Sam May BBQ 三味燒臘店 — Restaurant in Toronto

I usually prefer not to write a bad review unless the place is really bad or the service is really bad. And wow! After many of the reviews here, I am surprised that I am NOT the only one who felt the cashier/owner lady is rude. I thought it was only me who felt it.

I came at this food court a few times but this was my 1st time ordering something from Sam May. As I saw the roasted pork display, it looks crispy and nicely bbq, so I ordered the 1-item roasted pork with rice. The owner lady looked at me very rudely and I thought "did she treated me like this coz I only ordered an 1-meat dinner and not the usual 2 or 3 items dinner"?

I asked for soup as I overheard you have soup. She said to me rudely, "yes, you will get yours".

I asked for green ginger sauce, she said it's 75 cent more, to my surprise, I have been to many other food court chinese bbq places, no one ask for extra charge. Some will ask me to pay for extra take out box or utensils but not sauce. It's not like she was going to give me a container with the sauce, she literally gave me little scoop like what she would give to others frequent customers, coz I saw the person in front of me didn't pay extra but got sauce.

Anyhow, normally I would either decline to pay extra or will tell them my opinion that others don't charge, anyhow, I was super tired and just wanted to eat, I paid extra 0.75.

When I saw the chef cut the roasted pork, oh man! such a think slice of pork and cut it into so many small pieces to make it like there were a bunch.

At other places, they cut 2 or 3 lines of pork, not just one line and chop into small pieces. I rather a business charge me more for food due to inflation but maintain good portion and quality. Don't cheap out on me.

The pork itself is tasty, crispy and good. The ginger green onion sauce that charged me extra 75 cent was tasty as well. Rice is good, not soggy but could be hotter, since no one wants lukewarm rice. I do like that they include both a hot Chinese soup and a soy milk and 2 slices of thin tofu along with the veggies to the meal.

But I will not come again coz I deserve better as a customer and there are many places that offer better taste, portion and pricing. It's a shame the lady at the front was rude and unpleasant to deal with along with cheap thin slices of pork and extra charge on dipping sauce.

I will...

Unfortunately this place shouldn't even deserve a star.

The included picture is that of an eaten order of BBQ pork. While I had asked for a Slimer version of meat (aka less fat/marblization), the meat itself is dry. Usually if done properly, it isn't dry. The way they get past it is to keep the meat soaked in the sweet sauce. Once it is out and cooled down the dryness sets in.

I had asked for 1lbs of BBQ pork, it came out to be around 1.3lbs (as it is difficult to get pieces of meat to weight exactly 1lbs). It was weighed and resultant price calculated. What pissed me off is that the weight of the meat that was priced at did not all get into the take out container. As in the process of chopping, they chop off the burnt pieces and other "non-delectable" bits they deem unsightly. So my 1.3lbs purchased came out to be around 1.1lbs! I was looking at how they chopped and there were pieces aside from the burnt that had meat on them that were relegated to the non paying customer pile. Other places do not do this. Other places cut away the non edible/burnt/delectable before weighing.

Also, it has been observed that for the eat in dishes, the pickings of side dishes they give are slim. For example, the fried square tofu, this is superly thinly sliced and only 2 slivers each are plated for customers in their orders. Meat is also on the light side. You're better off to not ordering from this place and saving your money to go somewhere else like up at Midland and mcnicoll where there are 3 BBQ meat shops in the same strip mall on the south...

A friend invited me for a Chinese fast food lunch today. We picked up a takeout meal at the Dynasty Centre Mall & Food Court and ate outdoors since indoor seating was not open.

HaHa, no pushback from me; it's a free lunch!

A surprising number of patrons were lined up and business was brisk. After a 5-minute wait, we queued up and placed our orders.

For me, I chose the Two Kinds of BBQ Meat on Rice for $8.75; roast pork & BBQ pork. My friend had his usual BBQ pork on Rice for $7.75.

Surprisingly, the meal came with a cup of soya milk and a bowl of broth. A combo without asking for it. Service was fast. Cash is King!

Overall: The meat was very flavourful and I loved the texture. No complaints about the tofu and vegetable and I was glad the meat sauce made the bland rice okay. The soup was also okay. My sweetie loves soya milk, but it I can't give it anything higher than an....okay rating.

There you have it. Would I return here and pay for a meal myself?...