Canteen is a great casual Hong Kong-style spot tucked away on the second floor of Dragon City Mall in Chinatown. It's kind of hidden, especially since much of the mall doesn't have many businesses open and most visitors probably stay downstairs for the cheap dumpling restaurant. Don't let that deter you - Canteen is definitely worth heading upstairs for. We ordered the Hainanese chicken rice lunch special, baked spaghetti lunch special, and lamb chops. Everything was tasty, satisfying, and came out surprisingly quickly. The lunch specials were especially good value at around ~$13 USD each, including soup and a drink (we chose canned Pepsis). The owner/waitress was genuinely kind and welcoming. If you're nearby and looking for a quick, reasonably priced Hong Kong café-style meal, Canteen is well worth checking out. read more

Canteen - Hainanese chicken rice lunch special - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Came here to try the Ikan Bakar grilled stingray. Ordered ahead of time and it was definitely worth trying. The fish was grilled with a flavorful sauce. Also tried the nasi lamek, loved the crispy little fish it comes with and the sambal was delightfully spicy! Also had the Malaysian gui diao stir fry noodle dish with shrimp, and it was perfectly seasoned. Definitely recommended. read more

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This restaurant is located on the second floor inside Dragon City, and it serves pretty authentic Malaysian food -- which means it's spicy. My husband couldn't handle it because his spice tolerance is pretty low, but if you enjoy authentic flavors, this place is great. It's a family-run restaurant, and the staff were very friendly. Since it was our first time trying Malaysian food, the waitress was patient and explained the dishes to us. The restaurant itself was also very clean, which I appreciated. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this spot if you're in Chinatown and craving Malaysian food. Just be ready for the spice! read more

Canteen - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Hokkien noodles were excellent. The stock used to cook them was rich with a slight sweetness but not too heavy & penetrated the dish. The pork was tender & tasty & there were many cubes of crispy lard. The noodles were firm but not hard. There were 4 shrimp which were fresh & not small. read more

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First time trying this place, I ordered the hainanese chicken and rice. Food was very good, rice is tasty but for me its too oily. The chicken was amazing perfect match with the ginger and chili sauce . Portions are great too! Good food for the price. read more

Canteen - Hainanese Chicken and Rice - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Just got back to Toronto. A friend of mine wanted to eat something different. I didn't want to eat Japanese, Vietnamese or Thai food. So I suggested Malaysian food because I never went to Malaysia during my trip. So if people didn't know canteen, new owners are Malaysian so they have Malaysian dishes on their menu. You have the classics like nasi lemak or char keowy teow or the bak kuh the (pork rib soup) Since this was Tuesday, I ordered the Hainese chicken rice. The two sauces that goes with it tasted fantastic. The chicken is a little bit too hot for my liking. I like a cooler chicken but it was still very tender and not dry. Paired it with a cold lemon tea for one extra dollar. My friend had the nasi lemak, super flavourful. Came with two chicken drumsticks. Service is typical in Chinese bistro. Customer service not that amazing but you'll get your food. A suitable choice if your looking for Malaysian food read more

We were here for their Malaysian cuisine. It is 4.5 stars due to their specialty. If you go with other food probably 3.5 stars. The restaurant located on the second floor. Ambient is not great but a place to eat. We're here for the Nasi Lemak. The Malaysian traditional cuisine. Nasi Lemak is good with fried small fish, egg, and curry chicken. While we were there, we ask for Ikan Bakar. They don't serve that on the spot. Need to order ahead. Need at least two hours of notice. We did come back for the Ikan Bakar - grilled fish. The best fish for Ikan Bakar is devil rays or stingray. The grilled in Malaysian spice like what I have in Malaysia. I would said, this is the first Malaysian grill stingray I have in North America. Overall is good. Love it. read more

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I ordered Hainanses chicken on rice. Rice and chicken taste good with the sauce together. It's good for a work day lunch. Great portion as well. Wish there were more veggie though. read more

