This is a little late, but is this place worth going? Anyone been there recently to add if Dim sum is worth it?

Sister has a wedding there coming up on a weekday (why do people get married during a workday?) Is it cheaper to hold a banquet on a Tuesday as opposed to the weekend?

I quite agree, if you know the people that work there, it seems like everyone that works there fits a partcular descrpton. Maybe it's just but I find most of the staff either look like they are students.

I honestly don't know if I want to trust what they have to say based on the interaction I had when we were there the other day. I asked if any of the stuff they carry is from European, and the guy was like "no, no, definately". I only said that because some of the labeling for the kobalssa looked like it.

You raise a good point about the deli. We weren't sure what was what the other day when we went. I just wonder, is brownish dry looking meat supposed to taste better?

So are you saying that I take a number and then I can get help in the hot foods area?

Your right, I didn't know that one. I remember European's old system of getting the number but they stopped using that when it wasn't busy. The day times I've gone here it's been pretty quiet, in other words there are more employees than customers.

Do I need to research online to see if these farms are any good? I can't see them staying alive and well in this location but that's just me. Then again I never thought their existing location was busy to justify moving here.

I'll try them again at some point, if not for anything, their fries are good. As someone mentioned, the witless staff can be offputting but that's just me.

Maybe this is just us but we didn't find the meat too appetizing. I was in there once before briefly and this place isn't busy. I mean compared to European meats back in the day. For someone that is a bit sheepish, I think this place seems a bit intimidating but that's just me.

Alot of hte meats they have appear to be better quality, I mean, they list the farms that it's from but I don't know anything about farm names.

We asked for debreceni and they gave us something that wasn't spelled the same way. When we went home to cook it, it tasted like a regular sausage, not the same like what I remember from Euoprean meats.

Anyways, long story short. I'm not saying that I don't want to pay for higher quality. It can feel daunting going in there because you don't know what you want, and some of the meats looked a bit brown to me. It didn't seem like it was fresh so to speak.

I find the staff for the most part are all young, and while that may not make a difference, I find some of them to be a bit out there. We went the other day to get the roasted chicken, girl at the hot food counter was busy talkign to some guy that was standing in the hot area but wasn't wearing a uniform. After they finish their conversation, she leaves and we walk around. She comes back and she's gone again. We asked if that section is closed and someone told us she'd be back momentarily. Wouldn't you know it, when she does come back there's someone standing there and they got the last chicken for the day. She sends him to the cash and seeing no one there she cashes him out. Took us 15 mins of waiting only to not get the chicken.

Went back another day, got the chicken. Dude there was ok I guess, if not for the fact he was playing with the butcher knife spinning it on the counter. Fries are good, but the day we went no chives for the fries. sigh. Chicken is ok, I wouldn't say it's better than Swiss Chalet, it's on par but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here.

They were cooking chili and it doesn't really seem professional because one of the guys took a spoon to go taste it and he wasn't the one cooking it. Maybe it's just me but I don't think this place is any better than European in terms of cleanliness.

Any chinese restaurant will be open. I'd suggest New Ho King on Spadina. Otherwise I think pizza is available as well. Most korean restos should be open as well.

Yes but they are also twice or three times the price. A combo here will set you back $13.

Hmm...maybe that's why they are only $20 at the superstore whereas they are $50 at William Sonoma or crate and barrel but $25 at Homesense.

I would say their fried turnip patties but that has gone down in quality at all the stores. They used to be nice and red, now they are just a bland gold color and really lacking any real flavor. Really sad.

Fresca at College and Spadina. They are one block west of Spadina on College St. This is great old school panzerotti. It's made fresh on the spot and they brush a garlic oil when it comes out. Delicious and for $7.50 for a cheese one you can't go wrong. It's huge!

I spoke with the staff there regarding that statement, and they said that what they serve there is the winning receipt.

I agree that the tea isn't anything special.

picture

Does anyone know of a place that sells this in the GTA? There's one place on Dundas St by Spadina but it seems like not many other places sell this anymore. If anyone knows of where I can get good Woo Tao Go in the GTA please let me know.

Also, it doesn't seem like alot of DIm Sum places make authentic cantonese dim sum. I am talking about the thousand layer cake (Tien chun go)

There's one place on Dundas St that makes it (the new restaurant with the big chandellier) but they use custard instead of the salted duck eggs for the filling.

