Tai Ping Hsiang

Small place — good for ordering, eat and then get out quickly. The popcorn chicken was decent. Side dishes were a bit on the salty and on the oily side. Place is not the cleanest place in the world, but was decent for a fast food joint.
There were lots of people doing takeout (mostly ordering popcorn chicken). Heard service wasn’t the greatest, but from my one time experience, the staff was pretty nice.
Cash only.

This is a small take out place with very limited seating so it might be wise to take the food to the Metro Square food court to eat while the food is still hot! I came here to try the Taiwanese popcorn chicken combo which includes three side dishes and the choice of a soup or soft drink.
Loved the popcorn chicken which was really tasty but not too greasy. The portion size is decent and would likely return when I get the popcorn chicken cravings again.

Price keeps going up, but that’s expected with inflation and the rising cost of groceries. Fried Chicken Nugget (aka popcorn chicken) combo was $ 6.65 three months ago, now $ 6.85.
That said the small price increase isn’t a deal breaker, but the disappearance and replacement of side dishes with far inferior items might be (cost cutting). Please bring back green beans for dinner! *rant over*
This is a good place to satisfy your Taiwanese Popcorn chicken craving. And no, this is nothing like KFC’s popcorn chicken (I’ve been asked)! You can get this in a combo (rice and sides) or by itself for a dollar less. However I’ve had better, just not as convenient.

For about $ 7 – 8, you get a Taiwanese lunch box with a main meat dish, and your selection of side dishes (varies daily). How to order:
1) don’t line up in front of the cashier, go to the side where the food is displayed and tell the lady which mest dish you want (I recommend the popcorn chicken or chicken leg)
2) pick your side dishes (i recommend the seaweed and eggplants if available)
3) pay at the cashier
4) eat
This place is really packed during lunch time and closes earlier than the food court.

All I can say its this place is amazing!!! Probably the only place that serves traditional Taiwanese popcorn chicken!!!

One of my go to places for Taiwanese Popcorn chicken bento boxes! It’s pretty packed during lunch, but they move through the line pretty quickly.
The majority of employees speak Mandarin here, but if you order in Cantonese they still understand.
There is a big chart of protein you can choose. I haven’t tried anything besides the popcorn chicken because it’s just so yummy! They freshly fry it, with a good amount of seasoning and crispy exterior. There is a fair amount of chicken per order.
Then you get to 3 sides. There are so many to choose from. I’m biased because I love eggplant, so I always get that one. As another Unilocaler mentioned, the fried sweet taro is really good! I have tried their green beans, their lotus roots, their on choy, and tofu. All are very good!
And you also get a bowl of soup, or upgrade to a can of pop for 6.65 plus taxes.
The only downside is that there is only 2 small tables to eat in. During lunch, I would head over to the food court, but even then it’s sometimes hard to find a free table to sit at.
Great prices, great food and selection and pretty quick service.

Food is good but bad service. Especially, the girls work at front. Bad attitude!!! It is your choose if you like to have good food but with terrible service. The owner should have noticed this already.

I stop by this place whenever I am in the area. the popcorn chicken combo never disappoints! This place also serves many other signature taiwanese dishes such as three cup chicken. It can get quite busy on weekends around lunch time.
For about $ 7.xx, you get popcorn chicken on rice with a choice of 3 sides and a soup. My favourite side dish is the sweet taro/​potato but it isn’t always available, the different sides vary so it’s really a hit or miss when you get there… other sides are such as vegetables, tofu, bean curd and green beans.
I give this only a four star rating as there are only two tables in there for seating, more of a takeout place. however, you can always takeout and eat in the foodcourt beside!

I’ve been working in this plaza for almost 5 years and yesterday was my first time heading into this place. My coworkers often get the combos for lunch so I finally decided to check this place out myself.
The place is small, with very limited seating but seems like most people do takeout anyway. I ordered a side order of popcorn chicken to go. Surprisingly for 5.55 (6.25 after tax) there was a large amount of popcorn chicken, which almost seemed endless when I was eating and sharing with a few friends.
The popcorn chicken was fresh outta the fryer, not too salty nor greasy, and seasoned just right with 5 spice powder. A delicious non healthy snack that I’ll be sure to come back for!

Got the spicy fried chicken this time. Addicted now. Probably bad for my health. :/

Very hidden place in Metro Square. I frequently go to Metro Square and have never noticed this place until a friend recommended me to come here for popcorn chicken. The place is quite small inside with only two tables, so it’s ideal for take-​out.
They have lunch/​dinner specials which comes with three sides of your choice and a soup. If you want to change your soup to pop or bottled water it’s $ 0.50 extra. I tried the popcorn chicken and it was pretty good. Didn’t «WOW» me, but still good. The portion size was quite big as well and the total came to $ 7.50 after tax, which is cheap as compared to a popcorn chicken rice set at your favourite local bbt place.
The only thing about this place is that the service when they’re taking your order and preparing it, I felt like I was being rushed out the store. But what can you really expect. It’s not meant for dine in and it’s quite busy during lunch hours. Also, CASH ONLY!
I would definitely come back for more take out and try the chicken leg next time as it sounded like a popular item from what I saw/​heard others order.

Pop corn chicken was a fail. No basil leaves were added at all. Tastes like regular fried chicken.

