I’ve always dreamed of finding a place where I can find a never-ending supply of General Tso’s Chicken. Okay, I haven’t actually physically dreamed that, but it has always been some sort of fat boy wish that I’ve had growing up. Just think of it, you go to the buffet and you see General Tso’s Chicken just sitting there and it’s a bottomless pit of it! And to top it off, it’s good General Tso’s Chicken!
Well that dream/wish has come to fruition for me with the Canton Restaurant in Annapolis. For local Annapolis residents they’ve probably already known what I’ve only just recently discovered, the Canton Restaurant, has a crazy cheap lunch buffet that gives you a never-ending supply of General Tso’s, Egg Rolls, and Sweet & Sour Chicken among other things. The Canton Restaurant is tucked away in the corner of a strip shared by a grocery store and a host of other eateries. It’s sits on a slight hill in what appears to be an attachment to someone’s home, when you walk in you feel like you’ve stepped through a time portal. Wood paneling bombards your senses as every where you look you see old fashioned wood paneling straight out of the 1970’s.
The Canton Restaurant is not a place to take a date or someone you’re trying to impress with your wares and worldliness. Rather, it’s a place where you take one of your buddies who loves to eat Chinese food in an endless supply or your spouse who also has a passion for Americanized Chinese food. I was drawn to the restaurant because it’s right near a job-site of mine and I was just coming out of a meeting that dragged into the lunch hour. Luckily I saw their sign advertising a $6.50 lunch buffet as I passed it in my car, I did a immediate U-Turn and pulled right into the adjacent parking lot that it shares with the grocery store. Yeah let me repeat that, a $6.50 lunch buffet, what can you get anymore for 6.50 that’s never-ending? Ehh don’t answer that. Now typically when you see a lunch buffet advertised for that cheap you’re typically thinking it’s not going to be that good, and you’d usually be right. But I was hungry and I wanted to eat some feelings, so what better than fried chicken covered in a sugary spicy sauce?
I sat down and looked around looking for the buffet, it’s one warming cart that has about 8 options along with some rice and or noodles depending on your preference. Rather than assault your senses with a million options, Canton Restaurant just gets down to business with its lunch buffet. You typically can choose from the main dishes of beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, Peking Pork which is some fried pork dish that resembles General Tso’s, lo mein, and egg rolls. I can’t remember the few other options but their not important, I’m not going to lie to you not everything here is stellar. But if you stick to their General Tso’s, Egg Rolls, and sweet & sour chicken you basically can’t lose.
Canton Restaurant should not be confused as some high class dining affair. It is the epitome of a dive in a lot of ways, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s a great cheap lunch spot that always hits the spot. Go in with $6.50 expectations and leave with 20 dollar results.
