Lohas Café

There were not too many people on a Wednesday night. The server was really sweet and nice.
We ordered the honey brick toast and the sundae
The honey brick toast is huge. One portion can feed two people. The sundae was pretty much a smaller version of the honey brick toast. Pretty good

I came here with my partner on a Thursday evening hoping to try the Honey Brick Toast. When you walk in, it’s simple décor. There were around 2 tables occupied, so it was pretty quiet. Unfortunately, the Honey Brick Toast was unavailable — which, I was kind of surprised; considering that this seems like their signature dessert plastered all over Instagram. So, we chose the Marshmallow brick toast and a Matcha green tea latte.
I waited about 20 min for my green tea latte. Really slow when you consider that the other tables were already served. The drink was also quite watery… There was also 2 employees. I believe one employee was in charge of making food and drinks — because after I got my latte, my partners marshmallow brick toast took another 20 minutes to come. I was immediately floored when I took a bite out the toast. It was a very very basic toast (squished down on the inside + peanut butter + marshmallows on top (which weren’t toasted enough), and a small drizzle of chocolate syrup). I wasn’t floored at the food quality itself (it’s simple, so whatever) but I was surprised at the time it took to prepare this. Perhaps, the employee was in-​training? But still… the whole waiting process took 40 minutes (I had to do double take at my watch because I was in denial at the wait time of our orders).
Unfortunately, our server told us that they do not take credit either — which I understand, so ask beforehand. So the combination of the entire experience was truly a let down.

I had high expectations… but what a disappointment… I would give this a zero if I could…
Being empty at 9 p. m should have warned me to stay away, but I ignored that and decided to try it anyways. I asked for their signature item (Honey Toast) and it was unavailable for whatever reason.
The Matcha Green Tea was watery and almost tasteless.
Their Marshmallow «Brick» Toast was less than an inch thick, and all it had was some peanut butter, bananas and some marshmallow. It took them half an hour to make (with no other customers there) and it costed $ 5.99!
Our server mumbles when he speaks. He also had a really bad attitude and doesn’t seem to want you there.
Poor service. Poor food. Poor value.
Better off going to the many other Café in that area that are much much better than this.

Before you read on, this is a combination of two visits.
Second return to this place was pleasant. I finally got the honey brick toast that wasn’t available the first time I was here. It was a bit heavy than expected and even though we had three people, we still were unable to finish it. Might be because we ordered the popcorn chicken too. In terms of taste for the brick toast, you’re better off getting the smaller brick toasts of various creams. Wasn’t anything eye popping nor was it amazing on your tastebuds.
Popcorn chicken is like your typical popcorn chicken. Nothing amazing, but it wasn’t bad either.
Matcha milk tea was good though, but for the price I could prob get it elsewhere.
I came here again after a few months and I have to say I’m disappointed with the quality of the matcha brick toast. It’s not as soft and flavourful as I remembered. Matcha milk tea doesn’t seem as good either. Overall not impressed with this time’s food, but owner was nice as usual. Waiter didn’t talk much.

Good dessert, good environment for family and friends gathering! Love the newly decorated place! And you can tell the owner put in a lot of effort bringing a lovely experience to relax for their customers!!!

