Century Palace Chinese Restaurant

A few days ago, I went out for dim sum again over at Century Palace Chinese Restaurant.  It’s close to my place and it was a place I had not been in quite some time.  When we got there, the place was half empty however it was a weekday morning so I wasn’t really expecting a huge crowd to be there. 

Needless to say, we were able to get seats right away.  The place use to push their dim sums around however I believe that practice was discontinued a few years ago.  After marking on a piece of paper, our food arrived soon afterwards. 

Like previous dim sum sessions that I have had at previous restaurants, most of the items we ordered were pretty much the same which included the customary shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, siu meis, beef and shrimp rice noodle rolls, fried turnip cakes and buns. 

After finishing the whole meal, I found it difficult to really separate the good from the bad.  Nothing was really bad but nothing was really good either.  All of their dim sums were okay however there was really no wow factor to any of it.  Sometimes you go to one of these places and you are able to pick one or two dishes that really stood out however there was no one particular dish that could do just that.  Looking around the place, I know the restaurant has been around for about 20 years, maybe even longer than that, but the place could use a bit of sprucing up.  A new carpet, a new coat of paint on the walls, or new lighting could easily turn this restaurant into a more appealing place to be. 

The prices were somewhat reasonable at this restaurant.  Like most dim sum restaurants, there is preferred pricing for certain hours.  Before 11 and after 2, the dim sums are about $2.20 a piece.  It would be more expensive if you decide to go in between those hours.  Service was okay as there were always waiters and waitresses running pass your table.  There were about 50 items to choose from which is about average compared to other dim sum restaurants.  I’m not too sure whether I would return in the short term especially with so many other dim sum restaurants in Toronto.  The old saying of you get what you pay for I think perfectly illustrated this restaurant.  If you were looking for cheap but reasonably priced dim sum and you were not looking for anything fancy then this is the place to be.  If you wanted something more exotic with your dim sum, you may want to try somewhere else.  It’s a restaurant that will be there when nothing else is available however it is not a place where I would clamor or have the urge to go to.  An averge restaurant gets an average rating.  Overall I give them a 3 out of 5.

Century Palace Chinese Restaurant

398 Fernier Street

Markham, Ontario

905-415-1988

Man Ramen and Izakaya

The problem with having a new restaurant in a new plaza that does not face a major street is that one does not get the necessary exposure that is needed for any startup restaurant.  Unless it has an established restaurant name or is amazing to the point where minimal marketing is needed, then it will be extremely difficult for anyone to know about them no matter how good or bad their food is.

This past evening we ventured into a fairly new plaza on the northwest corner of Midland Avenue and Finch Avenue in the heart of Scarborough.  I had previously visited Nine-Up Sushi restaurant in which these two share the same plaza.  Prior to entering the restaurant, we took a walk around the plaza.  What we noticed was that there were many restaurants that had maybe 2 or 3 tables occupied, a lot of waiters and waitresses just staring out the window and not a whole lot of traffic in the parking lot.  It was a Saturday evening and my wife, the kid and I were just looking for a new place to eat and was up for anything. 

Spicy Scallop and Seaweed

When we entered the restaurant, it had some nice decor in it.  There were stools wrapped around the kitchen and four tables with some stylish chairs at the front.  The only drawback was that it was not the most kid friendly type of seats as the seats had no backrest to them and a kid or even an adult could easily fall back on the chair.  Their menu had about 20 items altogether and an extra one that was scrawled out on a piece of paper.  After a few minutes, we decided to go with their Spicy Scallop and Seaweed Salad ($3.99), their Grilled Mackerel ($3.50), Ramen Deluxe and Curry Chicken Katsu ($6.95).
The spicy scallop salad arrived first.  The dish appeared to be have strips of scallop mixed with salad and sprinkled with sesame seeds in it.  The dish was mixed with sesame oil as a strong smell emanated from it.  The dish came as advertised as it was pretty spicy however it was a bit "sloppy" in the sense that the chef probably used a little too much sesame oil in it.  If they had reduced the amount of sesame flavoring on it by a half, it would have been much better.  By "drowning" the dish with it, it made the dish a little oily and probably not the true starter appetizer effect that one was looking forward to. When one has a salad, it is meant to be a starter, to get the stomach juices flowing and especially when dealing with vegetables and scallops, you want to be able to get the pure taste out of them.  By putting too much sesame oil in it, I felt that it kind of defeated its purpose. 

