Inspire Restaurant

I’ve heard quite a bit about Inspire since it opened and I finally gave it a try a few weeks ago for brunch on a Saturday.
The place is quite small and the private lot entrance was relatively hard to find. I missed the entrance twice because of the heavy traffic on Markham Road!
We ordered the pulled pork frites to share. This was definitely a good start to our meal and it left us satisfied without feeling too heavy or greasy.
My friends ordered the chicken & waffle and the eggs bennies. The portions were just enough to fill you up for brunch/​lunch! Both my friends enjoyed their dishes. I ordered the INSP Burger which was quite good and not as messy as I imagined. The egg was cooked just enough so the yolk wouldn’t go everywhere when I broke into it. The burger came with a side of fries with their special mayo. I was so full that I took half my burger home!
I am quite intrigued by their udon carbonara that is offered during dinner so I will definitely be back to try that!

Been here a couple of times and I rarely give a restaurant 5 stars. The service and food were stellar. I’d recommend trying the udon carbonara and INSP burger with the duck fries. Amazing.
The owners clearly put in a lot of effort into their menu and their chefs deliver. I’m a huge fan of Asian fusion and they definitely satisfy. Reasonably priced… make a reservation however they are almost always busy.

There is something inspiring about inspire. Not talking about the food but rather its ability to build hype. Don’t get me wrong the food is great… but great for Markham. Honestly it’s an average downtown spot blessed because it’s actually located uptown
Service is fire. When you eat here expect to be pampered. Waitstaff was easily accessible and humble. However the hostess never called me back. I’m not bitter it’s just that when I’m told to hold when I’m making a reservation, 30 mins is a long time to be alone with my thoughts.
The food itself is pretty good for a fusion place. Being Asian I was raised never to upgrade anything on the menu. «How much extras is the side of guac? …Bitch please I aint that rich“But those duck confit fries with the INSP BURGER are blessed. Honestly my mouth had a mini orgasm. And not like ur boyfriends one shot and done orgasm. But multiple tiny ones over the whole meal. The. burger itself was good. But honestly if you add an egg and pork belly to your already juicy burger were gonna have a good time.
Was disappointed by the udon carbonara.
It’s a decent pasta dish but it’s literally just udon in a standard carbonara sauce. I mean it wasn’t bad it just wasn’t inspiring. Same with the chicken and waffles. The serving size was good and the waffles were crisp. However the chicken itself, while juicy was over seasoned.
That’s the thing about fusion places is that there needs to be creativity and imagination. Subbing out one carb for another or adding an egg isn’t fusion. Western and and eastern styles need to blend and bring out the best in each other. However INSPIRE just settles for meh. Maybe I’m a bit to hard on the place. However it calls itself a fusion restaurant, therefore I was promised creative and inventive new foods. What I got was pretty standard fusion fare. I’ll be back but with lower expectations

Love the chicken waffle! Maple syrup adds extra flavor to the fried chicken! Pork bun is less likely recommended as the bun is quite had to bite.
Love the side fries with mayo and pull pork fries are quite good, but it would be perfect if there is sauce to it!

First of all, the name is perfect. Every dish is truly inspired.
Chicken with waffles was awesome. There is a great flavour (I think there was fennel seeds in the crust which worked really well) and tenderness to the chicken and the waffles were good. The Inspire burger with cheesecake was soo good… high quality beef gets paired with peameal bacon with a subtle hint of cheesecake… Decadent! And the upgrade to pulled pork fries is well worth it if you like deliciousness.
Friendly and attentive service… like Arnold said, I’ll Be Back!

This place is so romantical (yes, that’s a word). Two thumbs up for atmosphere. From the (very) dim lighting (honestly, I turned into a possessed Unilocalie, shining a flashlight on my food for a picture), drapes, and cozy atmosphere, it’s a charming spot to take a significant other. But don’t get me wrong, it’s great for small groups as well. The atmosphere is welcoming and hosts a diverse menu — overall, a nice little gem in the ‘burbs of Markham.
We ordered: a) chicken and waffles, b) udon carbonara, c) and for dessert, the caged chocolate mousse. Admittedly, I expected a lot more from the meal. The food was pretty average to us — while it was beautifully presented, it was all flash, no substance. The chicken and waffles were a bit too sweet for our liking, same with the chocolate mousse — it was all sweetness and monotonous in body with no real complexity in flavour. The Udon carbonara was probably the highlight of the meal — a delicious and unique take to a classic favourite!
Overall, despite pretty average food, we still enjoyed our time here. It was a nice Friday-​night-​dinner kind of spot, atmosphere was pleasant, and service was attentive. 3 stars for the food and pricing. 4 stars for atmosphere and service.
For two people, with tax and tip, we spent around $ 54.00 (keep in mind, that’s without drinks). Note that a parking lot is located just adjacent to the restaurant, so no need to hunt for street parking.

