Dining Out: Chinese New Year 2026 Dinner at NKS Banquet Hall

A Chinese holiday wouldn't be complete without dinner at NKS Banquet Hall with my mom and her bestie:

Thick-cut char siu (BBQ pork)

Stir-fried sirloin beef with broccoli and candied walnuts

Stir-fried gai lan (Chinese broccoli) with garlic

Steamed tilapia with soy sauce, ginger, and scallions

Crispy skin free-range chicken with shrimp chips

Longevity buns

A complete meal of land, sea, and sky! (Okay, chickens don't really fly but it's still a bird, and IT'S SYMBOLIC, OKAY?) Got all of our favourites — including, yes, the best char siu I've ever had in my life — along with the traditional steamed fish in soy sauce and scallions (for prosperity, of course). Finished off with some piping hot longevity buns that the staff gifted us since my mom was born on Chinese New Year in the lunisolar calendar (yes, she is the only person I know that gets to celebrate two birthdays just because of this). Anyway, if you're wondering how the hell the three of us could eat all of this food — we didn't. There was enough food for two more dinners. And, obviously, since I am way too lazy to cook and they take pity on me, I got to take home of all the glorious leftovers!

Happy Year of the Horse!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

HAPPY J-HOPE DAY 2026! 🐿

(Photo source: BTS Official X)
To Bangtan's eternal sunshine, K-pop's King of Dance, and ARMY's Piece of Peace, happy 32nd birthday! Thank you for blessing us with your unparalleled street and freestyle dance skills, your infectious smile, your incredible work ethic, your amazing ability to change cadence and flow in your rap, always choosing to be hopeful, and for being the backbone of BTS. Most of all, thank you for helping us step into our futures with a rhythm of positivity. Your birthday this year falls on the day after Lunar New Year, so on top of wishing you an amazing day full of joy and laughter, I also hope you get to eat tteokguk with all your loved ones. 💜

Dining Out: Chinese New Year 2026 Dim Sum at Purple Orchid

I took the day off and went for Chinese New Year dim sum with my parents at Purple Orchid:

Egg custard tarts (daan tat)

Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai)

Fried glutinous rice dumplings (ham sui gok)

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Steamed BBQ pork buns (char siu bao)

Steamed bean curd rolls

Lion dance!

The dim sum was good — classic options, standard portions, no frills but tasty (though the char siu bao were a little too soft; the bottom was almost mushy), and decently priced (about $60 in total after tax and tip for six dishes plus tea service for three people). A solid choice for dim sum in the Richmond Hill area. Bonus: we got there just in time for the lion dance show. A great start to the new year!

紫蘭軒 Purple Orchid

Jubilee Square

270 West Beaver Creek Rd.

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3Z1

Dining Out: Mom's Birthday Dinner 2026 at NKS Banquet Hall

For my mom's birthday, I went to celebrate with her and her bestie at their go-to Chinese restaurant:

Thick-cut char siu (BBQ pork)

Cantonese poached chicken in soy sauce

Stir-fried sliced beef with sponge gourd and cloud ear mushrooms

Cantonese-style omelette with silver fish and green onions

An excellent dinner as per usual, but especially the SUBLIMELY SUCCULENT thick-cut char siu that the chef prepared that afternoon. Apparently, they don't always have char siu available because the chef who prepares it only comes in a couple times a week, so when it is available, it's sells out fast — and for good reason. I say this with no hyperbole: this was the best char siu I have ever had in my life, and I have had A LOT of char siu in my almost 40 years. The flavour is PERFECT — the most ideal combination of sweet and salty with a slightly smoky edge — and meat is super juicy and insanely tender, almost melt-in-your-mouth. They serve you two cuts of meat, one leaner (probably pork shoulder) and one fattier (probably pork belly), but even the lean cut was incredibly soft and juicy. I don't even think NKS is known for char siu, but it is TRANSCENDENT. 

My only complaint from this dinner is that the omelette has cilantro in it (so unnecessary), and was therefore ruined for me. But my mom and her bestie really enjoyed it, which is what counts, I guess. Whatever, this post is really an ode to their char siu, anyway.

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: End of Year Dinner at The Big Brother 大師兄新派順德菜

To celebrate the end of the year (to clarify, the end of the Year of the Snake) as well as my mom's birthday, my dad made reservations at a Cantonese restaurant called The Big Brother.

