Yan's Kitchen — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Hooray!! Toronto’s protracted ‘praise-worthy‘ Shanghainese Cuisine drought is finally over!!

From a foodie’s perspective, the one single glaring gaping hole within our GTA Chinese culinary landscape is the absence of note-worthy, commendable, authentic Shanghainese Cuisine…….until now! This evening’s exceptional and memorable meal not only managed to fill up our city’s ‘Shanghainese Cuisine void’. The stand-out menu, featuring some scarce, authentic old-school offerings easily fulfilled my long overdue craving and more. Not since the now defunct ‘Sika Deer‘ on Finch and Midland has there been the emergence of such a traditional Shanghainese establishment, whipping up arrays of well executed, genuine Shanghainese fare!

Just their simple and heavenly good Xiao Long Bao soup dumpling alone deserves unceasing kudos and accolades. Never have I encountered such delicious and umami packed elixir of a soup dumpling broth outside of the Orient! The remaining delicately seasoned and packed pork filling plus the translucently thin pocket combined to create, IMHO, the BEST XLB in the GTA!

Other authentic and traditional dishes our party ordered included:

Deep Fried Aromatic and Crispy Duck ( Chinese rendition of Duck Confit….but way more flavorful! A truly finger-licking-good ‘Duck’ experience! ) Stir fried Snake-Head Fish with Black Fungus in fermented rice/wine sauce ( Delicate, perfectly cooked fish with attractive aromatic and slightly sweet fermented rice essence ) Shanghai Style Oil Poached Shrimp. ( Subtle and delectable. The shrimp unbelievably crunchy and sweet. ) Braised Bamboo shoot in seasoned oil ( A classic Shanghainese vegetable dish done well ) Water, Pan-fried crispy bottom Buns with Crab and Pork filling ( Piping hot, so, eat with care! Tasty and delightful. Oozing with delicious broth. ) Hearing the lady chef owner was an accomplished Chinese dessert chef from Suzhou, China. We finished our meal with a Dessert platter of various mochis and cakes, the stand out being the one with hand made organic red-bean paste filling! A rarity and sooo good!

With the delectable food well exceeded our expectation and our party touching only the tip of a vast ‘menu iceberg‘. This is one establishment that for sure, we will have numerous returns!

On the surface, the menu pricing for most dishes seemed to be on the highside. However, for the quality, authenticity, rarity and deliciousness of the food. Paying a premium to savor such a culinary experience in the GTA is IMHO, well worth it!

Lastly, our super friendly and attentive lady server ‘ Cindy ‘ deserves a special mention. Despite a packed and full house by 6.30 pm, she never missed a beat and provided us with unwavering help...

Atmosphere: Yan's Kitchen, located just off Leslie St., is easy to miss amidst the more prominent eateries at Fusion Parc plaza. After countless times driving past it, we finally decided to give it a try—and what a delightful surprise it was! While the exterior may not catch your eye, stepping inside reveals a clean, well-lit, and cozy atmosphere. Despite its small size, with only 8-10 tables, the restaurant is thoughtfully spaced to avoid feeling cramped.

Service: The service at Yan's Kitchen is outstanding. The staff are attentive and responsive to requests, ensuring a pleasant dining experience. They provide an English menu, although it lacks a few items found on the Chinese menu, such as certain drinks. This minor inconvenience shouldn't deter you.

Food: The food at Yan's Kitchen is simply delicious, offering an authentic Shanghai-style experience. Every dish showcases the quality of ingredients from the first bite. We ordered five dishes, and each was amazing. The Xiao Long Bao, especially the crab-filled version, stands out as one of the best I've ever had. The dumpling wrap is perfectly thin, and the soup inside bursts with flavor.

While all the dishes were excellent, it's worth noting that portions for some, like the rice and rice cake, may be on the smaller side. Additionally, the prices are higher than you might expect, but the quality of the dishes justifies the cost.

Overall, Yan's Kitchen is a hidden gem that offers a cozy atmosphere, excellent service, and delectable food. It's definitely worth a visit for anyone seeking an authentic taste of...

I’m from Shanghai, and I have to say this is indeed some authentic Shanghai (as well as Suzhou & Zhejiang area) cuisine, the prices of some items are a bit too high though, for example the fish, well this dish is indeed quite expensive even back in China but still, for such price we would expect some better knife skills.

Among all what we have ordered, I will definitely recommend the dishes in picture 3,5 (red braised pork belly with abalone, need to reserve beforehand, other versions of red braised pork belly don’t need to reserve and should be awesome as well) and 7, authentic and delicious as they should be, if you don’t know the name of the dishes you can just show the picture to the waitress.

Then there’s the crab sauce noodle, it is a bit too watery and not that savory, but still ok; the sticky rice cakes are insanely expensive, this is my personal favorite dessert back in Shanghai, it is ok but is it worth 22 dollars? I don’t know, it depends, for me, i probably will still order it the next time because I really don’t know where else can I find it here in Toronto lol

The service is not that good, don’t think for a moment you will get excellent service because of the price you pay for the dishes here, the attitude of waitresses is just not that good; the restaurant itself is also not that fancy, it’s just like some cheap ordinary Chinese restaurants you can find in china town, tons of black marks on the wall next to...