Cool Chinese bbq skewers. This place is located in a plaza on Silver Star and there are so many delicious places to choose. When we got here around 8pm on Sunday, we were able to get a table with no wait. We ordered some skewers which were delicious. We all loved the sausage and beef skewers. Something I found interesting was that they offer free bottled water and you can service yourself by walking up to the fridges and grabbing one yourself. They only accept cash and debit here which is like a lot of Chinese restaurants around this area. All in all, good food, good company and a good night. Would come back here to hang out, have a couple of beers and some Chinese Tapas anytime. read more

Chat Bar - Barbeque Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

**3.5** Chat Bar is similar to a Japanese Izakaya where the concept is small bites loud music and drinking! The vibe of the restaurant is very much so focused on the young Asian crowd and that was pretty much the majority of the patrons haha. Chinese hip hop mixed in with some Korean Japanese and a hint of English. I came here late on a Monday probably around 11 and the place was packed. Got a table right away but the place still had people walking in after we left. Service was decent I mean they didn't really do much considering the drinks are self-serve and you take your own order. Nothing special but nothing terrible either. The food was good, we order the following: sausage skewers - nothing special decent. lamb skewers - good juicy not too gamey pork intestine w/ garlic - good but ended up taking out the clove in every piece cause it was a bit too much garlic chicken wing w/ garlic - I would recommend getting the honey sauce over the garlic because it had no flavour baked garlic clams - good similar to garlic butter clams at seafood boil restaurants enoki mushrooms - a little salty/over seasoned but good grilled scallops - best thing we had for the night but oddly enough 1/5 scallops was overcooked ... just 1. after tax and tip I spent around $75 (2 people) and for the amount of food we got + 3 cans of pop it was pretty good and I would come back BUT!! Like other reviews stated there is a decent amount of msg or sodium in the food which led to me having to chug more of my drink.. pretty good sales tactic considering the drinks are self-serve (beer pop coolers and water) and charged later. read more

See all

I am A regular customer at chatbar. I usually come here once a week or two. Both locations are excellent, I found the unionville location is more quiet than the Scarborough location. There is more staff here as well. My favourite is the baked clams with garlic and the fried Chinese buns (not the sliced toast one) . I like to dip the buns in the garlic clam juice for an extra tasty experience A bowl of rice with that is good, too!! The lamb, beef, sausage, and chicken wings are my favourite skewers and a few bottles of corona. I've tried the scallops and oysters as well. A bit pricey but tasted great! The bottle of water is free btw. The pics are from the unionville location but I prefer this one more. read more

See all

I find in terms of ambiance the unionville mainstreet location is more cosy. However, I like how this location because we can go directly to the fridge to grab the beer and you can watch the chef cook while you wait. The oyster was much larger at this location. In terms of the shelled scallops, I prefer the unionville location. Overall this is always one of my go to skewer place. Will be back again and again! read more

First time trying this place and had the lamb, pork belly, sausage, and rice cake skewers and the cheese corn and lotus roots as well. The ones I would get again are the pork belly, sausage, and cheese corn. The sausage is sweet, basically like filipino longganisa and all the skewers have a signature seasoning on them. I would be cautious if you can't tolerate spice well as the spice builds up. Getting the cheese corn really helped counteract that. Would recommend going with more people so you can try multiple things. read more

Really solid skewers. Reasonable price- nice decor and comfortable seating. We were a group of 7 and waited around 40min on a Friday night. The food comes really quick. All drinks you go get yourself but the water bottles are free. I probably wouldn't go for the pork again but I mostly liked the lamb, chicken cartilage, skewers, and the scallops. The pork belly rice was good too. As busy as they were, they never pressure you to get out, which I liked. And yes, they did come by and you were able to get service. read more

See all

Me and my wife tried this spot recently and we found the food was really good and fresh for being open so late. Our server Derek was excellent and we enjoyed the entire experience read more

