Tap Phong Trading Company

It’s a great place. They have everything imaginable for your cooking needs. Prices are very reasonable. That’s a great thing because it makes your cooking adventure feasible.
If you love to cook, you can have some serious fun just browsing around in the store. Staffs are efficient and helpful too.

I had heard so much about this place that I guess it was over-​hyped and impossible to live up to expectations.
Claustrophobic (narrow aisles that are at least 7′ tall) filled to the rafters.
Great selection of items for the kitchen, but I found it overpriced for the quality… except for the chef grade pots/​pans.
Despite making a special trip to bring out of town company here, we all left empty handed, despite going in to buy.

kitchen heaven? you betchya!
this place is literally as good as it gets. with something for everyone, no matter the level of skill for someone in the kitchen. i remember one time looking for black plastic chopsticks, and i found them here. this place is a bit of a maze, with the shelves and product going from the floor to the ceiling, a mountain of goodies for everyone with the highest quality possible. if you need something for the kitchen, go here rather then kitchen stuff plus, or wal-​mart.
one of my highest recommendations

After living in chinatown for 4 years I became quite a regular here. It’s a great place for home and kitchen supplies. Especially for things that you can’t find anywhere else. Also if you’re looking for commercial grade kitchen items they’ve got them too! Prices aren’t that outrageous either.
The first time I came here I was in university after realizing I didn’t own a frying pan (rookie mistake) and I haven’t looked back since. It’s fun to walk down all of the aisles looking for things you probably don’t even need but kinda want.

This place is actually a Kitchen heavy for all cooks. They sell a variety of different items, from piping bags, knives and plates to industrial sized stand mixers and deep fryers. Everything is at an affordable price and you’ll likely find anything you need here.
Forewarning for all home chefs, its almost impossible to not buy anything you in this store!

way too crowded with no organization.

I’ve been shopping at Tap Phong for ages. The large store is located in Chinatown near Kensington market. They have pretty much all the kitchen supplies you need for your kitchen or if you own a business.
They have beautiful dishes, containers, strainers, chopping boards, rice cookers, utensils, knives… you name it, they will likely have it. I even got beautiful Chinese ceramic vases from the store.
The place is huge with lots of helpers if you need their assistance. Going through the aisles is tight with tons of customers walking through.
My latest purchases included stainless steel roasting pans, sheet pans and lasagne pans which are tough to find in the city. I went to Kitchen Stuff Plus and other stores first before venturing off to Tap Phong. It should have been my first stop. Prices were reasonable for the items I bought.

Technically they are NOT a retail store so stop expecting hand on foot service. They are a Wholesaler, Retail Housewares, Hardware, Gifts & Restaurant equipment supplier, who just happens to be opened to the general public. The workers are most likely stock people and not salesman like one reviewer mistakenly thought. Shelves are jammed packed with hard to find stuff we sometimes have to dig ourselves to get a whole set.
Example: I purchased an ¹⁸⁄₁₀ stainless steel 40 pc cutlery set in a wooden display box from Sears. Their version of the table spoon was a joke at best so I went to Tap Phong to look for larger alternative. I didn’t find table spoons, but I did find something even better. Soup spoons which matched the pattern and weight exactly as if they were part of the original set. I had to rummage through a large bin of, «Assorted» cutlery to find 8 spoons to fit my 40 pc — 8 person set.
I own a small butane camping stove which is popular for some Asian dishes (Hot Pot) and very useful during that power outage we had 2 years ago. Normally I can get the fuel canisters from Canadian Tire at 4 for $ 10, but at Tap Phong I pick them up 5 for $ 4.
Bottom line if you want sturdy restaurant quality wares, this is the place to go. Staff are mainly stock people there to restock shelves. They are not there to answer product questions. They may know if stock is in stock or when will they be ordering more, but that is the limit of their knowledge. Generally people who come shop there are restaurant and business owners who KNOW what they are shopping for. The cashiers are a bit more helpful but don’t expect them all to speak English at all.

