FINALLY there is a great Ramen Shop in Mississauga! Ramen Isshin Mississauga is modern, inviting and clean. Luv the sunlight penetrating the bay windows on both sides of the walls makes the place warm and welcoming.

In particular, I really like the artwork on the wall, with the dragon and Mt. Fuji graphics providing cool vibes to the dining space.

The staff were friendly and attentive. They would fill up my glass with more water without even have to ask. They will come by to see if my food is ok.

I ordered the Age Tofu as appetizer and the White Sesame Shio Ramen with extra corn.

Age Tofu:

– nicely presented on a rectangular plate, a nice hint of chilli oil and good texture of the tofu. Flavourful and tasty. Perfect as shareable.

White Sesame Shio Ramen:

– pipping hot broth (which I prefer especially it’s much needed in this freezing cold weather to warm me up).
– Corn really give nice visual to the creamy broth and the broth is just so good.
– Noods is prepared perfectly, not too firm, not too soggy, just right.
– It’s fun when they give you a mortar to grind the white sesame into powder and sprinkle into the broth for an unique tasting experience.

Overall, it’s a bowl of amazing ramen that will touch your heart & soul. I will definitely come back to try more appetizers and other ramen.

I noticed they have a kids ramen combo as well, perfect for kids and family outing as well.

Ramen Isshin Mississauga – Ontario, Canada
Website
Address: 5080 Hurontario St, Mississauga, ON L5R 0H5
Phone: (437) 914-9005
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ka2d1rVRNKVnR8AY9

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I have been to the Mom’s Pan-Fried Bun 老娘水煎包 Downtown Chinatown location before and now trying this Markham location. It’s not easy to find a table here at the Markham location as it’s constantly have so many people waiting and I don’t want to lineup, so it took this long for me to dine here at the Markham location.

The food menu is pretty much the same as the Downtown Chinatown location.

This location is spacious, quite a number of tables and seating area. Modern, clean and brightly lit throughout the entire resto. Nice animated graphics on the walls.

We ordered pork intestines soup glass noodles and little dragon steam dumplings (xi lung bao) – 6 pieces in a steamy hot basket.

Little Dragon Dumplings:
– steamy hot
– juicy, good pork juice explode in your mouth

Pork Intestines Glass Noodles:
– good portion
– spicy
– no weird smell in the pork intestines, which are major bonus (quite a good amount of pork intestines).

If you can’t eat spicy, you can ask for less spicy. Unfortunately, I asked if it could be mild, the staff said no, you can only ask for less spicy but it’s can’t be mild.

I wish they have more soup noodles variety as many soup noodles options consist of beef (which my parents don’t eat beef).

Anyhow, food and service are great here. Staff constantly come over to ask if you need anything, they clean up the plate often, we asked for take-out box with no questions asked.

They accept credit card, which is a major plus.

I now understand why it’s so popular coz it serves authentic Chinese food with good portion, and amazing pricing. I think their prices are so attractive, way cheaper than many other restaurants.

Soup Noodles at $9.99 CDN + tax, steam dumplings at $5.99 CDN, Cold appetizer ranges from $3.99 to $4.99 CDN and pan fried scallion pancake at $2.99 CDN, unheard of pricing in Toronto!

We will definitely come back to try more items. So many items that we want to try.

Mom’s Pan-Fried Bun 老娘水煎包 – Markham, Ontario, Canada
Website
Located in: Peachtree Centre
Address: 8362 Kennedy Rd, Markham, ON L3R 9W5
Phone: (905) 415-1858
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kiCFpSgm7pSfm7YV9

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We were super hungry after we went to the Outdoor Adventures Show in Mississauga. We were looking for a Asian restaurant to buy take-out before we eat with our friends in the nearby area.

Google suggested 匠之厨 Master Cooking House, from the glance of the menu, the food options seem decent so we decided to give it a try.

To our surprise, moment we walked in, this place felt so inviting and cozy, it has a “home sweet home” feel to it. There were some cool decorations at the entrance. Then the yellow wall was bright and modern. There were a few dining tables.

Master Cooking House offers authentic Chinese food.

We ordered braised beef soup noodle and Japanese style chicken fried rice to go. Overall, both tastes authentic and decent. However, we did find there were only a few braised beef pieces that we wish they provide more pieces.

