Shanghai Shikumen Fine Cuisine

I didn't really notice that there was a Shanghainese restaurant in the outside plaza of First Markham Place (since there's way too many options here) until I saw their BOGO offer on Ubereats.

BOGO Xiaolongbao ($6 for 2 servings of 6 each)

The xiaolongbao (steamed soup filled dumplings) were really good and perfectly made with a thin skin at the bottom and a thick stem at the top. The insides had lots of meat and soup and when you picked it up, it didn't break. Really good xiaolongbao here! 

Website: https://shanghaishikumen.online/

Phoenix Restaurant

Jan 31, 2021

Ubereats BOGO deals!

Cuttlefish Ball in Fish Soup ($10.90 for 2) and Baked Chicken Steak with red curry cream sauce on rice ($15.25 for 2) and HK Milk tea ($3.45 for 2) 

The cuttlefish balls were hand made with pieces of cuttlefish in a fish ball (you could tell the harder gummy chewy pieces of the balls were cuttlefish) and the soup also had yummy tofu pockets. The broth itself was pretty good too and the whole dish felt like it missed noodles, but it was still really good. 

For the baked chicken steak with red curry cream sauce, we added in the comments for it to be spaghetti instead of rice - and they delivered! (I'm a huge noodle fan rather than rice, so this was perfect!) The spaghetti with chicken had a nice spicy curry flavour which was tempered by the cream sauce and one of the best parts too was that the chicken breast was all meat and no bone. 

The milk tea was great! A good HK style milk tea with strong tea flavour and perfect ratio of milk/evaporated milk/condensed milk (whatever makes it taste like HK milk tea). 

Sept 15, 2018

Chicken steak with tomato sauce

It's a decent portion size, but I'm not really a fan of their tomato sauce. 

Clubhouse sandwich with steak

I find it really cute that they cut off the crusts and I like that they toasted the bread.

Yunnan Vermicelli in fish broth

This dish is probably one of the best things to get at Phoenix restaurant. The fish broth is really good and the fish balls and deep fried tofu fish cakes are delicious. 

Seafood spaghetti with cream sauce

The cream sauce by itself either isn't that great - the best combination here is to combine the tomato and cream sauces (if you like that kind of thing). 

July 8, 2017

Yunnan Rice Noodle and Pork chop with gravy sauce spaghetti

The rice noodle was delicious as always - it has nice subtle flavours and this really yummy spongy fish ball. The pork chop was a lot of meat, but probably not as much sauce as I would have liked since there was also the spaghetti to absorb some of the sauce. 

Half tomato sauce and half cream sauce baked spaghetti with pork

I really like these HK style spaghetti meals - you can always decide to eat the tomato side first, or the cream side first or mix them together for an extra yummy sauce with spaghetti. The pork was really good too. 

June 18, 2016

I was craving some HK style spaghetti, so we came to Phoenix for big plates of spaghetti. 

Beef with spaghetti and Garlic and honey breaded pork with spaghetti

Both dishes had gravy sauce and interestingly enough, you could still taste the garlic and honey of the breaded pork despite the gravy sauce. The food was okay for the most part and filling. 

Jan 10, 2016

Hainan Chicken and Yunnan fish and tofu with rice noodles

Both were as delicious as I remember them - you can always count on Phoenix for consistently great meals with great value-for-money! 

November 8, 2014

We came for a quick lunch before hitting Markville Mall for some Christmas shopping. 

The service is fast and the food is reasonably priced and they serve a mean cup of Hong Kong Milk Tea.

Malaysian Beef Curry with Rice and Hong Kong Milk Tea

The beef curry was delicious! A little on the spicier side, but the steamed rice and cucumber helped to cut the spiciness down. Really hearty and delicious curry with huge chunks of beef. 

