HKS BBQ & Noodle House

Roasted Duck & Soy Chicken Rice (w/ Sunflower Tea)

Another day, another dinner at First Markham Place foodcourt. I must say, this foodcourt is by far one of the best places to eat because of its prices and quantity. Speaking of which, HKS BBQ & Noodle House is most famous for its large amounts of food (not just rice) while maintaining a decent quality every time. This is my usual place for my chicken, duck, roasted pig and etc as it has never disappointed me for the past 9 or 10 years (and continuing). Also, if you order near closing time, SOMETIMES they give you a bit more stuff depending on what they have left.

The day that I went I got the roasted duck & soy chicken rice ($6.25 tax included), and it always comes with a complimentary drink (soy milk or sunflower tea) or soup. I went close to closing hours and they ran out of roasted pig or else I would’ve got that (their roasted pig is better than their duck). Usually, their roasted duck is too bony and skinny and I never get enough meat out of them, but surprisingly, the duck was pretty good this time, not skinny at all. The soy chicken has been consistently good throughout the years, so that was normal for me. Although the quality is not what you would expect from actual sit-in restaurants, it does its job for a fast-food place. It tastes different from the average place, but not worse, just slightly different. It doesn't bother me at all and I’m sure it won’t bother the rest of you guys.

So, if you ever wonder into the foodcourt feeling some BBQ pork or anything else, HKS BBQ & Noodle House is the place to go. There is another place two stores beside it, but DO NOT try that. I tried it once when it opened up and it was no match for HKS BBQ & Noodle House. The meat is dry and the quantity is less. HKS BBQ & Noodle House: GOOD. Other place: BAD. Bon appetit.

Rating: 8.5/10

HKS BBQ & Noodle House (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Mei Nung Beef Noodle House

beef noodle soup (S $5.99/L $6.99)

NOT VERY GOOD. GO TO MR. SUN'S.

Mei Nung Beef Noodle House
3229 Highway 7 East, Unit 7
Markam, ON

Ho Garden

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toast, eggs, instant noodles with ham / I have no idea what that is

One day Leo had an appointment early in the morning and decided to wake our lazy asses up so we settled on going for some cheap chinese breakfast. Of course for us, the temporarily unemployed, early is like 11am so we ended up going the closest place possible, Ho Garden, just to make it there right before breakfast ended at 11:30. This was pretty early for me so details are a little hazy.

I got uhh some sort of breakfast combo, which came with toast, 2 fried eggs, and instant noodles with ham ($4.95 + tax). Most amazing breakfast ever? No, but for $5 I'm not complaining and it definitely hit the spot. Leo got a different breakfast combo which came with oatmeal and a scrambled egg sandwich ($3.95 + tax) which he thought was just ok and regretted not getting my combo. Our last friend Wey got....I have no idea what he got but it was some sort of noodles in soup with chicken and a whole bunch of other stuff ($4.95 + tax). Didn't look very appetizing to me but he seemed to enjoy it so who knows.

Overall not bad, I like breakfast...just not waking up for it.

oatmeal and scrambled egg sandwich

Ho Garden
9255 Woodbine Ave
Markham, ON

Food Challenge: Yanagi Sushi – Double Katsu Challenge

Before the challenge began – TWO chicken katsus!

A while ago one of my friends tried to eat two pork katsus at Yanagi Sushi. Unfortunately, he did not finish. After hearing about this, I decided that one day I would step up and take the challenge myself. So, on August 18th 2009 (a day to be remembered), the challenge for two katsus was up again, only this time I was the contender.

Because I made up my mind to do it just two days before, I didn’t really prepare for this challenge besides drinking a lot of water the day before in an attempt to expand my stomach (which I think did nothing) and starved myself a bit the whole day. The time finally came when I arrived at the First Markham Place food court, and told the lady “TWO chicken katsus, please” (Fan of chicken, never pork). When I saw the two plates of katsu goodness in front of me, I was already hungry beyond my imagination, and began eating. I managed to finish the first katsu in about 5 minutes, probably because I was too hungry. After that, I slowed down my pace as the first katsu started filling up my stomach. In the end, I finished both katsus in 23 minutes. I did save a small bite as a grand finale to show my friend (the one who didn’t finish the challenge) and for the video below, but that wouldn’t have changed my time dramatically.

