The LC cafe 老朱餐廳 — Restaurant in Toronto

food is decent... made to order? hence why the kitchen is sooo slow. waited a long long time for my chicken stir fried spaghetti on a sunday at 4pm. the place was packed for some reason so it was rather uncomfortable in terms of personal space. they slightly pulled apart a 4 person table and called it 2x 2person tables so i just kept my parka on cuz there was no where to put it or room to even really take it off without touching the uncles next to me. (think airplane seating - that's how close i was to the guy next to me. elbows were virtually touching if i didn't sit off center) the milk tea was decent as well as the cup/mug they served it in (le creuset). the lobster roll was good too the sauce was really tasty i think it was lobster brain mixed with a light seasoning. i didn't like the fries... too crispy too broken... would be better if it was chunkier and bigger... a lot of broken bits like the bottom of the bag pieces. service needs improvement. attention to detail in terms of table setting / placement of menu and cutlery, but it ends there. the table next to mine had to ask for water refill as did i... and they only filled my cup when they came and didn't top up the other water cup that was about half full/empty. the staff also don't seem to know where the food goes. on at least two occasions they had to walk by and ask which table ordered fried noodle? (tried to give it to me but i didn't order that)... then when my fried spaghetti was finally ready they were shopping it around too to see who ordered it. the only really positive thing is the afternoon tea seems to be $10 each. i say seem cuz for some reason the menu doesn't have prices on it but based on google reviews from a few months ago they used to have distinct prices that were a lot more than $10. and idk if they thought i was getting mad or cuz i ordered the lobster roll from the full price menu but i also got 5% discount so really it was $9.50 for afternoon tea and $21 for the lobster roll. i don't think i will be rushing to go back but i may try the full price menu (steak?) at another time of day to see if it's any better. maybe they're having a special on the afternoon tea menu and the kitchen/staff are overwhelmed. oh. forgot to add. the decor is this dark theme and maybe that's why the food is dark too - the fried noodles/spaghetti are all on the dark side and when you're done eating you wipe your mouth the napkin is all brown too, could totally go lighter on the dark soy sauce. and because of the dark walls, they have really bright lights. depending on where you sit you might have one shining right at you like i did. I could have worn sunglasses in there and it would not have been...

Their deep-fried HK style shrimp toast ($12.99) was an ideal seafood to bread ratio, the toast topped with shrimp paste and a butterflied shrimp. Indeed, the toast was slightly greasy (expected from this dish), but it was well drained so that it remained crispy and wasn’t overly oil logged.

The starter was a better than the LC lobster roll ($22.99), which my husband described as mostly mayonnaise with little chunks of lobster. Its only saving grace, the bun was at least fresh and well toasted.

Feeling hungry, the striploin steak with lobster tail on iron plate ($42.99) seemed like a good choice with soup and salad included to complete the meal. LC Café’s Russian borscht follows an Eastern European recipe and includes chunks of beets, so the soup is sweeter than normal. It’s also thicker while still having the slight kick of spiciness. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer the tomato, cabbage, and beef version any day.

Still, the soup was better than the green salad, which was essentially a handful of spring mix tossed in watered down balsamic vinegar. Without other vegetables or even olive oil, it was a harsh and disappointing salad.

The hot plate was really hot, which means that if you don’t want your steak over cooked, I’d recommend getting it less done. You’ll also want to start tucking into the vegetables and fries as they will start to burn. Scoop some onto a side plate to avoid having them getting overly done.

Not surprisingly, the striploin wasn’t the greatest quality and needed more seasoning so that its flavours didn’t rely so heavily on the Lyon black pepper sauce. It’s strange as the pork chop with lobster tail ($36.99) that my mom ordered was marinated so much that it was too salty. Sadly, there seems to be little consistency on the flavouring of meat.

Even though the dinner arrives with plenty of fries, I wish the restaurant offered a choice of sides as I would have preferred rice instead. At least the lobster tail was a decent size but would be easier to eat if left whole and pulled out of the shell to make it easier to cut.

The LC Café offers pleasant service and comfortable tables, which is a plus. They also didn’t rush customers out of the restaurant, many sitting there after their meals were complete. Long live the older...

Finally got the chance to try out this new restaurant today (Sat, Sep 30 2023) during its soft opening. It tentatively opens from 11:30 am till 3:00 pm; close on Tuesdays. We placed the order @ 12:40 pm for 2 items - (1) "Chicken steak with Tiger Shrimp on iron plate" (sizzling hot plate) that comes with my choice of French mushroom sauce, Soup of the Day, Small salad, Fries & hot beverage and (2) The LC Red Curry with Angus Beef & Rice with hot beverage. The hot HK Style milk tea that we chose came fast but the entrée came 45 to 50 minutes after we placed the order. Well... I was okay for waiting for such duration cuz I was not in a rush and they're still in soft opening phase. Guess that's the reason why the chef/owner couldn't determine the grand opening date yet cuz they can't expedite their orders in a reasonable time with a full house of customers.

Talking about the quality of food & taste... The ingredients like beef, tiger shrimp and chicken steak (meat from chicken thigh) were fresh and cooked to perfection. The red curry was hot & spicy but not the kind of hottest. I particularly like the French mushroom sauce 'cuz it's tasty with small slices of mushroom & bacon in it. Surprised to see a big chunk of tomato hidden underneath the big piece of chicken steak. Almost forgot to mention the HK Style Borscht that I chose was rich in flavour with tiny little chunk of beef in it.

I'm very satisfied with the quality of food & services provided by the staff. Hope that this restaurant can keep up its high standard without compromising its quality of food after its grand opening in the future. Will definitely come back to try out the other delicious food items in the menu; including the milk-tea popsicle as dessert!

Revisited on Oct 15 (Sun) for lunch

Food was served within 15 to 20 minutes that's more reasonable now....