Free Burger King breakfast sandwich - Friday Sept 18

Pixel 8 Lounge

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Pixel 8 in Markham is a japanese ramen type place that also serves bubble tea...I think. To be honest I really didn't get a good look at the menu because I went there for one reason only, $6.99 prime rib. I love prime rib and I love being cheap so when I heard of this special I was all over this like icing on a pie. After a few delays I finally ended up going last week and it was certainly worth the wait.

The prime rib lunch special ($6.99 + tax/tip) comes with your choice of rice or ramen, black or green tea, and of course the prime rib...well you can just look at the picture. This wasn't advertised on the menu and was only shown on one of those plastic standing things that they had hidden by the counter which we had to ask for....so yea, they're kind of sneaky like that.

Just to be clear, this is a restaurant that mostly serves ramen and it's $6.99 so obviously this wasn't going to be steakhouse quality meat. So was it good? Well maybe not when you compare it to other places but other places don't sell their prime rib for $6.99 either. So I guess a better question is was it $6.99 good? And I'd say it sure was.

It came covered in a peppercorn sauce and was cooked fine though I'd probably ask for it rare next time instead of medium rare. The ramen was just ok, nothing special about it at all, but I'd still recommend it over the rice just for sheer value (unless you just love your rice). And finally the black tea...it wasn't black milk tea like I was expecting but at least it was still something other than water or hot tea.

So prime rib for $6.99? How can you go wrong? ....I guess unless you get sick.

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prime rib lunch special - black tea, ramen, prime rib

Pixel 8 Lounge
50 Bur Oak Ave.
Markham, ON

Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks

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green milk tea with tapioca

A while ago I wrote about Fruitti Mix in the First Markham food court being the cheapest bubble tea I knew of ($2.25/tax in). Recently a new place, Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks (also in the First Markham food court), matched that price so of course I had to try. Now even though Fruitti Mix doesn't have the best bubble tea, it's cheap and it's tasty while Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks...well it's just cheap.

I got a green milk tea with tapioca ($2.00/tax in) which was actually cheaper than what was advertised. I assume price this also applies for black milk tea and the extra 25 cents is only for powdered flavours giving this place the title of cheapest bubble tea...but too bad it's not any good. The tea itself wasn't sweet at all and the tapioca was way too firm and chewy. A friend got a taro milk tea with tapioca ($2.25/tax in) which was also pretty bad, saying it tasted really powdery and wasn't mixed well enough.

So unless you're really cheap and need to save that 25 cents, I'd recommend Fruitti Mix over this place as the bubble tea here...prettay prettay preettaaaaay bad.

Rainbow Speedy Snacks & Drinks (in the First Markham Place food court)
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Day & Night Firewood Steakhouse

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lobster soup

A few of us ended up going to Day & Night a little while ago for lunch. For pure value Day & Night does pretty well in that department as all of their lunch combos come with lobster soup, bread, and unlimited access to their all-you-can-salad bar (which some of us seemed to enjoy more than others lol). The salad bar itself isn't too special...it has...salad and just some random fruits and vegetables but there's just something about a buffet that makes you want to try and fit as much food as you can on a plate like so. Also did I mention it's unlimited?

all you can salad

I ended up getting some sort of....well I don't remember what it was called on the menu but it was pieces of cut up steak with pasta in a tomato sauce ($8.99 + tax/tip) which I ate like a quarter of and mixed all up before I remembered to take a picture. The pasta wasn't bad and neither was the steak though the pieces of meat were cut up pretty small so I wasn't able to judge that well the quality of the meat...but it was good enough for lunch. The rest of the guys all got the lunch special which was a steak with noodles in a tomato broth ($9.99 + tax/tip). This apparently wasn't very good though...something about steak sitting in a bowl of soup which I'd imagine not going well together.

