Dragon Legend — Restaurant in Markham

Review for Dragon Legend (3 Stars - "Fading Star, Tough to Recommend Now")

Location: 25 Lanark Rd, Markham, ON L3R 9S1

Longtime Customer, Declining Returns

My family and I have been coming to Dragon Legend for years, often choosing it for celebrations, friend gatherings, or large group dinners. Historically, it was a solid buffet option in Markham. However, our recent experiences over the past few years have shown a noticeable and inconsistent decline in value and overall quality, making it hard to justify a return visit.

The Positives (Why We Kept Coming):

Spacious & Good Atmosphere: The restaurant itself is large, well-decorated, and has a lively, upscale buffet atmosphere suitable for groups and celebrations. This is probably why it remains popular. Promotional Items Can Be Good: During our last visit, they had a promotion offering half a lobster per person and whole raw "Japanese sushi shrimp" (possibly amaebi?). These specific items were enjoyable.

The Significant Negatives (Why We Won't Rush Back):

Inconsistent & Declining Food Quality: This is the biggest issue. Beyond the promotional items, the core buffet offerings are now merely average ("internal ok," "不過不失"). The quality feels inconsistent visit-to-visit and has clearly slipped compared to its former standard and especially compared to newer competitors. Very Poor Value for Money: At nearly $60 per adult for weekend dinner, the price point is now hard to justify. The food quality and selection simply don't match this premium price. You can get significantly better value and quality elsewhere for the same cost. Extremely Long Waits & No Reservations: Be prepared to wait a long time for a table, especially on weekends or during prime dinner hours. They frustratingly do not accept reservations, adding unnecessary stress. Terrible Parking: The parking lot is far too small for the restaurant's capacity. On busy nights (especially weekends), finding a spot is a major ordeal, often involving circling or parking far away in adjacent lots. This is a significant drawback. Broken Soft-Serve Machine (Consistently!): It's become almost comical – the soft-serve machine seems to be perpetually broken or shut down early. On the rare occasion it's working, expect it to be closed well before the restaurant's official closing time (e.g., shut by 9:00-9:15 PM on a 9:30 PM closing night). Questionable Child Policy Application: While they technically offer a child discount, their application seems inconsistent. Staff initially insisted on charging nearly full price for our 18-month-old baby (who ate very little), citing unclear rules. While they ultimately waived it (many places charge nothing under 2), the initial approach was off-putting and felt unreasonable.

The Competition is Simply Better: Frankly, newer buffets like Dragon's Feast (Warden & Finch) offer better food quality, more exciting options, and a superior overall atmosphere for a similar price point. Dragon Legend feels like it's resting on its laurels and location.

Conclusion:

It pains me to say this as a longtime customer, but Dragon Legend has lost its edge. While the space is nice for groups and promotions can be decent, the inconsistent food quality, exorbitant price, terrible parking, long waits without reservations, and persistent issues (like the soft-serve machine) make it a poor value proposition compared to the competition. Unless you're specifically tied to the location or it's the only buffet option available for your group, I cannot recommend it at its current price and quality level. We used to be regulars, but we'll be taking our celebrations and gatherings to Dragon's Feast, Mandarine, or other better-value options moving forward. Dragon Legend needs significant improvement to justify its...

You must make reservations ahead of time at this place. Don't even bother going without one, it is unlikely you will get a table especially if you have a large party.

My family went on a Saturday and it was during the festive celebration period in December 2024 for dinner. So pricing at the time was $51.99 for adults, $21.99 for kids ages 8 to 11, $16.99 for kids ages, $3.99 for toddlers 4 and under, and seniors for ages 65+ with valid ID 20% off. During the festive celebration period, Sunday and Monday are AYCE crab legs; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday are half lobster per adult, Thursday is Wagyu beef one serving per adult; and Friday AYCE fresh and grilled oysters.

You only have 1.5 hours for your reservation. This is for the restaurant to have sufficient turnover. However, personally I prefer the 2 hour mark since you feel rushed and the time seems to go really fast. So if you eat slowly, I would recommend you grab more food every trip, so you have more time to eat and more changes to try more food.

They have a lot of options, from peking duck to sushi, sashimi, and Maki rolls, scooped ice cream to soft serve ice cream station, dessert table with various cakes and Chinese desserts. They have a grilling station that serves Wagyu beef, fried egg oyster pancake, prime rib and vegetable teriyaki. They have a fried station for chicken wings and fries, but it is also where you get your half steamed lobster when you give them the lobster ticket. They have a hand cut noodle station with various broths like chicken, fish, spicy, and vegetarian with BBQ pork and scallions. They have a cold table that serves mussels, shrimp and various salads like coleslaw, seaweed salad or create your own and a fruit station. As for hot foods they have salmon roe fried rice, noodles, toad, and various stir-fry veggies, seafood, and meats. They also have hot and sour soup and steam jar soup.

Overall, a great place to eat with lots of options. But definitely it is a very busy restaurant. I did find my lobster was a bit overcooked. The tofu pudding dessert was also overcooked so that it isn't smooth and more rough. I rather they have another dessert since if they constantly have to keep it warm it actually ruins the texture of the dish. This is the third time I went to this restaurant.

Please note that always wash your hands, I have noticed that some guests did not wash their hands leaving the washroom, especially for the men. Therefore, the utensils will be contaminated and I would avoid eating with your fingers whenever possible or wash your hands before and after. I am unsure if this is due to the design of the men washroom since the sinks are shared with the women and are located before you enter the stalls, where you can easily walk past or they are just too lazy to wash their hands in general. Maybe an increase in signage or reminders will mitigate this issue from the restaurant, even though it is...

The Dragon Legend restaurant owns the whole building and the okay sized parking lot that goes around the building. The entrance to the restaurant is on the side of the building, where the big red Asian looking gate is.

There's the large main sitting area full of tables on the right. On the left of the restaurant, there seems to be more seating area, but it wasn't open. The washrooms are on the left of the entrance area. The sinks are on the outside and the toilets are separated into men's and women's toilets.

The decor is... Unique. Similar to that of Dragon Pearl decor. Has the old ancient feeling. The ceiling in high. The lights are kind of dim in the seating area. The lights in the buffet area is bright. On both of the major walls, there plays two big screens showing a basketball game (Toronto vs. Cleveland).

The buffet area is probably one of the smallest and most compact buffet areas I've ever been to. There are about 3 small islands of hot foods (dim sum, fried food, pizza, Chinese food), 1 major section of desserts, 1 major section of grilled foods, an ice cream & soft serve section, a sushi section, a cold foods/salads/fruits section, a noodle soups section with a robot that cuts noodles into boiling hot water, and the soups section.

The food is definitely better than Mandarin. By a long shot. You go to Mandarin for nostalgia, not for the quality of the food. The food at Dragon Legend was really good... Except the cakes. The cakes were frozen, tasteless, and dry. Don't get the cakes here. Worst mistake.

The servers were prompt with taking the finished plates away. They didn't kick us out when it was time to go. We actually were trying to flag down a server to get the bill cause we went over the time allotted. They seem to have read our minds and got us the bill.

Overall, food quality is very good (except the cakes). There was this specialty soup that comes in its own specialty container that tastes clear and warm. There's Peking Duck. Enough said.

We went for lunch on a Monday right as it opened at 11:30 am. We had a reservation (we were able to call in and book a reservation). Adult prices for lunch on a weekday is $27.99. Senior prices is adult prices minus 20%. The place filled up rather quickly with people, mostly seniors. Was surprised how busy it was...