Lunch or dinner combo under 10 $ with a pop or soup. Can’t get better the bbq pork and popcorn chicken here is best in town.
Parking here is terrible during lunch time and there’s limited seating so be prepared to take out

I’ve been to this Taiwanese take-​out five times ’cause it’s pretty cheap, and it’s just a fifteen minute walk from where I live. I’d say if you haven’t had Taiwanese popcorn chicken for the past four years, you’ll love this place to death like I did years ago. However, if you’ve been discovering and testing other Taiwanese food places on a regular basis, or if you eat out very often, then you’ll probably give this place an OK like I do now.
The good stuff…
A meal is usually just under $ 8 and it’ll fill you up for lunch. I’m 5’2 and 44kg, I don’t know, sometimes I need to eat two of their bento boxes, so usually a meal is around $ 14 for me at this place, but then I get to eat six side dishes and two main courses. XD Sounds pretty cheap to me.
The cons…
The main course and side dishes are MSG loaded, and makes you very thirst after devouring their bento box. When you’re young though, who cares right? Second, the service can be a hit or miss. The aunties’re probably tired of asking what you want for your side dishes, so if you want to make their lives easier, just let them pick for you. Oh holy, their kitchen is fillllthy though.
Overall, don’t let my opinion deter you from going. If you hear good things from other people and are curious, just go for it. :)

Freshly fried thick cut pork chop rice with the right amount of batter and your choice of 3 toppings, all for food court prices.
If you frequent this mall you know that there’s stiff competition for Chinese and Taiwanese food here, but this place manages to survive while others fail. Why? They offer juicy thick cuts of meat, freshly made, and sides that are inspired and made with care. It’s that simple.
Other food court chains tend to take shortcuts with either the meat, veggies, rice, or all 3 and they only compete on price, but you can taste the difference in quality here. I got a seat at one of the two tables there, and in my 15 minute meal noticed a huge line of people come and go with their takeout boxes. It’s no wonder why this place stays in business!

One of my friends introduced me here for Taiwanese food and I really couldn’t have imagined a tiny place @ metro plaza ever be noticed.
Huge fan of fried popcorn chicken, made to order and definitely worth every dollar of mine… its crispy, spicy and not slapped on with heavy batter…
Their lunch boxes (bien dong) are well worth the price, with 2 – 3 sides and rice… only $ 6.45+tax. The portion will even fill a big guys stomach…
I believe the two most popular items are lu paai gu (porkchops) and popcorn chicken cuz alot of ppl seem to order that.
Yes, its a eat and go place with like 3 tables but thats our culture… thats why there are so many hk restaurants (cha chaan tang) but back to Taiwanese food… this definitely reminds me of my Taiwan trip… when I go crazy at the night markets there… the quality is similar… yumms!
oh yea just to be even more authentic. cha time is closeby… now go grab your roasted milk tea with grass jelly and popcorn chicken from here…
Satisfying your cravings. this is how you do it! Lol…

3 stars
the food is not bad here especially the popcorn chicken since its made quite fresh… only couple of peeves…
1. the young girl working. looks like a teenager. shes always grumpy/​cocky… no matter how polite you are to her shes still pissed off.
2. sometimes whats left of the selection is quite old as they only make side dishes in very small batches.
3. the size of the bento… its pretty much like a swanson dinner size. not the 1lb grand version too.
thats all

Decent food at reasonable price with free soup or drink ($ 6.45/combo). My coworkers drive to buy their lunch box almost every day…
I love there veggie dishes. Suggest the pop corn chicken with veggie combo. More than eight veggie dishes for u to choose from, the taste is much better than another Taiwanese takeout restaurant I have been to. They upgraded their décor on July 5^th, so it looks cleaner than before.

Alright — it’s been another three years so it’s about time i give it another update.
Admittedly, I eat here at least once whenever I come back toronto. I’ve been eating at this place for over 10 years now and their salty crispy/​popcorn chicken has never failed me (my parents used to bring them to waterloo for me when they visit). If i’m not eating the chicken, i get their fried pork chop rice. Whenever you get a rice combo, you get to pick three sides and they have a ton of great vegetable and meat dishes to choose from.
The quality of the fried foods has been inconsistent over the years. It’s hard to say when i’m going to get great and when i’m going to get meh. Nevertheless, the recipe remains and there really isn’t another place in the GTA quite like this place.
It remains a mom and pop shop (the very pretty taiwanese mom used to man the front while the pop is in kitchen) but neither of them are there as often they used to be. The service is also inconsistent. If you are lucky, you get the nice ladies, if you are not, you mainly face indifference.

Deep Fried Pig Blood and Fish Cake?
Deep Fried Popcorn Chicken?
For sure you can find Taiwanese’s delicacies here at Tai Ping Xiang that reminds you of your trips to Taiwan!
The setting of Tai Ping Xiang is just so primitive… a self serve fast food place with minimum seatings to encourage you have everything to go. and their lunch boxes are designed for this sole purpose, take your food and eat them somewhere!
The server/​cashier was just so nice and friendly… I ended up letting her pick my 2 sides that went with my popcorn chicken.
Popcorn chicken is really crispy, really light! and they were made to order. not sitting under the heat lamp for anytime at all. Well seasoned with a nice peppery taste. I have to confess «I LOVE FRIED CHICKEN!» and I am proud of that!
Deep Fried Pig Blood and Fish Cakes were both A-​OK! Great snacks and with them served in cute girlie paper bag to go… make it a really Asian night market street food experience!!!
Cash Only!