Heard a lot of news about the Eatery, so decided to check it out. My friend and I ordered way too much food! We realized through the middle that it's really easy to overorder as you don't think much about the skewer prices, but it is actually quite expensive, even for the portions. The service is quick, however, they do seem much friendlier to patrons who speak mandarin/international students than English speakers and their attitude is definitely different. There was a noticeable change in the attitude and they refused to change our order when they bought out the wrong dish. However, the skewers are quite good. My friend and I spent around $75 after tip and tax for 2 people, which is a little too much for the atmosphere and portions. read more

I think this place is alright. It's not the worse place in the area but I think there are better places to check out if you're looking for a late-night skewer snack. When I came, I came pretty late at night (11 pm or something) and it was really packed. We had to wait for around 30min or so in their waiting area, which is okay on a weeknight. The food as a whole was alright. We had a lot of lamb skewers and other various skewers. It's slightly more expensive than competitors like Yang's BBQ, and in my opinion, the food isn't as good. They put the skewers on a plate with a candle underneath it so that it doesn't get cold -- which is a great touch. However, the skewers are never hot enough (I've been here at least twice). We also had their oysters but there wasn't too much substance to them and felt a bit overpriced. The decor inside this place was great. Dim light but felt really hip. I think the decor is one of the most well-done things that Chatbar did! It was well thought out and really gives those chill vibes. Service for this place is also not the best. It takes a while to grab the attention of the servers, which is okay considering how packed it can get. However, I do wish the servers were a bit quicker in getting you the bill and everything. Overall, this isn't the worse place for skewers and late-night snacks but definitely not the best place in the area. A solid 3 - 3.5/5. It would be pushed to a 4/5 if their food felt a bit hotter (temperature-wise) and their service was a bit quicker. read more

Came here with friends one night cause heard it was good. Turns out.... It's aCtually really good! Though first, this place is cash only, for those of you who want to try. The service was very good. I was surprised as servers in other similar places have emotional issues. We were well taken care of. They have this heated plate where they put your food on. It's heated with candles underneath. At first I thought it's just a gimmick, but it turns out to be a very smart idea. Especially towards the end of the meal. As for the food, it's a wow for me. Other places that I have been to only have one flavour, as in everything tastes the same (mostly just spicy). This place however, everything actually tastes like food, and retaining the flavour of the food if you know what I mean. I especially like their lamb skewer and the enokitake. The pricing is around 1 or 2 dollars more per dish compared to others. read more

Ahh, I'm a little conflicted about what to rate this restaurant. To start, they open only for dinnertime (starting at 4 pm) but close late at 2 am, so it's perfect for a late night snack! But....this restaurant is actually very small, and they do not take reservations. So there is usually always a line up ranging from 10 minutes to an hour, which is a huge drawback for many people. As it was my 4th time there, we walked in and surprisingly there was no wait time for a table of 2. We were seated immediately. Then, as soon as we started looking at the menu, a server came up to us and told us we took someone else's spot, as there was apparently actually someone else before us (but they went out of the restaurant). The server was hovering around our table and we felt totally awkward. She then asked us if we could get up and give up our seat. We totally wouldn't have minded but the server was being a bit rude so we hesitated. After a while she came back and just started hovering around our table again... by this time it was just an awkward ordeal so we offered to give up the table and head somewhere else. She then said it was okay for us to stay, but by then we already felt quite unwelcome. We decided to end up staying as it was quite late already. We ordered our food, and the service for the rest of the night was pretty good. If you order skewers, they are placed on a hot plate with candles underneath to keep it warm, which was a nice touch. If you want drinks you must go up to the front and get it yourself. Water is also not offered (I think you have to pay for it, not sure). The food was quite good but also overpriced. For 2 people the bill came up to around $70. Overall, I would have given the food a 4 star rating but I took one star off for the price and one star off for the horrible customer service seating incident. I would go back, but there are better late night barbecue joints out there that are cheaper and less of a wait time. read more

Chat Bar - Kelp and okra BBQ! (The kelp was a little bit undercooked) - Barbeque Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

See all

This place is SO busy for dinner but pretty empty for lunch. The menu consists mainly of skewers and tapa style items. They also have white rabbit candies that come with the bill instead of usual hard candies or mints. Pretty standard skewers, but I surprisingly liked the fried fish skewers the best. I also had the tripe spicy pot which was pretty worth it as it's $20 and comes with 5 options of skewers and 2 of each (so 10 skewers in total). Overall pretty expensive but nice atmosphere read more