Baked Pork Chop with Cream and Tomato sauce on Fried Rice with HK Milk Tea

I didn't even realize I got the same thing that I ordered almost exactly two years ago - I guess I'm more of a creature of habit than I thought. The pork chops were still huge! I also figured out that the sauces individually aren't the best, but together the mix of the sauces works pretty well with the tomato adding a slightly stronger flavour to the lighter cream sauce and the combined sauces makes the fried rice taste better. So in the future - order this with fried rice not spaghetti. 

November 11, 2012

I love Chinese Afternoon Tea. It's great on weekends - especially if you grab dim sum early in the morning and skip lunch, then you're usually starving by 2:30pm which is when afternoon tea specials kick in! It's that perfect time between lunch and dinner when you can grab food. Some Chinese restaurants serve a special afternoon tea menu, while others serve the same dishes at dinner but at a discounted price as an afternoon tea special.

Hainan Chicken with rice

This is probably the most popular dish on the menu at Phoenix Restaurant. They're well known for their Hai nan Chicken with rice. The chicken is super tender and juicy - the best part is that there are no bones! My second favourite part of the plate is the rice (which is amazing). It's really fragrant and you can tell that it was steamed with chicken oil. 

Yunnan fish and tofu with rice noodles (mi xian)

I really like Yunnan rice noodles. The noodles are soft, thin and tasty and with the clear and simple broth - it's yummy. The fish, tofu and winter melon were great complements to the noodle soup. Even though the fish looked like it was fried, it actually wasn't - instead it was lightly battered and a little soggy which I thought was a great way to cook the fish.

Yunnan preserved vegetables and shredded pork with rice noodles 

Whereas the fish and tofu had a simple and clean taste, I thought the preserved vegetables and shredded pork overwhelmed the noodle soup since they were so strongly flavoured. The vegetables added more of a saltiness to the broth which took away from the tastiness of the noodle soup.

Baked pork chop with tomato and cream sauce on spaghetti

I found the ketchup sauce was too sweet for my liking and the cream sauce was a like a watered down version of cream of mushroom. I didn't like either of the sauces. However, they did serve us two gigantic pork chops (which was a lot of meat) and it was quite good. 

Overall: Phoenix Restaurant serves one of the best Hainan Chicken rice dishes I've ever tried and the accompanying steamed rice is also delicious. However, I found that the quality of the dishes has decreased over the years - it used to be much better. The service was insanely fast though - we were in and out in 40 minutes. 

Kandahar Kabab

Jan 31, 2021 @ 45 Overlea

Two KK Fish ($11 for 2) and Chicken Seekh Kabob ($11.98 for two with rice)

First the fish, these were much bigger than the Markham Road location and had way more white meat (almost seemed like they used a different type of fish (it was so charred I couldn't tell and I'm not great at recognizing the differences between fish). The dill sauce was excellent paired with the fish, but sadly this location's fish was super salty (much prefer the Markham road location's). 

The chicken seekh kabob was okay, but again very salty. It paired well with the rice (and the rice here is better than Naan & Kabob's, but not as good as Aleppo's). 

The naan was delicious when it was hot (try it here!)

Jan 23, 2021 @ 2307 Markham Road

Since we were in this part of town, we grouped a few Ubereats BOGO deals together and picked them all up so that we had food for the next few days (good time to try them all and it was an economical way to make one trip out and avoid excess trips). 

There was quite a lineup here (which I could barely bypass to pick up my food). 

KK Fish ($13.99 for two)

The fried fish were rather tiny in the big tray container they gave us. Taste wise, the fish were pretty tasty cooked with tons of spices and with a slight char from the frying. The dill sauce that came with the fish paired really well to help offset the heat from the fried fish. Since the fish were quite tiny, they didn't have a lot of meat, but what they did have was white fleshed and very tasty. It was pretty easy to finish a fish and they also came with naan and lots of sauce and salad (but the salad didn't have dressing - not sure if they forgot).

