Perfect Dim Sum

Think this is the cheapest dim sum I have ever had.

My friend took me to Perfect one day claiming the food was good and cheap. Cheap and good food I was sold.

When we arrived the place was jammed packed. I hate lining up so we decided to leave. When we returned a half hour later there was no line up yayyy.

I love my siu mai so we had 2 orders of this. Mmmmmm yummy in my tummy.

ABC Bakery

Another great cheap eat.

ABC Bakery serves up some simple yummy Asian fare at reasonably cheap prices. The portions are humongous and taste wise deeeelicious. The meal we had here can probably feed a family of 4 but us being the pigs we were we gobbled everything up^_^

Here was the satay beef rice noodles. Classic dish you just can never go wrong ordering. Always hits the spot.

Fire Fly

Since I don't really go to First Markham, both Sue and Sand recommended Fire Fly. It was a good choice.

When we arrived it was a full house. The pix that I took was when they were pretty much closing. Let's just say we had a really good time that we almost didn't want to leave:)

We each got the set menu which came with a choice of soup or salad, bread, entree and drink.

For our drink, we all ordered the HK coffee tea. Unlike the one at Phoenix which is already all sugared up, this one here you had to add the sweetener yourself.

Uptown All Day Dim Sum

Me and my cousin were craving for some dim sum. Problem was that it was after 3pm. Most dim sum places end their dim sum around that time. I didn't know of any all day dim sum places uptown so I asked a friend who lived in the area if he could recommend any restaurants. He suggested Richmond Court at Times Square so off we went.

Phoenix aka Golden Phoenix

I like this place so much I went here 3 times in a row.

Phoenix is a cha chaan teng where they serve Hong Kong style cafe kind of food. Now to those who can't read Chinese we know it as Phoenix but to those who can read it's actually called Golden Phoenix. Whatever the name is, they serve really good food and very generous portions.

This post will be displaying all the food I had during each of my trip.

Before I begin, the one thing that is a MUST HAVE is the HK coffee tea drink. I ordered it every single time that I came. It was the best one I've had so far. Soooo refreshing and so good. I want one NOW!!!

Dinner #1.

Once we entered the restaurant my boyfriend was eying a bowl of noodles at a table next to us. He didn't even ask what it was. He just said I want to eat what that person is eating.

Here was the noodles he got. It was some sort of curry noodle soup with chunks of beef. I didn't taste this but my boyfriend slurped down the whole bowl. He sure enjoyed it.

Dim Sum was Legen__Dary

Who doesn't love dim sum. If you don't know what it is then boy have you been missing out.

For those of you who have no clue what I am referring to it's basically a bunch of dishes with small portions of Chinese food. Small but really tasty dishes that is.

Dragon Pearl

This is definitely the biggest Chinese buffet I have ever been to. Wait how big is the Mandarin buffet in Brampton? Might be the same size I'm not sure since I have only been there once.

Sorry off track here. Back to the Dragon Pearl.

It's funny you would expect to see a dragon of some sort since the restaurant's name has the word 'Dragon' in it but what I saw at the front of the restaurant was this weird faceless blue creature with may I say some huge pearls hehe playing a guitar. I thought it was placed there by accident or something but after entering the restaurant I found that it was part of the decor. I still don't know what it's suppose to be or how it's related to the Asian theme. Guess that will be a mystery I will never uncover.

Now this definitely goes with the Asian decor. Everybody likes a happy smiling Buddha.

The waiting area was definitely unique. A whole row of statues of animal zodiac signs.

This is my animal, the rooster. Don't get me mad or I will peck at you hehe. Man why couldn't I be something cute like the rabbit or playful like the monkey lol.

Here was something pretty cool. The chef was flinging a single thin strand of noodle continuously into a boiling pot. This picture was the best I could capture since the guy was whipping it so fast that it was just a blur in the snapshot.

Here was the dessert table. I didn't really take any pix of the other stations since there were just too many people wondering about.

I thought the teapot looked nice so I snapped a photo of it. The holder is actually heart-shaped.

A piece of card is placed for each individual at a table so you can only get one serving for whatever is the special of the day. Tonight it was shrimp. On weekends I believe it's lobster. I did not eat the shrimp but my boyfriend found it to be really mush so it wasn't at all appetizing.

