Jennifer K.

3.5 Star Xiao Long Bao小籠包 probably one of my favorite Shanghai Dim Sum.. But I love steamed Chives Dumplings and a lot of other Shanghainese dishes. Xiao Long Bao Grand Opening today. The menu reminded me of Ding Tai Fung in Markham and Xiao Long Bao is really the sister restaurant of DTF! I am just glad that finally they comes to their senses to open up another branch in Scarborough and have a new name, not trying to pretend to be something else... The interior is really spacious and the tables are set far apart. There are quite a few tables for big groups! We shared: 小籠包 ($5.99) Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings 韮菜蒸餃($5.99) Steamed Chive and Pork Dumplings 上海粗炒麵 ($10.99) Fried Shanghai-Style Noodle 元盅雞湯 ($6.50) Double Boiled Chicken Soup Everything was tasty and we really enjoyed the friendly service. The only reason it is not getting a 4 star is maybe the price point to portion. The Shanghai Noodle for $11 was just so small. The portion is half of what I would have get at other restaurants in the area at $9?! I would be back when I have cravings for soup dumplings when I am in the area. I love the Steamed Chive and Pork Dumplings!

Sanita M.

Yeey, this place is good. Actually it's a copy of Din Tai Fung. The food is almost as good as in Din Tai Fung but not exactly the same. From my experience, I noticed that XLB dumplings are very thin and fragile, they broke so fast. Vegetarian dumplings were good and delicious. I like that this place is bigger, not so crowded, and it is much easier to find a table; no need to wait for 30 min or more on Friday night. I highly recommend their dumplings and veggie dishes, except the ones with garlic - it was way too much garlic. And most desserts are very oily. Last time we tried Soufflé Balls and Red Bean pancake, and we couldn't even eat half. Soufflé balls were just fried bread that smelled like fish with tiny amount of sesame paste inside, and Red Bean Pancake was too oily and sweet. Not my cup of tea.

Lisa C.

I came here multiple times and I really enjoy the food here. It's a fairly large restaurant and the place is very clean. When you wait for a table, it usually doesn't take a long time! The last time I came, I ordered the soup dumplings, hot and sour soup and a few others that I love but that my friends ordered ! See the pictures! Definitely would recommend it!

Wing C.

Asian Legend had been our go to for years. When my in laws told my husband and me there was a new xiao long bao restaurants they wanted to take us, we were skeptical. We stuck to ordering all the traditional items we normally would share in Asian Legend. Pork, crabmeat soup dumplings, beef pastry rolls, chive dumplings, string beans, crabmeat in egg white - everything was as tasty as I remembered but much milder in flavor compared to Asian Legend's. Not that we are writing off Asian Legend but family and I personally enjoyed the milder, cleaner taste. We completed our meal with their sweet black sesame and red bean xiao long baos like the ones my husband and I had in Tin Tai Fong in Taiwan! Light on the dough/skin (much better than tong yuan) - loaded with sesame and red bean paste - they were simply the perfect, bite sized treats! Our new go to for Shanghainese cuisine? Can't say for certain yet, will definitely return to sample the rest of the menu!

Judy N.

I'll put this one as 3.5. This restaurant is huge. So spacious, clean and modern. It's a completely different feel from the Ding Tai Fung at First Markham Place but I liked it a lot. We stuck to the traditional items such as the Xiao Long Bao, Panfried Pork Dumplings, Green Onion Pancake, Panfried Pork Bun but added an order of Shrimp & Pork SiuMai to spice things up. Xiao Long Bao ($5.99 for 6) is fantastic here! The dumplings were filled with the right amount of soup and came out at the perfect temperature to eat right away without burning my tongue. They were soft, tasty and perfectly-sized. Panfried Pork Dumplings ($5.99 for 6) were also enjoyable. They were panfried just enough and the filling was wonderfully in proportion to the wrap. Green Onion Pancake ($3.75) was just OK. Maybe it was personal preference since my boyfrend liked it but I thought it was very plain and had too little green onions. Although crispy, I like the ones at Chinese Dumpling House more. These are also slightly more expensive than average. Panfried Pork Bun ($5.99 for 5) was a total miss. There was barely any filing and pretty much 90% dough. It's such a staple item but they don't make it well here. I'd skip this one for sure and now that I think about it, this was probably what affected my rating for this place the most. Shrimp & Pork SiuMai ($6.99 for 6) was quite big in size and had a shrimp on top. This one also has a soup filling and the opening at the top makes it nice and easy to drink the soup. These tasted and looked great! I didn't have any problems with the service - helpful and attentive. Solid place overall but there are some major misses on the menu. I would return for more of their XLBs and to try their noodles.