Food was amazing, came in a timely manner, and most importantly, the 2 servers working today went above and beyond for customer service. Big shout out to Anna and Yifan for treating customers attentively and with a positive attitude. They offered to reheat my food, offered extra napkins, served us promptly, etc. read more

Chat Bar - Barbeque Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

Went to Chat Bar with my CT on a Monday night to check out what the hype is for this place because on the weekends there are always huge line up. Not knowing what to expect due to limited reviews, we walked in very open minded. First thing that I noticed is the strong charcoal smell from all the grilling of skewers which I am not a big fan off because I don't want to smell like BBQ after dinner, but we went in anyway. Sat down, looked at the menu and decided to try 3 items to see how it goes, we had the lamb skewer, beef skewer and the fish. Lamb skewer was good as the taste and texture was not bad, but for 4 skewer for $6, not sure if it's worth it. Beef skewer just tasted like the lamb except is was harder to chew. The fish was okay, similar taste than the lamb and beef and not too special. They said you can eat the bone too, but I highly DO NOT recommend eating it with the bone. 3 items took over 1.5 hour to come (lamb came first, then the other two took forever), which is unacceptable! Why so SLOW?! Place is very dim and smell like charcoal, drinks are okay due to the wide variety of selections including the little budda beer! Water is free (bottled water too!) but all drinks, you need to pick them up at the front and open it yourself, so no service whatsoever. Overall, not a big fan and would rather spend my money on something better. The price adds up quickly if you go with a larger group due to small portions. read more

See all

My friend and I were looking for new places to try and came across Chat Bar! We came here for an early dinner, without reservations. We waited about 20 mins for a spot. Service was great - the servers spoke mostly in Mandarin even though we were ordering in English lol. We were seated at the booth area. Each table had a hot plate to keep the skewers heated, which is nice! That kept everything nice and hot. Highlights of the night (skewers): * Okra * Lamb * Beef * Chicken Sides: * Enoki mushrooms (These were marinated so well!) Items I DON'T recommend: * Rice cakes It was SOO HARD to chew on.. omg we only ate 2 lol * Beef tendons This was one of the skewers with the "highly recommended" stamp beside it.. omg bad idea; it was like chewing on rubber with no taste hahaha * Grilled pork on rice There's no sauce and the grilled pork was so dry. read more

New restaurant in the destiny plaza at Old Kennedy and Steeles. Right when you walk in, it's an open kitchen, where you can see the yakitori being smoked. The waiters seem to all speak Mandarin, but with broken English they were able to serve us. The layout is very cute with all the tables being wood, the booths seem a little small, we sat on a high table. The chairs are a little hard and uncomfy. They don't have their liquor license yet, so they have pop or bottled water at the front where you help yourself. The pop is $1.75. They have a warming tray to place your ordered yakitori while you eat. One order comes with 4 skewers, and it's $5.95 for a set. They have a variety of different meats. We tried to 2 that were recommended, lamb and pork intestines. Both are very good, the lamb were nicely seasoned and not too salty, the pork intestines had a garlic clove in the middle that was crunchy, very nice pairing. We tried the eggplant skewer, it didn't come in a skewer, but on a plate, well seasoned with cilantro, it was slightly salty after a couple more bites. Also wanted to try a noodle, so got the minced meat noodle. This was a cold noodle, mixed with minced meat, cucumber, cilantro. This was probably my least favourite. It was too salty for my taste, it needed more cucumber to cut the salt. Lastly we got squid tentacle. It was 2 sets of tentacles, not too big. Once again using the same seasoning, so i found it was salty. Overall an interesting concept. The skewers are really yummy, I think that's what I would stick with next time I come. The service was pretty good, you can tell they are new, they are not familiar with the table numbers yet. But they're polite. read more

See all

This place offers skewers which are extremely salty and oliy, with a not cheap price. Their meat quality is also very poor, pretty dry.