We really love the marghareita from Fresca Pizza at College and Spadina.

They drizzle a garlic oil on top of it when it comes out of the oven. When it's hot out of the oven...mmm....

Much better than Terroni's!

Maybe it's just me but I didn't think this place was anything special. We got there at 6:30 and were told it was an hour wait, we got the text when we were at King and Peter St and by the time we ran back our reservation had expired two minutes so we had to wait again.

Be warned, when you go they take your name and cell number. They'll send you a text when your table is "almost" ready. You have ten minutes to get to teh restaurant before your reservation is given to someone else. Once you arrive and say who you are, they buzz you in (regular people off the street cannot just come in).

When you get inside, you have to wait again for your table to be ready. Be warned it can be a while before they seat you depending on when the previous table leaves. If you are claustrophobic, stay away from here!

We were squished into a small area for three people. I can't imagine coming here in the winter time when people have coats, where would you put it? If you have a backpack, or even shopping, don't even entertain coming here because there's no where to put it.

Overall, I found the service from the food runners to be better than the servers. The food wasn't anything special.

The momofuku Ramen was ok but nothing beats my Sapporo Ichiban instant noodles. We ordered the pork and chicken buns and at $10 for two small ones it's not worth it. If I want a pork bun I'll go over to Banh Mi boys, it's cheaper and more filling and tastier.

They don't make special requests. I wanted to get the hoisin sauce on the side for the chicken buns and the server seemed stunned. She wasn't sure if it was allowed, and asked if it was an allergy. When I told her I'm picky with sauces, she had to ask what I wanted if they couldn't put it on the side (it's not a big deal, geez). I told her I'd want just a bit, and when it arrived it was too much sauce for my liking.

We ordered the chicken and egg, thinking they only served ramen, so you can imagine how stunned we were when it came with rice. The chicken tastes good but the rice tasted like something from Ho Su's chicken terriyaki take out, or the chicken terriyaki from T&T.

Smoked chicken wings were good and spicy but at $13 for something like eight, that's $$.

My eyes bulged when the bill came and the mini bottle of coke was $4!!!! I saw some lady with a full sized can of diet coke with ice, ours just came in that glass bottle. I should have kept it as a momento. $4 for a small bottle I could have drank in one gulp was the tipping point for me.

Definitely won't be back. Personally I think this place is all hype. I'm no ramen noodle connoisseur but I didn't think it was that great overall.

Why is there 22% worth of tax on that receipt ?I am very confused. It doesn't seem like alcohol was purchased. What is this, tax on top of tax because your eating in a fancy place?

I am sort of apprehensive to post on here based on some backlash I got on a previous post but here goes...

Anyone planning on attending the T&T waterfront night market this year? Have you already gone?

Provide feedback on what you thought about this year's event.

This is our third year going and the consensus was that it was a bit disappointing compared to previous years. This year I noticed that the food stalls were reduced in numbers from last year (which is probably why they have rides to occupy that area).

I get that smelly tofu is a delicacy, but I found that alot of the foods were pretty much serving the same food.

Usual suspects - I think there must have been four smelly tofu stands.
Lots of japanese fish balls (forget the spelling)
Several potato tornado joints
Lots of BBQ skewer stands

Missing in action

Banh Mi boys
Susur's cheeseburger rolls
Taiwan Pork belly bao place that was there last year
Ice cream place with silver leaf and bacon
Filipino quail eggs,
Didn't see any vietnamese places either (that or I missed them)

The line up for PC ice cream was crazy! They should have had two people serving, rather than having one person talk to people while the other slowly scoped ice cream. I miss last year, they had full size ice cream sandwiches.

No giveaways from kraft this year, at least when we got there in the early evening.

Pros
They have tables this year, but unfortunatley no one to clean up after lazy people.

Pinstripeprincess

Finally I feel like I have some sort of support or agreement. My intention with my post was to voice that I had a less than stellar experience and that it wasn't just my meal that was subpar but someone else's as well. I shouldn't say subpar, what I mean is that I was really excited going in and I think I had my expectations too high so to speak.

Everyone has different tastes. I am hesitant to try the fried chicken because if I do and I come onto here to say it I don't want to think what the backlash could be.

I said it before and I'll say it again, I wanted to know if my less than great experience was based on what we ordered. I like fried chicken and waffles are ok but I'm not so sure about the sweet and savory combination. If I find myself in the area (I doubt it, if I go there i am going there for SY) I'd like to try the donughnuts.

