Elegant Chinese Cuisine

Food: 4 stars
Interior décor/​atmosphere: 5+ stars!!! (Loved it)
Service: 4 stars
I walked in expecting this place to be another typical Chinese restaurant with their chandeliers and bright white walls, but boy was I wrong! I felt like I stepped into ancient China! China vases, Chinese paintings, bird cages hanging in a row, and the wooden accents all added to the immersive experience. There is also fish in most, if not all the vases with plants and rocks. We were here around 2pm and it was very quiet. There were only 2 other tables of customers so we really got to appreciate all the intricate details. This may not be the case if you come on the weekends when it’s bustling with people though. There were also rumors of mediocre/​terrible service during the morning ’ special price ’ period so beware. The lady (I suspect she’s one of the owners) serving us was very friendly and polite. Had absolutely no issues with her.
For all the dim sums we ordered, plus the birthday buns (we were here for my dad’s birthday), our bill came up to ~$ 40. Pretty economical for a classier dim sum restaurant but we were also here during the special dim sum price hours.
Now as for the food, they have some cool dim sums that are unique to their restaurant but you better watch for their size rating. K dishes can be as expensive as $ 9 (see pictures). I also love how they have pictures of most of the dim sums in their main menu! Really helpful if you’re not a regular dim sum goer and you’re not sure what to expect from your selection on the checklist.
Everything we ordered tasted great. I would recommend the baked apple pastry with BBQ pork. Eat it while it’s hot (don’t burn yourself though) so the pastry is soft and fluffy. The spicy beef siu mai is basically the beef balls made into the shape of siu mai and have a little kick to them. It was mildly spicy. I could hardly taste any spice.
The birthday buns aren’t part of the dim sum menu. We ordered it for my dad’s birthday. It’s $ 1 per bun. These birthday buns have a lotus paste filling. You also have to eat these while they’re hot or they start to get hard. The buns were ok. I found them a little dry… weird since they’re steamed…
Overall, a wonderful dim sum meal. I’m already thinking of going back tomorrow :)

Had dim sum there for breakfast. The waitress was very rude. She threw the servings at my table.

Do not go to this restaurant!!! Very bad food, very bad service. I tell myself and my friends and family never go to this place! No star I want to give

This place spares me the msg dim sum headache. My kids love the big aquariums. This is a hidden gem. Yes, prices are higher than most, but it’s worth it if you prefer to eat in peace.
Washrooms are very clean and everything is automated. Soap dispenser, door opener, etc. I would rate the washrooms a 5 star, especially when most dim sum restaurants have scary washrooms.

I came here for my birthday dinner with my friends. The seating and the environment was comfortable. The staff was good compare to other chinese restaurant in the area. The food was very good compared to a lot of chinese restaurant. I would like to try out other items on the menu. The price is also reasonable.

I tried this past week and found the dishes same as other places. The service was great as it is a family run business and we could see the owners eating with friends trying new dishes. We were one of the first customers to arrive and it is not super busy as other places.
During the night, we had a shrimp dish, peking duck (2 dishes), fried orange flavoured fish and a lamb plate. Overall, it was a nice experience and parking was not too difficult as it is east end of Markham.
I will be going again for CNY dinner and update this review with hopefully, some special dishes. The owner is nice and friendly explaining dishes and told us that there are new dishes in development.

The owner makes extra effort to receive your payment at the table. If she does not think the amount you tipped is sufficient, she will keep her hands on the receipt tray and wait for you to put more. Very rude.

This place is a joke! Very unprofessional! worse than my home cooking.
I came here for my mother’s birthday dinner Jan 1, at 5:30pm. Nobody at the restaurant except us. We ordered a set menu with consists of a small bowl of soup (only 1 bowl per person), small plate of stir fry shrimp with celery (lukewarm, with small slices of carrots surrounding the small plate), a fish, and half a chicken (weird taste). The price was $ 69.99. We also ordered a crab — it was very small, not fresh and disappointing, and costs $ 25. It was funny how they just deep fry the crab, cut it up and plate it in the original shape of the crab (no onions or egg at all). The crab looks as if they just deep fry the whole crab and just put it on the plate. They also charged $ 7 for four small bowls of rice.
The whole dinner taste worse than home cooking. It doesn’t look professional at all like in a regular restaurant. The portions are small, the ingredients not fresh, the whole dining experience was terrible.
The total bill came out to be $ 115. We put $ 140 so the lady returned the change to us. When we are looking at the bill and trying to figure out the tip, the lady keep staring and standing right beside us – it was pretty obvious she is afraid of us not tipping her. Even when we told her to please leave us for a second while we look at the bill, she would not move. This chinese lady is middle age — I suspect is the owner. We were very angry at her attitude so we left a smaller tip and got up to leave. To my disbelief, she GRABBED MY MOM BY HER ARM AND FORCED HER TO GIVE HER MORE MONEY.
I would not mind the high cost if the food experience was worth it, but it was a complete joke. It is not professionally cooked at all. They are also stingy with the ingredients used. The service is terrible. I can’t believe she would use force to get tips. This place is a joke.

