New Choice Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Located at the intersection of Bayview and Hwy7, Ren Ren Restaurant specializes in Cantonese home-style dishes. On this occasion, two dishes were sampled: the Bean Curd Stick Lamb Stew (Zhi Zhu Yang Nai Bao) and Stir-Fried Pork Jowl with Chili Peppers. While the lamb stew follows the traditional slow-cooking method with bean curd sticks, the integration of spices and lamb flavor falls short of expectations. The broth exhibits moderate richness, but certain sinewy parts of the lamb remain, affecting the uniformity of texture. The stir-fried pork jowl features a standard Cantonese quick-fry approach, though the searing appeared slightly underpowered, preventing the pork’s fatty aroma and the chili’s heat from fully harmonizing.

In terms of service and value, the dining experience proved less than satisfactory. The server did not clarify portion sizes or additional charges in advance, including the upgraded “large” lamb stew and extra cost for lettuce. The total bill for two dishes amounted to CAD 80.75, which does not align well with the portions or overall quality. Given that only two diners were present, the lack of transparency regarding portion upgrades diminished the overall satisfaction.

Michelin-Style Rating (Out of 5) Quality of Ingredients: 3.5 • Lamb and pork jowl were reasonably fresh, though execution fell short. Cooking Technique: 3.3 • The lamb stew lacked depth in flavor, and the pork jowl stir-fry needed better heat control. Flavor Balance: 3.2 • The interplay of spices, heat, and natural meat flavors was somewhat one-dimensional. Uniqueness & Innovation: 2.8 • Primarily homestyle dishes with minimal creativity or standout elements. Value for Money: 2.5 • Price does not correspond to portion size or quality; additional charges and large-portion upsell were not communicated beforehand.

Overall Score: 3.0/5 Ren Ren Restaurant shows potential in its choice of ingredients but requires improvements in both culinary execution and transparency in service and pricing to meet diners’ expectations.

Disclaimer: This review is based on personal experience and academic analysis; individual preferences and...

A casual family dinner featuring delightful, well cooked food but sadly marred by some aggressive, crabby service and devious business practice!

The five noteworthy and delicious dishes we ordered tonight included the following: Fried Pork Chop with Thousand Island Sauce Sauteed Veal Short-Ribs with onions and Teriyaki Sauce Stir fried Lotus Roots and House Cured Salted Pork with Brown Fermented Bean Curd. Stir Fried Giant Propeller Clam with XO sauce Fried head-on Prawns with Salted Duck Egg Yolk Coating

Execution of the above captioned deeply complex and exotic tasting dishes were near flawless. The finger licking, fried prawns with salted egg yolk was one of the best renditions I have come across. Unlike a lot of overly cooked and dried versions, New-Choice perfectly timed and well seared Veal short-ribs was a pleasure to eat, the sweet and savory gooey sauce, vivid and delectable tasting. The uncommon, stir fried Propeller Clams was crunchy and sweet, the umami packed and slightly spicy hot XO sauce, a well chosen partner. Both the Pork Chops and Lotus Roots are smothered with more tasty and gooey sauce. Excellent companion with plain rice.

Now comes the sad part of the meal! Our arrival was first greeted by a smiling lady server who made a quick 180 degree ‘grouchy’ turn around when we did not follow up with ordering the extravagant and expensive dishes she recommended. Eg., $15 each, Diver Scallops in the Shell, steamed cooked on a bed of minced garlic or using $29 per pound lobster instead of our preferred, less expensive head-on Prawns.

A mandatory add-on service charge is an extremely rare sight amongst GTA Chinese restaurants. If at all, such practice is usually found in higher-end eating establishments for a larger group. However, tonight, our bill arrived unannounced with a ‘ stealthily hidden ‘ 13% service charge already applied. We found no such gratuity policy printed on the menu nor did our server make such mention when the bill was delivered!....dishonest...

Before I go into why I like this place, I want to say that the staff needs a crash course on how to be a service-oriented establishment. Look, I get it, not everyone there speaks proper English, but their blunt manner of talking that borders on indifference and rudeness is not exactly fit for a restaurant. It's like they're impatient all the time and want to take your order and go on about their business as fast as possible.

The supposed 13% gratuity they include on every bill when you eat there is unacceptable. Gratuity, unless it's not HST, is optional and needs to be deserved through great service. A 0% gratuity is perfectly acceptable when the service is not up to par. I would never pay a mandatory gratuity. It's outrageous.

Back to the food. I only have experience ordering their black pepper beef and lemme tell you, it's absolutely delicious. Lots of beef, not filler in the form of veggies. Just straight up beef. I like it. And it's REALLY affordable at $11.25 for a takeout container, it's a steal. Cash only, though, so be warned. This place does not take debit or credit. The food I observed other patrons eating looked tasty and appetizing. In short, if you don't care about a lack of proper service you'd expect from a restaurant and mainly care about the food, then you won't be disappointed. The place is open until late, so that's another point of attractions...