First Look: Canton Korean and Chinese Food Express

Orange chicken with fried rice and a side of dumplings at Canton Express. (Credit: Eric Rowley/Metromix)

Owner and cook Haena Son opened Canton Korean and Chinese Food Express in the skywalk this month after owning a restaurant in her native Korea for seven years. The restaurant stands out a bit from other skywalk dining spots, largely due to giant windows looking out over downtown. As my lunch partner put it, "It's almost like we aren't in the skywalk."

When we arrived for a midweek lunch, the line was out the door. The dining area is fairly small, with seven or eight tables, located in front of the windows. Disney's "Pinocchio" was playing on an HD TV on the wall.

On the menu: Korean cuisine is a rarity in central Iowa, and Canton serves traditional dishes like beebeembop (rice mixed with sauteed vegetables, egg, meat and seasonings), and bulgogi (thinly sliced meat marinated with vegetables). The restaurant also offers a pretty traditional assortment of Chinese standards including sesame chicken, General Tsao's, orange chicken and others.

The Korean dishes are cooked to order, but during lunch the Chinese items are served buffet-style.

What we ordered: From 11 a.m.-1 p.m. the restaurant has a $5 lunch menu, with a Chinese entree, rice and your choice of an appetizer (spring rolls, pork rolls, dumplings, crab rangoon) or soup. I wanted a fast, cheap meal, and went with the orange chicken, which was a little hot but not too spicy. The breading was crisp, the rice flavorful and my dumpling was full of vegetables, which surprised me at first (I was expecting pork), but it had a nice crunch with no sogginess. As I ate, I saw people around me eating glorious-looking Korean dishes. They're a little pricier (closer to $7 at lunch), but looked so tasty that I need to make a return visit.

Good if you want ... Fast and hot Asian food on the skywalk level. The service was very good, and the clean, open style of the restaurant was a nice break from the work day.

Canton Korean and Chinese Food Express
Find It: 501 Locust St., suite 215 (in the skywalk)
Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
Info: 282-4202
Payment: Cash, credit