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Hello, can someone provide me the name for good authentic Chinese restaurant and Vietnamese restaurant in Toronto? Thanks.
There are LOTS!!!! Seriously lots. One of the Toronto forum posters is actually Chinese and hopefully will see this and provide suggestions. Pretty much anything around China Town and Paciffic Mall.
Like klm said, there are lots...probably hundreds. You should be even more specific about the cuisine as Toronto has terrific authentic Chinese restaurants across the spectrum.
I don't know any names unfortunately. I recall eating at about a dozen amazing places over my past several visits, but nothing more specific. Well, I do remember many of them were in Markham and Richmond Hill. Enjoy!!
I'll have to keep up with this thread. I discovered Chinatown riding the Dundas streetcar in April and to be honest, I was a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. I'm visiting again in October so I'm looking for suggestions too. Ironically Orlando (where I live) has a Vietnamese district.
I'll have to keep up with this thread. I discovered Chinatown riding the Dundas streetcar in April and to be honest, I was a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. I'm visiting again in October so I'm looking for suggestions too. Ironically Orlando (where I live) has a Vietnamese district.
Just curious, what was most interesting to you about Toronto's Chinatown? If you're wanting to try authentic Chinese food, there are several very good restaurants in Orlando's Little Vietnam that you are probably referring to (on E Colonial) and there's also a decent Chinatown plaza out on W Colonial. If it's the whole neighborhood vibe, colorful, historic aesthetic then you wont really find that anywhere in the SE.
Like klm said, there are lots...probably hundreds. You should be even more specific about the cuisine as Toronto has terrific authentic Chinese restaurants across the spectrum.
I don't know any names unfortunately. I recall eating at about a dozen amazing places over my past several visits, but nothing more specific. Well, I do remember many of them were in Markham and Richmond Hill. Enjoy!!
Authentic Chinese places are all over the GTA. I went to this Dim Sum place with family a while back and it was in the Missaugua/ Bramptom area. It cool. They had the carts coming around with the different options which is not that common in Toronto as the places are so small the carts can't actually squeeze by without being a safety risk lol.
Al Premium that grocery store has a really really good Chinese hot table where you can get take out. It is good price and they even has Dim Sum. It is more on the Authentic side as I usually see actual Chinese people with their families eating there too.
Just curious, what was most interesting to you about Toronto's Chinatown? If you're wanting to try authentic Chinese food, there are several very good restaurants in Orlando's Little Vietnam that you are probably referring to (on E Colonial) and there's also a decent Chinatown plaza out on W Colonial. If it's the whole neighborhood vibe, colorful, historic aesthetic then you wont really find that anywhere in the SE.
That's true here in Orlando there is a neat Vietnamese district which I don't think many tourist realize. It's far from the tourist corridor where all the theme parks are though. I'm starting to develop more of a liking to Chinese food though I'm a little picky about what I can and will eat.
Regarding Toronto, I liked the gritty urban look of Chinatown. It just looks tough in a way, yet safe at the same time. Frankly I don't remember venturing into any part of Toronto that seemed scary though I did get around primarily on the Yonge/University line as well as the Bloor/Danforth.
I'll have to keep up with this thread. I discovered Chinatown riding the Dundas streetcar in April and to be honest, I was a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. I'm visiting again in October so I'm looking for suggestions too. Ironically Orlando (where I live) has a Vietnamese district.
OP was asking for authentic Chinese restaurants. Chinatown is far from authentic, although it is improving slowly. There is nothing "overwhelming about it". I will give the whole food scence a score of 3 out of 10. You can hardly pay me to eat at half of those places.
There seem to be many choices but most of them tend to offer very similar food, and most are of poor quality. Many of their dishes from the same restaurants are even almost exactly the same, with the same sauce, same vegetable, and they just replace beef with chicken. In sum, much of it is mass produced and sort of assembled on the spot depending on what you order. What a shame.
China has many many different regional cuisines, which GTA (north of Sheppard ave and on the east side of the city) largely offers in a satisfactory way. Chinatown food scene however is largely (90%) westernized Cantonese/Fukienes food, which are a very small part of Chines cuisine. But trust me, a person from HK or Guangdong will look at those Cantonese restaurants in utter disgust, because it appears they are from 1970s China with very unrefined cooking and decoration.
