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 Dim Sum at NKS Banquet Hall

I had a half-day of work today and it would've been churlish not to go out for lunch since it's Christmas Eve and all, so I made plans for dim sum with my mom and her bestie at their regular spot:

Dough fritter rice noodle rolls with yuk sung
Steamed BBQ pork buns (char siu bao)
Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gao)
Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai)
Pan-fried turnip and preserved pork patties (lo bak go)
Deep-fried shrimp and chive dumplings
Deep-fried pork and egg yolk glutinous rice (zong)
Baked egg custard tarts (daan tat)

I know I've talked endlessly about how great and totally underrated NKS Banquet Hall is, but honestly, if we're talking quality vs. value, their dim sum is absolutely the most worth it. Their decor isn't as fancy as Casa Victoria or trendy as Luna, and they keep it simple and traditional with their dishes (no truffle oil or gold foil here), but NKS is cheaper than both and the quality of their food is consistently excellent (similar to Casa Victoria; significantly better than Luna). The tea fee, at $2 per person ($1.80 if you're a regular, apparently), is on par with most dim sum places, but if you spend $20, you get your choice of siu mai or beef meatballs FOR FREE. IN THIS ECONOMY!

Also, if the room filled almost exclusively with Cantonese-speaking senior citizens isn't indication enough (and most of them are regulars since no less than five people came to greet my mom), NKS is — at least in Markham (which, honestly, is more Chinese than Toronto's Chinatown) — the best place to come for dim sum. And there's never a line-up because all the Millennials are going to the trendy, Instagram-able dim sum places. (I admit I have been guilty of this a time or two.) But y'all, when it comes to dim sum? Always trust the Hong Kong immigrant boomers! They don't give a shit about Google reviews or ratings — they just want good, authentic Cantonese food.

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Winter Solstice Festival Dinner at NKS Banquet Hall

Went for Winter Solstice Festival dinner with my mom and her bestie at our go-to Chinese restaurant, NKS Banquet Hall:

Fried tofu puffs with assorted mushrooms and Chinese broccoli
Stir-fried sirloin beef with broccoli and candied walnuts
BBQ combo platter: Roast duck and BBQ pork
Garlic-fried pork ribs

Got all our favourites, of course. I was tempted to get Peking duck but my mom had had it for lunch with my aunts and uncle — plus, NKS does a promotion on Peking duck on Tuesdays for half-price or something, so it seemed silly to get it there on any other day — so we made do with a BBQ combo of roast duck and char siu instead. Both food and service were incredible as usual, despite there being some crazy Christmas line dancing event going on. (I swear, Chinese seniors know how to party harder than anyone else.) Will be coming back on Wednesday for Christmas Eve dim sum!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Mid-Autumn Festival Dinner 2025 at NKS Banquet Hall

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival dinner with my mom and her bestie at NKS Banquet Hall:

Deep-fried stuffed tofu with broccoli

Stir-fried sirloin beef with broccoli and candied walnuts

Garlic-fried pork ribs

Sliced beef with bitter melon in black bean sauce

It was surprisingly busy, even though we got there at 5:30PM. We didn't make a reservation because we figured no one ate dinner that early (honestly, I'm just starving by the time I'm done work at 5:00PM because I don't eat snacks after lunch) but there was a random karaoke event for a retirement home that was going on (let me tell you, my ears were about to bleed with the amount of tone-deaf screeching I heard), so they had to section of 3/4 of the restaurant and we got one of two tables they had left for walk-ins. I'm guessing every other table was reserved for Mid-Autumn Festival, which is the same reason we were there. For the first time ever, we watched the staff having to turn people away.

Either way, we ordered some of our favourites, and I guess they either didn't get their grocery order for the week yet or it was too busy all weekend, because I saw one server running out of the restaurant and coming back with packages of bitter melon, and then another server coming back ten minutes later with a bag full of egg tofu. (There is a Chinese supermarket in the same building, which must be very convenient for them.) Still, the food came out amazing (except for the diced chicken with walnuts, which was tasty enough, but was so unphotogenic, I'm not even going to post it here), so they clearly work well under pressure. Because during the whole time we were eating, we saw at least eight Peking ducks going out along with full set menus for at least ten other tables. Their chefs are fucking champs.