If there was a 4.5…Excellent Food. Service is OK
I read a number of reviews before going to Inspire for the first time. As I walked in the door, a candle on a small wall shelf fell and just missed my head. That surely is a sign of good things to come. After negotiating my way through the main drapes I was surprised to find an intimate zen-​like experience inside.
The design is modern, warm, (except for the table near the front door), small and quaint. The left side of the space is the open kitchen and right side has wall table seating and a few small 2 tops near the kitchen wall. The hostess/​waitress was pleasant enough but not exactly what I would call «warm». But I wasn’t there to make friends with the staff. I asked for a table change and she was very accommodating. However there is s light «edge» on the personality side.
The food is indeed amazing… at least for the INPR Burger I had. After explaining to the waitress that it was my first time there and asking «what should I have», she recommended the INSP burger without hesitation. So the Chicken and Waffles had to wait for another visit. The Burger was excellent with Prime Beef, Seared Pork Belly, Fried Egg and Roasted Tomato Mayo. The combination was heavenly and not as messy as I would have thought, to eat. I selected the salad over the fries for the side and it was also excellent!
My guest had the Duck Tacos and while they are filled with Duck Confit, Cucumber Orange Salsa, and Cilantro Fennel Aioli, the reaction was somewhat less inspiring that the description. They were «ok». We didn’t try the desserts however at $ 50 for two with two entrees, 2 glasses of Pinot Grigio and a tip, I thought that was great value relative to the quality of the food.
The service overall is a bit slow however there is a correlation between the quality of the food and the time it takes to prepare. If the food comes out too quickly, you might question its freshness and if its too slow, you might question the service. Overall the food delivery was acceptable. If you’re in a hurry, you might be disappointed. This is not a fast food joint.
The crowd is mixed between older local diners and hipster Asian fusion foodies and perhaps the most disturbing part of our meal was the elder lady at the adjoining table that kept looking over at our meals. Perhaps that’s what happens when everyone is curious about what everyone else is having. The 2 tops next to the kitchen would provide a bit more privacy.
I will definitely go back to try some other dishes. As with many good restaurants, its best to try this place when its not so busy. Reservations are must if you are intent on eating there. My recommendation on the the design is to add mirrors on the wall that guests are looking at when they sit at the bench tables. It would be great for everyone to have a full view of the kitchen.