Chinatown caters to three kind of customers
1) tourists (and some locals) who think they know what Chinese food is like based on their previous experience in other Chinatowns
2) nearby Chinese students who stick to Chinese food but do not have better alternatives
3) old generation immigrants who live their entire lives near Chinatown
If you want real Chinese food, go to the north of the city along Steels Ave east (east of Warden), HWY7, Finch/Leslie, etc. And it is usually inexpensive. We usually spend $20-25 per person which is enough to have a feast. You pay the same price for a nondescript pasta plus a coke downtown. There is a seafood restaurant on Steeles for example that offer a 4 course lobster menu for a bit over $30 per person during lunch time - real fresh lobsters that can be cooked in 3 or 4 decicious ways (not just steamed like western restaurants do). I take my friends there everytime they visit me.
Near the city centre good Chinese food is pretty lacking. And even if there are a few good ones, they are almost always (westernized) Cantonese style, something real Chinese people rarely go unless for formal/business reasons to impress someone with the ambience (but not the food itself).
Last edited by botticelli; 06-17-2017 at 12:11 AM..
OP was asking for authentic Chinese restaurants. Chinatown is far from authentic, although it is improving slowly. There is nothing "overwhelming about it". I will give the whole food scence a score of 3 out of 10. You can hardly pay me to eat at half of those places.
There seem to be many choices but most of them tend to offer very similar food, and most are of poor quality. Many of their dishes from the same restaurants are even almost exactly the same, with the same sauce, same vegetable, and they just replace beef with chicken. In sum, much of it is mass produced and sort of assembled on the spot depending on what you order. What a shame.
China has many many different regional cuisines, which GTA (north of Sheppard ave and on the east side of the city) largely offers in a satisfactory way. Chinatown food scene however is largely (90%) westernized Cantonese/Fukienes food, which are a very small part of Chines cuisine. But trust me, a person from HK or Guangdong will look at those Cantonese restaurants in utter disgust, because it appears they are from 1970s China with very unrefined cooking and decoration.
Chinatown caters to three kind of customers
1) tourists (and some locals) who think they know what Chinese food is like based on their previous experience in other Chinatowns
2) nearby Chinese students who stick to Chinese food but do not have better alternatives
3) old generation immigrants who live their entire lives near Chinatown
If you want real Chinese food, go to the north of the city along Steels Ave east (east of Warden), HWY7, Finch/Leslie, etc. And it is usually inexpensive. We usually spend $20-25 per person which is enough to have a feast. You pay the same price for a nondescript pasta plus a coke downtown. There is a seafood restaurant on Steeles for example that offer a 4 course lobster menu for a bit over $30 per person during lunch time - real fresh lobsters that can be cooked in 3 or 4 decicious ways (not just steamed like western restaurants do). I take my friends there everytime they visit me.
Near the city centre good Chinese food is pretty lacking. And even if there are a few good ones, they are almost always (westernized) Cantonese style, something real Chinese people rarely go unless for formal/business reasons to impress someone with the ambience (but not the food itself).
I did not dine at the Chinatown around Dundas/Spadina the last time I was in Toronto but if what you say above is true, then BOY did the old Chinatown go down the drain! It didn't used to be like that at all. I remember getting decent authentic Chinese cuisine at the old Chinatown back in the 1990's, authentic Cantonese dim sum, etc.. I did dine once in Chinatown East - had a bowl of wonton noodle soup at a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant. It was decent enough but wasn't fancy. It seems that all urban Chinatowns in North America are in decline. I was in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago and it was the same situation.
I do agree with you that much of the best Chinese food is mostly North of Steeles Avenue in the York Region (Markham, Richmond Hill, etc). That's where most of the Chinese now live and that is where you can even get delicacies like the prized Alaskan king crab or the geoduck (another Pacific Northwest delicacy). The York Region is so far away though that it's not easy to get to from Downtown Toronto by public transportation. Too bad!
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Like klm said, there are lots...probably hundreds. You should be even more specific about the cuisine as Toronto has terrific authentic Chinese restaurants across the spectrum. 