Grilled Mackerel

Next to arrive was the grilled mackerel.  Cutting the fish open, one could see that much of the oil had been soaked up.  The fish was slightly burnt on the bottom as it was pretty black on the top side of the skin.  The interior of the fish was nicely cooked.  There was a slight flavor to it and the meat was nice and soft.  Since much of the oil had been soaked up, the fish was left a little dry however it still tasted pretty decent. 

Curry Chicken

We were soon looking forward to our entrees.  The Curry Chicken arrived first and there was a strong curry smell coming out from it.  The chicken was fried and there were small amounts of carrots and orange ginger sprinkled on top of the dish.  The waitress told us it was one of their signature dishes here at the restaurant which was one of the reasons why I wanted to give it a shot.  There was also some sesame sprinkled on top of the dish as well.  I have to admit that the curry was nicely done as was the fried chicken and overall it went well with the rice.  The curry sauce was hardly spicy at all as I would have rated it a 1 out of 10 on the spicy scale.  One of the things I will say is that the chef could have left the orange ginger out as it really provided a funky taste to it.  If one pushed the ginger aside and just ate the curry chicken with the rice, then the overall dish would have been just fine. 

Ramen Deluxe

The deluxe ramen had a mixture of barbeque pork, corn, vegetables, egg, bean sprouts and fish cake in it.  Appearance wise it looked okay although as one can see in the photo, the egg itself was a little mangled.  I took a sip of the soup base and it was pretty good.  My daughter absolutely loved the noodles and ate about three small bowls of it.  The rest of the meal was decent as the soup base really enlightened the entire dish. 
Overall it was a satisfactory night.  The waitress only approached our table once throughout the evening and it would have been nice if we had our teas refilled.  The appetizers were so-so but everything else was decent.  By night's end, more people began filtering in so maybe it's a hangout spot for the evening.  There is a huge television on the side and they do have beer on tap if one wished to have an alcoholic beverage to go with their meal.  The prices were reasonable and affordable.  If they had a booth for kids it would be better for people with young families.  Overall I give it a 3.25 out of 5.

Man Ramen and Izakaya
D-106, 3278 Midland Avenue
Scarborough Ontario

647-748-3098

Legend Chinese Restaurant

Legend Chinese Restaurant is a place I have not eaten in quite some time.  This place I believe was renovated not so long ago as the décor actually looked quite different from the last time I was here.  We were over there on the weekend to have dim sum on a Sunday morning.  There was a line up going in however we were able to get seats up on the front stage almost immediately.

When we sat down, they gave us two pieces of paper which had all of their food listed on them.  You will have to check off the dim sums that you want to eat and they will bring them to your table for you. Taking a peak at their prices, small medium and large dim sums will go from $2.75, $3.75 and $4.75 respectively.

Shrimp Dumplings

We ordered the usual shrimp dumplings, siu mais, rice noodle rolls, fried turnip cake etc to get a little bit of everything from this place.  Rather than bore you with every little dim sum that I ate, I will just give you a summarized version of it and what I thought was the best and worse of the dim sums.  Overall, I thought all the dim sums were pretty well done.  None of the dim sums we ordered were excessively oily or greasy.  Even some of the fried dishes that the turnip cakes and fried meat pastry (Ham Soi Gok) were very “smooth” and there was not a hint of major grease in them.  It was almost like they took a piece of paper towel and soaked up all the oil before serving it to us.  It actually made the meal more enjoyable because one would not feel bloated from eating some of the more oily dishes. 

Beef Rice Noodle Rolls

My personal favorite was their BBQ buns.  The ones I’m talking about were not the white ones inside the steamer but the ones that were served on a plate.  At first, I thought they gave us the wrong dish because looks wise, they looked like mini pineapple buns.  Although some of my friends there that day had had them before, I have never eaten BBQ pork buns with pineapple bun covering on top.  It was actually very delicious as the top was sweet and crunchy and contrasted very well with the BBQ pork inside the bun.  I actually liked it so much I almost ate all the buns on the dish. 