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semi eaten steak with pasta in tomato sauce / steak with noodles in tomato broth

Day & Night Firewood Steakhouse
2 Fenton Road
Markham, ON

Macau/Portuguese Food

Hainanese Chicken

One day the guys and I went to a place recommended by one of our friends in the Peachtree Foodcourt. Apparently, this place has one of the best pork chop rice and the chef used to work for a hotel back in Macau (how he ended up in the foodcourt of a mediocre chinese mall will remain a mystery). I was about to order the pork chop rice as well until I saw the sign “Famous Hainanese Chicken Rice”. Sticking with the pact, I ordered the Hainanese Chicken ($5.99 + tax) in the end.

I was in a bit of a dilemma of what I would expect from this place. On one hand, it’s in the foodcourt so I don’t expect a lot, but on the other hand, it’s made by a chef who previously worked in a famous hotel in Macau, which means that it must be good. Anyways, the food came and I was surprised by a few things. First off, they gave me the chicken separately in a box, which means more quantity because they actually had to fill the box. The quality of the chicken was also very good, as it was tender and flavourful. The rice, however, was a bit too dry and did not have the genuine Hainanese Chicken rice that I would expect. There wasn’t a soup that came with the meal too, but that didn’t change what I think of this meal much. Overall, a good meal for the price that I paid, although I hope their rice would improve overtime.

Pork Chop Rice

On a separate note, Jon ordered the pork chop rice ($5.50 + tax) along with the rest of the guys. He highly recommends the rice as it has good quality, sauce and quantity. He was pretty full at the end of the meal and from what I observe, it is also a good meal for the price considering there was so much pork chop and rice in the dish.

Macau/Portuguese Food (Peachtree Center Foodcourt)
8392 Kennedy Street
Markham, ON

Queen Slice Pizza & Pita

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lamb plate / chicken shawarma plate

Students with classes around the south-west side of campus at UofT probably already know all about Queen Slice but anyway...the menu at Queen Slice is a strange mix of pizza, panzerottis, burgers, and shawarma but most people seem to just go for the shawarma plate. A decent place for a quick tasty lunch or for people watching the "interesting" business going on upstairs. (it's a whore house lol)

I got the lamb plate ($7.99 + tax, but I got it for $6.99), while Leo got the classic, #3, the chicken shawarma plate ($6.99 + tax). Both plates came with salad, rice, half a potato, and the meat all covered in hot sauce and their "special shawarma sauce" (thousand island dressing lol). The lamb was surprisingly decent, it was a nice sized lamb shank and the meat was pretty tender. I didn't try any of the chicken, which just looked like a bunch of chopped up chicken, but it gets Leo's seal of approval though he does warn it can be really greasy sometimes.

Queen Slice Pizza & Pita
177 College Street
Toronto, ON

Oriental Cafe

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chef special chunked beef noodle soup

Sadly with the great Mr. Sun's now closed, I now need to find a new place for my beef noodle soup fix and a definite contender for that role is Oriental Cafe located in Richmond Hill just north of Leslie/16th. They used to run a stall in the First Markham food court and apparently moved here a while ago.

Walking past the restaurant the first thing I noticed was a big yellow poster advertising their chef special chunked beef noodle in soup so of course I had to try that. From 12pm-6pm, it costs $7.25 + tax/tip but otherwise it's $7.99. The beef was good. Soft, not too fatty, no bad pieces. The soup was also pretty good and very flavorful. The noodles though were just ok and just like any other noodle you'd get elsewhere. So while they weren't terrible, they weren't anything special like Mr. Sun's.

We all got the beef noodle soup except for Leo. And Leo being Leo, he of course got the hainanese chicken ($7.25 + tax/tip). The rice according to Leo was very good, "creamy yet had that essense and smell and taste of hainanese chicken". But the chicken was too rough and dry and disappointing compared to the rice.

Though a little expensive for what it is, the beef noodle soup here is very good and I'd definitely return.....but it's still no Mr. Sun's.

haianese chicken

Oriental Cafe
9425 Leslie Street
Richmond Hill, ON