Traditional salt-baked crispy skin chicken

Pan-fried green peppers stuffed with house-made fish paste

Stir-fried beef with bitter melon in black bean sauce

Hakka-style tofu stuffed with minced pork and secret seafood sauce

Deep-fried salted egg yolk kabocha squash and fresh oysters

The food is EXCELLENT. The menu is actually relatively small for a Chinese restaurant — it's literally a double-sided laminated sheet about the size of a placemat, and nearly every dish comes with a picture — which usually means every single dish offered should be executed exceptionally well. And it was absolutely true for our experience tonight. Cantonese restaurants are a dime a dozen in the Richmond Hill/Markham area since the majority of the people here are Chinese, but The Big Brother offers notably incredible, authentic Cantonese/Shunde-style dishes — even my parents, immigrants from Hong Kong, commented on how good each dish was with not a single complaint or criticism (you'll know how rare this is if you have Chinese parents). The Shunde-style deep-fried salted egg yolk squash and oysters dish is especially memorable — incredible flavour, perfect crispy exterior, ginormous and meaty oysters — probably because it's not a common offering at Chinese restaurants in general.

My dad told us that his friends had went to eat at The Big Brother around the time of its opening last summer and that while the food was good, the servers were so rude that they would never return. I'm glad to report that they've either gotten new staff or new customer service training because I found the three or four staff that served us were great. They greeted us warmly, they were accommodating, and they were efficient. Also, the space is clean, sleek, and bright, unlike many other Chinese restaurants where you question how they possibly passed their health inspection. It's a little out of my way, but I would absolutely come back here to eat again.

The Big Brother 大師兄新派順德菜

328 Highway 7

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3P7

(905) 881-3333

BTS x Netflix: BTS ARIRANG The Comeback Live and BTS: The Return

(Image source: Netflix Official X)

(Image source: Netflix Official X)

Okay, I'm used to BTS comebacks having a lot of promo, but it usually starts off with a fairly modest livestream on Weverse (or back in the day, V Live on Naver, RIP), not ON NETFLIX WITH AN ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY FILM. I know BTS are the kings of breaking records, but this is undoubtedly the biggest comeback in K-pop history (maybe in music history?). To think I literally just cancelled my Netflix subscription a couple weeks ago to save a little money after spending way too much on BTS tour tickets… Guess I'm re-subscribing on March 21…

Cooking at Home: Roast Beef Sliders with Horseradish Cream, Spicy Asian Sesame Coleslaw, and Garlic Chipotle Potato Wedges

My friends Chelsea and Braden invited me over to their house for a New Year's dinner of sorts since I couldn't see them during the winter holidays last month. On the menu for tonight:

Roast beef sliders with provolone and horseradish cream

Asian sesame coleslaw with sriracha

Garlic chipotle potato wedges

Dinner is served!

Chelsea had also made an appetizer of Boursin cheese topped with balsamic glaze, honey, and crushed pistachios served with baguette slices. Unfortunately, we were too hungry and dug into it before I could take photos, but trust me when I say it was incredible. (If I didn't think I was getting lactose sensitive these days, I could've eaten the whole thing. You know, if we weren't sharing it.) Of course, dinner itself was excellent. I haven't actually had any meals at Chelsea's that wasn't exceptional, though I think she and Braden tend to make more of an effort for me because they know I don't cook at home. Though she's a hairdresser now, Chelsea actually studied culinary arts after high school and I find that she excels at unexpected flavour and texture combinations to make really well-rounded meals. 

It's funny because she's actually gluten-free and also found out that she's allergic to eggs, chicken, and soy, but I think that's made her even more determined to find good recipes that work for her. I would never have thought to pair roast beef sliders (Chelsea had gluten-free buns for herself, but the rest of us had Hawaiian buns that were doused in au jus before going in the oven — my god, these were so fucking good) with Asian slaw (also so fucking good, to the point where I had three helpings), but I guess that's how fusion restaurants came about. Another epic home-cooked meal for the books!