Been there two times, the presentation of their food is very good, I like how they have a heated stone on their table to keep all of their skewers warm all the time, so I didn't feel like I needed to rush to finish them "while it's warm", my friends and I were able to enjoy chatting around the whole time. It is pretty loud in there, I've tried beer there but the fridge was not cold at all on the night we went. Aside from the presentation of their food, I find the taste to be average for the price they charge, I know a few places around the same area that has better/similar skewers for cheaper price (but those are just regular Chinese restaurants rather than having this "bar atmosphere") I wouldn't mind visiting again just for hanging out with friends, but wouldn't go just for the food. read more

See all

Loved the skewers here! Especially the lamb, chicken knuckles and sausages. The meats here are seasoned well and cooked to perfection. Every skewer was a pleasure to swallow! Ps. A bit overly expensive tho read more

I seriously have no idea why anyone would give them less than 5 stars. Please trust me over those other reviews. The atmosphere is so cute, please see pics. The skewers are suuuuuch a reasonable price compared to places like Zakkushi or Izakaya Ju (they are $6 for 4), and they taste amazing. The grilled oysters are SO GOOD PLZ TRY IT it's the best grilled oyster I have ever had. They provide free bottled water and a selection of drinks available in a little fridge bar at the front. Also at 10pm they turn it up- dim the lights and turn up the music. So the atmosphere is even more cool. I am calling out all the ppl who gave less than 5* for having bad taste :$ read more

See all

I love the food here because they're delicious, but I decided to rate it 3 stars because of these reasons: 1. Place is super busy and it takes a long time to get a seat! It's a very small place (and apparently this is their biggest location). Their waiting area is really small too 2. It's very dark inside and it's hard to read the menu they provide. We had to bring out flashlights just to be able to see! 3. They carry the skewers by just holding onto the sticks.. Like they don't even use a plate, like how they do with their other dishes. And also because it's such a tight spot, the dishes could easily drop. My boyfriend saw them pick up something on the floor and set it on a plate.. Hope that plate is going to the sink and is not being served! read more

Great skewers place and tasty items. Enjoyed my time there. Some little cons: loud in there, hard to talk and they don't serve complimentary tea/water so everything is charged. read more

See all

Came upon this Chinese styled yakitori restaurant which opened less than a month ago. Located right next to Destiny's Scarborough, same plaza. Open daily from 4pm -2am. Right when you walk in, you can see their entire kitchen through a glass window. Get to see their chefs grilling, frying, prepping, everything ! Their booths for 4 are 'Asian-sized' which means they're smaller and tighter. There was only 2 of us so it was perfect. They also have longer bench tables for bigger groups. They have a variety of skewers and that's what they specialize in. They use the same sauce for pretty much everything and it's similar to the Lamb Skewer spices. Highly recommend the Chinese Bun! Each table has a stone tray where skewers are delivered onto. It's heated with 2 tea light candles underneath so your food stays warmer, longer. A small bucket for the empty skewers are on each table. They speak Mandarin and it seems that English is their 2nd language. But you're not eating rocket science so broken English should be suffice. They're still waiting for their liquor license so no alcohol yet. But many of their dishes would be perfect with a nice cold beer. read more

See all

I'm not exactly sure why this place only got 3 stars, but I would definitely give it 4 stars. Pros -Lamb skewers were DELICIOUS, seasoned well. Would order again. -Pork skewers were extremely tasty, also seasoned well. Would order again. -Spicy beef noodle soup was extremely good, not too spicy, and a good amount of meat for the price. -Decent service, they replaced dirty plates, were polite. A little on the quiet side and mostly spoke Mandarin. They did understand my dish in English though, when I asked about it. My mom asked about it actually, and I mentioned the dish itself in English and she understood. Cons -Food didn't come around the same time. My dad and brothers meals came first, followed by mom's 5 minutes later, followed by mine 10-15 minutes later. -Garlic shrimp was mediocre. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that flavourful. Someone on yelp said it was amazing so I thought I'd try it... I'm not sure if it wasn't done how it normally was done or what, but it wasn't amazing. I wouldn't order that one again. Overall, I am going to start visiting places that are 3 stars because I always judge and visit 4 star places. But sometimes 4 star places are 3 stars in my opinion, and in this case, Chat Bar is at least a 4 star to me. read more