I was pleasantly surprised with the overall outcome of this restaurant. Came here on a Sunday morning to get the early bird special $ 2.60 for small, medium and large dishes. I thought the place would be packed on a Sunday morning like many other dim sum places but there were only a handful of tables being served. If it continues on like this we may not see Elegant around for much longer.
Just some things I noticed with the food. The egg yolk custard bun is smaller and has less filling than others I have had. The chicken feet and cow stomach were done perfectly and I could probably say the best I have had. Everything else I had was pretty much on par with others.
Service was fast because there were so little customers.
Also just a note: If you want the early bird special price you must pay before 11:30am
We were literally 1 minute late when we paid at 11:31am and the waitress let us know that they could have charged us at full price if they wanted but they still gave us the early bird price as goodwill. A very good dim sum restaurant but I still love Fancy Chinese Cuisine the best for dim sum.

An average dimsum restaurant. Quality of food is slightly above average, but considering the elevated price you pay, not really worth it.
The selection of dimsum here is very narrow and it almost never changes, so you’re stuck with the same options every time you come here! The portion of food also tends to be smaller and their food/​tea isn’t hot, its marginally warm all the time!
Even with their early bird dim sum specials, the prices are high comparatively and not competitive at all.
The restaurant itself is very small, so there are very few tables and there’s almost always a long wait on Saturday mornings, if you don’t head there early. Décor and atmosphere is rather nice, but the service is average, is not slightly sub par. Servers can be slightly obnoxious and haughty at times, but that might just be on the off day.

Cost: on the high side
Quality: good — 80%
Décor: good — 75%
Staff: average service — 70%
Value: good — 75%
Keeper? Too expensive to go frequently

I’m there right now, been here for 2 hours, and got 4 out of our 8 dishes. Then the manager comes and without apologizing begins to tell us how small of a deal it is and plays his little violin for us.
The food is mediocre at best, you can get this stuff at any other Chinese restaurant. Also when ordering for 15 people the server gave us no heads up that most of the dishes were portioned for maybe half of that size, many of us if we were lucky got to try one piece of the dish. We would have been happy to upsize our dishes, if we only knew
If you want to eat here though for some odd reason, bring a book, a puzzle, a crossword, some sudoku and possibly 3 coloring books. Don’t forget to bring snacks, YOU WILL STARVE. Guaranteed.
You will never see us again.

Elegant has been around for a while. I believe it is currently under a new management, as the restaurant was a lot quieter before.
I came to a UYE arranged by fearless leaders Jennifer K and Wayne C last Tuesday. There were 2 tables of us, and the menu of our table was slightly different:
1) Diced Seafood & Bean Curd in a Thick Supreme Broth
Broth was of good texture and had a nice appearance: nice color, much egg white, tofu bits and shrimps. Unfortunately, the shrimps didn’t taste fresh. I added a lot of white pepper to cover the taste. ²⁄₅
2) Deep-​Fried Silver Fish w/​Spicy Salt & Ground Pepper
Fish was fresh and was well fried: crunchy outside, soft inside. There was a good mixed of salt and pepper. A tart under-​seasoned. ³⁄₅
3) Oyster Stir Fried w/​Port Wine
I actually really liked this one. The oysters were big and sweet. The honey coating on the oysters was not overly thick. The port wine didn’t come out strong on the oysters, but it worked magic on the mushroom underneath. The spectacular fire display sealed the deal. ⁴⁄₅
4) Sweet & Sour Pork w/​Fresh Pineapples
This was another winner. The coating was not dougy or thick. The meat was lean, soft and marinated. There was a nice bite to it. The sweet and sour sauce was not over-​seasoned. ⁴⁄₅
5) Braised Seasonal Vegetables w/​Mushrooms
I really liked this one. The mushroom was thick and well braised. The boy choy was fresh. The sauce magically balanced the sweetness of the boy choy and the texture of the mushroom. ⁴⁄₅
6) Steamed Layers of Tofu & Shiitake Mushroom w/​Chinese Greens
For a simple dish like this, tofu is the star. The tofu here was super fresh, had a rich tofu flavour, and the texture was silky smooth and soft. The choy shin was nice. Elegant seems to be very good with vegetarian dishes.
6) Vancouver Crab Stir Fried w/​Salted Egg Yolk served with Broccoli Egg Yolk and Whites
Quite good. The crab+egg white was rich. I could not taste or see the egg yolk, nor did I miss it. ⁴⁄₅
I enjoyed the meal, the service and the companions. We had a good time soliciting as well as giving advices on good places to eat. Thank you Jen and Wayne.