Website: https://kandaharkabab.com/

August 2, 2019 @ 45 Overlea Blvd

Kandahar Kabab $15.50 and small Kandahar fries $3.50

So much food! There was a filet mignon kabab with vegetables and a kofta kabab. I might have been overambitious ordering the fries as an extra side, but they were really good.

Kandahar Chicken Kabab with chicken and kofta

Also really good with huge pieces of grilled and well-seasoned chicken breast. 

Website: https://www.kandaharkabab.com/

La Rocca Creative Kitchen (Midtown)

 

For such a popular bakery, I was surprised to see they were taking part in the BOGO promotions on Ubereats

Turtle Tarts ($5.95 for 2) and Super Caramel Crunch Mini ($6.50 for 2)

The turtle tart was made with a super decadent dark chocolate ganache and came with roasted pecans, milk chocolate swirl and a chocolate shortbread shell. It was very rich and indulgent, but it didn't really have a nutty flavour though except for the pecans on top to add texture - pretty good overall. 

The super caramel crunch mini was delicious! It came with two layers of pecan merigue (you could taste the nutty flavour) and was a lot denser than the typical fluffy meringue and then it was layered with caramel and whipped cream. It was on the sweet side, but it was so good! It's one of their signature cakes for a good reason. 

Pistachio strawberry pyramid $6.95 

As a pistachio dessert lover, I had to try this out when I saw it behind the counter. 

It had an excellent pistachio mousse with lots of pistachio flavour and strangely enough, it didn't have as strawberry flavour as I would have expected and instead, it was overpowered by pistachio (which is fine because I would much rather the pistachio flavour be the star). Pistachio and strawberry don't really seem like complimentary flavours though, but it was fun!

Website: https://www.laroccatoronto.com/

HK Sweets

An Ubereats BOGO feast (with drinks)!

Curry Fish Balls (BOGO total of 16 for $5.99), Golden King Drink ($6.99 for 2), Lychee Green Tea ($5.49 for 2) and Baked Chicken Cheese on Rice ($12 for 2)

The curry fish balls had a sauce that was on the spicier side (tasty, but with a little kick)

The Golden King was a sweet mango sago yogurt drink with popping mango bubbles, mango chunks and sago that was super tasty and not sickly sweet (which is good!)

The lychee green tea, we got a hot and a cold version, and the cold version was definitely the better of the two since the lychee juice held up better than in the hot version (no more hot fruit tea drinks)

The baked chicken with cheese on rice was okay with some black pepper and a ketchup-like sauce, but the chicken was a little dry (maybe from being a little overfried). 

Sushi Rock

Dragon on Fire Roll ($12 for 2 boxes)

The Dragon on Fire roll seemed interesting on Sushi Rock's BOGO options on Ubereats since it was a sushi roll with tiger shrimp tempura and crab, topped with red snapper and covered with a homemade sauce and torched. It turns out that it was a TON of sauce (more spicy mayo and bbq sauce than anything else really) that it totally took over and overpowered the fish (red snapper on top and fake crab and tempura shrimp inside the roll). 

Website: http://sushirocktoronto.com/order-online/

Chichop

Update: Location has permanently closed

Chichop is co-located in one store space with a few other places (one of which being Coco Fresh Tea & Juice), so it made sense when their BOGO combo had Coco tea drinks on the side (added bonus!)

Spicy (Deep Fried) Chicken with bubble tea ($11 for two)

The spicy fried chicken was pretty nicely fried, but it was more batter than chicken though. The sauce was pretty good, but sadly it didn't cover all of the chicken. The dish also came with rice, steamed vegetables, chapchae and a fried egg on top - pretty well balanced. 

And then we got to choose the Coco bubble teas: sago mango green tea for one and pearl milk tea for the other. 

A pretty good deal for the price considering Coco bubble teas are about $5 regularly. 