See all

Great variety of food selection and most of them are flavorful especially the seafood. It's a bit pricy but definitely worth trying. read more

See all

Brace yourself for a night of endless chugging water while enjoying many pieces of flavourful meats covered in a variety of spices and loads of MSGs. It's so good, but also will run you many trips to the bathroom. Environment: Located at the plaza at Steeles/Silver Star Blvd, the plaza has many newly opened/hip Chinese restaurants and many times it's kind of difficult to find parking. But if you don't mind walking a little, you can try to park at the grocery store beside it. The restaurant itself is quite small and it's recommended that you come as a group of 6 or smaller. I like the decor of this place, it has a lot of character and gives a cozy bar vibe. If you can read Chinese, some of the writings on the signs are hilarious. Food: You write down your order from a menu sheet, which is written in both Chinese and English. Many of the skewer orders will come in 4 pieces per order, so make your picks wisely. I really enjoyed their Lamb, Chicken Cartilage, Beef, Intestine, Honey Chicken Wings, and the Oyster on the Chef Special. Their skewers are really flavourful and it has many depth of flavouring, as opposed to the over satuated chili powder that many places tend to overload you with. The Oyster was the best of the meal in my opinion, because not only was the flavour good, the oyster meat was very tender and juicy. I also like how they place the skewers on heated plates on your table so it keeps the meat warm and tasty. However, as I mentioned earlier on my intro, the stuff here are covered with MSG, so you'll end up drinking lots of water. They give you bottled water here and my group ended up drinking 2-3 bottles per person. Service: Pretty much minimal service. The servers will come if you call for them, but usually they will not come check up on you, unless it's to replace the filled bucket with an empty one. It seems that even though they speak English here, they can understand you better if you speak Mandarin to them. Overall, I think I would definitely come again because the flavour of the skewers are really good. Though the price is a little higher than other Chinese BBQ restaurants (we paid around $30/person), I think the higher quality of food justifies it. PS. Cash only read more

Lamb Skewers: Price: $5.95 Comes with 4 skewers.It perfectly cooked, and perfectly tender! Came on a stone plate where you can keep warm over mini candles. Lamb skewers: 5/5! Chicken Skewers: Price: $5.95 Comes with 4 skewers.Perfectly cooked and tender! Came on a stone plate where you can keep warm over mini candles. Chicken skewers: 5/5! Garlic Shrimp: wrapped in foil Price: $6.95 Shrimp was soooo delicious, it was sauced in a tomatoe garlic sauce. Not over cooked, just heaven! Garlic shrimp: 5/5! Spicy beef on rice: Price: $6.95 Served in a mini stone bowl. Brisket cut..if you ever had Vietnamese bo kho(beef stew), very similar in taste. A little oily for my liking. But still delish! Spicy beef on rice: 4.5/5 Self serve drink,pop,beer, and sake..you have the option to ask the server to get. Also they have bottled water at not charge which is nice. Overall this place had amazing service, our server didnt speak english too well, but he tried and was really efficient! Overall rating: 5/5! Keep up the good food guys!! read more

Chat Bar - Garlic shrimp: 6.95 Spicy beef on rice: 5.95 Land skewers: 5.95..we ate 2 skewers :P - Barbeque Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

See all

I think this will have to be my favorite Chat Bar location. It's a lot more cleaner as well as spacious so it feels livelier. I love coming here for late night snacks since it is open late and I feel very comfortable since everyone there tends to be around the same age group as me. The food is always good, pretty straight forward and fast. My go to orders are the beef skewers, sausages and the any of the vegetables (especially the mushrooms SOOO good). The service is also very quick and responsive! read more

Service is good. Staffs are very tentative. Grilled food is delicious and kept warm with a warming plate. Tables are a bit small read more