This place is incredibly easy to miss. It’s a tiny little restaurant that almost looks like a part of a house. It isn’t very well lit. Upon entering, you have to go through what looks like curtains. I can definitely say it didn’t look anything the way I was expecting. The tables are wooden and simplistic. The décor is very much east meets west. There are about 30 seats in the entire restaurant, and only 2 servers. Service was friendly, although it could be a tad slow. It seems as though some of their menu items get changed periodically, as there are foods I saw in pictures on Unilocal that they no longer have on their menu, and new ones that have not been added to their online menu.
One awkward thing about their place settings is that if you intend on sharing food, the dishes on which to do so are the dishes that they place your cutlery on. They’re these long oval dishes that are usually for serving appetizers (like our shrimp). They’re incredibly awkward to eat on because it’s so easy for food to fall off of them.
Had:
Sea-​wings ($ 12) — 6 mussels and 3 flower octopuses with some kind of breading and some hot sauce, topped with thinly sliced red onions and a sprinkling of herbs. For the portion, the price was not bad. The mussels were a pretty good size, and I can’t complain about the way they were cooked. The octopuses were tender, but still needed to be chewed for quite some time. This dish was a tad salty. For those who are into buffalo wings, this will probably be your kind of sauce. I’m not a buffalo wing person, so this was not my kind of sauce.
Coconut shrimp ($ 12) — 6 decent-​sized shrimp. We expected these to be deep fried. They were not. The coconut sauce was light, but very flavorful. My favorite dish of the night.
Pulled pork frites ($ 8) — decent portion for the price. Fries could have been crispier. Pulled pork was quite tasty. Presentation was interesting. Sometimes, Asian restaurants will put rice in a bowl, then flip the bowl onto the plate to give the rice a bowl shape. They did this with our fries. It looked like a bowl when it came to the table. When you squish fries, sad things happen. I quite enjoyed the large mound of fried taro shavings they placed atop my fries. Actually, I enjoyed the taro shavings more than the fries themselves.
Chicken and Waffle ($ 16) — this is the dinner portion. When I have chicken and waffles, I’m expecting really crispy fried chicken. At Inspire, I got really tender chicken that wasn’t breaded very well. There were large sections of my chicken that had no breading. The menu description says that it’s «crisp chicken». My chicken was not crisp. I could not find the cinnamon whipped butter (but for all I know, it could have melted). The spicy berry compote had star anise in it, and thinking they were berries, I actually bit into one. I couldn’t taste much anything for a while after that. My suggestion would be for them to strain out the star anise before adding the berries, if they want to get the flavor of the anise but not kill their customers’ taste buds. The maple in the ginger maple sauce was definitely there, but it could have done with a tad more ginger, if they were going to call it that, because I had to search really hard for those ginger notes.
The dbl bacon cheesecake burger ($ 20) — comes with fries. I believe it was peameal bacon (and I’m not sure what was double about it). This was supposed to have matcha cheesecake in it. I mean, we got this for the novelty of the cheesecake. What we received was a really delicious burger (served medium and super juicy), but the matcha cheesecake was a letdown. I was expecting a good sized portion of cheesecake in my burger, and not just some tiny cheesecake crumbles. It looked like burnt avocado crumble. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d probably not realize what you ate. I had some of the cheesecake by itself, and it definitely tasted like cheesecake. My brother’s girlfriend said she could definitely taste the matcha. I could not. I would definitely get their burger again, but not for the cheesecake.
Udon carbonara ($ 18) — got this one because Unilocal said this is the one to get. It was pretty good. Very creamy sauce. Loved the mushrooms. Lots of Italian sausage. I got maybe one piece of braised beef (and I didn’t know it was braised). The portion was okay. I’m guessing the fusion aspects of this were the udon and the honey mushrooms. The honey mushrooms were a delightful addition to this dish, but I think actual pasta would have worked better than udon here.
Shiitake New York ($ 32) — I have no idea why this costed so much. I can get steaks at steakhouses for cheaper. The menu says deconstructed. They deconstructed the steak by slicing it. Pft. Bacon corn replaced by baby bok choy without informing us. Sweet potatoes were good. Wellness of the steak done properly. Wouldn’t get this again.
I enjoyed my dinner, but I’m not quite a fan. Price to value ratio wasn’t good enough. I feel a tad let down.

Came to this restaurant a few weeks ago with a date. Parking was difficult to find, with the restaurant being on Main St. Markham, but eventually found a spot in a parking lot behind the restaurant.
This place was packed — but luckily, I’m a keener and made reservations the night before, and so we were promptly seated. The layout is rather cramped with most of the tables being in a row, 2 feet from each other — you could easily hear the table-beside-you’s conversation aka not the best place to take a date or nefariously scheme.
I ordered the Udon Carbonara, as it is one of the most talked about dishes on Unilocal.It was pretty good, but not life-​changing. I’d give it a ⁷⁄₁₀. It tastes like normal pasta but with the thick udon noodles in a cream sauce. I guess the texture is unique, but it was only slightly better than the kraft dinner I make at home.
The service was pretty standard as well.
Overall, this place is pretty overhyped. Still good, but failed to Inspire me.