Here was my first plate of food. I had grilled pineapple, some stir fried veggies, sushi pizza, sweet potato pancakes and BBQ beef ribs. The best item on this place was the grilled pineapple. It was really juicy and sweet. The remaining items were just mediocre to me nothing that really excited me.

The salmon here was pretty fresh. The crispy salmon skin was horrendous. It just tasted way too fishy for me. The sushi rolls were okay considering it was an AYCE.

Here was my last plate of food. It included black peppered beef, spicy green beans, yam, baked salmon, tofu and some ketchup-flavored noodles which I guess was suppose to be pad thai. The only thing I enjoyed in this round was the yam. Everything else was just eh.

For dessert nothing caught my eye so I settled on this sweet soy/tofu dish. The 3 or 4 spoons of honey I added definitely sweetened it up and made it more enjoyable.

I also had the coffee flavored ice cream sprinkled well more like a huge scoop of cookie crumbs lol. It was just okay as well.

To end the meal can't forget our fortune cookies. I don't remember what mine said but it was one of those that don't make sense lol.

Overall, the buffet was just eh to me. Nothing wow and nothing too horrible. The only points I give is for the decor and the size of the place.

Me and my sister-in-law had differing opinions as to which buffet was better, Dragon Pearl or Mandarin. She thought this place was better than Mandarin. C'mon what other buffet offers all-you-can-eat CRAB LEGS. The only thing I will hand to Dragon Pearl was their sushi bar. It was way better than Mandarin but other than that they can't hold a candle next to Mandarin.

TOTAL BILL $23 (per person)...ONCE IS ENOUGH!!!

Sun's Kitchen

Last weekend I had a craving for the noodles at Sun's Kitchen so we finally drove out to Pacific Mall to get my noodles. Although it is located in the food court, do not and I repeat DO NOT be fooled. This kitchen always has a constant flow of customers lining up and with good reason to. The food is delicious and cheap, You just can't go wrong here.

You can't miss this place either. Just follow the loud thumping noises you will hear once you enter the vicinity. Also it's the busiest counter in the food court. Now the noise you hear is actually this guy who creates the fresh noodles by pulling and whipping it against the table. I tried to take a picture of him but he just moved too quickly for me. Pulled the noodle then whipped it a few times then threw it in the kitchen then came back out and repeated the process. I swear all within a few seconds. The same procedure over and over again. Noodle master hard at work where he takes his whipping seriously.

Here is part of the menu. I can't read the Chinese characters even though I'm Chinese I just order like any other non-Asian person would. I point at the picture and say, "I want that one!" Just kidding I just tell them the item number.

Here was my bowl of noodles. It's #16 on the menu. It's basically slices of boiled chicken and julienned cucumbers on top of a mountain of fresh hand-pulled noodles, garnished with parsley and drenched in some sort of sesame seasoning. Sounds simple but it's always the simple things that taste the best. Believe me the flavors weren't so simple here. I love the flavor of sesame although I think there might be some sort of soybean flavor in here as well but not quite sure. This is my favorite noodle here. I don't order anything else. Actually I don't think I've tried anything else before lol. Hmm maybe I should try something else but every single time I go there I can't help it the number 16 just shoots right out of my mouth before I can think.

Here were some chive pancakes. Crispy yet fluffy on the inside filled with bright green chives. It was tasty.

This is on my list of best cheap eats. Homemade noodles, delicious food and great portions. One more thing all entrees come with a bowl of soup and a cup of soy milk. That's another added bonus. More bang for your buck.

TOTAL BILL $12...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Sun's Kitchen

4350 Steeles Ave. East (Food Court)

(close to Kennedy)

905-947-8463

Good Taste Shanghai Cuisine

When my boyfriend wants Asian food one of his fave restaurant to head to is Good Taste Shanghai Cuisine.

This place is always jam packed with people especially since it's located in Richmond Hill.

Normally when we go I always order the pan fried beef pancake roll or the dumpling with pork soup filling. Here I just let my boyfriend do the ordering since I was just too tired to think.

Here was the Chinese greens sauteed with garlic. Tasty as usual and my healthy serving of veggie.

Here was the Shanghai chow mein with pork and shrimp. It was delicious as well.