Dining Out: Matcha Tasting Flight, Mandarin Mini Cake, Citron Mini Cake, Croissant Mini Cake, and Cacao Mini Cake at Evana Pâtisserie & Café

My friend Minji kept seeing TikTok videos on these super adorable, ultra-photogenic desserts at Evana Pâtisserie & Café, so in lieu of a birthday cake for Daniel's birthday, we decided to get a whole load of treats instead:

Matcha Tasting Flight v3.0: Earl Grey, Raspberry, Black Sesame, and Pistachio

If you're a fan of matcha, the Matcha Tasting Flight (Toronto's first and only!) is incredible. They're currently on their third version, which includes Earl Grey, raspberry, black sesame, and pistachio. It is on the pricey side at $25 for four short glasses, but I found the experience unique enough to be worth it. They even provide you with an instruction card on the proper way to try them as well as the recommended tasting order. Honestly, all of them were so good, I couldn't pick a favourite. (Minji's favourite was definitively the Earl Grey, and Daniel's was the black sesame followed closely by the Earl Grey.) I will say that the raspberry is the most unique and surprisingly the one I drank the most of, but I would happily order any of these separately.

Mandarin (left): Orange crémeux, orange gelée, vanilla bean Bavarian mousse, vanilla sponge, milk chocolate crunch, and vanilla shortbread crustCitron (right): Basil vanilla Bavarian mousse with lemon crémeux

We also ordered four mini cakes to share. Minji and I both agreed that the Mandarin one was our favourite, for both flavour and texture combinations (it is extremely similar to the Orange de Terre Mini at Patisserie Fleur). It starts with a Creamsicle-flavoured cream but ends with an incredible shortbread crust. On the flip side, the Citron was my least favourite, even though it was my pick because I love lemon desserts. However, the shape and name of this cake is a little misleading because it really just tasted like plain, slightly sweetened cream. (And for that reason, it was the only one they let baby Lillian try.) There is a barely-there hint of lemon on the outer shell, but that's it. Despite being really cute, it was just a little too boring.

Croissant (left): Coffee chocolate mousse, hazelnut almond praline, and almond spongeCacao (right): Chocolate mousse, chocolate cake whipped chocolate ganache, and chocolate crispy pearls

My second favourite was the Croissant (not to be confused with their croissants), which has a very similar flavour profile to tiramisu with a delightfully nutty undercurrent. It is intensely sweet, though, so I imagine it would start to get too cloying after a few more bites. Definitely one to share, unless you have an extreme sweet tooth. Finally, the Cacao — Daniel's pick because he's a chocoholic. It's the combination of textures in this dessert that keeps it unique, with the stretchy jelly-like exterior, smooth fluffy mousse interior, and crispy pearl topping — but as expected with most chocolate-only desserts, the flavour is quite one-note (though surprisingly less sweet than the Croissant). Daniel really enjoyed it, though.

Overall, an excellent experience. And judging from the constantly revolving door of customers in the middle of subzero winter, the hype is real here. I will absolutely be coming back — their croissants (not to be confused with the Croissant mini cake) look too glorious not to try. And maybe they'll be on the fourth version of their Matcha Tasting Flight by then!

Evana Pâtisserie & Café

390 Silver Star Blvd., Unit 118

Scarborough, ON M1V 0G5

(416) 298-1222

Dining Out: Duck Meat Udon with Onsen Egg and Assorted Tempura at Hinode Udon and Tempura

After seeing multiple reels about it on IG, I finally went to try out Hinode for lunch this afternoon with Minji and Daniel:

Duck meat udon with onsen egg

I got the duck meat udon, one of their bestsellers, and added an onsen egg for $2.50 plus a side of shrimp tempura for $6.99. The udon comes with a thermal pitcher of broth on the side so you can control how much soup you want with your noodles. The udon, which is made in-house, is the star here — it's slightly thicker than other udon noodles I've had and has a silky, bouncy texture with an excellent chew. The duck meat is tender, smoky, and savoury and works well with the broth, which has a very light, mild flavour. I plopped the onsen egg right into the bowl and mixed it into the noodles and broth, which added a really nice rich, creamy texture. It is the first time in my life that I finished all the broth in my noodle soup.

Assorted tempura

The tempura is lovely — airy, golden, and perfectly crispy. I added a side of three shrimp tempura to my udon for $6.99, but we did also get the assorted tempura appetizer for $11.99. While the quality of the tempura is significantly better than Japanese AYCE places (which tend to be too oily, soggy, or over-battered), my palate couldn't really discern it from many other Japanese restaurants. $11.99 is pretty steep for two shrimp and three vegetable tempura (today's variety was yam, eggplant, and enoki mushrooms), but I do think it was worth it to add three shrimp tempura to my udon for $6.99. (Hinode does somewhat remind me of Hanamaru Udon in Japan but, you know, not a chain. And way more expensive.)