I hope everyone had an amazing Mid-Autumn Festival!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Strawberry Hearts on the Snow at Honeymoon Dessert

To celebrate the end of my cold, I went to get a little treat with Minji and Daniel at Honeymoon Dessert:

Strawberry Hearts on the Snow

I decided to get the Strawberry Hearts on the Snow, which is supposed to include their signature Vanilla Ice, Kawartha Dairy's Strawberry ice cream, fresh strawberries, and a limited edition Cherry Blossom Rice Wine Oreo. Except they didn't have any strawberry ice cream or the limited edition cherry blossom Oreo, so they had to replace them with green tea ice cream and a regular Golden Oreo. Despite the replacements and their Vanilla Ice being a little too icy (read: chunky), I gotta say, it still satisfied the frozen dessert craving. (Perhaps everything just tastes better after a two-week long cold.) Still, I think I'll stick to their Mango Pillows, which have never disappointed me...

Honeymoon Dessert

Markham Town Square

3828 Highway 7, Unit 2

Unionville, ON L3R 1L7

(905) 477-7688

Dining Out: Sliced Beef with Bitter Melon, Sweet and Sour Pork, Fried Egg Tofu with Mushrooms, and Crispy Skin Chicken with Prawn Crackers at NKS Banquet Hall

With our flight back being delayed (to put this in perspective, we got to LaGuardia at 11:30AM and didn't get land in Toronto until 5:30PM) and that lox bagel from the morning long gone, it goes without saying that WE WERE FUCKING STARVING when we got back. It did not help that our driver took the 401, which even on a Sunday evening has bumper-to-bumper traffic, so that by the time we got back to my apartment, it was already 7:00PM, and we were HANGRY AF. We just dumped our luggage at my place, didn't even bother changing, and drove straight to my mom's go-to restaurant, NKS Banquet Hall, where her bestie met us for dinner. (I think after a few days in NYC, my mom was really missing Chinese food. And also the restaurant itself, which she frequents 5 days a week.) 

Sliced beef with bitter melon in black bean sauce
Sweet and sour pork
Fried egg tofu with mushrooms and broccoli
Crispy skin chicken with prawn crackers

We were so hungry that we didn't even wait for her BFF to arrive before we ordered. We got some favourite classics — the fried egg tofu with mushrooms and veg is a mainstay at all our dinners here, but we also got beef with bitter melon in black bean sauce (a dish I hated as a kid but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE as an adult), sweet and sour pork (a guilty pleasure — it has an insane amount of sugar), and crispy skin chicken with prawn crackers (a dish we haven't had in a long time because it's all fried and therefore also a guilty pleasure, but my mom was craving it and who am I to say no?). 

I don't know if it was because we starving, but every dish tasted particularly delicious, especially that crispy chicken, which was so perfectly cooked (and my god, I forgot just how delectable freshly fried prawn crackers are). There was a 70th birthday party going on while we were there so we had to listen to some truly hideous Chinese karaoke while eating, but other than that, this was another amazing meal at NKS Banquet Hall. Can't wait to back for Mid-Autumn Festival dinner!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Downtown Markham Food Fest 2025

Since we didn't make it out to the CNE this year (which, aside from the hour-long commute from the GTA and the most anxiety-inducing parking space hunt, has become way too expensive — with a $25 admission fee this year, an all-time high — and way too crowded), I asked Minji and Daniel if they'd be interested in going to the Downtown Markham Food Fest after work yesterday, which has free admission and is way less stressful than going to downtown Toronto. 

Korean beef bulgogi tater tots from Crunch Alley
Beef, lamb, and sausage skewers from Chinese Northern BBQ
Tornado potato with garlic parmesan from Happy Twist
Taiwanese sweet potato balls from Sweet Potato Ball

Along with live music and performances, they have 40 local vendors this year. Since we got there right when they opened, it wasn't crowded yet and we could take the time to peruse all the food options. There were some vendors that we vetoed off the bat — mostly the Korean food ones that Minji insisted were way too overpriced (e.g. $13 for a Korean corn dog, $8 for a small cup of tteokbokki), but also the multiple vendors that are selling the exact same things (mostly the Chinese BBQ skewers), as well as the higher end local restaurants (like Pears and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse) because their price points were too high for what they were offering. (Also because they're quite literally across the street, so we could easily go to the actual restaurants if we wanted to.)