First let’s get the important thing out of the way: the food is spectacular! It is such a unique spin on very classic dishes, and there are some dishes that you can’t really get anywhere else. They have some very innovative uses of spices and flavours that can be a hit or a miss with people. For example, their chicken and waffles leans towards the sweet side. I thought this was interesting and quite enjoyed it but my best friend was not a fan.
The service here is good. They’ve hired young people to go along with the trendy feel of the restaurant. The only issue I had was that they lost my reservation once. I had called ahead to reserve and received confirmation, but when I got there, they did not have me listed at all. Because this place is always packed, not having a reservation could be a problem. They managed to squeeze us in and gave us a complimentary pulled pork frites for the error. Now this is customer service done right!
The décor is lovely. Like its food, it has a modern Asian fusion feel. Though the place is not very big, it still feels quite cozy. Portion sizes are great and prices are reasonable. Overall, a very successful dining experience.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about inspire and its lived up to its reputation!
We had the Salmon burger which comes with Atlantic Salmon, minced pickled ginger aioli, shallots and avocado for $ 18 and $ 2 for the upgrade of my fries to the pulled pork fries. The salmon burger was pretty delicious and you can taste the ginger wasn’t too over powering which was good. The salmon was fried just perfectly so it wasn’t dry but still juicy and didn’t fall apart too much in the burger. I enjoyed the pulled pork fries more because it came with some mixture of a mayo sauce and some topping that resembles raw instant noodle and it was AWESOME.
We also had the Indonesian Chicken Rendang which comes with coconut curry and roti for $ 22. The roti was cooked perfectly, thought the rice was somewhat dry and crunch which I didn’t like. Everything else was made perfectly like the curry and the chicken, wished they had a spicy option for the curry though!
This is a small asian fusion place that was slightly busy when we arrived but we had reservations. The service is pretty good and I’ll definitely be back here again to try something new on the menu!

Came here on a weekday during lunch and the place wasn’t busy. They have a small menu but I definitely find the items unique and I felt like I must try them all! I came here today, however to try their Chicken and Waffles.
We waited at least 25 mins for the food to arrive, so be prepared to wait that long for food. But I was impressed by the chicken and waffles! It was delicious! The chicken wasn’t greasy and the amount of syrup was just perfect! I recommend getting that for sure.
Service is pretty fast but I suggest making a reservation as there is very limited seating in this small place.
Would go back to try their pasta next time.

Inspire was widely recommended by friends and other Unilocalers so I decide to choose this place to eat for my anniversary dinner. When entering restaurant, we noticed that the restaurant was really small and tight. I noticed the décor in the restaurant felt really cheap and they tried to imitate the feeling of a loft with exposed pipes. Came on a Wednesday night thinking it won’t be super busy. Turns out all tables were reserved except two small tables near their counter area. So we got seated at the small tables. It was a tight space but it functioned. The waiter was nice and brought us water right away. The service was so far so good. What really drove down this rating was the food.
Ordered: Chicken and Waffles, Indonesian Chicken Rendang and the INSP Burger. Did not order desserts because we felt sick after our entrees. The best part was the chicken and waffles as this actually tasted decent. But the burger was so oily that it made my partner almost throw up. Also, my Rendang dish tasted so mediocre that it tasted nothing special. It was also very oily.
All in all, everything except the Chicken and Waffles was so oily that it gave me and my partner heart burn.
Overall, I probably wouldn’t return to this restaurant ever again. This restaurant is just mediocre in my books and now I realize how overhyped this place is. Highly do not recommend.

Came here on a Saturday afternoon at 1pm. The restaurant is pretty small, and usually pretty packed, so make sure to make reservations ahead of time! There’s parking alongside the back of the restaurant.
Service was pretty good. Seemed like there were only two waiters working the day we were there. However, they were rushing around the entire time, and I felt well taken care of. My friend is a vegetarian and asked about the veggie options. The waiter helped us ask the kitchen, and came back with a very detailed rundown of which menu items were already vegetarian, and which ones could be altered to be vegetarian. I had ordered a coffee, and the waiter always came by before my cup was empty to see if I needed a refill.
I had the chicken and waffles, which was absolutely delicious! The waffle was freshly made, and it was nice and warm and soft. The boneless chicken was fried, and was crispy on the outside but tender upon biting into it. The whole thing was drizzled in syrup with a slightly spicy kick to it. The portion was huge. I managed to finish all the chicken and most of the waffle, but was super stuffed afterwards! There were several other items on the menu that looked very interesting, I can’t wait to come back and try them!
The only negative about my experience, and why I gave this review a four star instead of five, is that we had a seat right by the window, and I thought it was a bit cold even though I was wearing a sweater that day. Hopefully they turn up their heat more in the winter…

There’s been a lot of hype on Inspire restaurant for the past few months. Usually, when I’m uptown, I stick to Asian food, but it’s nice to have something a little different in the Markham neighbourhood.
My favourite here is the udon carbonara. I’ve ordered this both times because I just couldn’t get enough of it! It’s rich, creamy, flavourful, and everything you want for a cold day. I’ve also sampled other dishes — chicken and waffles (which seems to be a customer favourite), the INSP burger, and the duck confit fries. The portions were fairly generous. The udon carbonara is still my favourite, and the only thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was the poutine, which was a tad dry for my liking.
All in all, I am a fan of the place. Usually the word «fusion» scares me, but Inspire Restaurant execute the food well. I will be back to try their brunch!