Canteen - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Food: 4 Stars Service: 4.5 Stars Ambience: 4 Stars Fill Factor: Stuffed I am in Chinatown a bit more frequently that I care to admit and I have seen Canteen on the second floor of Dragon City for years now. For some reason it has never crossed my mind to give it a try until recently. After my experience I am definitely more inclined to come back and try their other offerings. Service was great as I was in a crazy rush that day so had to be in and out fairly quickly. I felt like the staff there knew I was in a rush so was spot on with taking my order, getting the food to me, to seeing when I finished and bringing me the bill right away without me asking. Definitely extra points for that. I ordered the twice-cooked pork on rice which also came with a soup to start and a milk tea. It was really good value for the price you pay and the portions were pretty good as well as I was pretty stuffed after the meal. I inhaled the food pretty quickly so in terms of taste it was a bit of a blur but I found it pretty good overall. I do not know why I ordered twice-cooked pork as there were a lot of other dishes on the menu which I like a lot more than it but I guess we need to live with our regrets and just come back again to try the other dishes. All in all, I am glad I finally gave this place a chance. I definitely recommend dropping by and enjoying some Hong Kong style restaurant food if you are into that. I know I will definitely be giving this place another visit next time I am in Chinatown and this time hopefully I am not in a rush so I can enjoy the food properly. read more

Canteen - Twice cooked pork with rice - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I know this is mainly a Hong Kong Chinese restaurant, but when the chef is Malaysian, I had to go with one of the few Malaysian dishes on the menu: I got the Nasi Lemak Combo. I've never had nasi lemak before, and I enjoyed it. The chicken was tender, the sambal sauce it was swimming in was good spicy (meaning, not just hot but flavourful hot), and the rice had a strong coconut taste that lingered to balance the sambal heat. Combo came with standard soup and your choice of drink (I got the HK milktea, which was a bit watered down for my taste). At $15, the combo was great value. Overall service was efficient. And while the place was spartan, it was clean and spacious enough to make the meal enjoyable. If I'm in the area, I'll definitely go back to try Canteen's other dishes. read more

Canteen - Nasi Lemak: look at that sambal drenching! - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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They are a Honk Kong Chinese restaurant.  However the chef is from Malaysia  so they offer a few Malaysian dishes. We've been twice to this restaurant. The first time was in 2021 when indoor dining was not allowed so we did takeout. But on 2021-01-03, we went for indoor dining dinner, just before another "no indoor dining" mandate starting 2022-01-05. This time we specifically went to try their Malaysian dishes. This review is about our most recent visit. The restaurant is located on the second floor of Dragon City Mall. They only accept cash. On 2022-01-03, we ordered the following: 1. Special Combo 47: Baked Fish with Spinach/Cheese & Bacon in Cream Sauce on Rice ($13.00). 2. C20: Malaysian Chan Gui Diao ($12.00). 3. Special Combo (off-menu): Nasi Lamak ($12.00). The special combos come with a soup of the day and a drink. The soups of the day (on the day we were there) were: - Bawang Hua & Pork Soup - Russian Bortsch Soup The drinks for special combos are: - coffee, Hong Kong Style milk tea, mixed coffee & tea, lemon tea, lemon water, soy milk, pop We chose one of each soup and 2 soy milks. 1. This is a typical Hong Style style dish which our son loves. 2. They used two different types of noodles along with plenty of shrimp. We asked for it not to be spicy and for the spicy sauce on the side which turns out to be sambal sauce. My wife absolutely loves this dish. 3. Nasi Lemak is a very popular Malaysian dish. It was spot on. It had all the right ingredients and it was a mid-spicy. The chicken was tender. The sabal (hot sauce) is made by the chef. Extremely delicious. The owners are a husband-wife team; the husband is from China and the wife is from Malaysia. The chef and his wife (waitress) are from Malaysia. There is no free WiFi but you can use the Dragon City free WiFi.  The restaurant is wheelchair accessible (use an elevator to get to the second floor). There is a gender-neutral washroom. Review 2021-001. If you like my review, please give my review a thumbs up and click on my profile pic (at the top, on a mobile/cell phone), and click on "Follow"). You can also find me on Instagram @chuan_chee. Thanks. read more

Canteen - Storefront - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Located in Dragon City Mall on the 2nd floor. Small shop with a mix of HK western dishes and Malaysian dishes. Mainly came here to try their Malaysian dishes as this is very rare in Toronto! We tried Nasi Lemak and Hainaese Chicken. Both were combos and came with soup and a drink. +$1 for cold drink which is totally worth it esp in the summer. Nasi Lemak was everything needed. Peanuts and ikan bilis (anchovies) fried perfectly and sambal hit the spot. It is spicy but my partner found it still delicious. Haninese Chicken was marinated well and came with 2 dipping sauces. Overall total came to $32 and worth trying esp if you're looking for your Malaysian fix! *Cash Only!* read more

