QJD Peking Duck （Markham）Restaurant — Restaurant in Markham

Relishing a wonderful family dinner on a special day and trying to decipher a Michelin guide puzzle at the same time!

This world-renowned, iconic Beijing based Peking Duck specialist, spread its wings overseas a few years ago by opening a couple of offshoots here in Canada. First in Vancouver then followed by a Toronto ( Markham ) branch. At that time, when most up-scale GTA Chinese restaurants offer more-than-presentable Peking duck for around $60 a bird, QJD made news by charging a whopping $120 for a similar product!

When Michelin decided to make Vancouver its second destination a couple of years ago. QJD Vancouver was awarded a 1*, making it the sole Chinese restaurant in Canada that received such honor! QJD Toronto, with similar opulent decor, menu offerings and pricing was expected to receive equal recognition. Sadly and mysteriously, it was completely ignored in the guide’s two year history! Yes! No ‘macaroon’ and not even mentioned in the ‘recommendation‘ section! Instead, during the same period, some ho-hum, western owned, pseudo-Chinese food outfits, ( Mimi and Sunny’s ), managed to steal the spotlight??!! Maybe Toronto Michelin inspectors’ taste buds got short-circuited during their restaurants go around?

Back to tonight’s dinner.

Our party of 7 arrived outside of the restaurant and were met with one of the grandest, most impressive, gilded and imposing restaurant entrances I have ever come across here in Canada! Upon seated in our cozy, semi-private room, we were looked after by a dedicated team of warm, friendly and attentive lady servers. The food we ordered were some of the best tasting Chinese food creations I have come across here in the GTA this year. A few real stand-outs include a uniquely composed “ Stirred fry mixed nuts and diced eggplant dish “. So simple yet so spectacular tasting!! Another humble stirred fry dish of ‘ Winter bamboo shoots with diced Chinese Ham in brown sauce ‘ was so flavourful, we ordered a plate of scallion pancakes just to wipe up the sauce! The amazing fried rice was, hands-down, amongst one of the best executed fried rice dishes in the city. Smokey, aromatic and fueled with some amazing chili black bean paste and diced duck and Duck liver sausages. No wonder this rice dish was fit to be served to diplomats like Chow-En-Lai and Henry Kissinger! The house-specialty Peking duck was well cooked, carved and presented. Though the flavor profile and finishing of the lacquered skin was good, however, IMHO, it was a touch overpriced! Other dishes like the Sweet & Sour fried whole Pickerel and Braided Fish Maw with crab meat and creamy crab roe sauce were also enjoyable, though a touch under-seasoned.

BTW, the bottle of Zind Humbrecht Goldert Gewurztraminer Grand Cru paired wonderfully with the Peking Duck!

Based on the gratifying and pleasurable outcome of our meal, made possible by some creative and skilled cooking. It begs me to question why such high caliber and tasty cuisine of QJD Toronto, which mirrored it’s Michelin 1* sister in Vancouver with comparable standard food, can be totally ignored by Toronto’s Michelin Guide?! What were those...

First time to dine in and had extremely damn experience today. Order the BBQ duck and the weird thing was the chef cut the duck meat in the far corner and we could not see it as usually we did in the other duck restaurant. Ordered a couple of dishes , and the taste to be honestly is lower than avergae. The duck skin taste not too bad (4/5) and the meat was awful 😞😞😞 it is too dry ....my wife stop to eat it after just taste a few pieces. The 🍆 eggplant tastes ok (3/5), but it is too oily.. I used to eat the similar dish in the other restaurants and it is regular oil but the one right here was toooooooo oil.. we just left half over and took more hot tea 😔

The most awful part tonight was the servece ( a young girl with pigtails of mixed colour ) looks so cool without any sime on her face , she feels alike she lose the 💰 money in the casino.. we stayed in more than one hour and the only three times we asked for to refill out teapot were served by another young busboy ( he is very gentle and polite ), and this girl never never approach is to take away a dirty plate .. so there were a bunch of dirty dishes on our table even we got our dessrts.. again, we have to ask the busboy ( the one I mentioned above ) to clean up our table again as we have no space to finish our dessrts..we have been to the other restaurants million times ( especially the contonese restaurant), the serve take frequently clean and switches your dirty plates all the times ..