Yep. Definitely not a crowded restaurant alright. I would only suggest coming to this restaurant when it’s dinner time and you’re fed up with waiting in lines at the other places nearby.
Parking:
Oh dear, where do I begin. For anybody who’s a little bit familiar with First Markham Place, you know that the parking situation during weekend dinner time is tragically painful. You’re lucky to find a parking spot by taking over somebody else’s place, when you wait long enough at the same spot and stalk the people walking by. Or else, have fun with circling around the parking lot for many many rounds.
If you’re impatient like me, I suggest parking near where the Cineplex used to be and walk a little. There’s always parking there, even during 6−7pm on a Saturday, and the walk was maximum 5 minutes for me. But then again, the weather is getting cold, so for some people the stalking strategy may be optimal. Your call.
Restaurant:
Now that you’ve finally found a parking spot lets get to the food part. Like what many Unilocalers have already mentioned, this place is never packed, not even during weekend dinner hour, so you can always expect to find a seat. Don’t expect quick service however, the café is pretty understaffed, only 2 waiters were there when I came. I was disappointed that they didn’t even serve us water when we sat down, so you’re kinda forced to order a drink. For lunch (12−3pm) and dinner (6−9pm) they have this combo thing where you pay $ 2.75 extra to get a drink that’s normally $ 3.99 and a complimentary dessert. Sounds like a pretty good deal, so both me and my friend opted for the combo.
I ordered the pop corn chicken and my friend got the ribs and we tried a little bit of both. The dishes came pretty slow, waited about 15 minutes. The ribs were ok, the flavoring wasn’t special enough to be memorable, but I do give it points for being really tender. My popcorn chicken was kinda the same deal, I’ve definitely had better and more crispy pop corn chicken else where. For me personally it doesn’t deserve all the praises from the other Unilocalers. You get a tiny bit of veggies in the side. The broccoli tasted fresh, but too soft and overcooked. The corn was definitely made from frozen packages, pretty bland and soggy.
The taro milk tea that I got with the combo was made from powder, but they size was big and I think the container was cute. My friend’s ginger tea was too sweet and it did taste like ginger. The hilarious part was that even though the tea was already sweet enough they even included an extra pack of sugar on the side. Just imagine not tasting the tea beforehand and added the pack of sugar in… The desserts that we got were those pudding cups that you’d normally see at AYCE sushi restaurants, not bad, not spectacular either.
The bill ended up being like $ 12 per person before tips, with the combo, so it was alright for a casual dinner. Like I said before, this restaurant is never packed so it is a good alternative to go to if you feel like lining up for the other places. I ever saw people bringing their laptops there too.

Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Atmosphere: 7.5÷10
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Overall experience: ⁷⁄₁₀
The main reason Lohas Café is getting a 2 star review (though ranking ⁷⁄₁₀ overall), is due to the fact that there are so many other better spots for post-​dinner dessert in Markham.
There was nothing wrong with the food/​drink (condensed milk toast, black milk tea — standards!) I ordered, but their faults lay in the little things:
— whenever we asked the waitress about something (can we split the bills? Could we get some more condensed milk for the toast?), she had to ask her manager. Her only response during the night was «I have to ask»
— the condensed milk toast took around 30 – 40 minutes to arrive. They explained it was because the toast was frozen (not a great start) — not a deal breaker, but still a negative for Lohas
THE BOTTOM LINE: regular post-​dinner spot, but there are lots of other/​better options in the Markham area.

Matcha milk tea and matcha toast is my favorite. Good wifi and really friendly service.

Nice place for some BBT. Got the coconut slushie and white peach slushie with lychee jelly. Both tasted good.
Service was escellent because we were the only customers there. I wish they had coconut jelly for my coconut slushie. That would have made my drink even better. I guess if I ever want coconut jelly in my BBT I will have to get it at Chatime.

Oh my goodness. The service was horrible!!!
I went on a Friday night — they had about 2 – 3 servers and 7 people in the café when we were there (not a lot of people to serve). We did not get any water after being seated, I had to ask for it once the food was served. My food didn’t come with utensils. so I had to ask for it. I’m not sure if the people were new or inexperienced, but the service was lacking. It was just a constant battle to get their attention because they were so busy chatting and looking at their phones at the bar area…
However, the one star is for the food! The dishes weren’t bad — but I’ve had better Taiwanese meals. The popcorn chicken dish was pretty decent, but everything was really salty! I got a black sesame milk tea… way too sweet and I didn’t really taste the sesame. I could have gotten better food and service at another restaurant for the prices I paid on Friday.
I won’t be going back again.

Nice place to sit and chat with friends. Dishes are above average, my favourite there is the deep fried salt popcorn chicken. Juicy and tender. They have this lunch special that comes with a drink. Service might be a little slow but friendly and attentive. Got some really nice authentic taiwanese street food here! Try it if you’re in Markham. I tried their noodles, but I still like the popcorn chicken with rice the best!

I got fooled into trying this place because I try all Taiwanese restaurants in the GTA, searching for the taste of back home. This place is as bad as Pa Pa Chang, except it has better interior and not as crowded. Food was just average, trying to be Taiwanese but failed. If you go in there for just a meal, it’s average in taste, but if you go in there thinking that you are going to get authentic Taiwanese food, then don’t bother.
I give it a 4 out of 10.