This challenge is now deemed a standard introduction challenge between all my friends, and a start to the world of competitive eating among us. If you’re going to start somewhere, you better start here. As for my friend who didn’t finish, he’ll back for a rematch soon. And for me? Gluttony is a sin, and I am now a sinner.

COMPLETION!

Yanagi Sushi (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Kenny’s Delight

Pork Fried Rice with Vegetables and Dried Olives, Fish and King Oyster Mushroom on Fried Noodles

After a whole day of sports with the guys and not having a full meal all day, all I can think of is Kenny’s Delight, located in First Markham Place. This is because Kenny’s is well known for their large dishes at a reasonable price. So, before I begin my review, I challenge everyone to try and eat TWO plates of Kenny’s rice or fried noodles. It is possible (I’ve witnessed my previous roommate eat two before), but I believe only a handful of people can achieve this feat WITHOUT training or fasting.

Anyways, to satisfy my hunger, I ordered the pork fried rice with vegetables and dried olives ($7.99 + tax), an usual for me at Kenny’s while my friend ordered the fried noodles with fish and king oyster mushroom ($10.99 + tax). Now, I may be biased since I’ve been eating at Kenny’s for a long time, but the pork fried rice has never disappointed me. The rice is not too dry or too wet, just moist enough. There are plenty of dried olives in the rice and always enough meat and vegetables so that you will never be left with just rice in the end. The fried noodles, however, was a major disappointment. The noodles seem to be overcooked and burnt a bit and the taste was bland and plain, almost as if there were no flavour at all. The fish was decent and not overcooked , but still had no taste to it. Other than that, I don’t know what else I can say aside from a below average dish overall for Kenny’s.

If it weren’t for the fried noodles, it would have been a nice dinner at Kenny’s. So, for all you followers of this blog, DO NOT order the fried noodles (unless you’re feeling for some plain and flavourless food similar to congee). This does not change my mind about recommending and going back to Kenny’s though, but I think I’ll just stick to my pork fried rice and salty fish fried rice (also my favourite at Kenny’s) from now on.

Rating: 8.5/10 (-0.5 for the horrible fried noodles = 8/10)

P.S: I also ordered the Horlicks, which by the way, is the best Horlicks I’ve ever had. Highly Recommended!

Kenny’s Delight
3255 Highway 7 East, Unit 18A
Markham, ON

Go For Tea… Part II

Taro Slush with Popcorn Chicken Rice

Now, I know Jon already did a review of Go For Tea here, but since I ordered something different, I’ll do another one. I didn’t really eat anything the day that I went so I was feeling kind of hungry when I sat down. Go For Tea offers a fair amount of food dishes, even hot pot, which my friends got, but the prices seem to be fairly expensive. I got the popcorn chicken rice ($8.99 + tax), and it is actually a first time I ordered popcorn chicken for myself. Expecting it to be similar to Popeye’s or KFC, I think the popcorn chicken offers a similar taste, yet not as greasy, and that’s a good thing. The chicken wasn’t dry at all and I believe the meat is from the chicken leg, which is the best part. The plate also came with side dishes of wakame salad and ham, giving it a more luxurious feel . There was also a sauce on top of the rice that tasted a mixture of beans and potatoes, adding more flavour overall. Positive reviews were given by my friends about the hot pot as well, but I can’t seem to remember the price nor did I take a picture of it. Aside from the food, I got the taro slush ($5.99 + tax), but I got a large so it was a dollar more. As Jon mentioned before, the large was well worth it and I actually had to rush the drink in the end because there was so much left.

So, at first I thought I would just get something to simply satisfy my hunger, and it turned out to be a good meal in the end so I was happy. For food at a bubble tea place, it is actually decent and even above average considering the quality of food that I get at other places. However, for the price that you’re paying, you can bet that there are other places out there that are cheaper, but Go For Tea opens until 3am so what can you do. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and for once being desperate doesn’t turn out to be a bad thing after all.

Go For Tea
Unit 2-230 Commerce Valley Dr E
Richmond Hill, ON

Chako Barbeque

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MEAT !