I’m not sure «elegant» is the adjective I would use to describe this restaurant, I would however describe it as DELICIOUS!
Recently came here for a UYE organized by our resident Chinese cuisine experts Wayne C. and Jennifer K. We had a multitude of dishes, the meal went as follows:
Imitation snake soup– kind of bland, nothing special really. Filled with chicken and assorted seafood to give it a snaky (?) texture. I did however enjoy the herbs and croutons served on the side as they provided some crunch to the soup.
Braised seasonal vegetables with mushrooms– simple dish to provide some greenery, I am a fan of bok choy and mushrooms so I liked this dish.
Braised duck with taro in plum sauce– HOLY F*CK, I have eaten my fair share of duck but this dish easily ranks amongst the best duck dishes I have ever had. The duck was so juicy, the sauce was sweet without being too sweet and the taro was nice and soft reminding me of a roasted potato. This dish was a winner.
Sweet and sour pork with pineapple– The owner made a bold statement by claiming this was the best sweet and sour pork in Ontario, but after tasting it I can say that his hubris is not misguided. The pork pieces were perfectly breaded, crispy, not oily at all, so juicy with just the right amount of sweetness, definitely a far cry from the pork in neon red sauce one sees at your local food court. I will come back for this dish any day.
Honey mustard beef tenderloin– was served in an edible fried taro basket. The beef was tender and basically coated with honey mustard. Again I am a big fan of mustard so this dish was right up my alley. As for the taro basket, I think I have a new favourite deep fried root vegetable. Sorry sweet potato fries, I know we had a good thing going for a while but fried taro is just so damn amazing!
Fried fish with pine nuts and orange– I was not a big fan of this, found the sauce too sweet which was off putting.
Oyster stir fried with port wine– Holy cow those were some ginormous oysters, nice depth of flavour in the sauce. Pretty interesting to see a Chinese dish made with port wine, clearly the head chef is willing to put a twist on some traditional dishes, very impressive.
Dessert– consisted of tofu pudding in a ginger sauce which was good, tofu had a nice texture and ginger sauce did not have too strong of a taste. Jackfruit, basil seed and green tea jelly was nothing special, didn’t really do much for me.
Other than the food, the décor can only be described as eclectic. The owner clearly enjoys collecting all kinds of art work, antique pieces and statues giving this restaurant a bit of a clumsy décor. They also have some of these pieces for sale in case one feels like shopping during dinner. I will give them props for the awesome fish tank full of rare (i.e expensive) fish, it is beautiful. Décor aside these guys are making some pretty special dishes and I for one will come back anytime.