I've been following these boards for a while now and I've discovered that everyone has different tastes. Ironically the rave reviews about certain places "Burger Priest" "Stockyards" that were highly lauded by the masses here and on yelp weren't that great in my opinion.

Burger Priest was not bad, but I wouldn't say it was the best burger I ever had. Plus I didn't care for the wait or the overall attitude of the joint at the queen location "This is a waiting area, do not consume food here" what seemed like the pushing of religion.

On the other hand, Banh Mi Boys which I discovered on my own when they were at the waterfront market last year and closely followed their opening was a nice surprise. Though it's great alot of people like it, I didn't jump the band wagon on that because I already knew of them before they exploded onto the scene.

Anyways, back to stockyards. I've read alot of good reviews based on people's experience at Stockyards. I was really excited to go and I wasn't expecting five star dining in any way but here's what I ordered.

Classic burger combo with a home-made iced tea.

We went on a hot day 29C+ and this place doesn't have AC. We decided to stay by the front because the back was even hotter with the kitchen.

Burger was good, but as other people mentioned the bun gets soggy if you don't eat it right away. The fries were dry and cold. How they became cold I'll never understand because it wasn't busy but my fries were made to order because i asked for no salt. My dining companion's fries were also cold and his were regularly salted I presume.

The iced tea was cold, but it was 3/4 fill in the cup (I thought it was wierd they didn't put ice in there to fill it up and given that it was a hot day). Not a fan of the ginger taste, I like ginger but I don't like iced tea with ginger.

Service was kinda meh, not great but not too bad.

Did I order the wrong thing? A good burger should stand alone by itself without any bells and whistles of double patties, grilled cheese sandwiches, and the such.

Big turn off with the cold fries and iced tea. I'd like to come back to try the chicken but I don't think it's worth it. Did I go to the wrong one? Do they have a better one on the other side of St Clair?

I'll keep that in mind about tea, because they only give us one kind. Now that I think about it, maybe Peggy gave us a different tea one time towards the end. It has been such a long time since she was there, I've forgotten what service is like. Angie is nice but she floats throughout the restaurant.

The soup, I'm telling you everyone gets it. Did you get some kind of special soup? I've seen it served to everyone else. When I go with my non-asian friend they never give it to us unless I ask (I don't drink soup myself so I don't care).

While I haven't tried the chili oil (it's not at the tables, do you have to ask for it?) I would have to say that Spadina is lackluster overall. Granted, I find 'wok hay' seems to be lacking everywhere, we haven't found it in Markham or Mississauga.

Tonight my mom brought home food from NHK and I'd gotta say that two of the dishes were bland. Chicken fried rice was tasteless, and the chicken wings were also unseasoned. I don't eat salty by any means but there was no flavor.

Lee Garden isn't bad by any means, but you are paying for the ambience.

They only have one kind of tea. As for the big bowl of soup, everyone gets the comp soup of the day.

Are you coming by car or TTC? It's going to be like this for two weeks and then when it opens one lane restriction.

I am glad Johnny is gone, he was indifferent. I mean better than nothing I suppose but I wouldn't say he was great.

Did Peggy give you the long life buns? She's the only one that I know gave those to regular customers. We had to get them this year but we paid for them. She comped us.

Are you the one that said taste of china is good? If so what sort of dishes are good?

Have you been to Kom Jug Yuen? They recently changed ownership as well but they kept the same staff so regulars are still treated like regular customers.

When did you go to NS for the first time? As I said, shortly after one of the good servers left several of us have noted the quality went down (the portions got really small).

What do you recommend at E-Pan? I'm still hesitant to go to E-Pan because if it's the same people from NS that went over there (I remember the servers that went over there were the ones we despised over at NS).

It's interesting to hear that we aren't the only ones that experienced the unusual behaviors of Peggy. If Jimmy is the same person you are talking about (he used to be a waiter there and then they promoted him) then that was the one we hated. He tried to seat the six of us at a small table.

Are you thinking of Johnny? Johnny was an interesting character as well. He didn't really work, he'd often sort of float around the room without interacting with people.

