Taipei Chin Yuan Pai Ku Fast Food

Was passing by and needed a quick bite.
It’s located in the food court in Metro square. A lot of people were ordering from here compared to the other stands.
Tried their combo 1 which was pork chop. It came with a marinated egg, pork chop cut into a couple of pieces, some stir fry vegetables, and some tofu side. The sauce from the tofu went well with the rice.
The pork chop was pretty moist and flavourful.
Not bad for $ 6.50 plus tax. Didn’t come with anything to drink, or any soup. Not bad for a quick bite, the food came really quickly after ordering.

My go to place for quick and dirty Taiwanese lunch box meals. The side dishes are fixed.
They’ve stopped including the soup/​soy milk. Now it’s 50c/​75c extra.
I rotate between this place and the other taiwanese lunch box take out place in the same plaza (between Asian legend and bakery) coz the other place lets you pick 3 side dishes.
IMO this place used to taste a lot better a year or so ago. hmmm. my suspicions were confirmed after reading some of the reviews that the owner may have changed.

Hands down my favourite place for pork chop! Super fast service and huge portion. The meat is delicious and the side dishes they give (cabbage, tofu, bamboo shoot) are very tasty, too! It is now my go to place to pick up something quick and filling for work when I’m too lazy to cook.

This is a Chinese fastfood place. It is quick, cheap, and the portions will fill you up. I usually order pork or chicken short ribs. For about $ 8, you get rice, your choice of meat, vegetables (bok choi usually), a taiwanese style egg, and some taiwanese pickles. They used to give a soup or soy milk with the meal, but this is no longer the case. The short ribs are good while they are hot, but they are greasy and definitely not too good for health in the long term (hence, fast food). Also, this place usually closes the latest out of all the metro square food court stalls (around 8pm). Overall, this is my go to fast food place in Metro Square.

Since the change of ownership, food taste and quality has gone way down. Got the pork chop rice, veggies were raw and meat was full of fat

Ordered #6 & #7.
#6 was delicious — sweet, sticky chicken.
#7 was a meh/​not bad — brisket noodles are decent.

Came here with my boyfriend excepting some sort of Taiwanese food. But to my surprise it was just cheap flavourless fried pork chop which they call «spare ribs» in Chinese t. t and water boiled veggies on rice with a ½ decent taiwense tea egg. Soory for all the reviews, but this place sucks. The lady at the counter was rude and had a voice that was like she was fed up with her job. Disappointing, the soup only had 1 sliver of tofu and barely taste of egg and tomato. Never coming back. If I could I give it zero.

Came here again for dinner. BIG portion size. Also tried the deep fried chicken, just as good as the pork!

Came to buy a pork chop rice to go. It’s only $ 7.05 inc tax. You get a fried pork chop, rice or noodles, boiled egg and some green veg. You get a choice of soya milk or daily soup too. The rice boxes are fine. The beef noodle soup is not so good. Pigs feet used to be good but they gave us pork hock last time, not the feet. Always a big line up, be prepared to wait.

Ahh… pork rib rice… This is the place I think of when I think of pork chop riche in the GTA, as there are not much variety at this place, and this is what they are named after. This is the kind of pork rib that you get in a bento box when you take the train in Taiwan. It’s different than the pork chop you will find at Cha Me Cha, as it’s cooked in a different style, and this place IS the best in this style of pork chop. The soup that they give you is tasty, and the tofu that comes with the rice is also very flavorful, slowly stewed for hours. The 3 cup chicken isn’t as good though, so if you go there, just order the Pork rib rice and you can’t go wrong.
I give it a 8 out of 10.

A friend of mine from downtown Toronto highly recommended this Taiwanese food court place to me a while ago. I’d though that since it’s a recommendation from someone who goes to The Chase and Ki on a weekly basis, the food is bound to be at least good?
The average…
Usually the fried meat, whether it’s the pork chop or chicken leg that you order, is not too oily nor meagerly portioned. However, it’s the only restaurant that I ran into that served soggy, mushy rice to customers. There was also once when I’ve refrigerated a bento box overnight, the tofu side dish went sour by the next morning; which makes me wonder if the restaurant regularly reuse their side dishes. Lastly, the mature lady behind the cash register never smiles. Why am I the one having to smile, say thank you, AND hand you my hard earned money?

3.5÷5
Hold on your horses, I can’t give this place 4 stars.
I’m not a huge fan of pork chop, hence that eliminates the option of #1 for me. My dad always enjoys it though, and if I were to base it squarely on that I would give 4 stars.
I decided to have the braised beef noodle soup (forgot the number…#6 I think?). The portions were gigantic, and honestly I only wanted something light to fill me up, but this ended up filling me until way past dinner. The noodle felt like thick Japanese ramen, but I do know authentic Taiwanese noodles are somewhat like that. The veggies and beef were also very good, however I found there wasn’t enough broth as the noodles soaked up a lot of the broth as I was eating (maybe that’s why I failed to finish it). Even the broth itself was quite MSGy and salty, but I expected that in terms of food court standards. I still prefer Pa Pa Chang’s and Mei Nung over this one, but it’s definitely worth the value.
The soup that comes with it is quite blah. You’re better off just dumping it away or having soy milk.
The cashier was quite direct and efficient, but had this mean tone as well. Again, I sort of expected it considering the fast food/​food court/​Asian setting.
This is usually the busiest stall in the Metro Square food court, and with good reason. It’s certainly unique amongst the other places, as there aren’t many Taiwanese restaurants in the GTA (I can only think of three out of the top of my head). If I were in the food court and want something with soup or something warm, I definitely would come here.