Late night Korean BBQ...great for those days when suddenly it's 10 at night and you haven't eaten yet and you're really hungry. Most Korean BBQ (or KBBQ as the kids like to call it) places are pretty much the same and Chako doesn't do anything very different though the decor is probably nicer than most. Differences between the regular and late night menu (10.99 + tax) can be seen here but I just go for the beef and short ribs anyway so I just stick to going at night.

To start off you get a salad and a bunch of side dishes including kimchi, beansprouts, pickled radish, and fried tofu. I like the pickled radish and fried tofu but that's just me. In terms of the meat...fish sticks to the grill, chicken takes too long to cook, pork gets too dry, and squid I just don't like for KBBQ...so yea, I just stick to the beef and short ribs but even the short ribs are kind of fatty. And then the vegetables are...wait...what is this? vegetables? I don't come here to eat vegetables! But if you really wanted to, you could also get zucchini and green/red peppers...not that I have ever tried them of course. Pssh...vegetables...

All in all a great night, I just hope all that meat isn't still stuck in my colon. Also watch the video on the proper way to cook beef at korean BBQ as demonstrated by Leo.

Chako Barbeque
163 York Blvd
Richmond Hill, ON

Cuisine Of India

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Lesson #1 about indian buffets, don't eat too much. Let's just say me and indian buffets don't have a great history together when it comes to portion control and being able to walk after. A friend met me up at work for lunch and we decided to have indian so we flipped a coin and ended up at Cuisine of India (the other option being Bombay Bhel).

Like alot of indian places, lunch at Cuisine of India is buffet style (10.99 + tax). First impressions of the buffet compared to other places was that the selection was pretty limited. Off to one side was the tiny salad bar and dessert selection which only had fruit and rice pudding. The main part of the buffet had a nice selection of vegetarian dishes but only 3 dishes that had meat. There were 2 chicken, 1 beef, and one of them was tandoori chicken so yea...very limited (not even any lamb??). The tandoori chicken I found too salty and the other meat dishes also pretty mediocre. I actually found the vegetarian dishes a to be bit better. There were all the usual suspects for the vegetarian options, spinach and paneer, chickpeas (chana), lentils (daal), deep fried eggplant and cauliflower, and uhh another eggplant dish (haha yea...my indian food knowledge is kind of lacking). They all tasted ok but I think I can say that I've much had better elsewhere.

Overall just ok, and I'd like to see how Bombay Bhel (just a bit south) compares. Now back to that lesson....what was it again? Needless to say I almost fell asleep at my desk later after a slow walk back to work.

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round 2 / round 3...and defeat

Cuisine Of India
5222 Yonge St.
North York, ON

[CLOSED] Mr. Sun's Noodle House

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the best beef noodle soup in toronto

Mr. Sun's Noodle House at Midland/Finch in Scarborough is one of those places you'd walk past a million times and never expect to have food this good unless someone told you about it. The decor...and possibly hygiene...could definitely use some work but after trying some of their beef noodle soup suddenly none of that matters anymore. Sure the kitchen probably looks something like a shirtless bearded chinese guy wearing an apron and wellington boots, smoking a cigarette cooking over a bathtub...but even if that were true I'd still keep going back, it's just that good.

There's one reason I love Mr. Sun's (no homo) and that's for their beef noodle soup (6.99 + tax). Even on the menu it says "Best beef noodle soup in Toronto" and for once I'd actually agree with one of these outrageous claims because it really is the best here. Angelic trumpets, heavenly trombones...I don't know how else to describe it. The beef is incredibly soft and the perfect texture for a bowl of beef noodle soup. The noodles are also great, nice and thick and slightly chewy without being too gumy like alot of places. But for me the real star is the soup. Let's just say I drink the whole bowl and I don't need to explain any more on that.

So unless you want to deny yourself from trying the best beef noodle soup in Toronto, I recommend you go to Mr. Sun's Noodle house right now! ...just don't use the bathrooms.

