Pine House Cafe - Leslie Location — Restaurant in Toronto

I visited this location a lot and I used to order their afternoon tea special - pork chop noodle as it is delicious and I liked their Chinese milk tea as well. I am a good customer and I never have any issue with anyone who works in this restaurant, I paid my bill with more than 10% tips every time. About a week ago, I went there and ordered the same afternoon tea special, after I finished my meal and paid for my bill, the waitress who handed me the change yelled at me suddenly with a very unrespectable high tone in front of everyone there, she said :'Why you are eating the same pork chop noodle every time, don't you feel bored or do you have any problem?" she repeated the same question twice! I was shocked by this sudden ridiculous verbal attack and I looked at her instantly, I can see her unfriendly fierce eyes were staring at me up and down and the other customers at the same time. I never have any verbal communication with this lady before, neither did I know why she was so upset with me about what I was eating on that day. I can feel the lady who was sitting beside me was scared by this incident at that moment. So, without saying anything to her, I left the restaurant immediately because I didn't know what is going on with this waitress who was shouting and harassing me in front of everyone there, and it seems that I was a criminal at the crime scene but I did pay my bill with tips, I also concerned about my personal safety to stay there longer as I don't know what will happen next. I was not intended to write this review but after I shared this terrible experience with my friends and relatives, they all have the same thoughts in their mind ----- Public Safety Concern. That is why...

In searching a quality Hainanese chicken rice in Toronto, I visited this popular spot on a weekday afternoon around 3pm. Despite the off-peak time, this place was surprisingly busy. It took me quite a while to place my order. The customers in front of me took a long time to settle their order and payment, which slowed things down a bit. There was a wait, about 15 minutes, for takeaway. Just as I returned, the server was literally packing my order.

The setup of the restaurant reminded me of a standard cha chaan teng. It is a fast-paced environment with lots of servers.

For my meal, I ordered two boxes of Hainanese chicken rice. They gave me both chicken wing and chicken breast. The chicken looked delicious at first glance. Glossy and visually appealing. Some pieces were tender and juicy, while others were slightly dry. The overall flavour did not quite remind me of traditional Hainanese chicken rice. Instead, it tasted like something in between Guifei chicken (貴妃雞) and soy sauce chicken (豉油雞). It was with milder seasoning than the latter.

There were also two soup options available: a pork bone soup with carrot, and a tomato-based beef soup. I had the pork bone soup and absolutely loved it. It had a rich deep flavour and felt very comforting. My partner tried the tomato beef soup but did not enjoy it much. They said it was just “so-so.”

Each chicken rice is $16 with tax and it came with one complimentary hot drink. I believe that iced drink would be for extra.

Overall, while the chicken was well-prepared and had some tasty parts, it did not fully meet my expectations for classic Hainanese...

Update Nov 26/23 just went back for lunch and there was a lineup already before they opened this morning. Ordered the 2 dishes that our friends had recommended Hai Nam chicken with rice and the chicken with Portuguese sauce on rice. With the borscht soup this time. The soup was actually very flavourful and hot! Both dishes we ordered was very tasty so we were satisfied. Still was too much food for us for lunch. Reasonable pricing for this type of restaurant. Will be back!

Nov 24/23 On Friday evening we were looking for a quick meal and as we were walking by the Pine House Cafe - it was quite full so we decided to try it. Luckily we got a table quickly and was served hot tea shortly. Looked around to get an idea as to what was popular. Saw that several tables ordered the signature pork chop rice w cheese so we ordered that plus the fried noodles with bitter melon and pork ribs toppings. The orders came with their house soup, very tasty. When their signature pork chop with rice came it was borderline cold to warm. We didn’t like that very much. Felt like it was just scooped up and served cafeteria style from a warmer. The fried noodle did not have much sauce with the toppings. The pork ribs tasted like it was boiled before it was pan fried with the bitter melon. Did not enjoyed the dishes at all due to the lukewarm state when it arrived. And the ribs were over cooked with no texture. Later I did see a table ordered a dish of shredded white chicken which looked good. Overall I will try this restaurant again but order something else just to give them another try. Service was okay for a fast...