See all

Absolutely love this place. If you love mainland Chinese BBQ then this is the place for you. Some dishes can be a little spicy (which I love) but there are plenty that are mild of that is all you can handle. :) Whenever I go here, I usually try and bit of everything so check out my pics for what I enjoyed ! The BBQ lamb and beef sticks are very good here. The 2 appetizers I got were amazing ! Cucumber with soy sauce beef, beef tendon and bean curd. Mmm. So tasty! I absolutely loved the little wonton with egg soup also - don't overlook these items on the menu! The only downside to this place is that it is super busy and you can wait for a long time to get a table. However, once you do get in the service is fast and very friendly! I love their concept also of "get your own drink". You don't have to wait for beer service and can just grab it yourself. Very trusting and comfortable method :) read more

See all

This is one of my favorite goto spot for skewers, the interior and decor is cute. This location is pretty small and cozy. They offer variety of skewers and snacks at a fair price, the skewers are well seasoned and very tasty. The sausages and lamb skewers are always a must. read more

I think their BBQ is alright. Definitely wouldn't come back for Chinese BBQ when there are so many better restaurants nearby (within 5 minutes of driving). I just wanted to check it out since it opened for some time now. But the meat skewers did not impress. Plus, it is also more expensive to eat here. So there is absolutely no reason why I would ever come back. Now I'm not saying it's horrible. But there's manyyy Chinese BBQ nearby. So what's the incentive to come here ? read more

See all

My SO and I decided to come here with another friend couple for a double date this past Saturday. We arrived closer to 8 and didn't get to eat until 9:30...talk about hangry status (sorry BF) Upon arrival, we were at the end of the line, with another 5-6 groups ahead of us. Friend put a name down for them to call us, and there was definitely some organizational mishap, which to us being missed, and another party basically skipping out on the wait. By this point in our lineup, I was getting frustrated and irked that there were people not eating, and just chilling around. I get the atmosphere is meant for a group setting, but if you're just killing time, and by that I mean around half hour of not eating...it's time for you to go. Another gripe is that their water is all bottled Real Canadian water (yes the no frills brand)...which leads to a lot of waste already PLUS the skewer waste...please consider the environment Chat Bar and perhaps get a water filtration system so you can have jugs of water to fill up for each table.. *sigh* Now for the real review: we ordered a variety of items including: clams in garlic seasoning, cumin lamb, chicken, beef, chicken knuckle, pork, rice in stone bowl Taste is just alright - many of the meats have a lot of fat in them, namely the sparerib rice in stone bowl, the beef and the seasoning started tasting the same after a while. There is some grit in the beef and lamb, which leads me to think that they don't use the best quality of meat out there. Everything started coming at once, and the warming plate doesn't do the best job when it comes to warming...Drinks are self serve, and each of us paid about $35 pp..keep in mind that the skewers come in a set of 4, with about 1/4 cup of meat per skewer so take that into consideration or else you'll be stuck eating leftover meat for the next two meals :P The best tasting on the dish were the chicken wings, and the seafood. Back to eating salad for me! Pro tip: while waiting in line, you can decide how many orders of each item you'd like to order May not come back as I enjoy the cook your own skewer experience over the waiting around for a table/food exp.. read more

Love the variety in the menu. The prices is also not super expensive depending on what you order. Drinks are self served - they don't charge for water. The only down side is the restaurant is quite small so tables are really closed together and the booth tables are so small. If you're waiting for your table you can ask for the menu and start making your order. read more

The lamb, beef skewers were perfectly cooked. The scallops wasn't what I expected with the price that I have to pay for. Oysters were ok... I dun think it's a fresh oyster. You grab your own drinks but when I asked them for a glass they said they don't provide that. I was kinda disappointed with that. The bill came up to 95$ for two people and pretty much what's on the pictures I attached. I only paid 5% of the tips because I don't think it's worth 10%, then the waitress came and told me it's not enough tips and pointed out that I only paid 5%. which that leads me to never return to this restaurant again. read more

See all

First found out about it on BlogTo. Initially wanted a hotpot but after seeing the price opted for some skewers instead. It was super packed and the wait was about 30 min for a weekday at 3:00 pm. The skewers were just okay. They weren't terrible, they were quite good actually but considering your almost paying $2 per skewer is a hefty toll on your wallet. My favourites got to be the pork belly and tteokbokki skewers If you have extra cash to splurge go for it! If you're like me and think $8 for some beef skewers is too much then you should probably find a different place. read more

