Daisy Chinese Restaurant is located at 1200 Lansdowne St W., in Peterborough, the small city about 125km NE of Toronto. It's a short distance from both Loon Ho and Mei Mei which are also Chinese buffets... quite a few in a city of this size. We went for weekend lunch. Pop is slightly overpriced at $3 per can, but at least there is Coke Zero.
Mishy loved the lemon chicken and chicken stir fry. I also enjoyed both of them and the lemon chicken had a lovely flavour, more than just lemon. General Tso chicken was very good, although it was more like sweet and sour, but was good whatever it was. We both loved the Szechuan beef, and for a more expensive dish like this it was actually excellent, which is impressive. Mishy said the chicken balls were good and they are one of her favourites. I liked them too and they contained plenty of chicken, not just excessive breading.
Hot and sour soup was not hot nor dark and not like any I've had before, with peas and vegetables and only sour flavour and tofu, but it was still good and it worked. Wonton soup wasn't bad but was nearing the brink of going stale. Stir fried veg was good and also fresh enough. Chow mein was understated but also good and fresh. Fried rice was very good and fresh, classic takeout style. Chop suey was quite good and fresh, which is important as it will go mushy if kept in the tray too long. Chicken wings looked like they would be dried out, but weren't and were actually pretty good. Unfortunately egg foo young was egg foo old and was noticeably stale... at least it was still mostly edible. Unlabelled celery and chicken stir fry was very good, fresh and well-seasoned.
Fries were very good... I like how these restaurants try to do something creative with the fries to make them tastier by adding seasoning. Onion rings were good though a bit dry. Spring rolls were a little low on flavour so may have been a few days old but were not bad.
For dessert, butter flake pastry was a bit stale but still good, similarly sesame ball. Milk flaky cake and mango mousse which I know now to be from King's Pastry of Mississauga were fresh. Vanilla and mango ice creams were very good. Orange and cherry jello were good, but hard to get that wrong. Rice pudding didn't have much seasoning, but did have raisins and most importantly was fresh. Butterscotch and cookies and cream and chocolate and strawberry ice creams once they had melted a bit were pretty good. Weekend lunch is $18. As would be expected from its similarity to other establishments in the area, the shortcomings are made up for by this excellent value (other than the slightly expensive pop.) We did enjoy lunch there.
Rating: 7-7.5 / 10 + 1.5 value adjustment = 8.5-9 / 10
