Cynthia's Chinese Restaurant - Thornhill — Restaurant in Vaughan

So my mom and I decided to try out this Chinese restaurant for the first time and LAST TIME! If you guys really want a good Chinese restaurant that is actually WORTH spending money, I suggest you should try congee Queen.. tastier, and bigger portions for very similar prices to this restaurant. Here are my reasonings for giving it a 2-2.5 star rating …

let’s start with service… imma start by saying that the waitresses/waiters were dressed very nicely according to the Chinese tradition and the service we got while dining was good as I was able to get assisted professionally while ordering food and asking questions. However, when it came to paying the bill, I had a lady telling me that if I were to pay cash, it would be $1 off every $10 I spend. Welllll.. when another waiter (a man this time) handed me the bill, I told him I was paying cash but he said that I was able to get a coupon for a few dollars off my bill during my NEXT VISIT according to “restaurant policy”.. however, we are not from this area and probably are not coming back to this restaurant in a very long while or AT ALL . Needless to say, there seemed to be some sort of confusion and miscommunication between the restaurant employees/managers , I didn’t appreciate being told one thing and then told a different thing. Management, please address your employees to communicate better with customers regarding them having to pay the bill with their MONEY!!

Another issue I had was the food. There were two options that were meal bundles for two that I originally wanted to order (appetizer, soup, main). However, I’m pescatarian.. it sucks that they couldn’t tweak one or two things to switch around for the meat. That wasn’t a big problem so whatever. We decided to order a dish of mixed vegetable noodles and seafood hot and sour soup. The noodles came to around $22-23 before tax and the soup was $10-11 . Price was outrageous for the QUANTITY AND QUALITY of the food (hence why I said go to congee Queen for Chinese instead) the soup was good if I’m being honest.. but for the size (one serving), it was crazy for the price.. congee queen sells soup for that price that feeds 3-4 people !! The noodles were what really blew my mind .. the serving was really small ESPECIALLY for that price !! And I didn’t expect the outcome of it , but the noodles barely had anything in it besides a few pieces of broccoli, and a bit of shredded carrot + cabbage … THATS IT. Really stingey with the servings of the toppings. The seasoning/sauce was nothing special but a bit of some sweet soy sauce. If I knew it was gonna be like that, I wouldn’t have ordered it! You can make a big bash of that at home for $15 or less.. congee Queen also serves noodles better than this for better QUALITY AND QUANTITY for the same price as this restaurant… definitely more toppings than this as well!! My bill at the end came to $37.80 which was not worth it AT ALL.

I know most of the reviews on this restaurant was good.. probably because of service , presentation, and atmosphere at the restaurant..but this was MY personal experience . Maybe their other dishes could’ve been better, but after this, I don’t think I would come back . From what it looks like, they definitely put the restaurant’s profit money into their clothing attire, customer utensils, designing the interior , furniture, etc instead of putting it into the food… I hope one day they can really make worth of customers’ money...

Cynthia's is Cynthia's. It's THE archetypal Thornhill Chinese food joint that your bubby and zadie treated you to from time to time growing up. It was, for my family, always sort of a lux dining experience, because it was never cheap- definitely aimed at the upper tax echelon. Being a Chinese food loving fat kid, it was always like Christmas anytime we ordered Cynthia's... and that happened about as often as Christmas-- ermmm, Hanukkah!-- did, because my folks failed to see the value in it (and, in retrospect, I completely agree). Okay, so it's expensive... or at least "up there" for Westernized Chinese... we get it... now onto the good... Cynthia's plays an important role in my Westernized Chinese ("WC" henceforth) journey as it opened my eyes up to what WC could be. After trying it for the first time in '03 I was instantly freed from the shackles of mall Chinese and Mandarin and those sketchy one-off buffets... Now don't get me wrong, each and every one of those have their own special place in any warm blooded North American's heart- and I still would take Mandarin over most anything, because I'm a spineless swine-, but Cynthia's was a real awakening, raising the bar higher than it ever had been previously. In many ways, Cynthia's is what informed my WC palette and is the golden standard I judge all other WC eateries based off of. So why the three stars? Well, because it IS undoubtedly quite expensive for what you get and because I've since discovered the joyous culinary wonders of Ann's Congee and Szechuan (oy vey, B&S, now that's a schlep!). Were it still just Cynthia's and Cynthia's only, it'd probably catch a 5 star rating, but because of those two nearby threads-- both of which make tastier, cheaper, and overall better food--, I must score this Thornhill institution accordingly. I still go from time to time when I feel like splurging (because I'm an adult and have my own money and can make my own grownup decisions now), but prefer to give my dollars and cents to Ann's most of the time these days. I will say that the staff at Cynthia's is absolutely top notch (unlike the misery that operates Szechuan... redeeming quality is the food is standout) and the whole atmosphere is fantastic- it always makes me feel like I'm guest starring on an episode of Curb. The theatrics are brilliant....

Still Going Strong After All These Years!!

I've been going to Cynthia's for what seems like forever. Over the years I've had family dinners, graduations dinners, promotion celebrations, birthdays, nights out, dates, and other reasons to eat there. I've had food off the regular menu and food from the group menus. I live in Markham now and food is different, but Cynthia's has a great combination of classic Chinses dishes, North-American style dishes and not only that they also can cater to almost any dietary request. They have always been good with that. Cynthia's is not only a great restaurant but it has a very opulent decor with an almost theatre-like dining experience.

One of the reasons I keep coming back is the food. Over the years the food has been consistent in flavour, freshness and presentation. When you go to a place like this you must know already what you like from the sauces to the cooking style. This way you'll always get a great meal. You will find beef dishes, pork, chicken, and seafood dishes as well as vegetarian/Vegan. Call ahead and let them know when you make your reservation what the dietary concern or food allergy may be. They have always been great at accommodating special requests.

Over the years there has only been once or twice that there was something I didn't like with the dish, and they more than happily replaced it with a fresh plate or offered a suggestion for something else. The same for any other person who was with me at the table. Service is one thing you will get in droves. The well-dressed staff are always happy and polite and there to help you have a great experience. This is why I keep coming back. This night was no different, we had a large group with kids, folks with allergies, with vegans and one person with a food allergy. We paid a little extra for our set menu but the food came out as everyone wanted so that all of us were happy. Cynthia's always been good to me so give them a chance, I'm sure...