Mr. Sun's Noodle House
4186 Finch Avenue East, Unit 25
Scarborough, ON

Special Category: Hainanese Chicken – YOGI Noodle

Hainanese Chicken at YOGI Noodle

Personally, I am a BIG fan of chicken. More specifically, I am a BIG BIG fan of Hainanese Chicken (as to Jon and his pork cutlet fetish). Jon and I actually have an agreement that whenever we try a new place he must order the curry pork or pork cutlet and I must order the Hainanese Chicken if it is on the menu. So, in honour of this special dish, I will be making specific posts reviewing all the Hainanese Chicken in the GTA. There are three things that I believe rates whether the dish overall is good or not: authenticity, quantity and of course quality. The latter two are pretty easy to understand but for authenticity, what I mean is how the dish presents itself to what Hainanese Chicken should be. Basically this means that the rice should be the yellow and oily chicken rice and there should be a soup that comes with it.

For those of you new to this blog and don’t know about YOGI Noodle, please refer to this post. Now on to the Hainanese Chicken. At a price of 7.99 + tax, this is fairly a cheaper price for Hainanese Chicken compared to the others that I’ve tried before. When the dish came, however, I understood why. First of all, the chicken was only a leg. In fact, it was less than a leg as you can see in the picture, with only 5 pieces. The rice made an attempt to be authentic, but it was not yellow nor it tasted close to the actual chicken rice. It was better than plain rice though. The chicken itself was decent, as it did taste like Hainanese Chicken at least and was not rough or old. The soup that came with the meal was a Chinese soup, similar to the ones you get before any meal at Chinese restaurants. Although it was a bit inauthentic, but I do like how the soup was not bombarded with MSG and such as it actually tasted good.

So, as many would recommend YOGI Noodle as a place to eat, I would disagree on recommending their Hainanese Chicken. I’ve had better at other places and YOGI’s just falls under the stereotypical and average Hainanese Chicken that you can get anywhere else, possibly for a lower price and higher quantity too.

Rating: 6.5/10 (The quality of the chicken saved itself from getting a lower rating)

Yogi Noodle
325 Bamburgh Circle, Unit 109A
Scarborough, ON

Kenzo Ramen

Tonkotsu (Pork Bone Soup Based Ramen)

Located south of Steeles on Yonge, this tiny little ramen shop can satisfy anyone’s hunger for authentic AND delicious ramen noodles. I’ve heard about this ramen place several times before, and I’ve been here once already so I have an idea how it good it is. However, rather than trying something new for my second visit, I decided to order the same things just to see if the quality is consistent. Besides, my friend wanted to the same things as my first visit, so it was coincidental.

We both got the Tonkotsu (Pork Bone Soup Based Ramen, $9.95 + tax) and shared a Takoyaki (Octopus Balls, $6.99 + tax i think). Just a note that both things that we ordered did not actually had a price tag on them and I forgot to take a picture of the bill to remind me the price. Guess I’ll have to go again to double check the price, which is not a bad thing actually. The Tokotsu comes with ramen (obviously), chasu (Japanese style BBQ pork) and a demi egg while the Takoyaki is topped with a bit of mayo and thin slices of onions. The ramen soup was thick and flavourful, but there is still room for improvement as it is not as thick as I wanted it. The noodles were thick and pretty good, not too chewy and not too soft. The chasu could’ve been better as they were also not as flavourful as I wanted, but were pretty tender to my liking (I like my soup and meat VERY thick so it may vary according to your own personal tastes). The takoyaki seems to have gotten better than last time, as they were more sticky and chewy. The flavour on them were also VERY thick, and I could taste the sauce all over the takoyaki and not just on the top part.

Takoyaki (Octopus balls)

My conclusion? This place is so far the best ramen noodle shop that I’ve tried so far. There is also another Kenzo Ramen located downtown by Dundas and Bay. I’ve been there once as well and I must say, this one is better. The Kenzo downtown is actually the original Kenzo with the original owners, but their noodles seem to be thinner and just isn’t as good as their Steeles & Yonge counterpart (Plus when I went they charged my friend $1.00 for green tea while it was free at Steeles & Yonge). So, for the Kenzo Ramen on Yonge, definitely worth another visit in the future.

