城隍廟小吃 (Shanghai Dimsum)

My parents brought me to a shanghai cuisine on the weekend. Although it was a far drive to scarborough, I thought it was worth a try. If you look at the menu they actually don't have that many choices. But this is a traditional shanghai restaurant, I suppose they mainly focus on what they do best other than having variety.

醉雞. This was normal. I think the wine taste wasn't strong enough though. Made me miss the one my uncle makes. His is the best drunk chicken i've had so far.

肉鬆香酥餅. Dibs on this. It's nice and crispy when its freshly made. I recommend ordering this dish.

小籠包. This was good.

生煎包. I thought this was average.

糖醋魚. This wasn't that great. It was basically just fried fish. It was sweet more than sour. 

饅頭. We ordered this to go with the fish. It was really soft though, freshly steamed. Not like the typical hard ones you usually get at other shanghai restaurants.

Food: Good, authentic shanghai food.

Servcie: Really nice, one lady was really polite.

Price: Average. The pricing was roughly the same as 味香村 (Asian Legend)

Atmosphere/Decoration: The exterior and interior was special. The interior was filled with a lot of shanghai pictures and the decoration itself pulled off a traditional shanghai feeling.

Overall: Worth a visit. However, if you do plan to go, you should make reservations because the place is really small. They only have 10 tables.

Shanghai Dimsum

4401 Sheppard Ave E, Scarborough

647-344-3630

餃子莊 (Dumpling Restaurant)

My friend recommended me to try this dumpling restaurant. It is in a hidden chinese plaza but noticeable. It was just us 2 so I couldnt order that many dishes, since we wouldn't be able to finish.

韭菜蒸水餃. Their dumplings were handmade. It was good. $4.99 for 15 pieces, I think thats a good deal. 

牛肉大餅 (Brasied beef & pancake) I thought it was pretty good. One of the better ones I've tasted at compared to other shanghai restaurants.

I was looking at the menu and I wanted to try something different. I saw 春餅 (Spring Pancake). In my mind I was thinking maybe it would be something like a spring roll but pancake style? To my surprise, this is what it turned out as.

I suppose it is the flour pancake you use to wrap your peking duck.

蔥暴牛肉 (Stir-fried beef with onion) It was really oily and the beef meat was kind of tough. I did not like it at all.

Other than shanghai food, the restaurant serves korean food as well. My friend recommended the pork bone soup. I didn't order it as I'm not a fan of pork bone soup. I saw quite a few tables ordering it too, I suppose you could give it a try.

Food: Alright.

Service: Normal, you really have to speak up for them to hear you calling them.

Price: Normal.
Atmosphere/Decoration: Nothing special, not decorated.

Overall: Nothing too special. I would suggest going for the dumplings.

Dumpling Restaurant
4385 Sheppard Ave E, Scarborough

Songcook's

This is definitely a place you would not have discovered just from driving down yonge looking for a decent korean restaurant. It was recommended by my co-worker. I remember when I first drove around the location, it took me around 10 minutes to actually find the restaurant. When I turned inside the plaza, in my head I was thinking what good food could be here in the sketchy plaza. To my surprise, I was speechless after I walked into the restaurant. The restaurant is so big and grand inside, the decoration was really pretty. Why does it seem like all the yummy food places are always found in ghetto areas?

The restaurant was divided into two sections. The normal dining area, and the more traditional seating area (where you take off your shoes and sit kneeling or legs crossed.)

My friends and I requested to sit in the traditional area. The seats were heated to keep your butt nice and warm. :P 

One thing I really didn't like was the side dishes they served. It was basically just kimchi and turnips. Normally at other korean restaurants you have more of a variety.

the bulgolgi. ($5) The meat was a bit dry.

 

the mackeral. I really liked this. ($4) 

bibimbap. I actually liked how it had more veggies than rice. 

pork belly. It was good, chewy. I wasn't a fan of this dish though.

I like how they have this 1 person combo. It is a half the portion of a normal "Ja-Jang Myun" and another dish. We decided to pick 'Khan-Pong-Gi" (spicy fried sweet and sour chicken). This was yummy.

I went with 4 girls, after ordering all this food the bill came up to just a bit under $40. After splitting the bill, it was basically only $11 per person including tip. Quite cheap considering how much food was on the table.

After dinner there was a staff walking around and willing to present a short magic show for each table. I'm not sure if that's a normal routine or just a special event for that day. But I enjoyed it and found it entertaining.

Food: Good.

Service: Good, friendly.

Price: Fair.

Atmosphere/Decoration: Really pretty.

Overall: Worth a visit. The food is a lot better and not as expensive as 'Nak Won'. This is the first korean restaurant I've been to around ktown that's well decorated, serving authentic korean food.

