Weekly Lunch Pick: a quick, tasty and affordable combo from Taste of Orient

A food court gem located in the newly renovated Richmond Adelaide Centre, Taste of Orient serves heaping plates of simple but flavourful Cantonese food at the right price and the right pace for local lunch-goers with a schedule to keep. Less than $8 delivers three items from the heated countertop display with rice or noodles. On our visit, the curry-stained Singapore-style noodles, stir-fried with cabbage, carrot and onion are surprisingly light, while the green beans and chicken is, unlike most fast food counters, neither greasy nor sitting in a pool of congealed sauce. The coconut shrimp is encased in a thin, crisp batter and coated with a sweet mayonnaise dressing. Finally, four large sole fillets come slicked with a faint oyster-based sauce and delicately steamed with ginger and green onion. Altogether, a great value for surprisingly well-executed food.

The cost: $11.05, including tax and a bottle of Perrier.

The time: About two minutes (we arrived at noon and the line moved quickly). But minutes later the cue queue snaked past the counter.

Taste of Orient, Richmond Adelaide Centre food court, 120 Adelaide St. W.