Went here for lunch since it was near the hotel.
Got a braised beef in egg noodle soup, plus gargle and Siu Mai. Not gonna lie, place was ok, and would probably choose another place since there is so many restaurants around.
Mott 32
This place was in our hotel, Shangri La, in Toronto.
Went here from happy hour (4pm to 6pm), which drinks and dim sum were half price.
We got one order of Hargreaves, and 1 order of some dumpling dish. Both were great.
For drinks doubled down on the Nashi (vodka based, and 2oz pour). Great choice.
FYI didn’t take either picture below.
China Sichuan Restaurant – Zeedijk
Second dinner in Amsterdam, where we met up with a few folks also traveling here.
For drinks, they had a limited selection (got Jameson on the rocks).
For food, most of it was spicy (could handle at most 2 out of 3 chili scores).
We got the spicy chicken, spicy green beans, 2 dumpling dishes, a spicy beef dish, and a spicy fish dish. All of it I would order again, but really like the fish (and dumplings were just ok).
Dumpling Home
Great place to eat in Hayes Valley. Coming at 7:46 on a Friday is a good time, as putting your name down on the waitlist only yielded a 30 minute wait (you can grab drinks somewhere else while waiting).
For drinks, only beer and wine, so got a Prosecco.
For food, best thing on there was the juicy pork bao (first picture). Would get that again many times over.
Second best was the XLB with crab and pork. Usually I don’t like XLB, but this is definitely an exception.
The pork dumpling sesame sauce chili oil was pretty good (had a peanut taste). Also got kelp (seaweed) salad. I was indifferent (would get it again for vegetable).
The least favorite dish was the noodle with braised beef. It had a weird broth flavor. Would get something else.
Overall definitely coming back.
Buddakan
We went to this really trendy Chinese restaurant. The vibe was very night clubby, and also Gen Z.
Basically when you get in it’s like a Vegas style check in (have people behind a hotel like counter). After, you basically wait in the bar area before you get seated (even if you have a reservation). The bar area is actually quite large, and really good for a pregame (could also go to this restaurant without eating and just chill there). And the DJ was very on point playing great top 40 edm music.
After about 10 minutes we did get seated. We got the chow mein with beef, the dim sum sampler, and something that is like pop corn shrimp (it wasn’t called that, but basically an Asian version of it). Honestly, would get everything again.
For drinks got an Aperol spritz and whisky on the rocks. Can’t go wrong with either of those.
On a side note, there was a downstairs area which looked like it had bomb seating. Also, this place is near the Google office and Tao night club. Would be down to go to this place and explore the area at night next time.
Update (7/21/2024): we went back here for a friends bday. There was 15 of us, so we had to do a fixed menu. The menu is listed below, it I think the highlights for me were the lobster fried rice, the jumbo shrimp, and the cod. Other food was great, but it was just a lot of food (need to pace myself next time).
Ye’s Apothecary
So this is labeled as a speak easy, it really it’s just a late night Chinese food place with a full bar / cocktails.
I would go back again for a late night meal. We got the Sui Mai, XLB, noodles with beef, and Szechuan beef. Would get everything again but the beef (pictured below, it was not what I was expecting since it was crispy. Usually it’s not like that).
For drinks, think I just got whisky on the rocks (the usual).
Dunhuang
Tried this Chinese restaurant at LIC (Long Island City). Gotta say I was surprisingly impressed.
It doesn’t have what you would typically expect from a Chinese restaurant. But what we ordered was all good.
We got several cold dishes including cucumbers, chicken and beef. They all tasted great and would order all of them again
We also got a warm lamb dish. I would eat again, but would order something else if I had the choice.
We also got the Dunhuang Pan Fried noodles with chicken. The noodles are hand made, and they were fantastic. Would get it again for sure.
Only thing about this place is that it doesn’t have a liquor license. Hopefully that changes in the future.
Jing Fong
Went to this place for dinner in the upper west side.
Overall, great food. The domain (especially the Siu Mai) was excellent, and even the crispy Cantonese chow menu (got the vegetable one because a friend I was with is vegetarian).
The white food pictured below (some sort of rice noodle) was also great.
This place also had lychee martinis!
The Grand Hot Pot Lounge
Great place to have hotpot. It’s AYCE for only $28, which includes drinks (like sake!) and also Karaoke (although admittedly the machine to search songs was terrible). Had a great time, and definitely going back.
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/img_4788.mov
Wild Ink
Grabbed lunch at this American Asian restaurant.
We got the dim sum platter plus the fluke crisp as an appetizer. Gotta say all the dishes were pretty awesome (although very Americanized).