We ended up with Korean beef bulgogi tater tots (wish there was more kimchi and cucumbers, but the tots were super crunchy and the beef was well-seasoned — 4/5); a variety of Chinese BBQ skewers (9 skewers for $20 is a steal, but the vendor we ended up going to used pre-grilled skewers, so re-heating them on the grill made the beef and lamb a little too chewy, though the sausage was excellent — 3/5); a tornado potato that Minji added copious amounts of delicious garlic parmesan seasoning to (the potato was perfectly fried resulting in really nice crispy edges with the inside still giving a nice chew — 5/5); and Taiwanese sweet potato balls that are basically sweet potato-based donuts that have the most spectacular mochi-like chew (they were also dusted with this sweet-tart purple powder that made them taste like apple fritters and were INSANELY GOOD — 5/5). It was about $17 per person for everything, and we were surprisingly full. (I say "surprisingly," because I usually get way more than this at food festivals. But then again, there were no line-ups, so I guess there was no time to digest in between orders...)

It's not marketed as an Asian food fest which is why it was far less crowded than we expected (at least when we got there around 5:30PM which, admittedly, is a little earlier than most people's dinner times) and there's no stinky tofu (still not sure why people are so obsessed with it — it honestly tastes like regular fried tofu but just smells like sewer), but the majority of their offerings is exactly like an Asian night market, anyway. (It is in Markham, after all.) All of us wished there were more dessert options, but overall, I thought it was worth stopping by. And unlike the CNE or Ribfest, it's free to go in. Not sure why I had never bothered going before, but I will absolutely come back next year!

Downtown Markham Food Fest 2025

Downtown Markham

179 Enterprise Blvd.

Markham, ON L6G 0A2

Dining Out: Labour Day Weekend Dinner at NKS Banquet Hall

My mom texted me last night: "Dinner tomorrow? I ordered a pigeon." Well, it's not everyday that you can eat a pigeon, so how could I say no to that?

Stir-fried sirloin beef with broccoli and candied walnuts
Pan-fried garlic pork ribs
Fried egg tofu with assorted mushrooms and Chinese broccoli
Roasted squab

I can honestly say that I've never had a disappointing meal at NKS Banquet Hall. Every single thing I've eaten here has been delicious, whether it's dim sum or dinner. This place is so underrated because it's not hype and doesn't have any social media presence (and let's be honest, it's mostly retired senior citizens like my mom eating there), but in the last couple years, I've thought the quality, portions, and value of their dishes are incredible. Frankly, better than 90% of other Chinese restaurants I've been to, and I have been to A LOT. And tonight's dinner was no different. I'm still impressed. It's one of those dinners that you can't really decide on which dish was your favourite because every one was so good. 

Now, the reason that we came here specifically, other than the fact that it's my mom's go-to restaurant (again, she comes here at least four times a week for dim sum with her bestie, so they're friends with not only all the staff, but also a ton of the patrons, who are all regulars just like them), was the pigeon, or squab. (For clarity, these pigeons are farm-bred and raised for consumption and are considered a delicacy.) They taste like roast duck and are freaking delicious. But, honestly, for the amount of meat they provide (I mean, it's a pigeon) and for the cost (on Fridays, they are on promotion at NKS for $19.99 per bird, which is why my mom ordered it), it's just not worth it even if it is tasty AF. So we've learned our lesson: Visit on Tuesdays for dinner instead, because a whole roast duck is on promotion for $24.99!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Satay Beef Noodle Soup, Egg & Luncheon Meat Sandwich, and Hong Kong-Style French Toast at Neighbourhood Cafe

New Hong Kong cafe alert! I saw Neighbourhood Cafe featured in multiple IG reels recently so I suggested going there for an early dinner with Minji and Daniel (my fellow cha chaan teng fiends).