Tiny place so wait time was relatively long. But if you're willing to wait, they offer a good selection of authentic char-grilled skewers. There was a "hot-plate" on each table that kept the skewers warm. Chat bar offers a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as other non-alcoholic options (pop, Wong lo Kat, aloe drinks, energy drinks). I thought it was neat that you could just go up to the bar/fridge and take out whatever you wanted by yourself. The relaxed, laid back ambiance of this place can be attractive for younger crowds, but may not be suitable for children and older adults. The price is moderately expensive, but each skewer has quite the flavor. Opens late, so if you're looking for a place to relax for some food and drinks, chat bar is a great option read more

This was the backup plan when we found out the restaurant we originally planned to go to closed at 11pm. We had to wait about 10 minutes to get seated, but that's alright. The restaurant itself is dark, and the music they play is quite loud. The first issue while they do have a good number of servers for a restaurant of this size, the majority of the ones we talked to knew almost no English. Even when trying to get a table, we spoke in English, and the waitress responded in Mandarin. I mean, yes, I'm Chinese, but I speak Cantonese. It's difficult when the customer understands the waitress more than the waitress understands the customer. We were seated at one of the higher bar-like tables in the center of the restaurant. Their bar stool-like chairs have seats that are quite uncomfortable. I'm not a very big person (just over 5 feet), but this seat ends somewhere around my upper-mid thigh, and as it's wood and has no padding, it wasn't a fun sitting experience. The tables are also really narrow. They don't serve tap water here. They offered us water bottles. Not until the end of our meal did we realize they were free (chalk that one up to language barriers). Here's the thing. If I don't order a drink, I'm expecting water to be given to me. If it's not automatically given to me, I ask for it, and you offer me bottled water, I'm assuming I have to pay for it, especially if you don't understand me and I don't understand you. It's just easier for everyone if you offer me water without me having to ask for it. Food: I know Foodie M is calling me out for having bad taste in her review, as I am one of the ones who will not give Chat Bar a 5 star review, but I really don't think this deserves 5 stars. Some of the food was pretty good, but some of it was just not mind-blowing enough to deserve a 5. Lamb skewers ($5.95 - 4 skewers) - While this is a fairly reasonable price for lamb skewers, giving the amount of lamb they put on each skewer, I've had better and more reasonably priced lamb skewers elsewhere. I wouldn't mind ordering these ones again, but they're maybe a 3.5 in my books. Lamb noodle soup ($6.95) - I thought that this would be a legit sized bowl of noodles. It was served in a small stone bowl akin to the ones that you get steamed egg or a side of kimchi stew in at Korean BBQ restaurants. The portion definitely does not justify the price. The lamb in it was pretty tasty. Each piece of lamb had a little bit of fat that I like, but I know there are people who would not like that as well. The noodles also had a good texture. If this bowl of noodles was $5, I'd give it a 4/5, but because it wasn't $5, I'd give it a 2.5. Beef tendon and bean curd ($5.95) - This is one of their recommended dishes. I was expecting it to be chunks of marinated beef tendon and chunks of marinated tofu served cold. What I got was a bowl of spicy bean curd noodles (think a thin, flat sheet of firm tofu with little raised bumps for texture, then shredded). It was tasty, but not worth the price. I spent quite a while trying to find the beef tendon in the dish. I finally found a small amount of it, also shredded, mixed into my bean curd threads. I'm thinking the ratio of bean curd to tendon was about 20:1. Something like that. The tendon was also really chewy. I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or not. This was tasty, but because of the description of the item and the price of the item, I don't think this was worth its price tag. I'd give this one a 2.5/5 as well. Garlic clam ($5.95) - This one was me taking a risk, because I had no idea how many clams I was getting for this price (notice that it says clam, and not clams). My risk paid off! They served us a tinfoil packet on a plate. They told us, in Mandarin (which we hadn't spoken to them in all night) that we should use our chopsticks to tear the packet apart because it was very hot inside. That it certainly was. Garlic butter steam is a beautiful thing. The portion on this was quite fair for the price. The clams were juicy and tender and fresh. The garlic butter and the bits of chopped spicy peppers in there just made it that much better. I'd give this one a 4.5 out of 5. They lost the extra .5 because they would have had to wow me with the portion of this dish, and while I agree that it was a fair portion for the price, it wasn't an amazing deal. I'll give it a 5 for taste though. I could have gone for a number of orders of just these clams. I might come back for the clams, and if I'm really craving them, the lamb skewers, but given the service issues, I don't know whether the clams are worth it. read more