Dawne L.

I'm always scouting for XLB shops wherever I go -- this is a new one that sprouted up since my last visit to T.O. It's the sister restaurant to the Ding Tai Fung restaurant in First Markham Place (which is not to be confused with the Taiwanese institution Din Tai Fung -- the mother of all XLBs). Verdict -- not too shabby. In fact, I like it better than their First Markham Place sibling. They offer both the regular-sized XLBs and the mini ones. My kids love the latter, but I still prefer the standard size ones as the smaller ones don't seem to be as juicy or meaty. Also tried their green onion pancakes, wonton soup, red bean bun, stir fried bokchoy and siu mai (yum!). Service also is a little better here, as with the location and ambiance. Lots of parking, although it still gets packed. Come early as its a popular restaurant!

Dave K.

Let's see... where to start. First off. No Water! Every restaurant I have been in offers water as a basic. Water was not offered. No beverage suggestions from waiter. The menu was in Chinese only. And lucky me, my wife can ready it. I can't read a lick of it. The staff were more concerned with wiping the place clean then serving. Really how many times can you wipe a table? And then they all kinda cluster in the back part of the restaurant from time to time. Can't seem to get anyone to take our order. Moving along... Very hard to get the cheque as well. I could walk out and come back and they wouldn't notice. My wife noticed that the other patrons (only 3 other tables) have what appears to be water jugs at their table. Still waiting to flag someone for the cheque... Got someone. Aaargh she doesn't understand English?! Okay as for the food. The soup filled dumplings are extremely salty. Hate to see what the sodium count is. The other item we ordered was bland at best. I'm going to try the other place that other members have cited at a later date for comparison.

Harm S.

Service was very good. Place is pretty new open and clean. Dumpling had good flavour The noodle was disappointing. They seemed old and not fully cooked "Tan tan mian" traditionally is a spivey noodle soup with ground meat/pork some scallions and group peanuts or peanut paste. This one was not spicy and no ground meat so it was a warm peanut soup with poor noodles. I guess you can tell which part of the meal I didn't like. Setting aside quality the prices also seemed a bit higher than average. A lot of other people seemed happy so for now I will assume it was bad luck.

Margo L.

The restaurant is very spacious with a large window to the kitchen as part of the open concept. Great thing about this is that one can easily see how clean the kitchen is as well as how the food is handled. The downside to this establishment is that it can be very loud. By that, I don't mean only the customers that are loud. Throughout my entire visit, I could hear the very loud humming what I thought was the air conditioning. Paper menu ordering sheet that is provided is also in Chinese only. On top of that, the food here is also pricier by Chinese standards; I most likely won't be coming here again due to the price. Siu Long Bao, #14 - $5.99 It's your average soup filled pork dumpling done right. Dumplings here aren't torn in any way, have plenty of flavourful soup inside and has a soft skin wrapping it. Some places have a more tough skin but this is not the case here. Dumplings were decent but still not worth the price. Veggie Dumplings, $5.99 Your typical veggie dumpling. Shanghai Stir Fried Noodles, #59 - $10.99 What happened to this dish? I suspected that it would be fairly bland before even eating it from the almost anemic looking colour when served and I was right. It was like the chef forgot to finish seasoning it, decided to add a lot of veggies and only put a bit of meat in it. On the plus side, it didn't look like it had a lot of oil so I suppose it should be a good pick if you're elderly or want something healthier; basically if can only eat bland food for health reasons. Steamed Bun with Sweet Condensed Milk, #23 - $3.50 I believe #24 is the fried option of the same menu item. I just prefer the steamed version as it is slightly healthier. Bun was freshly steamed, soft and piping hot when served. Combined with the sweet condensed milk for dipping, this dish was very tasty. I would be worried if the kitchen could not make such a simple item properly. Ja Jeun Mein This item I didn't order but I noticed that it had a spicy symbol on the menu. Authentic Shanghainese food is known for being sweet and oily. This dish is never spicy so I guess it is a Beijing style Ja Jeun Mein.