Recently for Mother's day we had reserved our usual table in advance with the owner. But when we showed up on time they told us they gave our table to someone who had made a reservation for 2 hours after us. Our reservation was for 5pm, the other guy had it for 7. He showed up at 4:45 demanded the table and they gave it away. we had to sit close to the front and it wasn't that great I tell you. I don't like the front because when it's busy, people that are waiting are right beside your table. People actually lean on our table or rest their arms, hands on our table. Very rude and I'm not talking about asian people.

I was mentioning our discussion today at home and we think that the owner didn't want to fire Peggy but they made it unbearable for her to stay that's why she quit. As I said, Peggy was nice if you were on her good side but she had another side as well (as evidenced when she got into an argument with Nancy). Mind you I don't think Nancy is innocent by any means. Sigh...I really miss Peggy. Wish she'd come back. I find it odd that she was moving to another country entirely, I know she has a son. Wonder if she went back to her birthplace or what.

I don't consider myself a chowhound connoseieur by any means. But I don't care for summerlicious or winterlicious. I went the first few years they had it and then I though t"Hey, I'm not really getting a $80 meal for $30 bucks" (that's how it was advertised by the media) Service didn't seem really good either. I went to Canoe and Epic, Dynasty on Bloor and Hemispheres. Of all those places I think Hemispheres was the only one that was decent.

I can do without pretencious food and pretencious staff anytime. Then again, I also think Burger King or other fast food is good too. Guess I'm just a 'bumpkin and I know it'

You have to tell me about the "Magic Wok" experience. Proves that grass isn't always greener on the other side. Worst of all it was my birthday, I left on grounds of principal (I'm not eating with my shoulders pressed up against my family) and made to feel like I'm eating in undeveloped country conditions. That plus the food isn't cheap. I can understand eating a hot dog or whatever on the go, but you can't have a chinese feast in cramped conditions. New Sky already packs people in like sardines, can you imagine being even more squished?

"What are your seafood special of the day?"
Waiter "Can't you read?!"

Us - actually we can't. We were all born here or came when we were really young (mom). Dad reads a bit, if even that...even then he's selective as to what to translate for us.

US - "Hey dad, what's the specials?"
Dad -"They're all seafood dishes and you guys don't like seafood"

They wouldn't have this problem if the menu was also in english.

You are right, at New Ho King it is pretty popular for multi-generational family meals. We used to go there and we stopped because the quality and service was really below subpar. Ever since they renovated things appear ok.

I really like the egg rolls from New Ho King, while they aren't 'traditional' in the sense of authentic food, it tastes like the 'authentic canadian fast food chinese' from the 80's. I don't know how to quite describe it. When you go to the mandarin, or even manchu wok, the fast food there doesn't taste old school. I find at New Ho King it's got it right for the egg rolls anyways. I haven't tried their chicken balls, but their plain fried rice is good.

I really like their "Jeah Jeah Guy" stir fried chicken with green onions and served in a pot. I prefer to get it boneless but I find that while it tastes good, they really do overdo it with the soy.

Is it just me or does almost every chinese restaurant always give Red Bean soup for the comp dessert? We absolutely hate it. It must be quick and cheap to make because nearly everywhere I go that's always served. Seems not many places give sweet tofu or taro with sago for dessert. Everytime I go to Lee Garden it's the same thing, red bean. There's a really nice waiter that will give us the coconut taro sago dessert if I ask a few times.

We like the stir fried double lobster but I find that when it's busy sometimes you don't know if they've kept a few pieces of the 'good meat' (best pieces of the meat). We ordered double stir fried lobster one time and they put it into a round foil take out container, definately smaller than what you get at the restaurant but we paid full price, it wasn't part of some combo meal!

Yes, the old waitress was Peggy and it's interesting that you know of her too. Like I said, for some reason she all of a sudden became really nice, overly friendly. It all started when my mom called for a reservation and said that it was my sister's birthday. After the meal, they turned the lights low, put on a happy birthday CD and she brought out a cake. It was from Dong Dong down the street and we were really touched. I mean, can you imagine? For years we came here and the service was always subpar. I remember there was a tall balding guy that worked there and he was miserable along with some small fellow. One time for my birthday we went there and they were trying to put the six of us at one of the square small tables fit for 4 people in the middle of the restaurant. When I said that's ridiculous, there's no way our dishes could fit on that table, let alone seat all of us comfortably. The little guy who was promoted to a manager at that point said "we've sat 7 people at that table" Ok....Needless to say I demanded that we leave and went to Rol San.

