Harmony Seafood Restaurant 和順海鮮 火鍋小炒 豬肚雞 — Restaurant in Markham

Food: 3 Stars Service: 4 Stars Ambience: 3 Stars Value: 3 Stars Sanitary: 3 Stars Overall: 3.2 Stars

This was our first time trying out Harmony Seafood Restaurant, and I visited with my mom after hearing some buzz about their preserved meat casseroles. We were looking forward to it, but the experience ended up being a bit underwhelming overall.

We arrived at around 5 PM, thinking it would be a good time to beat the dinner rush. Oddly enough, we were told the chef was on break and wouldn’t be back for another 30 minutes. While the server did let us know right away and was polite about it, it still felt strange that the restaurant was open for service when the kitchen wasn’t ready to operate. It’s not something you typically expect from a dine-in spot, especially when customers are coming in specifically to eat.

We had driven quite a distance to give this place a try, so we decided to wait it out. To their credit, the staff did offer a complimentary pickled carrot while we waited, and I have to say—it was actually really good. Tangy, crisp, and full of flavour. It was a small touch, but appreciated.

The menu offers more than just seafood, which was a nice surprise. There’s a decent variety if you’re dining with people who may not want strictly seafood dishes. For our mains, we ordered the three kinds of preserved meat casserole, a classic dish we usually enjoy. It was fine, but nothing remarkable. One thing that stood out to us was the soya sauce situation—instead of providing a small bottle like many Chinese restaurants do, they gave us a tiny plastic container, which felt very skimpy. We asked for more, and they brought us another one of those same little containers. It just seemed a bit off, especially considering how essential soya sauce is for flavouring this type of dish.

We also tried a noodle dish, which had an unexpected addition of cucumber mixed in. The cucumber threw off the texture, and it didn’t quite match the warm, savoury notes of the rest of the dish. It wasn’t bad per se, but definitely not what we were expecting and not something we’d order again.

The food overall was decent, but nothing stood out as memorable. It wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t feel worth the drive or the wait. Between the delayed start, the so-so food, and small service quirks, we left feeling a bit disappointed. We’re glad we tried it once, but maybe will come back again to try their seafood, just not anytime soon.

xx...

Casual dinner with the BH with a mixed outcome.

Occupying the former space of ' Bombay Bhel ', next to DUO. This Cantonese seafood wok-hay specialist has been receiving broad and positive coverage from bloggers on social media and Youtube. Today, my wife received another endorsement from one of her foodie friends about the place. As a result, we decided to pay it a ' first hand ' visit.

In addition to stirred fry dishes, the varied menu features major sections devoted to Hot-Pot ( some involving exotic and rare ingredients like Pigeon and Beef Hooves broth?! ) and Claypot Rice, covering most popular toppings.

Due to the limited size of our small party, we decided to settle on just a few house-specialty stirred fry dishes, deferring some of the more elaborate and costly offerings to a later date....assuming the food is good enough for a return visit.

The first dish to arrive was an exotic one, involving a rarely come-across ingredient - ' fish-snap ' ( tip of the fish stomach - see photo ). This was stirred fry with ginger, garlic, onions and mushrooms. What a gorgeous wok-hay dish! The mildly sweet and savory seasoning was exemplary and ultra-delectable. The caramelized, slightly charred finish plus the crispy/crunchy and chewy texture of the fish snap was a delight to eat.

Sadly, the meal quickly went downhill from there! The next dish of " Stirred fry Cauliflower with Pig's Liver " was a huge disappointment. The insufficiently thick liver was hard, dry and grainy, the result of them being abused and grossly overcooked!

Our final dish of ' Gone Chow Ngau Ho aka Fried beef ho-Fun ' was billed as a 'House Special '. A miserable failure in my book, the dish was poorly executed, lacked smokey wok-hay and way underseasoned. The beef was absolutely bland and tasteless, totally void of any salt or seasoning?!.....the result of the chef's day dreaming?!

This was one ' weird and inconsistent ' dining experience. I am still at a loss as to why dishes coming out from the same kitchen could be...

Came here today to try the pepper pork tripe and chicken pot that my friend recommended. After sitting down and looking through the menu, we wanted to order but there were no servers around — I actually had to stand up and go find someone.

Unlike other Chinese restaurants, when they brought out the big bowl of crab meat soup, no one helped serve it into smaller bowls. Even when the soup started boiling, no one came over to check or help put the chicken in until we asked.

After we finished eating and were just chatting, someone finally came by once in a while to check on us.

My friend wasn’t happy with the service, so when paying cash, we left a tip slightly under 10%, around $15. Then a male staff member — who had never served us at all — came over and said, “You need to leave at least a 10% tip.”

Honestly, that was shocking. There’s no rule or law saying you must give 10%. A tip should reflect the service you receive.

Since my friend is a tourist, we didn’t want to make a scene, so we added a bit more and left $20 in total. But honestly, it felt really disappointing that someone who didn’t even serve us was the one telling us to tip more.

If we ever hear that again, we’d rather not leave...