XO Sauce Fried Turnips

The most disappointing dim sum of the day had to be the fried turnip with XO sauce.  I was expecting this dish to just blow me away.  Instead the only thing I could taste was just turnips.  They came in cubes and we gently fried on the outside however there was no other taste to it.  You could not even taste a hint of XO sauce in them.  Needless to say I was a little disappointed with this “special dish” as it was a little bit more expensive than a regular dim sum dish. 

BBQ Buns

Despite the setback, the majority of the dishes were well prepared and pretty decent to say the least.  The only other issue we had was the amount of time it took for them to bring us our sweet tofu pudding.  They had forgotten the dish and after reminding one waiter and 2 managers, it finally arrived at our table….almost 30 minutes later.  With a lineup building at the door, you might think that a bit of urgency would have been suggested to the chefs in the back.  However, when it did arrive, the pudding was very smooth and “slippery” and of course delicious. 

One should give them a try one day as it is one of the better dim sum places that are out there.  It is true that the prices of their dim sums are somewhat higher than the average price at some of their competitors but truthfully, the quality of their food does match up to their pricing.  Give a go and let me know what you think.  Overall, I give them a 4 out of 5. 

Legend Chinese Restaurant

5 Glen Cameron Road

Markham, Ontario

905-882-6272

Sushi Moto Restaurant Sake and Wine Bar

We took a special moment tonight to go out into the heart of North York and grab take out from a popular sushi place.  Sushi Moto Restaurant Sake and Wine Bar is a popular Japanese sushi and sashimi restaurant located about 10 minutes from Sheppard subway station in Toronto.  Although dining in was an option, we wanted to spend the special evening with some of our family members so we decided to go with a couple of combos and bring them home instead so that all of us could go and enjoy it.  We found their website online rather easily and made a call in the afternoon to order the take out.  When I arrived around 5:30 pm, I was actually surprised to see that the restaurant was more than half full.  My food was already wrapped up and ready to go.

Sushi and Maki Combo

We ordered a couple of combos for the evening.  We first chose the Sushi and Maki Combo which consisted of 38 pieces of sushi and 24 pieces of maki.  The price for the platter was $65.95.  We also went with a small Sashimi Combo which contained about 30 pieces of fish and a price tag of $32.95. 

Sashimi Combo

I have to admit the fish were pretty fresh.  Price wise it was about a dollar for each piece of fish provided.  If one scanned their menu however, one could see that they actually offer many different types of sashimi and sushi in their selection menu including octopus, scallop, eel and squid.   My only suggestion would be that it would have been great if there were samples of some of the higher end fish in their combos and platters.  Although the argument could have been that the combinations were only of the small and medium sizes, it would have been difficult for the restaurant to provide a greater "variety" of fish. It's a fair argument however as one could see, other than the half dozen of spicy tunas and salmons from the sushi platter, the majority of the fish were just of the salmon, tuna, red snapper and butterfish type. Many competitors offer that already which unfortunately does not make their combinations any different from them. 

Overall, what I will say is that what they provided was satisfactory, however it is known that some of their competitors will provide some of the higher end fish including hamachi or octopus in their platters.  The pricing is also probably about 5-10 dollars higher than some of their fellow competitors for the same amount and quality of food.  There is paid parking in front of the restaurant on the busy Yonge Street and if not, at some of the parking lots on the side streets.  To be fair, I would love to try some of their higher end fish on a future date inside their restaurant to really get a true assessment of this place.  For now I would give them a 3.75 out of 5.

Sushi Moto Restaurant Sake and Wine Bar
4901 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario

416-224-0741

Fishmen Lobster Clubhouse Restaurant

Last night I finally got a chance to visit the newly renovated Fishmen Lobster Clubhouse Restaurant on Silver Star Blvd in Scarborough.  This restaurant boasts some of the best seafood in Scarborough and with their wall to wall display of eel, Alaskan crabs and lobsters swimming in their tanks, it’s highly doubtful that these guys would not know their own specialty. We had made reservations for the evening for about the 10 of us and if there was one thing I liked about these guys was that they were very prompt with their reservation times and because they only have reservations for their 6 and 8 pm time slot, they make sure that they start you at 6 and get rid of you by 8. 