Other than that, this is a decent option for the nearby neighbourhood, which is a welcome addition in the Etobicoke area since there ain’t many Chinese options like this at the moment.

Master Cooking House 匠之厨 – Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Website
Address: 5555 Eglinton Ave W e113, Etobicoke, ON M9C 5M1
Phone: (416) 626-1800
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GjNWMZYfvDMppaW88

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Soft Opening Discount: Currently, every bill receives 12% off as a welcome Soft Opening discount. But Cash ONLY. However, no one knows how long this 12% off is going to last.

NOTE: Currently, the restaurant says they are ONLY accepting cash as their terminal machine is still being installed. Perhaps in the future, they may accept debit card and credit card.

It seems like the trend of opening more Hong Kong Style “Cha Chaan Teng” is still happening in Toronto when “Nice Cafe 禮記” is now doing soft opening in Markham. It’s located at 9390 Woodbine Avenue, inside King Square Shopping Centre on the 2nd floor.

Since they just opened last week, the food menu choices are being kept to the minimum. So, please bare with the slow service and limited food items available for the time being.

Nice Cafe offers afternoon tea items from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM, since I arrived past 5:00 PM, I could only order other food items. They have an “All-Day” Section featuring only 2 items. One was toasted sandwich + spam instant noodles. Or toasted sandwich + snow choy pork vermicelli.

I also find their food menu is a bit weird. You don’t need to list a beef brisket soup noodles in 3 different ways coz the noodle type is different. For example, they put beef brisket oil yellow noodle as one item, beef brisket “lai fun” as another item, then beef brisket vermicelli as another, it’s 3 items pretty much the same thing. Their hot beverage section is also confusing where you have to list out how many hot beverages and then which one needs no sugar or less sugar. I think the patrons can just inform the staff, which makes everyone life easier.

Anyhow, there are a decent list of rice items to choose from, this is a regular menu that comes with a hot beverage with no extra charge. If you want cold beverage, it would be $1.25 CDN extra.

I ordered a curry fried chicken spaghetti which is $14.99 CDN + tax. I would say this…there is a Ho Garden at a plaza nearby, it’s cheaper than $14.99 CDN but offer a complimentary soup and hot beverage. I feel Nice Cafe not offering a soup would be at a disadvantage.

It took about 10 minutes before my order has arrived, which I am fine with coz I know they just open, kinks are needed to be ironed out + it’s fried chicken, it should take time to fry. Quite honestly, if the fried chicken comes quicker, then I would be worried. LOL

Fried chicken was crispy, decently juicy, however, I feel other places offer a bigger piece of fried chicken and juicier tender meat. Curry sauce is a typical curry sauce you will find at other Cha Chaan Teng, however, this curry sauce at Nice Cafe has a nice little heat to it. Spaghetti was in great amount and served on the side separated from the sauce which I prefer as I like to mix the sauce myself.

Milk tea has a nice creamy visual to it, I could smell the tea aroma. However, I would prefer the tea to be more creamier and smoother and I would prefer the temperature to be hotter. Having said that, the hot beverage was decent.

NOTE: On the wall, a handwritten poster mentioned that they will continue to expand its food offerings once they have settled in with their kitchen and restaurant. They are keeping the menu to the minimum for now to ensure a quick a service and preparation as they can. The poster indicated future food items include sizzling plate pork chop, chicken or steak. Also including sizzling Chinese style rice pot.

Overall, I would say it’s very typical Cha Chaan Teng offerings, typical normal taste, nothing stands out, it’s decent, but not bad. If you live far, there is no need to come, but if you are nearby and you are curious or wanted to try, by all means.

I feel the biggest drawback for Nice Cafe is its secluded location. It’s located on the 2nd floor of the shopping centre, which means, patrons need to find a parking spot, comes into the shopping mall, take the escalator on the 2nd floor and try to find the eatery. It’s a lot of walking, when the eatery isn’t that special, I don’t know how many peeps are motivated to go thru all the trouble and effort to get up to the 2nd floor which at most times, the 2nd floor is pretty quiet.

Having said that, I will come back in the near future to try its expanded offering of new food items so I have a better gauge of its taste and the overall dining experience. When a new resto just opened, it will take time for everyone to get used to the operation.

