Specials include pork or crab dumplings, General Tao's chicken and sliced chicken sautéed and mixed with fried egg whites. Vegetable dishes include eggplant with minced meats and sautéed green beans fried with ground shrimp.
The Decor is fantastic. Tables and chairs are well-constructed, and the lighting sets a charming mood.
The food is well-prepared and fresh. Honey Garlic Sesame Chicken (not quite General Tao, but close enough) was very crunchy and well-textured. They used real honey so the sauce on the chicken was thick and rich. The beef rollover was good and cooked well but could have had a bit more sauce in it, a little dry to chew and swallow. The real treat was the soup-filled pork dumplings which exploded with flavour every time.
This is an active and busy restaurant, so be prepared for lots of people eating and settling at tables. The staff works to clear the tables quickly, but they can sometime seem abrupt in their manner. Washroom has modern fixtures and is kept clean.
Boyfriend is Cantonese, lives in downtown Toronto, and misses the Chinese food he used to get in Markham and Vancouver. Poor guy.
Asian Legend is our go-to restaurant.
THE FOOD
Decent diner food, with a short, yummy dim sum menu. I've tried the dan-dan noodles, braised tofu and seafood casserole, sauteed long beans, veg pan fried dumplings, and green onion pancake.
All of them have been well prepared, though the level of heat in their spicy foods tends to be inconsistent. I particularly like their crispy green onion pancake.
Prices are very reasonable for downtown, but the wait can be long at peak dinner times.
THE SERVICE
Servers are good for a Chinese restaurant... at least, if you speak Cantonese. They've been very helpful in explaining what's in various dishes. Their English isn't great, but they make an effort. They slam down the tableware... but if you've been to authentic Chinese diners, you know that's par for the course.
Best of all, they take credit card and debit, and have a glassed kitchen you can watch the chefs working in.
I go here at least once a month so I'm not new to...
I go here at least once a month so I'm not new to this restaurant. I love thier steamed pork soup dumplings, they're always made fresh and come out steaming hot so watch out, or they'll burn your lips!! They're always so juicy and flavourful! I love this restaurant! Good food and quick service! They even have a see through screen that shows people making the dumplings fresh. I also love their chunky beef noodles!! It's soo tasty!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this restaurant!
