Toronto has Americanized Chinese buffets a-plenty, and MSG-laden greasy spoons galore, but for those in search of quality authentic Chinese food, a more discerning search is in order. Make no mistake – Toronto has some of the best Chinese food in the world outside of China. Travelers simply have to be in the know to find the best places for Toronto Chinese food.
Be aware that some of the best Toronto Chinese restaurants are located north of the downtown area, in overseas Chinese communities in suburbs like Markham and Richmond Hill.
Asian Legend
This rapidly expanding chain of restaurants began as a humble outpost in Toronto's Chinatown on Dundas Street. The quality northern-style Chinese food soon garnered a following among local Chinese, and soon branches were opening in neighboring suburbs like North York, Markham, and Scarborough.
The stylish and elegant décor makes this restaurant feel a little more upscale than your typical fluorescent-lit Chinese diner, but the price is right for the quality Chinese food. Soup dumplings, or xiao long bao, are thin-skinned and succulent, bursting with soupy flavor.
Don't miss their beef pancake, one of their best-loved specials, a crispy flour pancake rolled up with slices of beef and spring onion. A variety of excellent dim-sum, stir-fries, noodles, and rice dishes round out the menu.
418 Dundas St. W., (416) 977-3909
Ambassador Chinese Cuisine
Hailed by many as the best dim sum restaurant in Toronto, the premier among Chinese restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area more than lives up to its name as an ambassador of Chinese cuisine. This award winning restaurant is among the best restaurants in Toronto, and is “where Hong Kong money dine these days”, according to the Globe and Mail.
Packed from mid-morning when the dim-sum crowd arrives, to evening with banquets lush with Peking duck and lobster tails, reservations are recommended, especially on weekends. While slightly more expensive than its neighboring dim sum restaurants, Ambassador Restaurant is well worth the price for an exquisite Toronto Chinese food experience, and is still very reasonably priced. Try innovations like the pineapple-BBQ pork buns and lychee with scrambled egg-white martinis. Chinese grandmothers will agree – Ambassador is the best!
280 West Beaver Creek, at Hwy 7, (905) 731-5570.
Restauran Malaysia
While featuring more Southeast Asian than Chinese cuisine, Restauran Malaysia is where Chinese Singaporeans go when they crave home-style steamed Singapore Chicken (also known as Hainan Chicken) in Toronto.
Luscious, silky slow-steamed chicken on top of rice steamed in chicken broth, accompanied by spicy chili sauce, is almost every Singaporean's version of comfort food. A variety of excellent Malaysian and Thai noodle dishes are also on the menu, and be sure to try the “teh tarik”, or pulled tea, an Indian-Malaysian innovation. Strangely, closed on Mondays.
815 Major Mackenzie Drive East, Richmond Hill, 905-508-1432
Great Khan Mongolian Grill
An all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet is available at this Mongolian restaurant, but save your appetite for the Mongolian grill, where you can design your own dishes for a set price. Choose vegetables, meat, noodles, and other food items, as well as your choice of sauce, and then watch as the grill masters cook your dish on a gigantic Mongolian hot stone plate. Eat and repeat. Flavors are more Chinese than Mongolian, but delicious nonetheless, and the novelty makes it a fun group experience.
7131 Kennedy Rd, Markham (905) 947-8288
Dynasty Chinese Cuisine
One of the few great dim sum restaurants located in the heart of downtown Toronto, Dynasty delivers an array of quality dim sum in the day and seafood dishes in the evening. Overlooking swanky Bloor Street, Dynasty offers classic dishes such as shark-fin-soup, Peking Duck, as well as familiar favorites such as General Tao Chicken, lemon chicken, and orange duck. The menu emphasizes seafood, as any good Cantonese restaurant should.
2-131 Bloor Street West, Toronto (416) 923-3323
Camilla Cheung - Camilla is a Canadian freelance writer currently living on the Central Coast of California. She has a background in teaching and ...
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