I had bookmarked Inspire Restaurant since July 2014. And it took me so long till I finally here for dinner.
Saturday Reservation: Either 6:15 or 8:15 pm. We are cool with late dinner as we can take our time without being rushed.
4 Star for what Inspire Restaurant brings to the Markham, a «Downtown» quality restaurant in the suburbs. Interesting and unique offerings compares to other in the area.
We ordered a few things to share:
Short Ribs As-​Is ($ 10) — Meh
Wonton Au Gratin ($ 12) — A-​OK
Chicken & Waffle ($ 16) — A-​OK the boneless chicken was so juicy! I love ginger maple syrup too!
The INSP Burger ($ 15) Duck Confit Fries (+$ 4) — Burger was good, Fries were soggy!
Udon Carbonara ($ 18)
Banana Bread Ice Cream Sandwich ($ 12) — Best Item of the Night! Banana Me!
Green Tea Chili Cheesecake ($ 10)
Food is 3 Star in general. Most of them were not too memorable aside from the Banana Bread Ice Cream Sandwich as I have this thing with those mini peanut butter cups!
Service. Service might be the biggest issue of the evening. Waitress no where to be seen when we wanted to order dessert or get our bill. Mind you, the restaurant was almost empty aside from another table. I hate doing that, but I have to yell out and wave one of them down so we can get someone to take our order. The service here is equivalent and remind me of BBT joint. On the other hand, the bus boy was really nice always making sure that our water glasses never empty.
I am happy to have Inspire Restaurant in my neighbourhood. I will probably be back and hopefully the service will be better next time.

Pleasantly surprised for a Markham restaurant. I have had my fair share of chicken and waffles from Harlem Restaurant, CNE to Pickle Barrel… etc, I would have to say this was the best chicken and waffle combo yet!
For$ 12, the chicken was boneless, tender and crispy which was paired perfectly with the fluffy waffles. There was a small dollop of butter and the just the right amount of syrup.
I would definitely come back here.

Came here for a late dinner on a Friday night for 2 people. We called to make reservations around 6pm and got a table around 8pm. I have tried walking in a few times and wasn’t able to get a seat. It was dim where we sat and it was quiet enough in there for a conversation, unlike other trendy restaurants in the city.
There were a few tempting options, but I settle for the chicken and waffles. It came with a blueberry compote and a slightly spicy and sweet syrup. The portion was very large the chicken felt freshly fried and the waffle was still hot. The chicken was tender but had a bit too much breading, it was still good nonetheless. My friend got the burger with pork belly, again the serving was very large, and it came with shoestring fries which were alright a bit on the soggy side.
The service was pretty good and its a great addition to the markham neighborhood there’s not many places to get this kind of food uptown.

Thursday date night dinner! Sometimes walking in is easier than a reservation.
We had the duck tacos as the appetizers and although they were very good, at $ 12 it’s probably going to be a one time thing.
I had the Golden Duck Malaysian Fried Rice for my entrée. I didn’t know what to expect from the description, but WOW it delivered some flavour. There’s a lot going on in this dish but it is delicious!
My girlfriend ordered the Udon Carbonera and it packed some punch. Its a very rich and thick flavour, and is also a lot spicier than you would think. The flavour gets a little overbearing towards the end of the meal, but that shouldn’t discourage you from trying out the dish.
Just wanted to mention that the service was excellent! Friendly staff who are very attentive.
All in all, great place and great food. Can’t wait to try their ceviche!

I have been wanting to eat here for awhile after reading fellow Unilocal reviews. I brought my husband here for our Friday night date. The restaurant was very nice, great ambience, cozy nice décor just something different for Markham.
I ordered the udon carbonara and it was amazing, tasted so good while originally concerned it may be too rich and salty but the flavour was perfect. The meal came piping hot which meant they cooked it fresh. Although it did get very rich towards the end. My husband had the body builder burger with pulled pork fries and the burger was gigantic. He barely finished it ESP if you upgrade it with the pulled pork fries. I found the fries to be nothing too special but the burger was definitely flavourful with that charcoal smokey taste, yum.
We really enjoyed the restaurant and the food and would definitely come back in the future.

Everything on the menu is amazing and portions are worth it. Best items are duck pulled pork and paella!