This is a HK style cafe on the 2nd level of the mall. The food is cheap, filling, and the service is fast. The seating is a little cramped and there aren't too many table. Nevertheless, a great option if you craving some good valued HK food. I'd recommend getting one of the set menus. Cash only. read more

Canteen - Sc38 chicken cutlet with black pepper - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Pretty much no service at all while forcefully letting me pay more than 15% tips. The waitress even attempted to grab coins from my hand as she thinks the tip I left on the desk is "not enough". The food is just normal and does not worth you being robbed by the waitress. read more

Simple and tasty meal. Rice was deliciousss, maybe even better than the chicken which was also tasty. The green sauce makes the food even more delicious that it already is. Very affordable too. Great Uber Eats option during COVID. read more

Canteen - Hainanese chicken - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This Hong Kong cafe is located on the second floor inside Dragon City. CASH ONLY. This cafe is your typical HK foods, with affordable prices too. There are set dinners/combos, etc. (Usually comes with a soup and coffee/tea). We ordered the Baked Spaghetti Bolognese and Chicken Steak with Bacon and Mushroom on Rice. Both were $9 and came with soup + drink. Both dishes needed more sauce, but overall still pretty decent. Service was fast and our server was really nice. If I'm ever craving HK cafe food, I'll definitely come back. There was a decent amount of variety here. read more

Canteen - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This place is a hidden gem. The food is exceptional and the closest to home in taste. Everything we had here was very good. For once Asian food tasted like Asian food. To compliment the great food was the friendly service from the chef and his wife. We have now visited almost all the Asian restaurants or those that claim they serve Asian food, Can-teen is by far the best. We are going back tomorrow. Who cares about the 3 hour drive. Thank you ! read more

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Good portion, very fast service read more

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Loved the Nasi lemak here. Will be back to try other dishes. They are located 2nd floor of mall and cash only! read more

Canteen - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Always give soup, deliscious soup. Always offer tea or milk tea, cold +$1 CASH ONLY Anything curry is a safe bet Pork chops good too Beef tongue super tender and flavourful Order try yourself don't believe bad reviews. Believe what you see and taste! Take look at photos read more

Canteen - Cheese gravy pork chop - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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We've been here many times to dine-in and order take-out as well. The owner and staff that have worked there before the pandemic were very nice and easy going people. To name a few dishes that are good for HK style food with affordable pricing... Curry Fish Head Noodles Soup- Singapore curry broth with a creamy spice quick with some fried cut up fish pieces along with pig skin gelatin of sort, okra/eggplant, fried bean curd skin that soaks up well the curry sauce along with yellow noodles and vermicelli. Thin steak with black pepper sauce- I usually get this with rice or fries. Its a decent steak that's not fatty but lean cut and doesn't break the bank. General Tao Chicken-My partner enjoys this quite a bit. Nice crispy fried pieces of chicken glazed over the sauce. They also have some Malaysian influence dishes that are great as well. Wah Tan Ho Seafood- Its a saucy egg mix base with rice noodles blended with seafood (shrimp, imitation crab meat, squid, grouper?). Ask for their 'belachan' hot sauce...Its store made spicy shrimp paste... Chao Kuay Teow- Fried Rice Noodles with shrimp/chicken, beansprout, chives with a dark sauce of sort...I usually ask for the 'crispy pork fat' which has nice little chunky pieces of crunch...Of course, don't forget the 'belachan sauce'...Mix well and enjoy! Nasi Lemak- Plain rice with crispy little anchovies, fried boiled egg, sauteed onions with their in-house sambal sauce with a bit of cucumber to cool you down...Also has two pieces of marinated chicken...Tried this today and I gotta say, its a good flavoured dish. New dish available but haven't tried yet! Ikan Bakar- Skate fish marinated with in-house sauce and grilled...If you ever look this up on youtube or google it, you will drool to want to try this... Ba Kut Teh- Herb rib soup with some sweetness to it...I'm not sure how it stands here as I haven't tried it, but if made well, it is easy to down a few bowls of rice with this soup dish... If you guys are ever in Spadina/Dundas area, give this place a try and support this local small business owner...As you know with pandemic, small business owners need our support the most... read more

This is the restaurant my friends and I go almost every Friday. [Location] 5/5 It is located in Chinatown (Dundas St W and Spadina Ave), inside Dragon City on the second floor. [Service] 4/5 The waitress were very friendly because they recognized us as soon as we entered the restaurant [Food Quality] 3/5 It is typical Chinese (Cantonese) style food. Great portion, cheap price with acceptable taste. [Overall] 4/5 For people live in Downtown, it is a good place where you can easily feed yourself with around $13. read more

