Wang Lang — Restaurant in Toronto

If I could, I would give this restaurant less than one star. My experience here was extremely disappointing and I feel it’s important to share what happened.

如果可以的话，我真想给这家餐厅负一颗星。我的经历非常令人失望，我觉得有必要分享我所遇到的情况。

I came in for a trial shift at this restaurant and want to share my experience. From the beginning, I was told that the trial shift would be unpaid. Even so, I was surprised to be left on my own almost immediately during the Friday night dinner rush on King W to serve food, clear tables, and carry dishes with minimal supervision or training. The trial shift was expected to last 3–4 hours, but it only lasted two because I chose to walk out. Despite performing real work during that time, there was no compensation. While they were upfront about it, unpaid trial shifts are not in line with fair labour standards. In Ontario, workers are entitled to be paid for all the hours they work — including trial or training shifts.

What affected me the most was not just the lack of pay, but also how I was treated. To be fair, I was slower than the full-time staff, but that was because it was my first hour in a new environment and I was trying my best to make sure every order was correct — and I didn’t serve a single table wrong. For a first hour of training, being a bit slower is completely normal. However, instead of guidance or patience, the owner constantly spoke down to me and raised their voice for being too slow. It was discouraging to deal with that level of pressure and criticism, especially while doing unpaid work. At one point, I even overheard a comment suggesting that if I worked in a certain way, I should “just go home.” Yet instead of dismissing me, they continued to rely on the work I was doing, since it was a busy night and my efforts were clearly contributing to the restaurant. I truly felt taken advantage of and judged despite only being there for about an hour, with no clear expectations and no support. The expectations placed on me felt completely unrealistic for someone brand new. In the end, I decided to walk out during the second hour of the shift because I could not tolerate the situation any longer — otherwise, I believe they would have kept me working until the end of the night.

I want to note that I have several years of experience working in well-known restaurants, and I have never been treated in such a discouraging way.

This experience raises an important question: do you want to support a business where trial shifts may involve unpaid work and a lack of respect for new staff? For many young workers in Toronto, trial shifts are presented as normal, but that doesn’t make the practice fair. Everyone deserves clear communication, dignity, and compensation for their time.

To be fair, the food may be good and the other staff I met were kind. But no quality of food can outweigh an environment that leaves workers feeling undervalued. Based on my experience, I would not recommend this restaurant as a place of employment, and I encourage others to consider how staff are treated when choosing...

I rarely go downtown these days but when I was invited to join a few friends for dinner, I couldn't say no, especially since it was at a Thai restaurant! I love Thai food! I trekked all the way from Pickering, down to Wang Lang at King and Bathurst.

This restaurant is cozy and beautifully decorated. The decor is mostly bold and red, with natural wood accents. Our table, near the back of the restaurant, had a unique setup with gorgeous decor, reminiscent of an outdoor patio. You've got to take a look at the pics to see what I mean. There's also a dining area on the second level, which I imagine can be used for private events or overflow dining.

Our evening started with cocktails, including a couple of their new signature drinks - Oasis, and Ubeby Baby. These drinks were colourful and gorgeous! All the drinks were good!

As much as I love Thai food, and have eaten many dishes at Toronto's top Thai restaurants, these dishes were mostly unfamiliar to me. They were excellent, but unfamiliar!

The first dishes to arrive included a Pomelo Salad, Stuffed Squid, and Silkworm Pupae. Yes, you read that correctly - Silkworm Pupae. I wasn't brave enough to try this but it was all eaten!

Next was a Grilled Fish, Hot Pot dish, Oxtail Soup, Beef Skewers, and Pork Jowl. These were among our favourites - all yummy!

The Fried Rice was delicious, although a bit spicy for some. That's okay, more for me! Chicken Knuckles was another new one for me. Crispy, not bad. Escargot was another dish that I didn't expect to see but was an overall favourite.

To finish our meal, we had Coconut Rice Cakes and Mango Coconut Sticky Rice, both delicious!

Our dishes: • Yum Som-O (Pomelo Salad) • Miang Mhai (Silkwork Pupae) • Muek Yang (Stuffed Squid) • Miang Saba (Grilled Fish) • Nuer Toon Mor Fai (Hot Pot) • Soob Hang Wua (Oxtail Soup) • Nuer Yang Jaew (Beef Skewers) • Kor Moo Yang (Pork Jowl) • En Kor Kai (Chicken Knuckles) • Khao Pad Nam Prik (Fried Rice) • Gaeng Kua Hoi (Escargot) • Kanom Krok (Coconut Rice Cake) • Khao Neow Ma Muang (Mango Coconut Sticky Rice)

Overall, everything was excellent - the camaraderie, the ambiance, the food, the service. Well done! Was it worth the journey from the 'burbs? Absolutely!...

Had their wagyu boat noodles last night and that was the only thing I had. A few hours later, I was doubled over with stomach cramps and nausea. I literally woke up at 3AM from the pain and spent the rest of the night on the bathroom floor, trying to throw up. I don’t usually have a sensitive stomach, but this was intense. Even the next morning, my stomach was still cramping.

Follow up：

I’m the customer who previously posted about getting sick after eating the wagyu boat noodle at Wang Lang. Later that night, I experienced stomach discomfort, and after reaching out to a friend who ordered the same dish with me, she also said she felt nauseous and unwell that evening.

In response to my original review, Wang Lang stated that they had investigated the matter and claimed that they had served this dish hundreds of times without issues — and found nothing wrong.

Following that, a staff member from the restaurant contacted me and offered a refund — but only if I agreed to delete my review. Out of consideration for the staff member (and not wanting to put her in an uncomfortable position), I agreed to remove the review after the refund was issued.

However, the refund never came. Instead, I received an email asking why the review was still up. I replied that, as per our conversation, I hadn’t received any refund. A few days passed, and today, the same staff member called again — this time saying I need to delete the review first, and only then would the manager transfer the refund. When I asked why it couldn’t be the other way around, she said the manager didn’t trust that I would follow through.

At this point, I’ve decided not to continue further. I will not be deleting this review. This is no longer about the money. It’s about how customers are treated when issues are raised. I hope the restaurant reflects on how they choose to handle feedback...