Daan Go Cake Lab

Jan 28, 2021 

The Masterchef owner won an international award for his milk tea (so I was pretty excited to try it)

Milk Tea ($4.50) and Pandan Coconut Macaron 

The milk tea came in one size and cold. First thoughts were that it tasted like black tea with sweet evaporated milk and not really like Hong Kong style milk tea. When I took it home and heated it, it was MUCH better and actually tasted like HK milk tea, but on the sweeter side with the evaporated milk. It was a lot more flavourful with a smooth mouth feel and a good combination of the black tea leaves that stood out. I'm not sure it's worth the $4.50 price tag though. 

My first bite of the pandan coconut macaron could taste the pandan flavour, but then the later bites were more of the coconut flavour that slightly overpowered it. It was pretty good overall and the pandan coconut combination was great. 

Peach Garden and Cheesecake Fromage

The peach garden cake came with both yellow and white peach flavour and a crunchy almond base and osmanthus jelly layer on top. It was super pretty and had a ton of peach flavour from the peach jelly under the top osmanthus layer as well as peach cream and cake. I thought it was okay, but not necessarily something I'd get again (I'd go for the pandaan or milk tea cake). The bottom crust was rather soggy rather than crunchy. 

Cheesecake Fromage was made with white chocolate and lime passionfruit cheesecake and lime truffle mousse. The white chocolate outside layer was actually a thin layer of hardened white chocolate (didn't quite expect that) and the cheesecake turned out to be super tart lime with a bit of a soggy crumbly crust. (also not really a favourite).  

July 21, 2020

PanDaan cake $6.50 - pandan, coconut and chiffon cake
The chiffon cake was light fluffy and airy with a crunchy middle layer and a nice bottom crust. The cake also had a grainy coconut texture from the coconut shreds, but it didn't have a lot of pandan flavour. I found that even the cream cheese flavour was more than the pandan. 

May 31, 2020

Durian desserts are super popular in Asia, but not as much in North America. Durians are divisive fruits since they're so pungent - you either love it or hate it. Personally, I really like eating it and the flavour of it, but preferably in small doses since it does smell so bad. Daan Go has a popular durian cake that I've been wanting to try out for a while, so I stopped by to pick up a slice of the cake. 

Pretty packaging!

Gold Thorn Cake $7

There's so much durian goodness in this tiny slice of cake with durian mousse, durian puree, cheese cream and fluffy cake. The second I opened the box I could smell the durian and the flavour can really pack a punch. The cake was a little mushy at the top from the durian puree similar to the texture of durian and I loved the base at the bottom which was crispy and crunchy to add different textures.  

3:15 Cake with Hong Kong milk tea, Vietnamese Coffee and Ovaltine $6.50

The Vietnamese coffee flavour was strongest in this cake and it worked well paired with the milk tea mousse. I also liked Ovaltine pineapple bun crumb crunch. 

Lucky Duck with pistachio and lemon mousse $7

The pistachio cream was really good, but I found the lemon pistachio pairing kind of odd. The white chocolate duck had lemon inside which was a nice surprise! (The bathtub isn't edible, but the whole dessert was really cute). 

May 13, 2018

Super cute macarons - Pistachio, Hong Kong Milk Tea and Mango flavours

The macaron feet (cookies) were super crumbly and the filling inside the macarons wasn't really outstanding. I think my favourite of these was the Hong Kong Milk tea, but I probably wouldn't be back for their macarons. 

Website: https://www.daango.com/

Gyubee Japanese Grill

Jan 28, 2021 

Share Tare Yaki ($16.99 BOGO)

Another new find on Ubereats, Gyubee is known for their All You Can Eat Japanese BBQ experience. However, due to the pandemic, they were offering these lunch boxes with meat, rice and a salad. The share tare yaki, which was a thinly sliced beef with delicious tasty seasoning and coated with a sweet teriyaki sauce, was delicious!! The beef and sauce also soaked into the sticky rice beneath and it was all so tasty together! The side salad was also really well done with cabbage and carrots and a yummy sesame dressing that gave it a mayo and nutty flavour with a hint of horseraddish too. 