Irony was that when we went to Rol San, the service was just as bad
"What do you recommend?"
Waiter "Well that depends on what you want"
"What is your popular dish?"
Waiter "depends on what you want" and sort of walked away...

We ordered some beef and broccoli dish and I'll always remember this, it had some sort of orange sauce poured over the beef and broccoli. We spent the same amount of money we would have at New Sky, service was just as bad if not worse and it tasted pretty bland. What a lesson I learned that year.

Anyways, we went from bad service at New Sky to suddenly really great service. Peggy saw my mom walking along the street and suddenly tried to befriend her. It was kinda weird at how she went from being rude (One time she came up to our table, put all our left over food containers into a bag, and then sort of slammed it on the table and left" to being all nice.

Nancy is the one I find that is really not friendly, fake, and condescending, unhelpful. I find that overall there is no patience when you don't know what to order. It's seldom that I find a server in a chinese restaurant that is really helpful when you contemplate ordering dishes you've never tried.

Peggy's disappearence is shrouded in mystery. One of the last few times we were there, she got into an argument with Nancy and it was pretty loud. Peggy was the sort of person that was not going to be told off by anything, let alone someone young and arrogent like Nancy. It was lively to see because at the end of their argument, Peggy apologized to a regular patron (she knew the last name) and said "I'm really sorry about that" and the guy's response was memorable "I didn't hear anything"

Anyways, like I said, when we went back we were told she was either away or went back home to Malaysia (we're assuming to visit). Few more times and they say that she 'quit and went back to live in Malaysia'. I find it kinda odd because she had been living here for so long. We personally feel that maybe it got unbearable for her to work there and she decided to quit. Haven't seen her in years so I don't know if she moved or got work elsewhere.

I agree that I go there for food, not to make friends, but I also expect to be treated like a customer. I mean, especially if we are regular customers, we've spoken to other people who also say that this place isn't renowned for its service either. If you ask for an extra plate or something, it's a big chore for them.

Most of the servers there HAVE to be somehow related to the owner. I say this because there is a tall guy there, glasses that is not heavy set, but a bit big. He sort of stands around and doesn't do much, isn't proactive. There's the small guy there too that I can't stand. He exudes alot of arrogence as well.

I'd like to try Taste of China, a few years ago Susur said that's where all his family gatherings take place, but New Sky is still good. It's good to stick with something you know than risk a chance (like we did with Rol San, yuck)

We also don't find alot of restaurants that have wok hay. Given that, New Sky is always a go to place for us but sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not.

Wok hay is definately good for dishes that we order. We order the braised Grouper in a hot pot (this is the only place that ever has boneless fish, other places use fish heads or have alot of bones). Taro Birds nest with seafood (last time we got it with chicken and it wasn't as spectacular as before). Stir fried lobster with ginger and green onions (good again)

I have to say though that one of the major things that put me off about here is the customer service. I don't expect spectacular service at a chinese restaurant, but now it's gotten to the point where the people working there don't know us as 'regulars'. There used to be this lady that worked there for a long time, she was mean for a few years and for some reason she became really nice to the point where she hovered over us. While my dad didn't care for that, I liked it. It's nice to have someone come along and change your plates with discarded bones, etc.

There was another guy that was great but again he doesn't work there. My sister knows the owners son, and from what I gather, the owners really aren't all that endorsing of customer service. Seriously! We have been eating here on a regular basis for many years, yet the owners don't even bother greeting customers unless they know you personally (I guess being a long time customer doesn't account for anything).

They had this really wierd sketchy guy as a manager there for years, again, no enthusiasm, not a hard worker, stood around and that's about it.

Current manager is a hard worker, but last time we were there I we got the a whole crispy chicken and there was raw meat on my shrimp chip. When I brought it to his attention he just said oh. Granted it was mother's day but still.

I find portions at one point were skimped down alot and I guess the customer demand declined (we live in the area and walk by here all the time) so they retained the original portions. I'd be more inclined to come here if the customer service was better. That's what's extremely lacking.

Don't get me started on E-Pan. When E-Pan opened, a few of the bad servers from New Sky started working there. Gave us enough reason not to bother going.

New Ho King is a safe bet but our family says all their stuff is too well done and it's saturated in soy sauce. Personally I like it, but again there's this one dopey water that works there and it's enough to make me not want to go.

We haven't found any restaurants outside of NHK and New Sky that really have wok hay in Markham or Richmond Hill.