Nice Cafe (inside King Square Shopping Centre 王府井) – Markham, Ontario, Canada
Owner: 王府井有限公 King Square Ltd
Address: 9390 Woodbine Ave floor 2, Markham, ON L6C 0M5
Phone: (647) 282-6315
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NQiPpy92KaMP79baA

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Been to Shinta Japanese BBQ at the Richmond Hill location, but this was my 1st time dining at the Empress Walk (North York location).

I would say that, we actually prefer this North York location. Luv the vibes, the atmosphere, good decent audio music sound at the resto, the seating seemed comfortable with decent space.

We had 6 adults + 2 teenagers + 1 baby, they seated us very comfortably at one of the bigger tables on the elevated area, where a baby stroller could park its place, that was a nice touch!

We ordered the “Silver AYCE” and it was perfect, good value for the money. We had AYCE Wagyu beef in various cuts, in particular, we enjoyed the short ribs, good marble, the wagyu beef was high quality.

During this January month, they are doing some special with scallops, fried scallops or scallops to BBQ, super large in size.

The pork jowl, squid and garlic shrimps were my favourite.

You can also choose white steam rice, udon soup noodles, bibibap, salad, miso soup, sushi. In particular, the black dragon roll was very fresh and nice.

The beverage options were lovely, at extra charge, our group ordered the mango slushy and lemon iced tea, both were refreshing and highly recommended.

Food came quickly, fresh and nice cut. You get what you pay for, great value.

ONLY thing wasn’t that good was the dessert, I know it’s complimentary, but the mango sago wasn’t great, a bit watery and not much flavour. The matcha pudding was ok, the best out of the options were creme brulee. Soft serve ice cream are nice. You can ask for Melona if you like.

The staff were all courteous, hardworking, accommodating and provided amazing service.

NOTE: You get 5% off for paying cash. Also you have 2-hour dining experience. They will tell you “Last Call” so you are aware.

There is also a 2-hour complimentary parking at Empress Walk at P2 Level but make sure to get validation at the cashier area and the staff will validate for you. If you are over the 2-hour parking limit, no worries, you pay the difference. We came here on a Saturday night so we paid $5 Flat Rate for evening on weekends.

Overall, at Shinta, you get the consistency and it’s good every time.

Today was freezing rain outside, to be able to park underground without even going outside to the resto is a huge bonus. Didn’t get wet but nice and warm inside the plaza.

Shinta Japanese BBQ – North York, Canada
Website
Located in: RioCan Empress
Address: 5095 Yonge St 2rd Floor, North York, ON M2N 6Z4
Phone: (416) 551-7446
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FR2v4qBx7KzVcPs99

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This was our 1st time dining here ever since this restaurant rebranded to be called “Zunyan Fine Dining 盛世樽宴”. We were here for some afternoon Dim Sum.

This restaurant is quite large and spacious inside. It stretches from one giant space to another, definitely a large space to host parties or special occasions.

We were impressed overall with the service, the food and especially the price of the Dim Sum was attractive.

We didn’t know Zunyan offers special deal of $5.20 CDN + tax for any dim sum categorized as Small, Medium or Large. We only knew about this deal when we got our bill. So, we were super happy when the food were decently good and charged $5.20 CDN which is relatively cheaper than many other competitors.

What’s even surprising is that…they offer this $5.20 deal even on busy Saturdays. For Sunday, it’s the ONLY day of the week where $5.20 CDN per dim sum is only offer from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, otherwise, it’s regular price for all dim sum items. For example, if you come here after 11:00 AM on a Sunday, then it’s $7.20 CDN for large dim sum item.

Tea per person is $2.50 CDN.

We ordered a number of unique dim sum that ain’t available at other Chinese restaurants.

NOTE: My mom luvs ordering BBQ pork oven baked pastries. But interestingly, this restaurant doesn’t even offer it. The closet thing would BBQ pork steam bun.

Items include:

Pork kidney shredded pork congee with preserved vegetables. Nice and hot and quite good. At first, I hesitated about pork kidney which is not a typical item in congee for Dim Sum places, but it turned out they chopped it up with the shredded pork so it was actually delicious. Congee portion (as you can see from the photo below) was quite big. We had 3 people and we got numerous rounds of it.

Fried ling fish balls with crispy rice. The dipping sauce lacks flavour or taste, really useless.