SongCook's

72 Steeles Ave W, Unit 6. Vaughan

www.songcook.com

(across from centerpoint, in the Moore's plaza at the far back)

Sushi Tei

I swear, everytime I watch that tvb sushi drama, it always makes me crave for sushi. In the end, (when I work from home) I tend sneak out during lunch time and head to Sushi Tei since it's close to where I live. Their lunch specials range around $10. I personally think getting their sushi or sashimi lunch set is a good deal. Considering their fresh fish quality, their prices are quite fair.

One thing I found really weird was they served different sushis on different days for their lunch special that was priced the same.

This is the sushi lunch when I went on a Wednesday.

This is the sushi lunch when I went on a Friday.

Clearly the fish served on Wednesday had more of a variety. It is kinda hard to tell from the glare in the picture, but other than the normal red tuna, red snapper and salmon, they had the egg, octoplus, yellow tail and this other rare fish (not a lot of places serve it) that I don't remember what it's called.

I suppose maybe they were much more busy on Fridays so they don't have the time to make a variety of fishes for every customer who orders their sushi lunch. However, I was quite disappointed. If I had knew, I would definitely have ordered something else.

Of all the sushi places I've been, I must say I like Sushi Tei's spicy salmon handroll the most. The seaweed is so crunchy and the salmon sashimi goes all the way to the bottom. I recommend this.

Their dinner is around $15.

Greedy me, I went for the sashimi and sushi dinner.

the chriashi sushi. sashimi and rice.

Their cooked food is yummy as well.

Their Niku Donburi is good, very saucy. Nothing special though.

This is their seafood bibimbab.

Food: Very good.

Service: Really good, very friendly.

Price: Decent, definitely worth it for the fish you are served.

Atmosphere/Decoration: Nice, nothing special.

Overall: Worth going. I would say they are considered one of the good sushi restaurants out there.

Sushi Tei

115 Times, Richmond Hill

(they have another location in Missisauga.)

Guu

I finally fulfilled my crave for Guu this weekend. This time, I decided to go to the new one (at bloor and bathurst). It's a lot bigger and lucky me, I got there early so I didn't have to wait.
I noticed the waiters and waitresses were the ones from the first Guu (on Church street). Makes me wonder if everyone moved to help out at the new one..whos left at the first one?

The menu is slightly different than the first one. Which was good, felt like another new experience.

Oden. the assorted fish cakes.
Dibs on the big white piece to your far right. It's so soft, the texture is like your eating a fish flavored marshmallow.

I normally don't like eating tuna sushi. But I must say, this was one of the best tuna I've had so far. $3.5 for one piece!

scallop sashimi, with an uni mixed sauce I believe. This was really good.

salmon sushi with cream cheese.

This was basically takoyaki, except baked in a pot instead. I found this interesting, different and quite filling. The only downside was I don't think i tasted any of the bacon or squid that it should have.

The cod rice burger. I actually wasn't expecing the cod to be fried. Still good, I think the beef rice burger might have been a better choice though.

I thought this dessert was special. Inside those fried sesame balls is a 'tang yuan' with red bean paste inside. So basicaly it was like a sweet paste inside a chewy dough ball within a crunchy sesame ball.

To your right is the almond tofu dessert. I thought it was a bit too sweet.

Food: Amazing.

Service: Excellent. They are very polite and super friendly.
Price: The place is pricy and the plates do come in small portions. But don't forget, its about the quality.

Atmosphere/Decoration: An authentic japanese izakaya place. Loud, but if you like crowds, this is the place to be. I really like the decoration too.
Overall: A must visit, it's worth the experience.

Cafe 28

I still remember I was hesitant to go there to eat when I heard the location, not until a friend insisted on going and I decided to give it a try. What can I say? It was a pleasant surprise. Hidden in a semi sketchy area, you'd never expect to find a decent restaurant serving quality food with not too expensive meals.

On Mondays - Wednesdays, they have a 2 people meal for the price of $20. Comes with 2 soups and 2 mains.
The lobster bisque was good. And yes, there was actually pieces of lobster bits inside.
the cajun shrimp linguinie.

the lobster fried rice.

On Thursdays - Sundays, they have the 2 people meal but for the price of $30. I suppose the difference is the meal comes with desserts and drinks as well.
Rack of lamb. There is something with the potatoes, really good.

Their porkchop. The sauce is mixed with mushrooms and a bite of wine taste. I must admit, it is one of the best porkchops I've had. The meat was really tender. Definitely a complimentary. However, those who dislike sweet sauces may not favor this dish.















Food: Excellent. I was satisfied with every dish I ordered.
Service: Good, my cup was always filled with water without having to ask.
Price: Decent for the quality of food.
Atmosphere/Decoration: Nothing special.
Overall: Worth going. I've been there a few times already myself : P

Cafe 28

10 E Wilmot St, Richmond Hill

(across from World Bowl, main intersection: Leslie & north of Hwy 7)