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Right in the most recognizable building in Chinatown (always being shown on TV), the Dragon City, it's Can*Teen. Canteen : a restaurant attached to a factory, school, etc., providing meals for large numbers of people (reference:the free dictionary http://www.tfd.com/canteen) they serves great Hong Kong style westernized food, and with few other Asian signature dishes. they have a rotating list of lunch specials, with the Steak always on it, and for only $10.99, it's a great deal. (Lunch special comes with a soup and a coffee or tea) My favorites are the Hainan Chicken Rice, Cutlet Pork Chops, Cutlet fish... (the list goes on and on...) advise: please call ahead to order, as wait time could be long if they are busy. 2/15 read more

Canteen - front door of Canteen, 2nd floor in Dragon City mall - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Very good HK style diner, ox tongue is great, pork chops, hainan chicken rice and the house chinese soup is fantastic...can't wait to try the Malaysian dishes read more

Food- great Service-aight Server added 20% tip on my bill without letting me know. I had to double check with her cause it was too high compared to what I bought. Check your bill before paying. read more

Wandered in as we were walking around Chinatown looking for a late lunch. Had their "afternoon tea" menu, which were specially priced HK-style small plates. Really enjoyed our meal Malaysian noodles, Montreal grilled pork chop over spaghetti, Sambal fried rice, fried chicken wings, cold lemon tea, cold almond tea. The whole thing was $18. Friendly service in a casual setting. Lighting was indeed dim, but I found it relaxing and very chill. Would go again. read more

You'll be surprised by how tasty the food is here! My mom actually suggested this restaurant for me to try. We went there for an afternoon snack. We shared a ham and egg sandwich and escargot (with complimentary garlic bread). The escargot was surprisingly very good. Both meals came with complimentary tea. read more

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A modernized asian fusion as I'm not a fan of mainland food. A variety of HK, Malaysian and Singaporen food. Curry fish head noodle is my fav so far, sambal fried rice is good as well (bit too salty, also it's pretty spicy for non heat lover) and i always order lemon coke (i don't see elsewhere serving this). The only con is, they only accept cash. RECENT UPDATE: They serve SAMBAL PETAI AND SHRIMP WITH RICE. OMG. DIED. It's a but pricey though like around $11-$12 but hey it's worth it if it helps to remedy homesickness. read more

We were recommended by a local staff at a mini mall. He said the food was great! so we went here the next day for lunch. The place is very dim. I then realized because most of the spot lights are out and they did not fix it. It is very noticable since some table were brightly lit and some weren't. Places like this should be brightly lit, it is def not a romantic place or anything like that. When taking our orders, the waitress looked annoyed when my friend change her food within a second of changing her mind. It wasn't like they made the food already. She was still taking my order. Most of the entree came with soup of the day and garlic bread which is a plus. I really felt that the food was mediocre. The only good thing was the honey chicken wings. That was good! read more

You'd never expect it from seeing the exterior or the location, but their selection of Hong Kong style dishes is huge....but their quality was SHOCKING for the price. Big portions, flavoured really well, and all for under $10 with soup and drink. Highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for a Hong Kong style cafe in downtown Toronto with totally acceptable prices. read more

I've passed by this dining spot for many times but haven't tried it until today. It's located inside the well known Chinatown building Dragon Plaza. It surely draws comparison to New Hong Kong bistro as both offer Hong Kong style Cafe food. Upon browsing through their menu I realized that they offer same lunch special everyday. Ordered steak with tiger shrimp lunch which includes soup and drinks. I wouldn't say I like the soup as I prefer Chinese broth over westernized soup, but nice gesture for providing two small pieces of garlic bread. As for the main dish, surprisingly it was executed nicely. Steak was prepared and cooked perfectly. It is tender and juicy. I think they also sear the corner to give smokiness of the steak. Shrimp tastes frozen but I think it is the same case for majority of spots Chinatown. I think their sauce is milder than New Hong Kong bistro so would be ideal for those who prefer lighter taste. As for the milk tea, it is not as dense as New Hong Kong bistro and I personally would prefer denser taste. Overall I think it is a good alternative to New Hong Kong Bistro as sometimes I don't like their daily lunch special. Overall, I will definitely visit again to try out other items. read more

Canteen - Soup of day - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Ordinary service, and 45 minutes for a simple lunch. Really need to work on restaurant ventilation, I know smell like oil...