We scanned their extensive menu which contained many different seafood combinations to choose from.  With ten people, we wanted to make sure we had a bit of everything so for the night we went with their Spicy Stir Fried Style 6 lb Alaskan Crab, 6lb Deep Fried American Lobster with Dry Garlic, Fried Rice with Lobster Tamale, Choi Sum Vegetables,  Eel with Black Bean Sauce and Steamed Bass.  There was also the soup of the day and Black Sesame Soup for Dessert that came with our meal. 

Deep Fried American Lobster with Dry Garlic

Our lobster was just a shade over the 6lb mark.  As it clearly states on their menu, any lobster that is over their 6lb limit is subject to an additional $16.99/lb added to their lobster cost.  For us, it was an extra $7.99. When they brought it out, the lobster was stacked about a foot high from the bottom up.  As impressive as the presentation was, taste of course was the most important thing.  Although there were several ways of making this dish, we decided to go with their dry garlic style this time around.  I had to admit the lobster was a little dry and the dry garlic didn’t quite get completely into the lobster.  The lobster of course was fresh however one could not really “taste” the importance of the dry garlic.  If they had made the lobster without the dry garlic, truthfully it probably would have tasted about the same. 

Eel with Black Bean Sauce

The Alaskan crab however was made differently than the lobster.   Like the lobster, had the crab gone over the 6lb limit, then it would be subject to an additional $42/pound.  Luckily we were within it.  We went with their Spicy Stir Fry Style which incidentally cost a little more as they used fried silver ray fish to blend itself with the crab.  I personally like this dish more than the lobster because at least one could taste the extra spiciness embedded into the crab which really enhanced the overall taste of the crab meat.  The crab was exposed and de-shelled just perfectly so that there was just a little bit of shell left on the meat and one did not have to use considerable effort to consume the meal.   My understanding was that the spicy stir fry style could also be applied to the lobster and not just to the crab alone. 

Steamed Bass

For those not complete enamored with the fried seafood perhaps an eel rice with black bean curd would be enticing for some.  The difficulty with this dish is of course the amount of small little bones inside the eel.  Taste wise, these guys knew how to make it very, very good.  The eel meat was juicy and tender and it absorbed the bean curd sauce really well.   Everyone liked this dish and yours truly certain did as well. 

The steamed bass was nicely done as well.  All that was added were some green onions and a hot cup of sweet soya sauce to it.  I found it interesting that the hot soya sauce was served in a wine glass where patrons were asked to pour the sauce themselves but then the waiter afterwards would come by and slice open the fish for you.  The meat, like the eel, was very soft and juicy and actually worked well with the rice which I will talk next. 

Choi Sum Vegetables

The fried rice with lobster tamale arrived last and was rather dry and almost tasteless despite the amount of the lobster tamale in it.  Although there was plenty of the lobster membrane mixed with the rice, there was little to no taste to it which I found it a little disappointing.  One needed some eel or fish sauce to actually kick this dish up a notch.  Although it was a nice filler to have at the end, additional spices or ingredients would have been nice to really turn it into an A-list rice to have. 

Spicy Stir Fried Style Alaskan Crab

The vegetable was a Choy Sum mixed with a simple broth.  There wasn’t anything spectacular with this dish as we just needed a vegetable to contrast all the fry foods we were having for the evening.  All I can say was that it was nicely done and served its purpose well. 

The black sesame soup arrived last and it was nice and warm when it was set on our table.  It was sweet but not overly sweet and the sesame was pureed smoothly  It was a good dessert to have and a great alternative to the usual red bean soup. 

Fried Rice with Lobster Tamale

Overall it was decent night however both lobster dishes were satisfactory at the most.  The spicy crab, the eel and even the fish were superbly done and I would highly recommend any one of these three dishes.  The good thing about the lobster dish was that the style could be changed so the next time I am there, I will certainly avoid the dry garlic style and try another alternative.  As for price, it was difficult to gauge as the lobster and crab were based on a pre-set menu.  If the crab and/or the lobster were over 6lbs, there would be additional charges added to your bill.  The crab, the lobster and its rice, the bass, the Choy Sum, the soup and the dessert were a set price of about $339.00.  The eel was an additional $20.00.  The total cost was slightly over $400.00 plus tips.  We were able to finish the night with about 5 minutes to spare as they were already starting to push us out the door so that the 8:00 people could start coming in.  At O Mei, one of the other restaurants that I had blogged previously which served similar styled foods, their Alaskan Crabs and King size lobsters were about $5/pound more however each dish was made into four different ways where as this place , the lobster only had 2.  These guys here were good however I believe their competitors at O Mei still have a slight edge on the overall quality of their food and their service.  Overall I give it a 4 out of 5.  

