As we opened the door of Cana, we were immediately greeted by a friendly-looking waitress who showed us to our seats and served us an earthy-tasting tea in plastic cups(no straws were to be had) and menus. I got a bit of entertainment out of the retro-looking electronic grill built in to each table in the restaurant. We didn't take to long to order, as the waitress pointed out the lunch specials and they all looked delicious. As an appetizer, we ordered steamed dumplings stuffed with beef, tofu and vegetables. Then, Shauna ordered the Bulgogi Stew, sliced rib eye served in a stew with glass noodles. I ordered Dduk Mandoo Guk, which consisted of dumplings served in rice cake soup, glass noodles, egg and veggies. Because there was no one else in the restaurant, we got our orders quickly, which was nice because I was hungrier than I thought.
Within five minutes we received our appetizer. First, we received a few bowls of pickled dishes. The first consisted of pickled seaweed, another of kimchi (pickled cabbage with mild pepper sauce), glass noodles in an onion-esque sauce, pickled cucumber and soy sauce, which tasted delicious with everything. The flavors were variant, but each popped in your mouth. I don't know about Shauna, but I would have easily been able to have based my whole meal off of those dishes. Next came the dumplings, which were stuffed with minced tofu, seaweed, glass noodle and beef, to the point that the very cooked outer shell would easily fall apart, which was an annoying struggle with my chopsticks...but they were soooo gooood.
Next came Shauna's entree: the Bulgogi stew. Now, the reason why glass noodles are my absolute favorite type of noodle is because they soak up the flavor of whatever they're put into very easily. The noodles, and the stew had a tasty, meaty flavor even though there wasn't that much meat in it. Next, I got my dish: The dumpling/rice cake soup. Although there wasn't actually any rice cake, there were four dumplings of the same kind, along with a helping of glass noodles(yes, accept it), egg pieces and seaweed and beef strips, in a creamy, mild, milky broth. However, there was also a strange other ingredient, a pink, sticky, half-solid substance that stuck to every part of the mouth and had a (in my opinion) foul, wheaty taste. Thankfully, this substance did not further affect my soup enjoyment, so I continued to happily eat. The flavours of all the dishes combined left me wanting more after we were done. Afterwards we received our check (good prices!) and exited the scene.
Although there were some interesting occurrences during our meal (a TV being installed, the agonizing sound of silverware being sorted and the lack of any sort of music), the food was delicious and served quickly, the decor was cool and the waitress was always polite and nice. I think I'll give Cana an A-. Definitely a place residents of the Bayside area should visit. If I ever "just feel like" eating again, I hope we have the same result!
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