Rating: 8/10

Kenzo Ramen
6180Yonge St.
North York, ON

Firefly Seafood & Steak House

Puff Pastry Onion Soup

A reunion with my previous co-workers at Jipolis Amusement Center (R.I.P JIPS) brought me to Firefly Seafood & Steak House at First Markham Place. This was a week exact after my wisdom teeth removal (which was July 29th to show you how behind I am with this blog). After a look at the menu I was set to order pasta, which would go easy on my mouth. Soon after though, a quick glance at another menu revealed something more worthy for this occasion. There was a special going with the words and I quote “SUPER SHOCKING LOW PRICE – 17.99 + tax”. The original price of this “special” was 34.99 mind you. Two things I thought after seeing this: 1)I can’t believe people actually put something like that on a menu 2) 17.99 + tax is considered a low price meal? But, being the sucker that I am, I eventually got the SUPER SHOCKING SPECIAL (17.99 + tax) in the end. Basically, this is a 4 course meal with: house salad with ginger and vinegar sauce, puff pastry onion soup, prime rib with mashed potatoes and a dessert.

Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables

I forgot to take pictures of the salad and dessert (which was just a mango pudding, nothing special), but I did remember to take the soup and roast beef (see above). Anyways, the salad was average. Small and average to be exact. The soup looked decent and it tasted alright, at least the puff pastry part did. The soup itself was quite bland and watered down. The whole time it would try to make a comeback (No MJ jokes please) but failed to give me a real sense of flavour. The prime rib was better than I expected, but it was no Harbour Sixty or even Keg prime rib. It was more like Mandarin prime rib, which is actually roast beef in disguise. However, it was more tender and juicy than Mandarin which is at least a good thing.

Before the reunion, I think I haven’t been to Firefly for about 3-4 years already. After the meal, I remembered why I didn’t go and why I shouldn’t go there again. For the price of the food, I’m sure you can go to other places for the same price but better quality (Moxies, Milestones to name a few). I guess I don’t even have to say whether I’m going to go back to this place or not. You guys be the judge.

Rating: 6.5/10 (+0.5 more for the effort on the puff pastry only = 7/10)

Firefly Seafood & Steak House
3255 Highway 7 East, Unit 2-2A
Markham, ON

Pho 88 (Double Eight)

Jackfruit Juice, Lychee Slush and Red Bean Slush

Nearing the end of my wisdom teeth recovery (which is actually 3 weeks ago), my parents took me to Pho 88 (or Double Eight as the sign says) at the Bamburgh Circle plaza. Located beside the infamous YOGI Noodle (self-proclaimed “best chinese food in town”), Pho 88 also boasts about its food, claiming that it has the “most famous beef noodle soup in town”. Now, I’ve tried a lot of Vietnamese places downtown, so my standard was set high for this place since downtown is probably the best place for Viet food in my opinion.

To start off, I ordered my usual Jackfruit Juice ($3.50 + tax) while my parents ordered the Lychee Slush and Red Bean Slush (both $3.00 + tax if i remember correctly). Nothing special about these drinks as they taste exactly the same as any other pho place in Toronto. The Jackfruit was plain and does not have enough flavour. Then again, I can hardly remember when was the last time I had a Jackfruit Juice that was actually good, so I wasn’t THAT disappointed.

The Pho I ordered was the Special Pho 88 Combination ($7.00 + tax), which I can’t remember if it’s actually called that. What I know for sure is that it’s number 101 on the menu and only comes in XL. The Pho comes with: Pho (of course), Raw Beef, Beef Tendon and Tripe. I also got the Spring Rolls ($3.50 + tax).

Special Pho 88 Combination (Anyone know what it’s called exactly?)

Being extra hungry that day from the congee that I’ve been eating at home, I felt that I could finish this XL with ease. Was I wrong about that! The quantity of the Pho was way larger than I expected, as downtown XL Pho simply meant a bit more pho and beef, with A LOT more soup to create the effect of more. Pho 88’s pho, on the other hand, had more of everything. A LOT more, to be exact (I’m repeating A LOT again and again to emphasis the quantity by the way). Anyways, I struggled to finish, and I was quite satisfied with this place. Not only was the quantity fulfilling, the QUALITY made it stood out above your average pho place. I don’t know how to put it, but there just seems to be more flavour in the Pho than other places. The beef was tender to my liking as well as the tendon and tripe. They weren’t old or rough like MANY other Viet places, so I was surprised and happy about it. The spring rolls were pretty good too. Not too crunchy and not too chewy. Maybe I’m just biased because it was easy on my mouth (wisdom teeth reminder). They did not hold back on the ingredients as well, with every spring roll stuffed, packed, condensed, and all the other words you could use to describe it.