I’m fairly confident that this place has received a bad wrap given the skew of past reviews. OK I can understand how the minimalist, eclectic interior design might be offensive to those of more highfalutin tastes… but seriously guys, what do you care more about when you’re eating somewhere? The colour on the walls, or the food on your plate? My sentiments exactly!
Thanks to the lovely Jennifer K and the dashing Wayne C for organizing a UYE here last night, exhibiting what Unilocal is truly about, putting a spot light on small businesses who might need some exposure. Admittedly I would have dismissed a place ranking 2.5 stars, but after last nights dinner performance, heed my words:
The design may be quirky BUT the food is nothing less than «Elegant.»
I also learned last night that given my privilege as a Unilocal CM, my community tends to keep secrets from me, such as
1) the fact that not everything I eat at a Chinese restaurant is «snake soup», and in following this
2) My easily swayed opinion in the above has dubbed me my communities very own «Token White Guy».
That being said, being a TWG isn’t necessarily a bad thing. While I might try a dish, and like a virgin not know any better. At least you know that when I say something is delicious or in the off chance (not so good), it’s an honest opinion. So «Token» I shall be from now one when encountering any and all ethnic foods
Now that, that is out of the way, let’s dig into last nights menu, and to show that i am somewhat discerning I will point out the dishes that I didn’t enjoy as much.
We began with an Imitation Snake soup made with assorted seafood (and chicken) while this dish was served on a heating element right at our table, I was not a fan of the taste and the texture was a little difficult to get past. (²⁄₅)
The next dish that came out was the Honey Mustard Beef Tenderloin served in a crispy taro/​bread stick like basket. The beef and sauce were quite good but what pushed this dish over the edge for me was when the basket was broken and it was revealed it was entirely edible! (⁴⁄₅)
The coolest dish aesthetically was the Oyster Stir Fried w/​Port Wine. It had a sweet glaze and the oysters were massive. What made it a marvel to look at was the fact thta the dish came surrounded by a ring of salt engulfed in flames! Of course boy (me) + fire + immaturity = Squeals of delight! However, firey tricks aside this dish was «ok» for me, not a home run but certainly not something I would turn down! (³⁄₅)
To follow threee dishes were brought out at once, a) Braised Seasonal Vegetables w/​Mushrooms, b) Braised Duck with Taro in Plum Sauce, and c) Sweet & Sour Pork w/​Pineapples. The first was good, coming with braised bok choi and shitaki mushrooms (³⁄₅), however the next two dishes (duck and pork) were easily the best I’ve had in my life! The duck was tender and moist, well cooked, and beautifully seasoned (⁵⁄₅), the best I’ve had to date. The Sweet & Sour Pork was amazing, not overly sweet or battered, yet lightly crispy with bright citrus flavours! A far cry from the late night Chinese food downtown on Spadina or the low grade take-​out in foil containers. No sir, the owner was not Bullshitting us when he said this was the best Sweet and Sour Pork in Ontario! (¹⁰⁄₅). It was SO good I was literally fighting with other dinner guests for the last few morsels.
I felt bad for the Fried Fish w/​Pine Nuts & Orange, which followed shortly, as the war had already been won and I forgot about this dish much like that of the middle child in a traditional Irish Catholic family (8+ kids… what was his/​her name again. Sheamus? Emily?). This dish was ok but I only had a bite and wrote it off quickly so I could get back to the pork (³⁄₅)
Dessert followed and we were served a tofu pudding and Basil Seed, Jackfruit, and Green Tea gelatinous square. I feel it unfair to give these dishes a rating as I am not a fan of Chinese desserts at all generally, however what I will say is that these were the best of all the puddings, bean mixes, buns, etc etc etc. Not overly sweet and not heavy on the crazy ingredients.
This place merits a reexamination by those quick to dismiss it, a big thank you to the owners and staff for being as attentive as they were and thanks for the Unilocalers in attendance. Can’t wait for my next Chinese Food Eat-​up!
Token White Guy… OUT!

To be honest the food was pretty good but the service and attitude of the servers were the worst I have seen to date. Literally you need to call them 5 times for the same request before they get you your stuff. First they can’t count we had 7 people but they keep giving us 6 set of plates, chopstick and we had to tell 4 different servers before we got the 7^th set. Dessert they gave us 6 again and I asked 3 different servers about it, finally after 10 mins I just gave up, not even bother asking for it and just left. Also asked for boxes for takeout took 10 mins so asked another server and took another 10 mins before it came. The place was not even busy with only 4 – 5 other tables only. Worst service by far. Would not ever return here.
The food all tasted good but the portion is pretty small compare to other restaurant with the same pricing.
They have some weird Peking duck wraps that are like tiny and thick. Didn’t like that at all as you can’t even wrap the duck inside it without it falling out when biting into it. And it tasted awful. Worst Peking duck experience I ever had.
Rating:
Service: ⁰⁄₅ — yes you guys are that bad
Food Quality: ³⁄₅
Comfort ³⁄₅
Décor ³⁄₅
Value: ²⁄₅
Parking: ³⁄₅

Had Dim Sum with a work colleague yesterday. As others have mentioned the interior decoration is quite interesting. A bit odd but I’ve seen worse in Chinese restaurants.
Now to the food, I would rate the Dim Sum at a 3. I’ve had better and I’ve had worse. We ordered the usual: Shrimp Har Gow, Pork Sui mai, sticky rice, cuttlefish in curry, deep fried bean curd and a few other dishes. Dim Sum was so-​so!
What makes me rate this experience as a 2 is that when paying my friend who speaks cantonese asked if we could split the bill as we need it for a work expense. you could immedietely tell he didn’t look too impressed. Next we asked if we could pay credit card? He looked less impressed. He mentioned that this was Dim Sum lunch special and we would have to pay cash. So rather than ruin his day (and cause a scene) even more we paid cash. We all know why many of these Chinese restaurants ask you to pay cash :), but this is poor customer service! If someone wants to pay credit card this is their choice, especially when you offer this form of payment! Otherwise put a big sign in the door warning upon entering!

