remember why) and he emptied almost the entire pitcher on my overturned glass and all over the floor in the booth just in front of the stairs on the left side.

    Doubt they'll rebuild.

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  23. I just learned of this tradic news monents ago opening the Suburan. To be quite honest, it feels like I've just been punched in the stomach. :(

    We just lost Tchang Kang in NDG (another Decades old Chinese restaurant) and now this? There's still Dragon House in Lachine, but it's nothing like the original location in Cartierville.

    It would be a black eye for Montreal if they don't rebuild.

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  24. MARK RABINOVITCHDecember 09, 2011

    I moved to maryland in the summer of 1986....I missed the taste of those egg rolls so much that every 2 months I,d drive the 9 hrs back to montreal and bring dozens off half-cooked egg rolls for family and friends.....They all said I was crazy,then asked for more!!

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