Yin Ji Chang Fen (Hwy7) — Restaurant in Markham

Uses PEANUT OIL It’s a basic restaurant serving traditional Chinese comfort food. I’ve been here many times (husband and I). Rice rolls are good, congee’s ok. Today we went again with my older kids. My eldest son has PEANUT allergies and congee shops are always safe. Turns out sauce for the rice roll wrapped fried dough stick was hoisin sauce and peanut sauce. Some places use sesame sauce. But I wasn’t surprised because peanut sauce is common. However the server said ALL the menu items have PEANUT OIL. That was concerning. She said the oil used in the fryer is PEANUT OIL, they add peanut oil to all the meats to marinade, the rice rolls have peanut oil. At that moment we weren’t even sure whether to leave or stay (since all our food was on the table). My son said that refined peanut oil doesn’t contain the peanut protein so should be ok. So we decided to stay and he ate a little of each food item (congee, the beef in the rice roll, a small bite of the fried dough so stick, a bite of the sweet doughnut). Let’s just say we were all nervous and prepared to head to the hospital in the event he had an anaphylactic reaction. No major reaction, however he had some symptoms, slight scratchy throat and slight tingly hands. When we got home, he took an antihistamine. After 4hrs, better and no major reaction. This description is not intended to give a bad review. It is only for INFORMATION SHARING for anyone who has PEANUT ALLERGIES to be cautious. I do think the restaurant should consider not using peanut oil for the safety of customers. Or put a big warning sticker...

TLDR; food was good, experience was terrible.

My boyfriend and I love congee, we were in the area and wanted to try this place as it was really close to Markville. When we went in, the place was really clean and had a pleasant atmosphere.

However, when we ordered it was a little different. We ordered 1 chicken congees and bbq pork and chives on rice rolls. After we ordered, we asked if we can dine in and the person at the counter told us we can.

While we were waiting for our food, a server came and brought us complimentary green tea and two bowls to eat our congee in and proceeded to ask us if we have cash. We didn’t have any cash on us. She continued to tell us that next time we come to the restaurant that we bring cash so we can give tips, but she will let us eat at the restaurant for now.

That comment kind of threw us off and made us feel a bit awkward during our meal making the experience terrible. We didn’t feel like we were wanted in the restaurant.

The food was okay, prices were good and the portions were decent. The congee didn’t have much flavour, but the bbq pork rice roll was pretty great.

They use a lot of disposable containers (styrofoams/take out bowls) which I feel isn’t very environmentally conscious.

Overall, based on our experience I most likely won’t visit again if I’m in the area. If you do decide to go to this restaurant to dine-in make sure you have cash so you can avoid an...

Although the service has always been mediocre, this time ensured that we will never visit again. When we first walked in, the waitress simply pointed us in a direction without saying a word or offering any welcome. Then, as we were about to sit down, she said, “小桌 ,” as if she couldn’t even form a complete sentence, insisting that we sit at a small table. We were there at 3 p.m., and the restaurant was nearly empty. Later, we saw a server eating at a large table, and I couldn’t understand why it was so crucial for us to be forced to sit at a small table, yet it was fine for one server to occupy a large one.

Throughout our meal, there was no service except for the food being brought to the table. When we left, we took two extra napkins, and the waitress immediately said, “You took too many napkins.” I found this experience particularly amusing—rude treatment of customers, an inability to speak in complete sentences, and double standards where one server can sit at a large table, but customers are forced to sit at a small one, and taking two extra napkins warrants a comment.

At this point, we feel that we, as customers, have been very kind and tolerant—we even left a tip. But this is the last time; we won’t be coming back. It seems that business in Toronto is tough these days, but having staff like this will only...