Steam chicken with fish maw. The “Wai Shan” was fresh and added nice texture to the rest of the meat. I wish they put in ham, as I know ham is usually an ingredient in this traditional dish. But my dad told me perhaps high quality ham (Kum Wah ham) could be pricey.

Green chives with pork blood.

MoVernie TIP: Highly recommend you to ask the staff for chili oil and it’s a perfect match with the pork blood that were smooth. I did wish the portion was bigger in a bigger serving bowl though especially it’s categorized as a large item.

Siu Mai (steam pork dumplings)

Moreover, currently, they are offering $5.99 CDN per jumbo size steam oyster (they showed it on a separate daily sign, not on the typical dim sum menu list). However, when I asked the manager how jumbo it is, he said currently, they only have large size at $3.99 CDN and $5.99 jumbo size was currently not available. We decided to try the $3.99 anyway and it was still pretty large and we chose garlic sauce instead of black bean sauce.

Steamy hot large oysters. It’s such a great deal! I mean, for $3.99 each, you get a large oyster, someone shucked it open for you, put in the garlic sauce and green onions and steam it and then present it.

The service from various staff were courteous, friendly, responsive and it was a great experience.

Although I wouldn’t call this high-end fine dining, but it’s a decent place for decent food. I haven’t tried its dinner menu yet so I can’t comment for dinner experience. However, I will definitely add Zunyan on our dim sum roster and will come back and try more dim sum dishes in the near future. Highly recommended! Thank you for a wonderful experience.

NOTE: They charged an automatic 11% gratuity which is lower than some other competitors who usually charge 12% or 13% tip.

Click here to view the entire Dim Sum menu at Zunyan.

Zunyan Fine Dining & Banquet 盛世樽宴 – Scarborough, Canada
Website
Address: 648 Silver Star Blvd, Scarborough, ON M1V 5N1
Phone: (416) 298-8989
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GehHvox9xj6hkScq7

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I came this morning to grab breakfast. Matsuya Markham 松屋 offers a variety of typical Cha Chaan Teng breakfast options.

MoVernie FUN FACT: What’s interesting is that….the English signage outside said “Korean House” but it’s actually Chinese-Fusion Cha Chaan Teng items. Not sure what’s happening there but wanted to point this out to avoid any confusion.

Ranging from $6.99 CDN + tax to $11.99 CDN, from breakfast sandwiches or soup macaroni or fried eggs and ham, etc.

If you want to order a bigger power breakfast, you can opt for $12.99 CDN + tax combo including eggs, ham, soup noodles and a beverage.

If you want even more substantial powerful breakfast, you can order big portion of soup noodles and rice offerings.

Today, I couldn’t eat much and just want some munchie. I ordered a ham soup macaroni that comes with butter toast and a hot beverage (extra fee if you want cold beverage instead). All for $8.99 CDN + tax, which is a good price.

Food came quickly. Toast was toasty and not too much butter which I prefer. My hot “yin-yang” was nice, smooth and hot, which is great.

Lots of ham strings on my soup mac and broth was creamy. Not too salty, mac was incredible, it’s smooth, chewy and not soggy but close to al dente. The mac texture was just perfectly made.

I also like to mention that the staff were friendly and courteous, super attentive and polite.

Will definitely be back for lunch or dinner in the near future.

MoVernie TIP: It looks like they have daily lunch special as well, look for their handwritten offerings near the cashier counter or ask the staff for details (as it’s not printed on the menu).

Wheelchair Accessibility: There are no steps at the restaurant entrance, so wheelchair can access into the resto. Also, it’s very spacious inside so wheelchair can dine at the tables, booths, except the high chair counter tops at the front. Otherwise, the resto should be able to accommodate. As for washrooms, there are men and ladies washrooms separately, I don’t see any wheelchair specific washroom. The men’s washroom is decent size but not as big as a wheelchair version. But still doable I presume.

Matsuya 松屋 – Markham Road Location
Website
Address: 9275 Markham Rd, Markham, ON L3P 3J3
Phone: (905) 554-8788
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9Y5YoKYYtMGGKxCt6

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It’s freezing rain this afternoon, so decided to check out Coffee Ronin. I happened to walk by this place as it’s located a few store down from Son’s Dai Pai Dong.

This cafe only opened 2 weeks ago and run by husband and wife. They were both passionate and about coffee and they have arts & crafts on the 2nd floor, this is an unique coffee layout.