Gladys C.

So far the best Shanghai restaurant in GTA in comparison to the bigger brand names or well known Shanghainese restaurants around the area/ Markham. Their food is great, servers are attentive, prices are reasonable, spacious and clean. Xiao Long Bao was tasty, skin was thin, juicy pork and lots of soup inside the bun that's not fatty or greasy. The fatty pork rice with preserved vegetables was amazing! I had it with vegetable rice. Sauce was just right in flavor, not salty. The pork was tender, fatty (you can cut those part out) but that fat is what brings out the flavor of the dish. Over all I will reorder this for sure!

Lesley L.

I Kung Fu Panda these babies so. Dang. Hard. No, no, I'm not going around punching children. I'm talking of course about the soft and pillowy, soup-filled namesake dumplings. Available in regular pork or crab tomalley/meat filled variety, the xiao long bao are delicately encased in a semi-sheer wrapping with the delicious hot broth swirling inside. The proper way to enjoy one is to place one on your spoon, take a small bite from the top to allow the mouth-burning steam to escape, dribble the tiniest bit of ginger & red vinegar inside, then eat it whole to allow the fillings and broth to flood your tongue at once. Alternately, I've also heard the best way is to actually sip a bit of vinegar from your spoon as a palate cleanser, then dip the dumpling into the vinegar, place a sliver or two of ginger on top, then place the whole dumpling in your mouth and allow for maximum pork fat broth goodness. Really though, I think any method of dumpling eating is fine. As long as you don't pierce the skin and release the soup by accident. That's dumpling murder, and will bring shame to your family. For shaaaaaame! The rest of the dishes are OK. I like the beef tendon noodle, spicy-peanutty soup Dan Dan noodle, crispy and mildly spicy pork ear cartilage too, but the real draw is the xiao long bao. Man, I love dumplings. And pandas. The restaurant is much larger and more modern than their sister restaurant, Ding Tai Fung at First Markham Place, and does allow payment via credit card. The acoustics of the room are terrible though, and even at half capacity it will be as loud as a busy dim sum morning. Get reservations for prime lunch and weekend evenings or risk standing to wait for seats.

Yang J.

I've been there 5-6 times with my family, and have tried most of their dishes. Spacious and nice decor. Most of the dim sum are fresh and delicious. Noodles and rice cake dishes are nice with generous portions too. Set meals/rice are okay, some of which, such as braised pork belly meals (卤肉饭), don't have that particular Taiwanese taste (considering it's one of signature dishes of Taiwan) Stirring fried dishes are 1/3-1/2 more expensive but with relatively smaller portion and quality. So I don't really recommend it. I used to order Sweet & sour prawn and pork chops with sweet & sour sauce together since the Chinese names look different. (甜酸虾&糖醋排骨）they actually use the same Cantonese style sweet & sour sauces and veg mix, they are jokes for Chinese customers but the western customers might dig it ;) Don't order Black pepper beef, just not worth the price ($15.99).

Jessica U.

Never knew about this restaurant, thanks to yelpers, came on a weekday. The service was quite attentive, someone was always walking back and forth, waiters with their heads up seeing if anybody is waving for their attention, dishes cleared off quickly after they were done. The renovation of this place is nice and spacious, very comfortable seating. The menu is in English and Chinese with pictures. Nice touch is everybody gets their own dish of ginger to mix with vinegar. Don't need to share with others. We ordered the 6 piece siu long bao, very juicy and filled with soup. Didn't realize they had the mini ones, otherwise I don't mind trying those ones! We got the fried silver bun with condensed milk (3.50). Really yummy, fresh bun, but the condensed milk was watered down, so when dipping the bun, the condensed milk dripped everywhere. We got the savoury soya milk bowl. This one was really good (2.95). Had some slices of dough fritters, pork floss. Went down really smoothly, and the bowl is pretty big, enough to share for sure! Onion pancake, this was the most disappointing dish. Not sure what made it taste mediocre, it wasn't too crispy, soggy inside maybe because of the amount of onions in between it was kinda soggy. Lastly we got braised beef (soya marinated) rice with veggies. Comes with a soya egg and a bowl of corn soup. The soup wasn't that good, but the rice had a lot of flavour and when mixed together, it was tasty, not too salty. The prices are very reasonable, and the quality of the food is pretty good.