I love this place, its like Kitchen Plus on steroids. I’ve been coming here for years! The service is great if you can speak «chinglish», they are so helpful. The staff even helped me scan the entire store for my lost glove (and we found it:)). This store has everything you can imagine for the kitchen and food preparation and more. This place is great if you are having a theme party and need some fancy toothpicks, skewers, disposable place settings or restaurant supply for the industrial look. I think my friend James could appreciate this place. He would like the industrial edge this place can have if you look through all the stuff. WARNING! Don’t come here if you are in a hurry. Every time I come here to pick something up, two hours later I’m still in the store. I always come out with more than I intended. Today I purchased 3 scoopers for my nut jars and a squirt bottle on impulse. When you leave the store you will have a mental list of all the things you saw and wanted to buy but didn’t in an attempt of self control. Until next time… :)

After getting a cooking class as a gift certificate at a local trade school I was expecting my reasonable cooking gadgets repertoire to carry me through some of the sessions. Yet some things are not meant to be (like the gifts that require one to spend $$$ before they keep on giving :) after the first session I was on the look out for a whole bunch of items. I went through some main stream stores yet some of the items I had to purchase are for professionals so they required a store that sold items that are for pros.
Interestingly the college itself recommends this store. This is by no means a glamorous store and its actually quite hard to navigate (I am surprised they pass the safety inspections) but boy they carry the everything including the kitchen sink (pun intended) Prices for some items are good while the brand name items being in the same price range as other stores. The staff is not very helpful and you have to really press them for info. If you don’t know what you are looking for you can spend a lot of time here to get the right item.
There seems to be a method to the madness as after spending half an hour or so I kind of figured out how this place is organised, yet I will be at a complete loss if I wanted a very specific item without any assistance.
The low cost items need to be checked thoroughly as they might fail even before you leave the store. However the cost/​performance proposition makes it a place if you are looking for kitchen gear and don’t want to spend a fortune.

I have bought a few simple items here. If you were opening a restaurant, or needed two dozen place settings, you might want to buy from here.
A friend swears by them, says the best place for a particular made-​in-​Japan knife brand that he is partial too.
It is a huge store and you may have to hunt around. For example, if you want cocktail glasses, you’ll probably have a choice of half a dozen (at least) at this store. Of course they may look exactly like the ones the bar was using from last night so don’t go in expecting anything too special or fancy. This isn’t Yorkville boutique shopping.
They do seem to have a lot of stuff that few stores have if any. if memory serves me correctly, they sell a dozen different kinds of serious rice cookers.
The quality can be questionable on some things and this isn’t going to be the kind of place to provide amazing customer service. But the prices are about as low as you can go from what I can tell.
For me it is easier to just go to a place nearby, on the Danforth. But the next time I’m in Chinatown, I’ll probably stop in and just browse. Undoubtedly I’ll find something worth buying for my cooking/​entertaining/​drinking needs!

Really this is one of Toronto’s best kept secrets, but not so secret anymore. Those in the restaurant industry know this is the place to get your plate ware, flat ware glassware and cutlery. And you probably end up picking up stuff for home.
You find everything here. It’s actually funny because once you start going here, you start to be able to identify which restaurants shop there as well… which turns out is majority of the restaurants downtown.

Tap Phong = Organized Chaos… and I totally get it!
One stop shop for cooking and dining supplies (and some bath) if you’re hosting a party, moved to a new place or have a chinese restaurant… Or if you just want to throw away everything you have then replace them with the cool stuff you see at Tap Phong. They pretty inexpensive.
Don’t forget to look up, especially in the take away container aisle… They ‘catalogue’ all the containers they sell on the top shelf.
Best finds:
Umbra adjustable (tension) curtain rod
Plastic 2oz take away sauce containers with lids
Mini dessert spoons
Skewers… The nice sturdy kind
The aisles are tight and the shelves are full to the brim. It looks chaotic, but they’re categorized or just ask someone for help. If you have time to spare, check out each aisle and every display, that can take a few hours.

BOTTOM LINE: The greatest selection of kitchen/​dinner-​ware at the cheapest prices in town — this should be your first stop for any purchase.
As long as you can brave the labyrinth of Tap Phong’s narrow aisles packed from floor to ceiling and don’t mind hunting around a bit, this place has got it all! And after coming here a few times, I’m coming to realize that there is some sort of method to their madness of product sorting.
Pans, pots, blenders, measuring cups, pastry accessories, knives, bowls, glasses… basically any mainstream or obscure item you need for your kitchen can be found here. Looking specifically for a stainless steel spatula with a wooden handle? They have 5 different models and sizes of ‘em! Want a cast-​iron pan but not pay the ridiculous prices of The Bay or Williams Sonoma? Done for $ 30! The list goes on and on… The only thing I would say is if you’re looking for really nice kitchen knives, you may want to go to Knife (
) instead.

