Maple Yip Seafood (Sheppard & Midland)

Located in the plaza on the southeast corner of Sheppard and Midland. Same one as Green Bamboo.
This is the real deal, folks. If you want perfectly prepared, authentic Cantonese cuisine, eat here. Definitely make reservations on normally busy evenings, especially if you've got a large group.
Our group of six had...
Cantonese mixed seafood in a fried taro nest. Giant prawns. Giant scallops. Squid, perfectly cooked, not rubbery. Broccoli, also perfectly done, still slightly crisp.
Whole fish. Unfortunately the server didn't know the name of the fish, just said it was from Australia. It was amazing though. If you've ever had proper Canto fish, it is placed in a delicious light sauce, with soy, ginger, and scallions.
Hot pot with tofu and shrimp. Again, perfectly cooked. Lovely flavor.
Hot pot with beef tendon and...something I can't remember but when I do I'll update this post. I just remember it was delicious.
Deep fried shrimp balls. Maybe the least tasty of all the dishes bit still not bad! How can deep fried shrimp be bad?
Looking forward to my next visit. Wish I could read Chinese so I could order from the secret menu...

Green Eggplant (Queen Street near the Beaches)

Not in Agincourt. But you gotta eat here.
I shared the Warm Luau Salad and Sky High French Toast with a friend.
The salad was perfect. Dressed just right and perfect balance of flavors. Savory, sweet tangerine and balsamic vinaigrette. Crispy wontons drizzled with syrup and encrusted in sesame seeds, and about a dozen other ingredients.
The French toast is phenomenal. It kind of looks like giant fried tofus. The texture is perfect. Crisp all the way around, on all sides. Soft in the middle. Comes with maple syrup, of course, and a dish of vanilla ice cream. And lots of fresh strawberries and blueberries.
This is probably quite enough for four people but the two of us gobbled it up efficiently.
Bill came to around $30. Worth every penny.

Tiem Banh Mi Nguyen Huong (Vietnamese Sandwiches, on Steeles east of McCowan)

Had a banh mi from this place today for lunch, purchased yesterday for me.

Was still yummy - the bread probably not as fresh as same day, but still good. Nice flavour with the Viet cold cuts/pate (just a few slices as standard) and the mayo. Came with the standard pickled carrot / radish, and cilantro. I'd go there myself to get more, for sure, now that I know where to get it!

They have 4 locations (according to the bag it came in):
322 Spadina Ave
5661 Steeles Ave (that's where mine came from - located next to the T&T supermarket)
3255 Rutherford Rd, Vaughan
1825 Wilson Ave, North York

Beard Papa's Cream Puffs (Pacific Mall - Steeles & Kennedy)

Have you ever had a taste of heaven?

If not, then you've never had a cream puff from Beard Papa's. I had the fortune of trying these for the first time today, compliments of a good friend/coworker.

This puff is BIG. Unlike those profiteroles you get in a square container from Costco. It's like 5 profiteroles in one monster puff.

The cream is very nice. Slightly runnier than pudding (as you might be able to tell from the photo and not too sweet. And there's a lot of it. Some of it dripped out of my cream puff as I took a bite and landed on the wrapper. I licked it up, of course.

The shell was CRISP with a light dusting of icing sugar. I was told that they fill the shells with the pudding right before you buy so that you don't get soggy puffs. This is quality exemplified, my friend.

For more info, go to the website. http://www.beardpapascanada.com/index.html

Looks like they have other pastry options too so I will be visiting Pacific Mall soon!

Vietnam Noodle Star (Vietnamese cuisine at Finch & Midland)

Came here with 13 other coworkers. Food was fantastic and we had a really nice spread. Parking's free but limited so get there early to find a spot.

Date/time of visit: Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Food: Excellent
Service: Good - fast - especially for such a large group.
Portions: Ample. It was enough for lunch.
Cost: Fair value. Ordered many dishes. Came to about $100 before tips total - each of us paid $9. Atmosphere: Nothing fancy, clean and spacious. Lots of seating; enough for large groups.
Other info: (416) 609 9796. Reservations accepted. 4188 Finch Ave. East, Unit 2, Scarborough. Free parking but usually very busy as there are many other restaurants/business in this plaza; additional parking available behind the building.