See all

Always trying to try new restaurants every week and stumbled across this place the other day. Since me and my bf are big skewer lovers we had to order the beef and lamb skewers. We also ordered the spare ribs, squid tentacles, oysters, garlic shrimp, beef noodle soup and since I felt like I needed some veggie in my diet, ordered the edamame, grilled eggplant and sweet potato. The skewers, squid, spare ribs and the beef noodle soup were delicious and is a must have. Can't say the same about sweet potato, shrimp, and eggplant. Don't even know where to begin with those items. I ordered the sweet potato thinking they would just be roasted, oh boy was I wrong. I don't know who created this dish but someone thought it would be a great idea to sprinkle heaping amounts of sugar on this. The outcome was a grossly sweet somewhat roasted potato. The eggplant was a disaster. On the menu it was listed as roasted eggplant. Ok can't be that bad, WRONG! this eggplant was soaking in oil!!!! Take a bite of it and oil would be dripping out of your mouth. At this point in the meal I'm starting to get bad indigestion from all the grease. The shrimp was the last item for them to bring and once again it was swimming in grease. I honestly wouldn't come back here again. The quality of the food does not match the price. At the end of the night our bill came up to $100. I can find better tasting food at a food court and pay a quarter of what I paid that night read more

This new place opened up recently and my party of 5 showed up at 7:30 pm on a Friday night to check out what the hype is all about. We arrived to see a huge lineup, and we were worried that it would be a long wait. They said it would take an hour or so for a table, but luckily, you can leave your name and number and they will call you once they have a table for you. We took their offer and hung out at one of the BBT places in the same plaza for 35 minutes or so before they were ready for us. Their charcoal grill is visible when you walk in through the front door and all the seating is in the back. It is actually pretty spacious and well ventilated. It didn't smell like charcoal when I entered and didn't leave with any smell on my clothes. We ordered the following: - Lamb - Beef - Chicken - Chicken Joints - Chicken Heart - Beef Artery - Grilled Oysters - Enoki Mushrooms - Whole Squid - Garlic shrimp NOTE: When they say "4 pcs", its actually 4 skewers for each order. So if you mark 3 beef, you will have a total of 12 beef skewers. The order didn't take long to arrive at all. I am guessing a rough 5-10 minutes wait between ordering and the food arriving, and the food all arrived in a hurry! We must have ordered at least 40-50 skewers, and somehow, we managed to finish most of it. The food wasn't that bad, but they put a lot of spices and seasoning on them. Might be too salty and spicy for some. The typical ones were pretty good (Beef, Chicken, Lamb), and the grilled oysters were spot on. Keep in mind you are at a skewers place, don't expect the moon. I liked the beef skewers the most as they were juicy, tasty and the most flavourful. Pretty much everything tasted the same since they used the same spice rub on most of the meat. The veggies and the seafood are wrapped in a tinfoil packet and is cooked on the grill. They weren't that great, as there wasn't much of a taste to them besides the hot pepper they placed while cooking them. Avoid the garlic shrimp and the beef artery, they were bland and really hard to chew. Bottled Water (yes, you read that right) is free, (chilled or room temp). Pop + Alcohol are extra. The alcohol is pretty pricey, not worth it in my opinion. We finished at around 10, and the line and crowd really thinned out at around 9 ish. If you are looking for a meaty meal late night, come after 9 and you should be okay to get a spot. They are opened til 2 am after all. Would I go again? Probably, but not any time soon. Not something would every week, or even month. TLDR: Pretty Decent Skewers place. Don't be scared of the lineup. Come after 9 pm if you want a short lineup. Most (if not all) of the food is spicy. Stick with the basics (Chicken, Beef, Lamb). Avoid Garlic Shrimp. CASH only (at the time of this review) read more