With add-ons, eating here can get pretty pricey, but the food is delicious and comforting (especially nice after the BTS ticketing mayhem yesterday!). It's not a huge space, so I imagine it'd be quite busy during dinner service and on weekends, but on this Friday afternoon around 1:00PM, we got a table right away (though turnaround is relatively quick, with a stay time of around 30 minutes per table — and there's a section near the back specifically for solo diners). I don't find Hinode unique enough to go out of my way to come here, but would definitely eat here again if I'm in the area. In any case, it's a great option to have with this city's over-saturated ramen market.

Hinode Udon and Tempura

324 Highway 7, Unit 3

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1A6

(647) 542-7768

BTS ARIRANG World Tour in Toronto

IT'S OFFICIAL: I AM GOING TO BOTH DAYS FOR THE BTS WORLD TOUR IN TORONTO!!!

The Bangtan gods were shining down on me today because I was 2852 in queue the moment I got out of the waiting room and managed to get a fucking amazing floor seat within 10 minutes in the presale. (Sadly, I decided not to get a VIP soundcheck because they're $1,215 PER TICKET and property tax is due in a week and I have to be a somewhat responsible adult.) But then my friend Iris managed to get two amazing floor seats for us for Sunday even though I wasn't planning to go both dates. So, yes. BTS ticketing is one of the Top 5 most stressful things in my life, but IT IS SO WORTH THE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. (Don't worry, I took my medication.)

BTS World Tour 2026/27 Announcement

(Source: BTS Weverse)
THEY'RE COMING TO CANADA!!! 

Okay, so it's only two dates in one Canadian city at the shittiest venue ever, but IT'S STILL A FUCKING WIN (for those of us who are in the Toronto area, anyway — sorry to the rest of our fine country) because that means, for the first time since 2018 (assuming I can get tickets), I can just take the subway to a BTS concert and not have to book flights and a hotel (!!!). As usual, I have already requested a vacation day at work for ticketing next week. And my bank account is already fucking WEEPING because my property taxes are due the week after. But IT WILL BE WORTH IT. Just pray for me that there are tickets left by the time I get through the queue...

BTS The 5th Album Release and World Tour Announcement

Hi, Happy New Year! 

BigHit has finally and officially released the only news that will matter (to me) in 2026: 

(Source: BTS Weverse)
(Source: BTS Weverse)
On March 20, BTS will be giving us a full new album — 14 glorious new tracks to play and repeat to death — and I cannot wait. (Well, I can wait, obviously; it's been nearly four years. But I am ready to pre-order every single goddamn version of this album. If I have to buy a new shelf to make room for them, I will.) Given that it's been so long since the release of their last album with all of their military enlistments, this will be the biggest and most anticipated comeback of their careers. Which means ticketing for the upcoming BTS world tour will be Battle Royale meets Squid Game meets Alice in Borderland. (I'm just praying for Canadian dates. C'mon, BigHit, don't let us down.) 

Let the games begin.

HAPPY V DAY 2025! 🐯

To Bangtan's social butterfly, ARMY's Winter Bear, and the ultimate Slow Dancer — happy 30th birthday! Thank you for your childlike innocence, deep soulful voice, incredible vocal range, big boxy smile, charming naiveté, beautiful imagination, and eccentric sense of humour. Thank you for being unapologetically you, and for always showing us the purity of love and friendship, the importance of humility, and the beauty of slow dancing by yourself. It's crazy to think that I've been watching you grow up for nearly a decade, from being the most hyperactive and mischievous member to one of the calmest and quietest. As you now enter your 30s, though, I hope you always stay loving, curious, and free-spirited.  💜

Dining Out: Christmas Day 2025 Dinner at Xiang Zi Hot Pot

My mom and I decided to go for Christmas dinner at Xiang Zi Hot Pot after last year's rousing success. We invited her bestie and got a 5:30PM reservation. It seems like they decided to do two seating times this Christmas instead of having reservations at any time like they usually do, because when we got there, it was a full house.

Tofu puffs, fish balls, quail eggs, beef tendon balls, luncheon meat, lotus root, daikon, and winter melon
Chrysanthemum greens and tender beef slices
Bean curd rolls, lettuce, napa cabbage, king oyster mushrooms, and spring rolls
White fish, squid, beef tripe, and tender beef slices
Premium abalone
Fresh-cut beef slices
Mushroom and pork bone soup

So, last year, we were blown away by the assortment and set up they had at Christmas. They had a huge buffet-style spread of various prepared dishes and snacks as well as extra raw items to pick up ON TOP of their full tablet menu. But they decided to do things a little different this year. They cut down about half the menu and put almost everything out buffet-style. A bunch of our favourite things — various slices of meat, prepared cold dishes like lettuce stem salad or spicy cucumber salad — weren't available. A lot of the ready-to-eat foods weren't being refilled fast enough. There were only about 10 items we could order from the tablet to the table. Disappointing, since the sheer variety of food is what we love about coming here over other hot pot places.