So, would I go back to this place? Hell yea! (As a matter of fact, I just went there again today). Do I recommend it to others? For sure! If you want a hungry man/woman’s dinner at a fairly decent price, Pho 88 would be the place that you should go to… If you’re feeling pho of course.

Pho 88 – Most Famous Beef Noodle Soup in Town”

Rating: 8/10

Pho 88 (Double Eight)
325 Bamburgh Circle
Scarborough, ON

Memphis Smoke House

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pulled pork sandwich

Near the City Centre in North York in the middle of all the korean, japanese, and chain restaurants is Memphis Smoke House, a southern BBQ type restaurant specializing in food like ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and such. With not many of these types of restaurants in Toronto, it seemed it was worth giving a try. First impressions were that the service was a bit disorganized but the lunch menu showed some promise with most dishes starting at $5.99.

I got a pulled pork sandwich with fries ($5.99 + tax). Fries could also be substitued for salad or onion rings (!!! wish I knew that before I got my food). Everything looked good but tasted....disappointing. The pulled pork was pretty dry and bland tasting. This could have been remedied with some extra BBQ sauce in the sandwich not only for taste but also for the dryness. End result was just a dry pork sandwich with a hint of BBQ sauce....pretty bad. The fries were ok and a nice thick cut but at the end of the day they're still just fries and not enough to save the sandwich.

So unless someone is someone is really desperate for any form of southern BBQ food, I can't say I would otherwise recommend this place....though looking for southern BBQ in Toronto is kind of like being stranded on a desert island with a really fat chick. It's there if you're really looking for it but it sure isn't very good.

Memphis Smoke House
4916 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Tasty Delights

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beef fried noodles

My god I've been lazy lately, this is probably from like a week ago but anyway....I was at the First Markham food court ready to get my usual pork katsu only to find they were closed for the long weekend but I guess even food court ladies need breaks too. Looking around at our other options we settled on Tasty Delights and decided to split a few noodle and rice dishes.

There were 3 of us so we each picked one. I wanted to get the fish and corn on rice but was told they didn't have any fish (no fish??) and randomly picked some sort of beef and egg on rice instead. Other than that we also got a beef fried noodle and tomato and beef on rice and it was almost like we were having a poor man's version of the dinner we had the day before at Congee Wong. Everything we ordered were each $5.00 + tax and came with a free drink (soy milk!).

Food was pretty much what you would expect from a food court stall....not very good. Sure it was cheap, and big...and corn starchy...but even for $5 I'm not going back. All of the dishes suffered from a noticeable lack of meat but I guess should have lowered my expectations for a $5 dish from the food court. One positive though was that it wasn't extremely greasy like most things from a chinese food court and surprisingly didn't find myself running to the bathroom at 4am the next morning like I thought I would...though I don't think a restaurant deserves any points for that.

...or maybe I was just mad they didn't have any fish.

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tomato and beef on rice / beef and egg on rice....yes it tastes as bad as it looks

Tasty Delights (in the First Markham Food court)

3255 Highway 7 East

Markham, ON

Hello Wonton Noodle

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shrimp wonton noodle soup

A little north of the City Centre in North York is Hello Wonton Noodle, a place that specializes in....you guessed it, wonton noodle soup. When I heard it was owned by the same people as Jim Chai Kee in Richmond Hill I knew it would be pretty decent and cheap. A little bit nicer looking than its Richmond Hill brother, Hello Wonton Noodle is still pretty no frills where you pay at the front and have to make your own tea. The nice thing about this place compared to the other one is that the warm/hot water tap for tea is built right into the table so no more getting up!

I just got the basic, the shrimp wonton noodle soup which was $4.50 + tax. The noodles and the broth were pretty standard and the portion wasn't that big but it's all about the wontons anyway. Hidden under the noodles were 4 massive wontons packed full of shrimp which were great quality and most importantly (other than cheap haha) they were tasty.

Overall I'd say this is a nice place for a quick lunch and solid option if you're looking for something that's cheap and not in wrap form.