Fishmen Lobster Seafood Restaurant

680 Silver Star Blvd

Toronto Ontario

416 321-0250

Le Cafe Michi

I actually thought I had blogged about this place a long, long time ago however after checking out all the restaurants I had been to in the past 18 months I realized that I had not, which was somewhat of a shocker because this was a place I frequented quite a bit as they provided in my mind some of the best Japanese dishes in Toronto.  Le Café Michi is located on the southwest corner of Pharmacy Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East.  You would never have guessed that a very good Japanese restaurant existed there but as I have mentioned many times before, sometimes the best restaurants in the world are located in some of the most tiniest or obscure locations and this one was no different. 

Chyo Chin Bento - Deep Fried Chicken

Although I have had dinner at this place many times before, this was actually the first time I had lunch at this restaurant.  I got there around 11:15am however the place didn’t opened their doors until 11:30.  When we got in, and we were the first ones to step through their doors, we can see that 75% of the tables had already been reserved.  Due to the size of this restaurant and its growing popularity, it might be best to make reservations ahead of time.

Chyo Chin Bento - Assorted Sashimi

Although their menu was 8 pages long, I usually only have their usual Chyo Chin Bento dish as I think it’s one of their best in the world.  That afternoon I decided to go with a Salmon Teriyaki lunch and offered up the Bento to my friend instead. 

Chyo Chin Bento - Eel Rice

When the food arrived and I saw his Chyo Chin Bento, I have to admit there was a slight regret before me.  The meal itself is a three-dish meal.  The first tier contained the deep fried chicken, followed by a bowl of nicely cut, fresh thick slices of sashimi and the last tier was a bowl of eel rice.  One also had the opportunity to choose a dessert free of charge from their huge display case after their meal.  The great thing about their chicken was that it was served with a spicy mayonnaise sauce which when served hot, it really made the chicken jump on you.  Unlike most of the other deep fried chickens we eat from fast food restaurants, this one wasn’t dripping in fat or oil which made this a wonderful dish to have.  My friend said the sashimi was pretty fresh.  There were only six slices of fish as the slabs were quite thick.  The fish they served included tuna, hamachi and salmon.  The eel rice in the past was amazing and this time it was no different.  My friend said it was one of the best he had ever had.  With egg, vegetables and seaweed added into this bowl, the mixture of all the ingredients sure kicked it up a notch for this dish. It certainly was the highlight of the meal and no doubt filled up one’s empty stomach. For dessert, he opted for this passion fruit “drink”.  I say drink because it was served in a tall glass.  On the bottom was some sort of passion juice and on top were various fruits including strawberries, black current, kiwis, mangos and melon placed on top of what looked like was whipped cream.  He said it was quite delicious and for a total of $24 dollars, he said it was well worth the price.    

Salmon Teriyaki

I went with the salmon teriyaki instead which was about $16 dollars.  At first glance it looked kind of dry and seeing my friend’s bento, I was really starting to regret my choice but one bite into the salmon and my opinion changed immediately.  The salmon teriyaki was actually very nicely done and the sauce was very, very good.  The salmon was seared nicely on the outside and the inside of the salmon was very soft and juicy.  The soy sauce that the chef used was quite sweet, sweeter than any other salmon teriyaki sauce that I have ever had before and it really enlightened what looked like a very boring dish at first.  I was actually quite impressed with my entire meal.  My only disappointment was that the meal did not come with a dessert but the fish itself was quite satisfying. 

Dessert

Overall, this place is certainly well worth the money.  There was also a miso soup and salad that came with our meals. Price wise I do admit that the entire meal was probably slightly more expensive compared to other Japanese places around Toronto but it certainly was worth it.  Just seeing the number of reservations signs all around me showed me that this place was in great demand.  Of importance, this place is closed on Mondays but is open from Tuesday to Sunday.  If you are in the Scarborough area, do give it a try.  I strongly recommend it, as it is certainly one of my favorites.  Overall I give it a 4.5 out of 5. 

Le Café Michi

1802 Pharmacy Avenue

Toronto Ontario

416 490 9688