An issue this evening, though, is that we were seated upstairs. I don't really mind myself (hey, extra steps means I can eat more, right?), but my mom and her best friend are in their 70s and have bad knees and arthritis. And the buffet? Where all the food is? It's downstairs. There's no elevator. So I ended up walking up and down the stairs about 8 times to get enough food for everyone. And that's fine because that's as much exercise as I'm getting this holiday week. No biggie. The real problem? They FORGOT OUR HOT POTS. You know, the actual pots with the broth that we can cook all of our raw food in? Yeah. All three of us ordered the same type of broth — mushroom and pork bone. Not a particularly complicated order. They usually get our pots to us within minutes. But tonight, it took them 45 MINUTES for them to bring our broth pots to our table. This was after asking three different servers to check on them for us. And, mind you, every table gets a 2-hour seating limit here. The server sheepishly had to assure us that they wouldn't have a time limit for us tonight — frankly, the least they could do. If we weren't hungry when we arrived, we were starving by the time we could actually eat our food. 

So, yeah. Xiang Zi's Christmas dinner service this year was a disappointing, disorganized mess. Judging by how long they took to get our hot pots to us, how many empty chafing dishes there were at the buffet, how long it took them to refill all the different ingredients, and just the lack of variety that they usually have, I'd say they were way too understaffed for the sheer amount of customers there tonight and had to cut way back on food costs. I've never had a less-than-excellent time at Xiang Zi, so this dinner was particularly disappointing. (I also just discovered that they don't even have an official website anymore. Are they going out of business?)

On that note, I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a better dinner experience than we did!

Xiang Zi Hot Pot

Uptown Market Shopping Centre

3989 Highway 7

Markham, ON L3R 5M6

(905) 305-9888

Dining Out: Christmas Eve 2025 Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House

We originally wanted to have our annual family Christmas Eve dinner at The Keg, but obviously, they were fully booked unless we wanted to eat at 4:00PM or 9:00PM. (We didn't.) We were scrambling to find somewhere decent to eat for the holiday that had a reservation time from 5:00PM to 7:00PM, and then my brilliant mind thought of Ruth's Chris Steak House — definitely pricier than we were seeking, but then my brother insisted that Christmas dinner was on him because he and his family weren't coming up this year. And lo and behold, they had one 6:45PM reservation slot left. It was meant to be!

Arugula salad with goat cheese, cranberries, and grapes tossed in cranberry pomegranate vinaigrette
6 oz. centre-cut filet with shrimp
Garlic mashed potatoes
Maple-glazed butternut squash with maple candied pecans
Creamed spinach
Roasted Brussels sprouts with applewood-smoked bacon and honey butter
Mini white chocolate cheesecake

All four of us went for the Ruth's Classics prix fixe menu, which includes a starter, an entrée, a personal side, and dessert for $97. I got the cranberry arugula salad (the perfect combination of sweet, bitter, and tangy — I could honestly eat this everyday), the 6-ounce centre-cut filet and shrimp (okay, The Keg does great steak, but Ruth's Chris does IMPECCABLE steak — the beef is so melt-in-your-mouth tender, I almost didn't need a steak knife), and my mom shared the garlic mashed potatoes and the maple-glazed butternut squash. We also got the creamed spinach (the ultimate steakhouse side dish and the unanimous favourite) and roasted Brussels sprouts (sweet, salty, smoky, crunchy — addictively delicious) for the table to share. For dessert, a perfect mini white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry coulis and two pieces of dark chocolate bark — rich, sweet, and decadent, but small enough to keep us from feeling too guilty (and bursting out of our pants because they know how full we'd be by the time dessert rolled around).

This was the best Christmas dinner I've had in years. I think this might be a new Christmas tradition in the making. (At least, I will make it so. My family will have no say in the matter because I make the reservations and therefore hold all the power.)

Ruth's Chris Steak House

170 Enterprise Blvd., Unit J101

Markham, ON L6G 0G5

(647) 794-0170