Here was the stir fried beef with green onions. Isn't it just gorgeous? Tender slices of scrumptious beef.

Last and not my favorite was the spiced spare ribs. I didn't like it because it had a curry flavor I just wasn't fond of however, the meat itself was super tender and moist. The meat fell easily off the bone. If only it didn't have that curry flavor I would have been chowing down on this dish.

Basically, a meal that never disappoints. You can always expect good tasty food from here.

TOTAL BILL $55...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Good Taste Shanghai Cuisine

505 Hwy 7 East

(close to Leslie)

905-370-6868

Congee Time

Brrrrr. It's freeeezing outside. I HATE winter!!!

Even though I was born here in Canada I still can't get used to the cold. It's funny how every time I complain about the chilly weather people often ask where I was born and I reply "I was born here but my body just can't accept any temperature below zero degree celsius." I may whine about the freezing cold but I wouldn't live anywhere else but here in Toronto. We have all 4 seasons of weather but thankfully (knock on wood) no catastrophic natural disasters such as hurricane, tornado, earthquakes or floods. Winter is simply my time to hibernate.

Unfortunately today my fridge was empty and I did not feel like trekking out far in the snowy weather so Congee Time it is for some simple but delicious and rather filling Chinese cuisine.

Here is our usual order.

My boyfriend always orders the beef chow mein. He loves the crispy fried yellow noodles drenched with a hearty topping of meat and veggies.

My favorite dish is the congee with pork and preserved egg and salted egg. I always scoop out the preserved egg and eat the rest of the congee. My boyfriend always question why don't I just order the congee without the preserved egg. I reply it's just not the same. It's my quirk. I can't help it. The only thing missing is salted peanuts. I remember when I was a kid most restaurants served the peanuts with congee but nowadays with all the nut allergies they no longer offer it which is a shame since I loved the crunchy texture it added.

Here is black peppered beef that I normally add to my congee to give it a boost of flavor.

Another regular is the rice noodle in X.O. sauce served with peanut and hoisin dipping sauce. I personally like the hoisin sauce over the peanut sauce.

I wanted to try something new so I chose this dish which was pan fried rice noodle with beef and enoki mushrooms. It came with the same dipping sauce as the previous rice noodle dish but it was tasty enough that it did not require the extra sauces at all. This will be one of my usuals from now on.

To end the meal we washed it all down with a glass of HK style milk tea drink. I don't really know what makes it HK style but we love gulping down this drink.

TOTAL BILL $39...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Congee Time

5817 Yonge Street

(close to Finch)

416-225-6688

Peak Top Cuisine

Duck is not my top choice when it comes to meat but when I'm at Peak Top Cuisine duck is the only meat I order.

The most popular dish at this restaurant is the peking duck. It's a 2 course meal which can feed 2 people. I always order this dish every time I come here and each and every single time it never disappoints.

It starts off with a whole duck where the waiter slices off the skin of the duck right before your eyes. With each slice you can hear the crispiness of the duck skin. I was drooling just at the sound of it.The rest of the meat is then taken back to the kitchen to be stir fried for the next dish.

The skin is then wrapped in some sort of flour wrap with shaved green onions, cucumber, carrot and a dab of hoisin sauce. It is soooo yummy. Each bite filled with flavorful juicy duck meat with a bit of crunch from the skin. Fatty but oh so gooooood:)

Once we chowed down the first dish the waiter brings us the second course. The remainder of the duck stir fried with veggies.

The meat is wrapped in a piece of fresh green lettuce smeared with a dash of hoisin sauce.

Me and my boyfriend normally get stuffed from this duck meal but my boyfriend was craving for the dungeoness crab in the H.K. style seasoning with shallots, garlic, minced pork and chili powder. It was scrumptious. We were sucking out every morsel of crab meat from the shell taking in the sweet flavor of the crab mixed with the salty chili seasoning. What a perfect combination. Gotta love Asian food.

When I went to go rinse my hands the sinks in the washroom are adorable. They definitely go well with the Asian decor.

Overall, the best peking duck in the city.

TOTAL BILL $87...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Peak Top Cuisine

3255 Rutherford Road, Unit 22-25

(close to 400)

905-738-0838