Usually the server will.give me the desserts after we finished main course in the other restaurants and we have been sitting out there for more than ten mins with bundle of dirty dishes on the table...and nobody came up to us and asked us if we need anything else.. and we just sat there like a idiot ...And we have to ask the busboy if they offer the desserts to us and he said he was not quite sure about it and he need to ask chef.. I was thinking if he was well trained. :) Anyway, we got two bolws of sasame soup.. I personally think I can rate at (5/5) Even though I knew it's a kinda of instant sasame powder .. my wife said the desserts were the best part of the whole dish..lol 😂😂😂

Friends of mine told me it is very good restaurant and that's why I showed up here tonight, but it feels sooooooooooo disappointed for whatever dish flavor and service ... I guess probably we r not luck 🍀 tonight .... Absolutely we won't came back anymore and won't recommend to anyone we know... The funny thing was I saw the young lady ( mixed pigtails colour) finally laughed while she speaking to her colleague ( a sunshine smile like a angel 😇), and the next second came over to us showing me the pos machine and her smile disappeared quickly..lol what a fantastic performance..

The last question is if anyone can tell me if this restaurant is real duck chain restaurant from china ???if it is, why it taste tooooooooooooobad ???😞😞😞

The reason I made a one star ⭐ is just because of the busboy ( gentle and polite)..he is supposed to be the server instead of the young girl ( mixed colour...

We've long appreciated QJD Markham for its signature Peking duck and authentic Beijing-style dishes. However, our Chinese New Year takeout experience earlier this year was a rare and unfortunate disappointment. Despite placing a high-value order of over $700, the food fell short of expectations. We left a review at the time, and to the owner's credit, they replied with a heartfelt apology and an open invitation to give the restaurant another chance.

Today (August 3), my father and I decided to take them up on that offer and returned to QJD for lunch. I'm very glad we did.

From the moment we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by Bonnie, our server. We mentioned our previous experience and the owner’s message. Bonnie immediately let the manager, Snow, know, and Snow later came over personally to speak to us. Her approach was genuine, humble, and deeply respectful. She took the time to listen to what went wrong and sincerely apologized for the past disappointment.

More importantly, she took clear, thoughtful steps to make this visit a perfect one — and it truly was.

We ordered their signature Peking duck (beautifully roasted, carved tableside and beautifully displayed in peony shape), along with two cold dishes. The duck was everything it should be: crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, expertly carved, and perfectly complemented by the pancakes and accompaniments. Every dish was fresh, balanced, and prepared with care. This is exactly the standard we remember and expect from QJD.

As people who frequently dine at Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, we understand that no restaurant is perfect every single time — but how a team responds to feedback speaks volumes. Snow and Bonnie went above and beyond to not only restore our confidence, but to make us feel genuinely welcomed back. Their sincerity, professionalism, and hospitality are what truly set this restaurant apart.

QJD has absolutely earned back our trust and our business. We’re grateful for the outstanding meal and meaningful gesture today — and we wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant to anyone seeking an authentic and gracious Beijing dining experience in the GTA.

Update: We had another outstanding dining experience at QJD Markham. The highlight of our meal was the East China Sea yellow croaker, prepared exactly the way it should be. The fish was lightly fried, giving it a delicate crispness, then finished in a rich yet balanced sauce made with tiny diced pieces of pork belly and shiitake mushrooms. The croaker itself remained moist and tender — never dried out — and the sauce elevated the natural sweetness of the fresh fish without overwhelming it. It was truly cooked to perfection. Beyond the exceptional food, the service here is consistently excellent. Manager Snow runs a great team and her in particular treats guests like family, always offering a warm welcome and making us feel at home every time we visit. For both the quality of the cuisine and the hospitality, we highly recommend...