It’s very calm, cozy, nice sunlight penetrating into the coffee shop. This place reminds me of the Japanese cafes I experienced when I was in Japan. Pour Over is more popular in Japan than here in Canada.

They told me that they will be organizing some activities later on when they settled in with their operation.

I tried the Pour Over coffee, it was nice to see the owner made my coffee in front of my eyes. My Pour Over coffee was $8.50 CDN + tax, not cheap, but you paid for the appreciation of fair trade coffee beans, human labour of pour over and the interior and vibes here.

This is a welcome addition as it’s a nice coffee shop in Scarborough.

I didn’t eat anything as I wasn’t hungry during my visit. They do offer some simple snack such as bakery and crossiant as options for your beverage offering.

Coffee Ronin 珈琲浪人 – Scarborough, Canada
Website
Address: 3101 Kennedy Rd Unit A8, Scarborough, ON M1V 4Y1
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QVMT58bn1rQuCgqWA

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One of the first sightseeing places that we visited in South Korea was “Gyeongbokgung Palace”.

It’s a former royal palace that was built in 1395.

The whole complex is very well-maintained. Great to walk around to travel back in time to admire the historical buildings.

MoVernie TIP: The area at the front of the entrance is FREE. But if you want to roam more parts of the palace, you pay a small fee to get in with tix. However, anyone who wears the traditional Hanbok gets in FREE.

We lucked out and witnessed the traditional Korean ceremony. There was drums pounding ceremony and people marching.

NOTE: Based on the official website, it says the palace is closed on every Tuesday. Be sure to check their schedule before you visit to avoid any disappointment.

Gyeongbokgung Palace – Seoul, South Korea
Website
Address: 161 Sajik-ro, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea
Opened: 1395
Phone: +82 2-3700-3900
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/47PyrpoEyQFAUGzJ8

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For some reason, I thought this place was called “A La” when it was located across First Markham Place, but now realized it’s called “Fung’s Kitchen”.

They closed the Markham location and moved to the new Scarborough Plaza and recently opened for 2 weeks.

Since I had never dined at the old A La before, so I can’t compare which my feedback would be even more authentic coz I am basing my dining experience with out prior bias.

Friendly staff provided great service. They served Shanghainese cuisine 上海菜.

Prices on the food menu seemed ok, reasonably priced. I like the interior design of this place, it’s not super massive but it does the job. The food menu design looks elegant.

Anyhow, since it’s late afternoon, we weren’t super hungry. We ordered the following items:

1) Little Dragon Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao (小笼包) – $7.50 CDN
2) Wor Tip (Pan Fried pork dumplings) – $8.50 CDN
3) Tender Chicken Soup Noodles – $13.99 CDN

The Xiao Long Bao (小笼包) was pipping hot with nice presentation inside the steam basket with authentic white vinegar. Juicy and good pork meat inside. However, I am used to having 6 of these in other restaurants than here as they served only 4 here.

Pan Fried dumplings were a let down as there were only 4 pieces vs other places with 5 or 6 pieces. And the size here seemed small. The wor tip wasn’t crispy enough at the bottom and the sides weren’t crispy either. It felt like the chef may have steamed it first and then pan fried after, which is ok if they spent more time pan frying instead of half-ass and then served it. There were only 2 tables of patrons and not busy at 3:00 PM weekday, so there was no excuse for the dumplings not properly pan fried. Wish the chef could put more patience into pan frying longer.

Tender Chicken Soup noodles were relatively the best out of the 3 items as it’s pipping hot, good portion, chicken pieces were tender. The noodles were angel hair type and it was on-point and not soggy, which was great! Super creamy with Shanghainese bok choy. Only minor suggestion would be if they could provide a little bit more noodles. We felt there wasn’t enough noodles but lots of broth.

The service was great and the interior was marvelous. Would come back and try its dinner dishes especially they have some dinner combos.

Overall, I would say it’s nothing spectacular but it does the job and offer a decent alternative option in the Scarborough area.

NOTE: They accept credit card (you have to pay for the service fee), also accept debit card or cash with no fees.

Fung’s Kitchen 阿拉海派私廚 – Scarborough, Canada
Website
Address: 3101 Kennedy Rd Unit C17-18, Scarborough, ON M1V 4Y1
Phone: (289) 378-8956
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/dwX1Ja7rmXHK7orG8

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