ManAbout's Profile
ASIAN LEGEND Yonge north of Sheppard - Is it any good?
Which is strange because most of these Chinese cuisine places around Richmond hill are half empty. Went to Judy's Cusine last saturday, plenty of empty tables, walked by the dim sum place next to it, also tables available, as is the case with most restaurants in that plaza as well as the Commerce Gate Plaza where Asian Legend is located.
But, try to get into Asian Legend on a Saturday night. The place is PACKED, no tables available. Half hour wait. 90% Chinese clientele. Wonder why all these Chinese families are lining up for tables at Asian Legend when all the so called "authentic" restaurants in the area have plenty of tables available.
I have been to the Hwy 7 location of Asian Legend with a Chinese person visiting from Hong Kong and not only did they find they food enjoyable but completely authentic.
Btw, the food at Judy's cuisine was nothing special.
Help me with my Richmond Hill food tour
Why only Chinese? Restaurant Malaysia at Major Mackenzie and Bayview is a good option if you are up for trying something different.
Does anyone have experience with Noisette Pastry Works in Markham?
We ordered a birthday cake from them not too long ago. It was terrible. We would have been better off getting one from Loblaws.
Too bad the Marco Polo at Hwy 7 and Valleymede has closed down. We have always had consistently good cakes there. Their website says that they are in the middle of relocating. Who knows where they will end up.
But, we won't be going back to Noisette.
Internet Coupon meal experiences please
Doesn't surprise me in the least. The Groupon offer was probably a last gasp. I wonder how many other restaurants have done the same after a coupon offer.
Internet Coupon meal experiences please
Tried Mela, an Indian restaurant on Avenue road, a couple of months ago. Bought the deal through Groupon. Disappointing food and service. We will not be returning.
Copper Chimney
To add insult to injury, the best Indian restaurant I have eaten at in Canada was in fact recently in Montreal, a city with a much smaller South Asian population. Maybe that's why my opinion of Copper Chimney has taken a further drop.
You won't find this restaurant around the tourist areas, and it doesn't look much from the outside, but if you happen to visit Montreal, there is a restaurant called Maison Indian Curry House in Jean Talon. It's a small place, looks like a hole in the wall and it's always packed. When you walk into the restaurant you feel like you are walking into an Indian person's dining room.
It's cheap and the food is absolutely delicious. Their dishes are from the same region as Copper Chimney, and they blow it out of the water. If you are looking for authentic Indian food in Toronto, go to Montreal.
Copper Chimney
This is the place on Avenue Road, I don't know why the reference for Copper Chimney in Ajax keeps popping up.
One common theme that I have noticed running through some of the comments in this thread is the sentiment that "it's better than other Indian restaurants". I think that's it really. I do think the problem is that the quality of Indian restaurants in Toronto is pathetic for a city of this size and with such a large South Asian population. That's why a lot of us keep going back to Copper Chimney. Just because it's somewhat better than everything else that is out there.
If this restaurant was in a more competitive city, like NYC for example, I doubt it would fare very well. And in London, UK it wouldn't survive a year. I do think that the restaurant has potential, but the quality of dishes has become far too uneven for my liking. Also, the service definitely needs to be improved. There has only been two of them serving the last couple of times I have been there.
Copper Chimney
Has anybody been there recently?
Personally, I have found their food to be a few notches below what it was at the beginning of the year.
The quality seems to have slipped quite a bit. I have been there a couple of times over the last 3 months, and both times, I have left disappointed. It's not even one particular dish, even though some some are worse than others. The last time, the Chicken Biryani was woeful, the fish just passable. The time before that their Hariyali Tikka and Lamb Saag were dismal.
Given the dearth(or near absence) of quality Indian restaurants in Toronto, I would like to continue to frequent this place. But, they are not making it easy for me.
What has happened to Whole Foods in Yorkville?
It very well could be that the market for organic produce in Toronto is not as mature as Wholefoods thought.
The reason that there is spoiled produce laying around is because people aren't buying enough of it.
SUKHO THAI - what's going on?
Agree with comments about the service. Went there for dinner on Friday night. It was a bit after the dinner rush. The restaurant was full, but there seemed to be more than enough servers to cover the tables.
The biggest issue was that the food took a really long time to come out of the kitchen. I would estimate that it was probably a good 25 minutes before we got our first dish. But, that was only 1/3 of our order. The other two dishes didn't arrive for another 10 to 15 minutes.
I thought that getting all the dishes out at the same time was one of the cardinal rules of restaurant service.
Fair price and better quality products in Farmer's Market - Not neccessarily!!
The Hillcrest "Farmers" Market is not a member of Farmer Markets Ontario. A search on their website shows nothing in Richmond Hill. However the Village Market in Thornhill is a member.
http://www.farmersmarketsontario.com/index.cfm
Further, as mentioned earlier, "My Markets" consist entirely of vendors that sell their own produce. There appear to be only a handful of them though and none of them are uptown.
http://www.my-market.ca/index.html
At markets that also allow resellers, there is another program that appears to be useful called "My PicK". Only farmers that sell their own produce and nothing else qualify for the "My Pick" certification.
http://www.farmersmarketsontario.com/mypick/index.cfm
There does not appear to be any sort of regulation governing the use of the term "Farmers Market". A group of vendors can get together and decide to call themselves a farmers market, even though they are not selling their own produce. This is what appears to have happened at Hillcrest. Probably with the full consent and knowledge of the mall owners.
Any good sarson saag/makki ki roti in GTA
I am pretty sure I have seen it on the menu at Sanjhi Rasoi in Brampton, but I have never tried their version.
I have had the vegetarian buffet there and it is pretty decent for 9.99. They also do pretty authentic parathas. Both the Aloo and Gobi ones were good.