Elegant Chinese Cuisine has a strange, industrial feel to the space, while Chinese paintings line the walls. We came here for the weekday dim sum special, in which small, medium and large dishes are all the same price.
Everything was pretty good. My favourites include congee with lean pork, veggies, and a duo of preserved and salted egg, the Korean-​style grilled short ribs, and steamed sticky rice with pork and shrimp in lotus leaf. I think the dishes here are quite well-​executed and enjoyable. The only item that I didn’t really care for was the golden steamed egg custard bun, as there was too much bun and not enough filling.
I would come back for dim sum again.

The HUNT for Chinese Hakka was quite interesting to say the least. It’s quite a Hot topic in Toronto simply because it almost seems that even Chinese Hakka immigrants have a hard time tracking it down and mostly finding the Indian version of Hakka which is much more popular. The search lead to Chinese Hakka being of the Cantonese region of Southern China.
That was surprising to say the least because it has been under my nose all along and I didn’t even notice it one bit thinking it’s typical Cantonese fare. A few specialties of Chinese Hakka: Salt Baked Chicken, Steamed Sliced Pork w/​Preserved Mustard Greens, Tofu Soup in Pot, Duck stuffed with Sticky Rice, etc…
With this understanding of Chinese Hakka, I looked to the typical Cantonese/​Hong Kong Restaurants and notice most will have a simplified version of Salt Baked Chicken, Steamed Sliced Pork w/​Preserved Mustard Greens and Fried Stuff Tofu (Dim Sum) but not much more.
Elegant Chinese Cuisine was one with slightly more which does mean SLIGHTLY because you’ll probably at most find 5 Hakka items at most from Canton Restaurants. There is no such thing as a fully Chinese Hakka Restaurant in Toronto.
As they didn’t have the simplified version of Salt Baked Chicken while the more traditional version takes time and needs reservation, we forego it but it would have been something cool to see. Marinated Free Range Chicken Baked Golden Brown Embraced with Coarse Salt (Advance Order $ 28.00)
Soup of the Day ($ 10.00) — Chicken Broth with various Chinese Medicinal Ingredients. Good healthy Chicken Broth.
Deep-​fried Duckling w/​Sticky Rice ($ 14.00/half) — I’ve had this once before somewhere and it’s pretty much the same. It does take time to prepare so the waitstaff asked the Kitchen first before putting down the order. I wish it was cut to more bite-​size rather than such large portion.
It came with a dish of Sauce which gives the Dish more flavour, otherwise would have been bit bland. It had a layer of Sticky Rice on deboned BBQ Duck layer covered with a Batter than Deep-​fried.
Braised Pork and Preserved Vegetable ($ 9.50) — This is what I grew up on and never realize it’s Hakka-​related. It’s a very homestyle dish of Braised Pork Belly Slices made until melt-​in-​your-​mouth tender and the Mustard Green gives it more flavour.
Tofu Hot Pot ($ 12.99) — Not the exact Hakka dish I was looking for but still a good substitution dish that comes with Fried Tofu, Squid, Chicken Slice, Shitake Mushrooms, Bokchoy, etc…

Elegant Chinese Restaurant is located at the plaza at the corner of McCowan and Hwy 7. It is tugged right at the corner, and sometimes it is not really visible when you drive by unless you really look!
They have dim sum specials from Monday to Friday the whole day and Weekend/​Holiday before 11:30 AM where you can get S/​M/​L size dim sums all for $ 2.40. This is really good compare to the regular price when a L is $ 5.00!
Dropped by on a Sunday afternoon around 12:30 pm. No need to wait for a table but the restaurant is 80% full. When you enter in the restuarnt you will see this big fish tank. ok huge fish tank with assortment of tropical fishes. No those are not for us to eat. :P The live seafood is hidden somewhere at the back of the restaurant.
They have all the usual selections but with a little twist. We ordered chicken feet in abalone sauce, shark fin and shrimp dumplings, siu mai, a congee and a few others. Yes they all tasted much better than the cheaper dim sum places.
I will definitely come here for a nice Sunday Dim sum with the long wait in line even I need to pay more. Sometimes it is so stressful to wait over 30 min just for a table in other busy restaurant. And for sure will come again for the dim sum specials time slot.
They accepts Visa and Mastercard.