Someone’s going to tell me there’s already a link but help me out if you can. Now that Lai Wah Heen has closed, where is there a bit fancier Chinese place to eat in downtown Toronto (we don’t have a car)? We already have our everyday favourites but something that’s a bit extra but not exorbitant? (Preferably with some Szechuan options in there somewhere.)
Maybe when Mott 32 opens?
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’ Moon Palace ’ inside Atrium at the Bay ( Dundas subway, next door! ). Restaurant is same owner as Lobster Port 1 in Thornhill/Richmond hill.
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Done. Added “chinese” and “toronto” as tags as well.
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Thanks. 
Based on my experience eating at their Hong Kong flagship. If and when they open up in Toronto, I will NOT waste my precious hard earned money eating ’ ridiculously marked up ’ food there!
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Which places in Toronto specialize in Szechuan food, or serve a few good Szechuan dishes these days?
I’m asking for some friends of friends without a car, who are staying downtown.
For Chinese food in general, close to downtown, I have recommended Sunny’s and Wok Theory.
For modern Chinese/ Chinese bistro, close to downtown, I have recommended Alma and Dailo.
Moon Palace is more Cantonese, isn’t it, Charles?
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Yes! Moon Palace is Cantonese
As for ’ High end ’ Chinese, ZUNYAN ( Leslie, north of Hwy 7 ) is the highest end Chinese restaurant in the GTA I have encountered to date…with a private club atmosphere and 11 person fixed-banquet style menu in excess of $4800!
Though focused on high end Cantonese cuisine, the menu also has a relatively huge and varied section featuring spicy Sichuan food ( available in a la carte ) >
Good luck!https://www.zunyan.ca/gallery?pgid=lcpe9b67-c952d875-6217-4527-a776-cf5259d00665
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Thanks!
Wok Theory’s dimsum is decent but haven’t tried their other dishes
Tried both Sunny and Dailo and not impressed by either one. These “westernised” Chinese food might be fun for some but for customers used to high quality Chinese/Cantonese cooking, it will be a disappointment
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I’m sorry to hear Sunny’s and Dailo were disappointing for you.
Dailo’s current menu isn’t that enticing to me . I will try Sunny’s eventually.
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Ate at the peking duck specialist - QJD, Woodbine & Steeles, Markham. ( Their Vancouver North American flagship is a Michelin 1* !).
Though a bit pricey, however the quality of their duck was worth the rave! The rest of their cooked food, with quite a bit having a Northern/Sichuan/Pekingese touch were superbly executed. The eggplant dish was absolutely amazing!
https://qjd.ca/en/home-page/
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I recently dined at Jumbo Lobster at a dinner organized by a Hong Kong-born friend of mine. We had a variation on the “Seafood Dinner for 10-12”. I thought it was pretty good overall, though not as good as other Markham establishments.
First up were some straightforward E-fu noodles. They were pleasantly not saturated with oil like some versions:
Then diced beef tenderloin with dry garlic - lovely supple beef, nicely accented with the garlic and some peppers:
Somewhat puzzlingly, the house soup was next, a fragrant mixture of pork, goji berries, and chicken. I had multiple bowls:
Dungeness crab with ginger and green onion was lovely, with sweet crab meat:
Sweet and sour pork has never been my favourite dish. It was well executed, with a balanced sauce:
An extra dish we ordered was a roast suckling pig. The skin was nicely crisped and the meat moist and tender:
The fried bass was crispy, not oily, but a bit overdone and the Maggi sauce was not very evident:
By contrast, the fried oysters were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, with a delectable honey-pepper sauce:
The fried jumbo lobster came with french fries subbing in for the little fish I’ve had at other places. While tasty, the lobster itself was a bit on the tougher side:
The lobster roe fried rice was quite yummy:
And the snow pea leaves with ham was a refreshing reprieve from the many richer dishes:
Dessert was a not-to-sweet agar studded with goji berries.
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By GTA standard, Jumbo Lobster is passable especially taking into account their overall relatively good value.
Your posting of the roasted suckling piglet made me feel how much I miss Hong Kong and its food offering…it’s simply a few levels more superior! …as reflected by the roasted suckling piglet I had at Hong Kong’s Michelin star ’ 7th Son '…compare to Jumbo lobster…night and day!!! Sigh!
( Sadly, I do not have a photo of the said dish in my photo library file for posting and have to borrow one from another blogger for illustration purposes )
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I agree about the good value. Total cost was $75 per person, which is pretty decent for the largesse.
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I didn’t know Kevin Pang was the founder of Takeout. Anyway, his taste is probably better than his cooking. I’ve tried a few recipes of his from ATK and they weren’t good. Granted, I’m not a great cook of Chinese food but I would say some Scarborough food court stalls are better than the recipes I tried.
I’ve been trying some “lower end” Chinese lately because a bunch of Chinese BBQ posts popped up on my IG feed. Most recently I was at HKS in First Markham Place food court. Even getting there at opening time on a weekday, I still had to wait 30 mins for my order as it looked like they were fulfilling orders from restaurants first. I wonder which restaurants they were. Anyway, delicious BBQ meat but I’m not sure I’ll wait in line again for that.
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IMO, the BBQ outfits in First Markham Place are over-rated…their popularity is most probably caused by the void of similar places in the vicinity. Furthermore, for Cantonese BBQ products, no single outfit excels in all products, namely, Roasted duck, Char-Siu ( bbq pork ) or Crispy skin roasted pork…etc.
For Roasted duck, my ’ convenient ’ go-to place is " Excellent BBQ " inside of Richlane Mall on Leslie north of 16th Ave., One of the priciest around but quality is quite outstanding.
Otherwise, " Bestco Fresh Food Mart " inside Chartwell Shopping centre, Brimley/Sheppard offers the best quality/value product!
For Char-Siu, again " Excellent BBQ " is indeed excellent. However, , the BBQ take-out shop next to ’ Very Fair Seafood cuisine ’ on Milliken Blvd is mighty fine too!
For Crispy Roasted Pork, " Tong Ha ", inside of Silver Star Blvd Food Court offers amazingly aromatic, smokey and well seasoned versions and is my hands-down favorite. The overall taste profile is the closest to Hong Kong. Their Duck and char-siu are pretty good too!
You would expect a line at all of the aforementioned popular places too, but none compared to the ridiculously long ones in First Markham Place.
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Thanks again, Charles!
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