Starchiva Cuisine — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

This is one of our favorite spots for authentic Cantonese seafood in the GTA! This time, we indulged in 6 pounds of geoduck, prepared in three unique styles. The Geoduck Sashimi was a true delight, offering an oceanic sweetness with a gentle crunch. The Stir-fried Geoduck was tender and slightly chewy, light and refreshing with snow peas, celery, and king oyster mushrooms. The Salt and Pepper Geoduck with Pumpkin had a nice spicy kick that didn’t overpower the delicate flavor of the geoduck, complemented by the sweet, creamy pumpkin. The chef really honored this seafood delicacy with these three preparations!

The steamed green bass was cooked to perfection, with a mild, natural sweetness and a buttery richness that melted in our mouths. The Crispy Skin Free Range Chicken was equally impressive, with its crunchy skin, shrimp chips, and juicy meat. We loved the Braised Pea Sprout with Garlic in Broth, which was incredibly tender, and the Braised Goose Palms with Black Mushrooms & Sprouts was packed with flavor—our 4-year-old especially enjoyed the meaty, chewy mushrooms.

For dessert, the matcha mousse was the perfect ending—flavourful, light, and not too sweet.

The service was good, and the tables were spaced well for a comfortable dining experience. However, due to a booking mistake, we were rushed to finish our meal toward the end. The staff genuinely apologized and offered us some complimentary cake to take home, which was a thoughtful gesture. Despite this minor hiccup, we had an enjoyable...

*edit: 2025 Aug Still great!

I recently had the pleasure of trying the delicious cuisine at Starchiva and I must say, I was thoroughly impressed! This restaurant definitely deserves a 5-star rating for its amazing food and exceptional service.

One of the standout dishes that I had to try was The Stuffed Rice with Chicken. Let me just say, it was absolutely phenomenal. The flavors were so rich and the texture of the rice and chicken was just perfect. It was clear that a lot of care and attention went into preparing this dish, and it definitely paid off.

I do want to mention that the dish does require a bit of advanced notice, as it must be ordered at least two days in advance. But trust me, it's well worth the wait. The flavors and presentation are just outstanding.

Beyond the food, the service at Starchiva was also top-notch. The staff were incredibly friendly and attentive, making sure that everything was just right throughout my entire dining experience. The ambiance of the restaurant was also very cozy and inviting, which only added to the overall wonderful experience.

In fact, I was so impressed with Starchiva that I'm already planning my next visit. I can't wait to try more of their delicious dishes and experience their exceptional service once again.

Overall, I highly recommend Starchiva to anyone looking for a delicious meal with exceptional service. And if you do go, make sure to order The Stuffed Rice with Chicken - you...

Have been looking forward to trying this restaurant after hearing good reviews.....but was very disappointed by the service.

Arrived on a Tuesday at 6pm (without a reservation), restaurant was pretty empty. The waitress brings us to a table inside a small room with a total of 3 tables. We ask if there's a table in the main dining area as we stated it was pretty hot in the room. She doesn't bother checking and says there's no tables available at all and says the A/C is on. Throughout the dinner, we are all getting warmer and even sweating a little. When another party got seated in the table next to ours, the room was quite loud.

The general attitude of the servers was very bad, everyone in my party thought so. They were quite snarky and not very polite to us. Although, we noticed they were very pleasant to the 'regular customers'.

The lobster meal we ordered was just OK, nothing special. Price was reasonable. The little cake desserts that comes with the meal was quite dry. Apparently this chain has a online cake shop, but after tasting the mini cakes, would never order from them.

Overall, the price of the combo meals are reasonable but it's too bad the servers they hire aren't up to par. Wouldn't come back as there are many other Chinese restaurants in the area with better quality food and most importantly good...