Fair price and better quality products in Farmer's Market - Not neccessarily!!
I am quite sure that many of these stalls are run by "farmers" who are getting their produce from the Ontario Food Terminal rather than growing it themselves.
There's nothing there that you can't get at Highland Farms and for cheaper than at the market.
I went there a couple of times, and realized that the produce that I bought wasn't any different in taste, quality and freshness, and I was paying more for it.
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Highland Farms
850 Ellesmere Rd, Toronto, ON M1P, CA
Nirvana Indian Restaurant Mississauga
I know this restaurant has been open for a few years now, and there was some excitement about it when it initially opened.
I was visiting friends in the area and we decided to drop into Nirvana for dinner. Overall this place is a disappointment. Depending on what you order, the food can be bad to average. And it's expensive for what you get. The prices are higher than Copper Chimney for example, and the food is not nearly as good. The only dish that I would order there again is the lamb biryani.
The decor is starting to look old and tired as well. If you are looking for fine Indian dining, this is NOT the place. I will not be going back.
O'Mei Chinese Restaurant Highway 7
I don't get the hype over this place. I live very close to here. I ordered takeout once, three dishes. Serious disappointment. Never went back. I was told by some "chinese food experts" on here that I ordered the "wrong dishes". Ok, what ever.
where is the best fish and chips in Toronto/GTA??
Has anybody tried Buster's Sea Cove for fish and chips in the st lawrence market?
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Buster's Sea Cove
93 Front St E, Toronto, ON M5E1C3, CA
The best of Markham and Richmond Hill
I have always found the Asian Legend in Commerce Gate to be consistent, good value. Will it win any awards? No, but when you go there, you know what you are getting. There are some so called Chinese food experts on this board who turn their nose up at Asian Legend. But, I have been to Asian Legend with someone who was visiting from Hong Kong(Chinese person) and in her opinion it is as good and as authentic as what you can get in a decent restaurant in HK. She was more than pleased with the food.
Want a 'surprisingly good' Shawarma in Richmond Hill? - Give 'Rifca's Mediterranean Kitchen' a try!
Visited once. About 2 or 3 months ago. There were three of us. The toppings looked pretty sad, like they had been there for a while. Not fresh looking at all and with nowhere near the variety you have at other places. The chicken shawarma itself was dry and skimpy on the chicken.
I had a shawarma from Paramount a couple of days ago, it was much better. The place was packed. I went to the Paramount in front of the Eaton Centre. But, they also have a location around Yonge and Clark. Not far from Rifca. You are much better off going there or to one of the Israeli places. Rifca is NOT an option for shawarma in the area. Don't waste your money. It's garbage.
Want a 'surprisingly good' Shawarma in Richmond Hill? - Give 'Rifca's Mediterranean Kitchen' a try!
NO. I have tried this place. It's garbage. Went there once, will never go back. Dried chicken in a stale pita is not my idea of "surprisingly good shwarma". They have a poor choice of toppings as well, nowhere near what you would get one of the better shwarma places.
I am amazed that somebody would call the crap I ate over there, good shwarma,
The shwarma at Sababa on Steeles is much better. Not Richmond Hill, but not too far either. Or try Meron on Disera, near Promenade mall.
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Sababa
390 Steeles W, Thornhill, ON L4J6X6, CA
Best frozen grocery-store burger in Toronto?
Do they have to be frozen? If you are not too fussed about price, the pre-made burgers at Wholefoods Market in Yorkville are probably as good as you are going to get. I have tried a variation of their beef as well as chicken burgers and they were both good. I think the beef burger was Southwest, and it actually had hot sauce in the center.
Does anyone have experience with Noisette Pastry Works in Markham?
No, I can't really make a comparison between the two.
Marco Polo does have small dessert size cakes and pastries, maybe you could give some of those a try and see what you think. I was told that the pastry chef at Marco Polo was professionally trained in Vienna, which should account for something.
Any good Indian restaurants in Richmond Hill?
Yes, I haven't eaten at Bombay Chutney myself, but I heard through someone that it was connected to Bombay Bhel. Maybe I am wrong or maybe they are trying a different style of cooking here. I don't know. But, like you, I have had some very average to below average food at Bombay Bhel.
Does anyone have experience with Noisette Pastry Works in Markham?
Marco Polo a little further north in the McDonalds plaza at Valleymede and Hwy 7 has good cakes as well. Ordered from there on more than once occassion, as have our neighbours. Never been disappointed. Much better than anything you will find at Loblaws.
Any good Indian restaurants in Richmond Hill?
The only decent one is Host.
I haven't been to Bomnbay Chutney, but I think it's owned by the same people as Bombay Bhel. I have been there once and the food is very mediocre. The prices at Host are higher, but the quality is better.
best burgers in T.O.
LOL... Beating Johnny's isn't much of an accomplishment, considered that their frozen hockey puck burgers made from the cheapest "meat" around and tasting like cardboard are probably the worst burgers you will find in Toronto.
Purple flesh (not skin) yams
T&T has them. Sometimes they are from Hawaii. But, more often they are from China. I have seen it in smaller Chinese grocery stores as well.
Top 3 Szechuan
There is a place called Szechuan Legend that has opened up at Hwy 7 and Leslie, in the same plaza as Asian Legend.
Has anybody tried it?
Licks
I went to the Licks on Yonge in Thornhill a couple of weeks ago. The dry, overdone, tasteless burgers make the Beaches location of Licks seem like a gourmet burger place.
Review: The Copper Chimney 2050 Avenue Road, Toronto, M5M 4A6 416-850-9772
Yes. I am sure everything was fine. The kitchen seems to perform well enough when there are only 2 or 3 tables seated in the restaurant.