A little on the pricier side for the food court quality food you get. One notable thing for me was the tea: it tastes like dish water and I only had one sip of it before deciding to abandon it. Won't go back again, if you have the time and are downtown, go to kaiju instead for their excellent Japanese curry. read more

This is one of the most underrated restaurants in Chinatown. I really like Canteen because it is delicious and inexpensive. For only $12, you can get a combo. I usually get the baked fish with bacon and cream sauce on spaghetti, chinese soup and milk tea/lemon iced tea. I try to go more often but it is one of my go-to restaurants in Chinatown. read more

Took 55+ minutes for food to arrive after ordering. Had to wolf it down to make show time. I think it was good -- I had a belly ache for the play because I had to eat my food so fast. If you have show tickets and are time conscious avoid this place! read more

I feel that this place is very underrated in the Spadina Chinatown area. The fact that it's hidden in a corner in the Dragon City mall, and has few prominent signs out front (drowned out by signs from other restaurants like Owl of Minerva, Yooj Express, and Sky Dragon), means that Canteen is not easy to find. However, take the time to go up to the second floor, and you'll find Canteen to be a far superior alternative to the Chinese-style fast food offered by Yooj Express. Canteen serves what's called "Hong Kong Steakhouse" food. Places like these usually include menu items such as noodles and rice as well as Western fare such as steaks, grilled fish, sizzling dishes and so on. For some strange reason, this kind of food is neither very abundant nor very good in Toronto's Chinatown. This type of restaurant is very popular with Chinese people, especially people from Hong Kong, in the tradition of Cafe de Coral, because of large portions, variety of food and reasonable prices. I've had a few bad experiences trying out this style of food in the Spadina area (several spots along Dundas St. serve this food, but they are pretty pathetic, and I'm not going back). Canteen is the one that passes the grade. I usually order something simple such as the Pepper and Salt Pork Chops with rice. They make a pretty good Ox Tongue in White Sauce (a very hit-or-miss dish, usually), and their Sweet and Sour beef is good. For larger dishes they have a really great sole fish/chicken steak combo, and you can get some very delicious fried rice to go with it. With your soup comes some simple yet great garlic toast. And their iced milk tea is well above average. I wish Canteen would improve its decor a bit, because it's quite dark, a bit cramped, and adding to its somewhat hidden location, it just doesn't catch the eye. But give it a chance and you'll find it to be quite a good contender in the area for fast, uncomplicated, reliable food. read more

A few friends and I decided to try a new place while we were visiting Toronto and found the Canteen. Looking at the menu, it seemed like they had just about everything, and so as soon as we could get seats, we sat down. As starters we ordered calamari, escargots, and the buttered garlic shrimp, all three of which were absolutely delicious, however the main courses were less than impressive. My one vegetarian friend ordered noodles and vegetables, and instead he had all sorts of meat in it, and they charged us for something completely different. My other friend had the seafood platter which was okay, and I had the fettucine pasta with..something. it was gross. The meat tasted like what I'd imagine dehydrated fungus would, the pasta was rubbery, and overall I just didn't eat. I also had a mango smoothie, with was filled with my ice chunks than smoothie, but unfortunately I left the restaurant still hungry. I got a hotdog from one of the stands at the corner of Spadina. read more

Reasonable prices and a good variety. Staff are friendly and efficient. Quality of the food depends on what you order. Their tomato sauce looks more like one or two crushed tomatoes (seeds are still in) and the amount given is disproportionally little compared to the starch of the meal. Their Borscht soup has no beets (I personally prefer it that way like many of their targeted customers, so I don't mind). My biggest beef is the way their eggs are cooked - they are always overcooked, rubbery, and watery with brown spots. Their white sauces and cream soups have a perfect texture and consistency, though I thought the flavor was a bit on the light side. Their rice dishes, appetizers, snacks, side dishes, and drinks are great and would be even better if there were more non-starchy vegetables in their dishes. read more

you cant go wrong with this place.. for less than 10 bucks you got soup, drink n the entree they serve great Hong Kong style (cha chaan teng) westernized food read more

Found a massive bug bout the size of your thumb.. with long legs and wings / roach in my soup of the day. I told the waitress and she tried to play it off and tell me it was an onion. Yeaaaaa.... probabaly not comming back here again. read more