GreenTea Restaurant/ Cheung Kee 綠茶餐廳/祥記 — Restaurant in Markham

We Finally Made it Here!!

I was back home in Markham and chatting with some of my Foodie Friends on Insta!! I was looking for a place to bring the Food Crew to!! Well, wouldn't you know one of my friends told me that they had recently been to Green Tea at First Markham Place and had a fantastic Hanzhou style meal there? Hangzhou hhhmm, I said, "do they have beef, lamb, shrimp and pork??" That's all I needed to know. Off we went, and I called first but they wouldn't take a rezo but they did politely say, "Get Here Now No Crowd". I not sure what No crowd meant but we strolled in at about 4:45 pm on a Saturday (Lucky us). As usual, the place started to fill up fast!!

We walked in and I noticed everyone staring at the opulent, palace-style high-end oriental decorum inside the restaurant, very fancy-schmancy I thought. We waited about 5 whole minutes to be sat, and finally, the Hostess practically yelled at us to follow some guy, so we did and we found our cozy little hovel to sit and enjoy the ambiance. We had one person come to the table and try and get us to order, and when he realized we did not speak fluent Cantonese someone else came over, maybe a manager or a chef? Anywho, this fine fella' took his time, and helped us select some simple but tasty dishes, we ordered the BBQ Chicken, the BBQ Pork served on a hot grill, a stir-fried lamb ( our favourite ), an order of salted egg yolk chicken wings ( although we had wanted the boneless wings ) and a giant bowl of Wonton Soup.

The Chicken wings came first, and let me tell you, it has been years since I've had this style of wings, it took me a couple of wings to get used to it again. The rest of the Food Crew were like, eh, meh!! Next up was the BBQ Chicken served on an iron plate with spicy salt, chilli sauce and mustard?. This was very good chicken, with crispy on the outside skin and juicy tender chicken inside, this was good!!!! Next up was the BBQ Pork which came still steaming to our table, again juicy little squares of pork, easy to eat and just enough to feed everyone, served with spicy salt, Nom Nom. Okay, we were just starting to get into it when the lamb came out, wow, this was awesome, a great blend of flavours with fatty and lean pieces of lamb with big pieces of sliced green onion, just wowsers!!! The little foodies at the table had the wonton soup, not without me stealing a wonton or two. Great care went into all the dishes, even the wonton soup had a very pronounced broth with tons of meat in the wontons. Lastly, after we were all in the midst of our food coma, out came the Bread Temptation or 'Golden Honey Toast' this tiny house made of sweet toasted bread, condensed milk and....honey? was a great treat for the kids, and ya, I had a bite or seven too.

Our group was very impressed with the food and grateful that we finally made it here. There are so many choices in Markham let alone the GTA, but we really liked this place and would come back with friends or for a family event. We were treated great and the kids loved it. You can't eat like this all the time, but this is more of a 'special occasion' type of place for me. I can't understand why the reviews are all over the place, this is 4 and maybe 5-star place. Please give Green Tea a shot, and see for yourself. My only regret is that we didn't get the Fire Shrimp. Now we...

My husband and I went for lunch at Green Tea on Good Friday. Strangely, when we called a week in advance to make a reservation in anticipation of a big crowd on a holiday, the restaurant said that we didn’t need a reservation for a party of two; we could just walk in. That proved not to be the case; the restaurant was packed when we arrived at 11:40 am. We were lucky enough to grab one of the last few remaining tables, and people who streamed in after 12 pm had to wait in the restaurant’s tiny foyer. Considering the restaurant’s reluctance to accept reservations for small parties, it would be a good idea to avoid weekends or holidays or to arrive early.

We recommend the following dishes despite small dissatisfaction: Teppanyaki Green Bass (绿茶烤鱼) was very tasty but full of bones. One has to be very careful when chewing to avoid choking on them. Fried Rice Cake with Shredded Pork (绿茶招牌烩年糕) was equally delicious except that there was not much pork to begin with and one has to dig to the bottom of the plate to get the paltry amount hidden there. The chicken in Spicy Chicken with Peanuts (非一般的辣子鸡) tasted even better than the ones I’d had in Beijing; it helped that the chicken pieces had no bones. However, the peanuts were not crunchy enough.

We do not recommend the following dishes: The appetizer, Steamed Lotus Root Stuffed with Sticky Rice (西湖藕韵), was too sweet even for a dessert, which it was not supposed to be. The specialty drinks, Water Chestnut and Coix Seed Beverage (马蹄薏仁水) and Bamboo Cane and Temperate Beverage (竹蔗茅根水), were so diluted that one couldn’t taste any of the ingredients. The dessert, Mochi in Brown Sugar (手工红糖糍粑), was also very bland. The dessert, Bread Temptation (面包诱惑), was nothing special other than a gimmick. Only the top layer of the bread was slightly toasted; the other layers were simply dry. If you like sweet, dry bread with ice cream, then it’s a dish for you. However, you may want to order it at the end of the meal. Otherwise, the server will bring it in the middle of the meal, forcing you either to eat a dessert before finishing the entrees or wait till the end of the meal to eat it in proper order, albeit risking the ice cream melting.

Our biggest complaint about the restaurant is the fact that it doesn’t accept credit cards. What’s more, the policy is neither announced on the website nor posted anywhere in the restaurant. It was entirely coincidental that my husband happened to carry his debit card with him on that day; otherwise, who knows what would have happened? It is extremely inconsiderate of a restaurant to inconvenience its customers in order to save fees to credit card companies. The least it should have done is to give fair warnings to its customers about its payment policy so no one will be caught off guard and embarrassed...

Came to this restaurant for dinner after seeing a YouTuber’s recommendation a few weeks ago. Judging by the mixed reviews on Google we lucked out. It was a very positive experience. Both the young male and female waiters were very responsive to our needs, they were accommodating, attentive and efficient.

I thought all the dishes we ordered were not only nicely presented but delicious. I particularly enjoyed the BBQ pork, 杭三鮮 and the pork meatballs in soy sauce. The BBQ pork was perfectly grilled with a good meat-to-fat ratio. The 杭三鮮 which is a soup had a lot of stuff in it, a ton of Shanghai bok choy, bamboo, sliced pork, wood ear, pig skin, pig stomach, shrimp, and fish balls. The broth also tasted great. The meatballs were very tender and flavourful, they remind me a lot of very authentic Italian meatballs, perfect for young kids and seniors!

The dining room has a few round booths in the middle which can seat 8 comfortably but we were told that 10 can fit. There are also many booths and tables for smaller groups on either side. Plus they do have a VIP room, a minimum of $350 on food before tax plus a 15% gratuity.

Worthwhile getting their VIP card, $20, valid for 2 years. You save anywhere from $2 to a few dollars per dish with the card. Currently, there is a 10% cash discount. There is also a mandatory 12% tip added to the bill. I was very impressed that when the bill came the waitress took the time to explain everything and specifically pointed out that tip was already added.

This place has a lot of dishes on offer. There are still quite a few dishes we want to try next time. This is a great place for dinner with family or a cozy dinner get-together with a small...