I came here today on Nov 1, 2014. The last time I came here was around 2012 where the actual owner was taking over and wassssss WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better than now.
HOLY COW. is all I can say. PLEASSE EXCUSE MY RAGE!!!
THE SERVICE WAS TERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIBBLEE!
There were 2 women as servers, ONE for making drinks, and ONE for taking orders.
[FIRST OF ALL.]. I DID NOT GET ANY SERVICE AS SOON AS I WENT INSIDE.
So. I sat down, Hoping to get some kind of service. Guess what. NONE. NOT EVEN TEA. FIVE MINUTES LATER ON A NOT THAT BUSY DAY. I finally got a menu to choose what I wanted to eat. 15 minutes later. I AM TIRED OF WAITING FOR A SERVER TO COME SERVE ME. So i decided to go up to the WOMAN THAT WAS MAKING DRINKS TO TAKE MY ORDER. I told her i was in a rush and i needed to take my order. She told me «Please sit down and I will come around» (well i’ve been sitting down the whole time and it didn’t seem like i was getting any service at all. why else would i get up to ask you to take my order.) Anyway.
She eventually took my order and told me that my order comes with a drink, (black tea or green tea) So then i said green tea and asked her if there was any extra cost. She told me there wasn’t.
So the food (popcorn chicken and noodles) came which was pretty decent, Tasted similar to the last time I came here.
BUT HOLY COW. the service was so rude. THEY literally just shoved the bowl of noodles down without mentioning the name or anything and just walked away.
Soon after I was literally pissed off because what kind of attitude is that?
So i couldn’t stand her attitude anymore I decided to go up to the woman up front to pay.
I was shocked. SHE TOLD ME THAT SATURDAYS ONLY SATURDAYS they do not take credit card. (how does that even make sense???) Ok. So I said can i use my debit card instead? She said, «Yes you can use your dedit card». Afterwards the horrible service woman came over and glared and tossed the bill at me and I asked «why did you charge me for the green tea? because the other woman told me that it was free and there wasn’t any extra cost for it.» SHE TOLD ME THAT «DID YOU NOT READ OUTSIDE ON OUR WINDOW. IT SAYS WE CHARGE FOR GREEN TEA AND BLACK TEA» I mean. Jesus christ. I don’t have the time to look and read every single poster on your window… when i have to go to work afterwards. .
So then she yelled at me saying that i was wrong to not read the poster before coming in, and that the girl that took my order was wrong, and then she even rolled her eyes at me. like holy shoot. what did i do? Why is this woman so deadly RUDE. she also said «oh $ 3 for some hot tea is decent. Where else can you get tea for $ 3» (Well FYI. TEA IS FREE AT A LOT OF PLACES UNLESS YOU’RE GOING TO DIMSUM)
So then. we argued over the price even though it wasn’t necessary. and then she took my DEBIT CARD AND WASN’T GOING TO GIVE IT BACK. Because then when she took my debit card she was also changing the price. Forcing me to pay with cash .AND THEN I ASKED IF SHE TOOK MY DEBIT CARD SHE SAID WHY WOULD I TAKE YOUR DEBIT CARD…
I was like that’s weird because I had it in my wallet a second ago. then she rudely said
«IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?» while holding my debit card.
ANYWAY. PLEASE DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU SEE A ASIAN LONG HAIR WOMAN THAT IS PLUS SIZE WORKING THERE. DO NOT LET HER SERVE YOU. OTHERWISE YOU WILL REGRET ITTTTTTTT!

I seriously don’t know what happened to this place, the quality keeps on getting worse and worse.
This time I’ve had it, people need to know… so I’m giving this place a significant decrease in quality of food, quality of service and everything else…
This USE TO BE, one of my fav places to come at night… for my fav. Taiwanese salty chicken and noodles…
Came and ordered take out today, my all time favorite came out soggy and looks like It’s been fried in extremely old oil… dark and disgusting…
The usual chicken noodle had an extremely small piece of chicken thigh… it looked like chicken wings… I was not impressed… my friend was like what happened? Has the owner changed? Did they sell the business becuz it has become significantly worse…
The coffee was like $ 3.99 for a medium and at first I was shocked on how expensive a Chinese place coffee was. taste was merely acceptable…
All in all, I’m extremely disappointed and would not come back any time soon…

This place has really yummy food!
Not a lot of people know about how great this place is, so the restaurant is often empty/​semi-​empty. Which is good for you– no waiting for seats!
The restaurant has nice, comfortable décor, making you wish to stay awhile and chat with your friends or study. There are pillows on chairs and large tables.
The servers are usually quick, except for the occasional times where they’re on their phones and not really paying attention.
The bubble tea is average; I am not too fond on it but it’s not bad either. Just a little too overpriced for what it is.
The minced pork noodles and rice really steal the show here– I think they’re the best dishes of the entire restaurant. Not a bad price, but very good food! Which is the best combo. The appetizers are pretty delicious! Popcorn chicken… holy shit, it’s amazing and mouth-​watering.
Another bonus– wifi is super strong. :)

We came here because of Unilocal,it was a week night there was nobody inside, and as soon as we opened the door a really putrid smell emanated from inside… Did I go into another dimension?! Why are people saying it was busy when they went?

