Toronto · Cuisine
Chinese
Chinatown institutions, Big Hug modern Chinese rooms, and Scarborough banquet dim sum.
Downtown Spadina Chinatown and East Chinatown remain useful for walkable dumplings, all-day dim sum, Hong Kong cafe noodles, barbecue, and Vietnamese-Chinese overlaps, but much of the GTA’s Chinese restaurant depth sits in Agincourt plazas and Markham-Richmond Hill. The stops below cover Chinatown dumpling, dim sum, and Hong Kong cafe institutions; the Big Hug pair of Yorkville’s refined Mimi Chinese and Kensington’s Bib Gourmand Sunnys; and an Agincourt banquet dim sum room for the suburban corridor.
Focus areas: Chinatown Spadina, East Chinatown, Scarborough / Agincourt, Markham / Richmond Hill
Restaurants
Mother’s Dumplings
$$Chinatown Spadina
Chinatown Spadina dumpling institution from Zhen Feng; boiled, steamed, and pan-fried Northeastern Chinese jiaozi with a Michelin Guide recommendation.
Rol San
$$Chinatown Spadina
Spadina Chinatown all-day dim sum institution since 1994: har gow, deep-fried squid, and late baskets that Torontonians treat as hangover and after-hours muscle memory.
House of Gourmet
$$Chinatown Spadina
Dundas Chinatown Hong Kong cafe institution: wonton-brisket noodles, BBQ rice plates, congee, and a two-pamphlet menu that still feeds students and late-night tables.
Mimi Chinese
$$$Yorkville
Yorkville regional Chinese from David Schwartz and Braden Chong: red-banquette polish, tableside four-foot belt noodles, and the refined Big Hug sibling to Sunnys.
Sunnys Chinese
$$Kensington Market
High-energy Kensington Market regional Chinese room from the Mimi team; Michelin Bib Gourmand for homestyle plates from Sichuan to Guangdong.
Grandeur Palace
$$Scarborough / Agincourt
Agincourt Scarborough Cantonese banquet room for weekend yum cha and family dinners: har gow, siu mai, roast meats, and plaza parking instead of Spadina lines.