Hello Wonton Noodle
5313 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Congee Wong (天皇)

(Left to Right): Minced Beef Congee, Salmon Congee, Singapore Turnip, Egg & Beef Noodle

Recently I took out all my wisdom teeth and have been restricted to soft foods (ie. Noodles, Congee, etc), which is why the next couple of blogs will be mainly those kinds of stuff. Anyways, we went to Congee Wong at First Markham Place so that I can actually eat out with them (Thanks Guys! Appreciate it). There was 5 of us and we were all very hungry, so we were prepared to order a lot of food. Surprisingly, the portions were actually quite large for a dish and we ended up ordering only 5 dishes (2 were congee btw and not even in the large bowl section).

To start off, the minced beef congee (3.95 + tax) was pretty good. The amount of beef was way more than I expected, which is always a plus. I never got to try the salmon congee (4.95 + tax) though, but my friends gave positive reviews for that as well. Now, the singapore style turnip (it actually said that on the bill… 5.25 + tax btw) was below average in my opinion. I’ve always been a fan of Congee Wong’s “turnips” but the quality has been decreasing over the years. It used to be more red with more sauce, but now it is more brownish and not as saucy. BUT! The taste is still decent. Not amazing like the blog, but decent. We also got the beef fried noodle (7.25 + tax… picture below) and the egg & beef noodle (also 7.25 + tax) and these were the main event of dinner. When we were ordering, my friend specifically wanted the beef fried noodle, and I just threw in the egg & beef as a filler. The beef fried noodle was your average noodle that is the same in EVERY restaurant, but the egg & beef one was something else. When it was served, everyone wanted a piece of it. It was saucy and eggy, and I am a big fan of sauce. The taste wasn’t plain or bland like something watered down, and that is already considered good in my books. There was a decent amount of beef in it as well. Best of all, it was the biggest dish on the table, meaning that you definitely get your money’s worth with this one. In the end, everyone had to fight for the egg & beef and it was rationed to the last piece of noodle left on the plate.

Beef Fried Noodle

So, would I go there again? Absolutely. For the price, portion and quality that you get, Congee Wong is definitely the place to go for dinner with large groups of people.

Rating: 8/10.

Congee Wong
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Bar Burrito

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kirkland brand bottled water...I mean large ground beef burrito

Having tried most of the burrito places in downtown Toronto, I was a little hesitant to try Bar Burrito given that most of them just aren't that great (yes including Burrito Boyz!). So how does Bar Burrito rank? Well it was ok, I've had worse and it was actually better than I was expecting but still not as good as Big Fat Burrito which I think is the best in Toronto.

I ordered a large steak burrito though upon closer inspection it appeared they gave me a ground beef burrito instead. But since I was already at my desk....and it was hot outside, I just ate it. Both the steak and the ground beef (and chicken) were the same price anyway (regular for $6.35 + tax or large for $7.60 + tax) Inside the burrito were all the usual fixings, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, rice, corn?, and beans. Portion wise it was a bit bigger than a water bottle (see comparison pic), which is pretty much in line with the other burrito places. Taste was ok, like I said I've had worse and better, though maybe I should have tried the chicken burrito instead as it seemed like the popular choice while waiting in line.

So would I go back? Only if I was in the area...and feeling for burritos...

Bar Burrito
4918 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Dandanah Shawarma

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chicken shawarma sandwich

On my way to Sushi Bong I've walked past this place a few times and thought I'd come back another day to try it. Finally got around to trying it the other day and it was pretty disappointing. It also was empty around lunch time which couldn't have been a good sign. Compared to the other shawarma options in the area I've tried, I'd rank this place last. Lebanese Gourmet is cheap and close to where I work at the City Centre and Shawarma Max is the best tasting while Dandanah Shawarma has...well it has nothing.

I had the chicken shawarma sandwich which was $4.99 + tax making it the most expensive option of the 3 places. Size was around the same as the others too so it couldn't win in quantity either. Chicken was dry and there was also a big burnt piece in mine. Overall just not very tasty and combined with being the most expensive, I don't see myself going back...unless I feel like eating bad shawarma?

Dandanah Shawarma
5383 Yonge St.
North York, ON