On Spadina, in the Chinatown area, you will find this shop. Very much designed like many shops, packed full of stuff!
That being said, this is one of the bigger stores in the area. It has a rhyme and reason to the placement of things. I swear, you will figure it out! The only thing is the time it will take you to look through everything. Fortunately, I love this!
It feels like a restaurant supply store. Whatever you would need to set your table or start a restaurant — even the plastic trays from cafeterias you can buy here. Not only only in various colours but sizes too!
There’s a section of bamboo, wicker this and that as well as colourful tea sets.
Prices are incredibly cheap! The selection from modern to campy to Asian is unbeatable.
Even if you aren’t in the mood for buying these items — just checking it out is an adventure!

You may not be a professional chef but you sure as hell can stock your kitchen like one! You can purchase your cooking supplies here for a portion of the price you might find elsewhere. This place has so many restaurant supplies and I hear a lot of students from George Brown swing by to purchase equipment for much cheaper than their school offers. On top of that, a 10% discount! I purchased some items here for about $ 50 and it would cost me about $ 70 in Ottawa.
Honestly I could spend all day in here browsing for things I need for my kitchen but that would be way to much fun and would kill my day. I’ll be back to purchase more things in the future.
I hope I don’t look like one of those middle aged dudes that wear under armour everywhere who obviously don’t do any exercise but with kitchen stuff of course :(

C’est vraiment des bons prix. Des produits de cuisine. très bon choix de cheap a professionnel. Bons prix, pas cher, je veux dire, compétitif aux grandes surfaces. C’est un Ares mais en cheap! vraiment cheap. Ils vendent un kitchenaid 389 $ c’est 399 $ au Costco! Allo! C’est juste chiant que je sois pauvre et sans véhicule aujourd’hui!

Tap Phong is the Chinese version of Kitchen Stuff Plus. Wide range of product quality here ranging from Paderno to Dollarama.
Fun things you will find:
*Plastic fruit and plastic loaves of bread (don’t be fooled!)
*Bamboo steamers in 8,000 sizes
*GIANT woks big enough to stir-​fry an entire cow
*Ceramic Buddhas
*Serving platters shaped like frogs
Very reasonable prices for the most part. It’s kind of cluttered and hard to navigate, but this is highly surprisingly for a shop on Spadina Street.
You can stock your own kitchen or open your own dumpling house… the choice is yours.

Even with the pay parking, annoying dt traffic, I have become a fan of Tap Phong. I had enquired via email regarding fushia Chinese teacups and received a response very promptly.
The place was huge… I think my mom or any house owner would love to browse around. The prices were excellent as well. They really had everything you’d need in the kitchen. Tap Phong also had a section for ‘dead ppl’. The things you burn for the dead, etc. (it’s a Chinese thing). I even found some mini Chinese teacups and thought omggggg how cute!!! But they are in the ‘death’ section… I guess it’s meant for the ancesters and not drinking :)
I was able to find a few Chinese teasets. They were SOOOO FRUGAL: D The best set was the gold & white dragon & phoenix ($ 26.99). The traditional fushia longevity set was $ 19.99 (good price but not that vibrant in colour).
I ended up purchasing eight $ 1 fushia teacups for my Chinese tea ceremony. Hoping my bms will break these instead of my real set if they happen to be rushing about. Can’t get over how they are only $ 1. The cheapest I found uptown was $ 1.99.
I will definitely come back here again !

If you ever see anything in a Asian/​Chinese Restaurant that you think OMG so cute, I wish I have that at home! You will probably find it at Tap Phong Trading Company.
It will take hours for me to browse through everything. And I know there will be something neat I would lke to buy everytime when I am here. (talking to myself, «I have anything I need! I don’t need anything!»)
I think the quality and selections here is much better than dollar store and it is more fun shopping here because the experience is more unique.
Will my cooking skill improve if I drop by here more often looking and touch every kitchenwares in the Tap Phong?

Some might not remember a time when there were no such things as dollar stores. The housewares places along Spadina were the go to places for cheap housewares. I like Tap Phong for its emphasis on kitchen stuff: pots, pans, pizza plates, strainers, etc. But wait there’s more. Heck you can even get one of those cute little apartment size hook-​it-​up-​to-​your-​kitchen-​tap washing machines. Not sure why everyone in Toronto doesn’t buy one of these instead of dropping huge coin in the laundromat.