Ate:

• Vietnamese Fried Noodles - delicious flavour - comes with shrimp
• Pad Thai - very good pad thai - sauce is brown (NOT orange) - comes with shrimp
• Vietnamese Spring Rolls - delicious as expected; nice and crisp
• Pho with raw beef and beef tendon (the raw beef gets cooked in the hot broth) - delicious as usual, comes with the standard bean sprouts/Vietnamese basil/lime to garnish
• Vermicelli with deep fried pork chop and spring rolls - excellent - comes with the standard fish sauce to pour on top
• Samosas - beef samosas with curry - not bad
• Sweet and Sour Pork - I didn't get to try this one, but heard it was good
• Snow pea leaves sauteed in garlic - delicious garlicky goodness

Afterwards, we went to the Chinese bakery a few doors down.

Pho Hung (Vietnamese cuisine at Bloor and St. George - across from ROM)

Took the TTC from Agincourt to come here with a couple co-workers. A hole in the wall place across from the ROM. So what's so great about this place, compared to any other Vietnamese restaurant in Agincourt? Banh xeo - it's the only reason I come to Pho Hung.

There are mixed reviews on the pho out on the interwebs but that's not what I come here for. If you've never had banh xeo, you must try it.

If you know where to find it in or near Agincourt, please please PLEASE let me know where! I'd much prefer a closer place, but there isn't any!

Date/time of visit: Fri, June 24, 2011 2:00pm
Food: The banh xeo is wonderful; pretty much just like my mom/relatives make it.
Service: Ok - it takes a while to make the banh xeo (which we were warned about), so if you are extremely hungry, order an appetizer. Or if you`re in a hurry... don`t bother!
Portions: Ample. It was enough for lunch.
Cost: Fair value. $8 for banh xeo.
Atmosphere: Kind of old, nothing fancy, but lots of seating. (416) 963-5080. 200 Bloor Street West Toronto, ON M5S 1T8. You probably have to pay for parking as it is downtown. Take the TTC instead if you can, and exit at St. George station.

Ate:

Banh xeo! $8. Really tasty! Came with all the fixings - fresh lettuce, Viet mint, bean sprouts, picked carrot and chinese turnip, nuoc cham

I like to cut up the omelette part of it in bit size pieces then tear the lettuce and mint over top and then pour the nouc cham over everything and then feast. I could definitely have more than one of these at a time - that is what we used to do as a family when I was a kid! Someday, I will try to make it myself - and once I learn... I may have to open up my own banh xeo restaurant, or else I`ll eat it all myself!

Asian Legend (Chinese cuisine at Sheppard & Brimley)

Came here with a couple co-workers. Fantastic atmosphere. Kind of like Congee Queen, which I think they are competing with. This is a chain - there's another location at Leslie and Finch. Go to their website for more info on other locations.


We plan to return with a larger group next time.

Date/time of visit: Mon, June 20, 2011 12:00pm
Food: Very nice.
Service: Good - fast.
Portions: Ample. It was enough for lunch.
Cost: Fair value. Ordered three dishes. Came to about $33. See menu on their website.
Atmosphere: Beautiful decor, open and airy, bright and clean. Lots of seating; enough for large groups.
Other info: http://www.asianlegend.ca/ (416) 298 8081. Reservations accepted. 4452 Sheppard Ave. E. Scarborough. Free parking; additional parking available behind the building.

Ate:

Steamed Soup Filled Dumplings with Carb meat & Pork(6) $7.25 - delicious. Comes with the traditional ginger sauce. I think I like Dumpling King's more, but this one was also good.

Rolled Onion Pancake with Sliced Beef - $5.95 - also delicious. Similar to Dumpling King's but not as greasy as DK's. The scallion pancake wrap was really nice and crisp and very scallion-packed. Mmmm...

Surimi with Broccoli $13.95 - YUM. Not as good as some other dim sum places I've been to (i.e. Very Fair Chinese Restaurant aka "Basement dim sum"), but still good. I never knew this was the name for this dish, and based on wikipedia's definition, I actually don't think surimi is the right word. Anyway, it is basically soft egg with crabmeat on top of steamed broccoli. It's usually served with a kind of vinaigrette poured on top. This version was different from others I've had in that the egg was fully cooked when we got the dish. Normally, it's just sitting on top and you mix it into the hot broccoli/crabmeat. (sort of like the Korean dish bibimbap) Also this dish didn't have as much crabmeat as the Basement dim sum place; and it had grated carrot on top. So, still good, but that's the difference.