I like to come to this restaurant because of their purple theme interior decoration.
The popcorn chicken and beef noodles are my favorites at this place.
I usually come during lunch hours or late afternoon. This place was never busy. I believe this is a family-​run restaurant, service is warm but it needs to be more attentive. I usually have to wait for quite a while or just walk to the bar/​counter area to ask for service or to place further orders.
However, this restaurant fulfills my need whenever I am craving for Taiwanese food. Comparing with Pa Pa Cheng, this restaurant provides comfortable and classy seating.

Popcorn chicken was not bad… but by god the service is terribly slow.
There was only 3 tables of 2 … it took over 25 mins to bring out my food. during this time no drink was served. we saw other tables wait equally long. By the time i was half done my meal, my friends noodle finally came out. The porkchop noodle was not good. Porkchop tasted off… and the noodles have no taste at all.
other than the popcorn chicken i wouldnt recommend anything else.
the person took over 6 litteral minutes to make 1 bubble tea from powder. HOW? litterally 2 full songs went by and the guy was still making the same drink.
they had 4 people and virtually empty place. theres no excuse.

This review is only for their drinks because I didn’t get a chance to try their food, but it smelt good. The drinks were very sweet and unlike most places now they don’t offer a sweet level choice.
My taro milk tea was too sweet and watery! The outside of my cup was dirty as well. My friend’s green milk tea had barely any green tea taste and was mostly sugar.
The décor was nice, some of the seated could use some mending. The servers were friendly and available.

The service was slow at the beginning even though no one was being served and the restaurant was near empty.
The food was OK. The popcorn chicken was decent. We also ordered the beef noodle soup (average), Taiwanese meat ball (not bad), fried tofu (served lukewarm) and spicy dumplings (not bad).

Food is tasty, the bubble tea is big and good. It has nice decoration with some game you can play with your friend. Free wifi so some people come here to study and can spend hours in here. Love this place

Came to Lohas Café strictly for the food.
The place itself is hiding next to Ding Tai Fung at First Markham Place. The parking, as always, is a total crapshoot and people can get pretty wild in these lots. Lohas Café serves up Taiwanese food in a setting that’s pretty relaxed and good for studying. They have comfortable seating and even a couch that stretches along the wall with outlets around if you want to snack and write Unilocal reviews. Lots of drinks can be had at the place, but my review focuses on the food.
We ordered Popcorn Chicken with Rice, Fried Squid Balls, and the Stewed Basil Chicken. When you order a rice dish, it comes with a side of edamames and ham-​n-​corn salad. The fried squid balls were raved about here, and they were pretty good. An order comes with about five lightly fried and crisp balls of squid that were cut in a way that resembles a flower when you bite into the core. They’re small, but juicy little bites that are worth getting as a snack or appetizer.
The popcorn chicken was pretty good as well. The pieces of chicken are dusted with flour and deep fried all the way through. The breading was present, but not prevalent as you can see through to the chicken. The chicken meat was a bit dry, probably due to such deep frying, but the taste was good. The rice for the popcorn chicken also comes with pieces of minced pork and helped add to the flavor of the steamed rice. Ham and corn salad was really tiny pieces of cut up hot dog with corn and red peppers.
The Stewed Basil Chicken was good, but nothing special. It’s something that could be easily replicated at home. The sauce was rich and the chicken was surprisingly dry for being coated in sauce. The taste was also good, but not great. Portion sizes for both platters was not an issue as there is plenty for the hungry individual.
I wouldn’t say it would be a quick lunch. Service was ok, but they did have to deal with a crowd. Definitely a place to come if you’re looking for a snack and have time to kill. If you’re hungry, go to another restaurant in the area. If you’re bored, go to a library. If you’re a little bit of both, come to Lohas Café.