I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for a good Ubereats BOGO deal! I will be back.

Website: https://www.gyubeejapanesegrill.com/

Kibo Sushi House

Wakame Seaweed Salad ($6.45 for two) and Spicy Tuna Roll ($7.95 for two)

I'm usually not a big fan of Japanese seaweed salad, but I thought I'd try it out since it was BOGO on Ubereats and while it was okay, it seemed like it was a little expensive for the portion and it's not something I'd get again for that price. 

Spicy tuna roll had excellent spicy tuna, lots of crispy crunchy bits and was topped with a very yummy spicy mayo sauce. I would get this again (and it was a pretty good price for 12 pieces of sushi)

Haidilao

I've heard so many good things about Haidilao's hot pot, but due to COVID-19, they were closed for dining. Instead, they had takeout and were doing BOGO on Ubereats

Kobe Beef (2 portions for $49.95), Assorted seafood mix (shrimp, scallop, mussels, fish and noodles x 2 for $29.95)

The Kobe beef was delicious! Thin strips of marbled, tender, tasty, flavourful beef - easily prepared with a quick wash in the boiling soup or a quick pan fry in its own juices and it's ready to eat. The fatty parts of the meat make it oh so tasty. 

The assorted seafood mix was okay overall. The shrimps and scallops were okay and sweet, even if they weren't super fresh. The thin slices of fish were really good and when you use their soup bases in your hot pot broth, it really soaks in the flavour well. The mussels were good too. 

Shrimp paste ($11.95 for two boxes)

The shrimp paste, while good, wasn't anything excpetional and it was a rather small portion for $11.95 (definitely would not pay regular price for this)

Sadly, none of the food we ordered came with soup base (but it came with dessert and some crackers) and while the kobe beef was delicious, it didn't really seem worth it overall since you weren't really getting the full hot pot experience. 

Website: https://haidilaohot.business.site/

Field Fresh Supermarket food court

Jan 23, 2021

When I come to Field Fresh Supermarket, I usually make a beeline for Happy Congee to pick up their fresh fried snacks like youtiao (or dough stick) or sweet crullers and congee (one of the best combinations in Toronto). 

Can't help but pick this snack up! It's not oily and it's super crispy, light, airy and delicious when it's right out of the fryer. Highly recommend it here! (You can also watch them make it behind a clear window - which can be super entertaining)

Update: Mom's Kitchen location has closed and reopened as Shun Hong Kitchen

I haven't taken a good look at the food court to see what else there is here - until I saw Mom's Kitchen on Ubereats doing the BOGO promotion.

Tofu Soup with Pork and Egg ($12.99 for two)

A really good deal considering how much tofu was in the soup! Good spiciness - not too spicy, but enough so that it was flavourful. It also had a good proportion of pork and was very tasty overall. I would definitely get this again at this price! 

The soup also came with some mini banchan: kimchi and chapchae. The chapchae was rather one dimensional in flavour (just soy sauce), but kimchi was okay.

Kung Fu Tea

 Jan 23, 2021 @ 4733 Steeles Ave E

I remember trying the rose milk tea at the downtown location (264 Spadina Ave), but I guess I forgot to write about it (it was my favourite drink by them a few years ago since it was a day of the week promotion). Now they're doing BOGO on Ubereats at the 4733 Steeles Ave location.

Pearl Milk Tea ($6.89 with tax for 2)

One was hot with no honey and one was cold with 30% honey - the one without honey was okay, but it wasn't as good or tasty as the one with honey. I also found that these milk teas had a powdered milk taste in the tea and the quality of the tea wasn't very good. The hot drink was also super hot when I got it so I had to wait for it to cool down before drinking. 

The cold one had no ice and 30% honey and while it tasted much better with additional sweetness that also brought out the tea flavour, it had less of the powdery milk taste, but the tea taste didn't come out that much either. 

Website: https://en.kungfuteatoronto.com/