Make that a 4.5 actually. Place was a random find. Ordered the food by their recommendation and boy was it worth it. The no 1 pork combo is awesome. Crispy on the outside & soft on the inside yummm. Also their home made chilli sauce is an awesome side with the rice and lightly pickled veggies add an amazing sweetness. You get a choice of soup or soya milk with it. Go for the soya milk as the soup was not that good. (Lumps of tofu in chicken broth).
As for the person behind the counter; she was awesome and did not make us feel like an outsider since we were the only non Asians their.

Easiest 4 stars I’ve ever given. Though I’ll be honest it deserves a 4.5!
This place was literally picked from the five in the food court on a whim. An wasn’t I glad. Ordered the combo #1 pork chops with rice an soup and the combo no 8 shrimp with fried rice and soya milk. First things. Soup was bad. Just some watered down broth with little specks of tofu.
The rest was delicious. I loved the soya milk. Perfect temp. Amazing helpful and cheerful staff. The pork chops were cooked perfectly, juicy and moist on the inside with crispy skin on the outside. The shrimp were proper sized and seasoned. The fried rice was a thing of beauty. Not saturated with soya or veggies. A well balanced flavour. I’ll admit I added hot sauce to mine as their spicy wasn’t enough for me but all in all delicious.
Def a place I’d come back to. If I make it through the 45 min drive to Markham…

Cheap and delicious. Really love their beef noodle soup! Soooo good! And u will get a meal with a soya drink for $ 6.45 plus tax.

The second of the two Taiwanese pork chop bento boxes available at Metro (and only good ones in all of GTA). This one is slightly different from Tai Ping Hsiang down the street as it’s a foodcourt joint and does not allow you to choose your own sides. I always get their chicken chops, and the sides always comes with nappa, shanghai bok choy, a whole braised egg, and some stewed tofu. I always end up just eatting the nappa and the meat and rice — the rest are okay. Their home-​made spicy condiment is REALLY spicy so you gotta be careful and ask for it on the side, they will give you a little box.
You can’t miss this place as it is the only one here with a line. It used to be owned by a taiwanese woman with her daughters working the front. She’s passed on the ownership now to her son-​in-​law who works in the kitchen. Still Taiwanese as far as I know.

The Pork Chop rice used to be authentic, but now it’s no longer run by Taiwanese people. There’s another store selling Pai Ku rice in the same plaza that’s authentic, with many more options.
The Bad:
1. Smaller portions compared to a few years ago with jacked up prices
2. Very oily (yes, I know it’s deep fried pork) but there was also grease in my noodle
3. Soup on the side tasted like tomato water with a few pieces of tofu inside
4. Good luck finding a parking spot in this plaza (metro square)
The Good:
1. Side condiments still go best with their rice
2. Always pick soy milk as the drinks option rather than the soup, trust me.

This place isn’t fancy. In fact, it isn’t a place at all! It’s a stall in a food court in little unassuming Metro Square. But in a hidden gem-​like kind of way, that kind of enhances its awesomeness.
So straight up, there’s only 6 – 7 possible menu items you can order, a far cry from various Chinese food court stalls that have numerous different additional food options on various slapped-​on cardboards that you’d think they just took out an entire Staples’ stock. This is very, very good. The smaller number of dishes lends credibility to what their specialties are and allows them to truly focus on them.
I said specialtIES, but in my personal opinion there’s only one: COMBO NUMBER ONE. Which is the pork chop + rice. For under 7 bucks, you get a few tender, juicy, and beautifully marinated pork chops with rice. The side dishes include vegetables, tofu, and egg, which are all wonderfully tasting. I always made sure to get the spicy version of the pork chop (which is just the regular version, only difference is that they add a bit of their special spicy seasoning). Great amount of flavour in every bite, nice kick of spiciness, and just the right amount of grease. That’s right, I said grease. Let’s be honest, if the entire thing was really lean and dry, it’d taste like crap. Thank goodness for some (but not too much) grease to complement that entire dish nicely.
Critical last tip: Always remember to add their pickles. I don‘t know what it‘s called, but it really gives a little extra zip to your rice and side dishes. They sometimes run out (look for it on the small condiment tray tucked in the corner of the stall) so make sure you ask for it, as they usually have a new stash kept at the back.
Oh, and the food court is actually nice and bright, as it was renovated in 2011. This place is a must go. Not a place to bring a first date maybe, but DEFINITELY a place to bring to your third or fourth, just to show her (or him) that you could located fine food in unexpectedly simple places. TWO THUMBS UP!

«Pai Ku» = Pork Chop
So of course I need to order their «famous» Taiwanese Pai Ku with noodle ($ 6.25) that includes a soup or a soy bean drink.
The Pork Chop itself is moist and tender. The batter reminds me of the 5 spice seasonings which is quite savory and it goes well with the preserved chili that serves with the meat, if you order spicy!
However, I don’t really enjoy the noodles, a little to soggy and oily and lack of real flavour. Next time, I think I will go with rice instead.
Maybe I have to come back for their after 3 pm specials, Pig Intestine Please!

Combination ($ 5.50) — Rice Noodle Soup, Deep Fried Tofu, Pig Intestine
If you want to try this and not fluent in Chinese. Visit after 3:30 pm.
Point to the YELLOW Sign on the side and Nod to agree for the Combo.
This reminds me of a TW Nightmarket version of Pig Intestine with Thin Noodle Soup but this uses Rice Noodle and doesn’t place the Intestine within the Noodle Soup itself. The sweet sauce on the Intestine is similar to the version of Cantonese Deep-​fried Intestine.
I will say that the Intestine served is much cleaner than my own. ;D