Satay beef noodle soup
Egg and luncheon meat sandwich
Hong Kong-style French toast
Neighbourhood Cafe offers a fairly big variety of HK cafe foods, but I ultimately decided to go with the satay beef noodle soup set, which comes an egg sandwich (to which I added slices of luncheon meat for $2) for just under $14. Got an unsweetened iced HK lemon tea on the side, and shared the peanut butter-filled Hong Kong-style French toast for dessert. Everything I had was excellent and honestly better than I expected — they don't skimp on flavour, portions, or freshness of ingredients. The value is great considering the cost of dining out now, and there are even better deals for breakfast and afternoon tea sets. Service is also friendly and incredibly efficient. 

Having eaten at many HK cafes around the GTA, I would absolutely come here again over other similar restaurants — as long as it's during off-hours. We came here just after 5:30PM for an early dinner and didn't have to wait for a table and found parking right away, but by the time we left around 7:00PM, the parking lot was packed with tons of cars waiting for available spots. So, be warned. 

Neighbourhood Cafe

9021 Leslie St., Unit 4

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 0B2

(905) 707-8885

Dining Out: Premium Hot Pot and Sushi Feast at Gourmet Tribe

Took Minji out for her 30th birthday at the newly-opened Gourmet Tribe, an all-you-can-eat hot pot and sushi restaurant. The premium menu is $20 more than the regular menu, but includes a bigger variety of soup bases, meats, seafood (with lobster and crab!!!), and sushi. The regular menu only includes hot pot — no sushi — and has a much smaller variety to choose from. Needless to say, we went for the premium menu.

Shrimp, scallops, bean curd rolls, lotus root, quail eggs, tofu, and tripe
Winter melon, abalone, enoki mushrooms, bean curd sheets, quail eggs, and taro
Lamb and beef slices
Corn, shrimp wontons, winter melon, and daikon
Lobster!
Sukiyaki hot pot
Sweet shrimp, white tuna, squid, and salmon sashimi
Salmon, scallop, and octopus nigiri

Gourmet Tribe is both a market and a restaurant, so you can actually just drop in to shop for a variety of Japanese seafood and meat. The market area is open and airy, and the dining area is sleek and spacious. If you're dining in, you get a dedicated cart for your table, choose your hot pot broth, "shop" for a huge variety of food at the market with the aforementioned cart, and then bring everything back to your table to cook. (Each person at the table gets their own individual pot, which I personally prefer.) Nigiri, sashimi, maki, and donburi are ordered via the QR code menu on your table. 

The food selection for hot pot is fresh and nicely presented; all ingredients are stored in wall-to-wall, transparent-doored fridges that are well-stocked, incredibly clean, and properly labeled. The sauce station comes with a huge selection of condiments, and liquids are stored in pourable bottles so everything is neat and tidy (and, most importantly, avoids contamination). I was incredibly impressed with the quality and presentation of the food. The service was also lovely — super friendly, helpful, and attentive to our needs. Frankly, the only thing I regret is not leaving enough room for sushi. By the time we got through all of our hot pot selections, we were already quite full and I only had room left for a few pieces of sashimi and three pieces of nigiri. So, yes, I would absolutely make a return trip and do the premium menu again, but will need to be far more strategic with stomach space next time. A rookie mistake.

Gourmet Tribe

7500 Woodbine Ave., Unit 201

Markham, ON L3R 1A8

(647) 368-7732

Dining Out: Dim Sum Brunch at Luna Private Banquets

Starting my vacation week with a round of dim sum with Minji and Daniel at the newly-opened Luna Private Banquets:

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai)

Steamed BBQ pork buns

Deep-fried turnip patties

Steamed giant soup dumpling

Braised beef tendon

Steamed charcoal salted egg yolk buns

Everything we ordered — which is standard yum cha fare — was tasty, but pretty average for a good dim sum restaurant. We noticed that the size of each dumpling we ordered is smaller than average, but the portion per steamer is bigger. (For example, most dim sum places have four bigger har gow per steamer, whereas Luna has five smaller ones.) The only dish here that I found particularly notable and different was the deep-fried turnip patties, which are usually pan-fried. (Here, they cube them and deep-fry them so they're deliciously and addictively crunchy, and serve them with peanut and XO sauces.) That having been said, I personally prefer Casa Victoria and NKS Banquet Hall for dim sum, where the quality is excellent and the portions are bigger for the same price or cheaper.

The main draw here is that they only have private rooms, which means it's not deafeningly loud like at other dim sum places. However, the drawback to this is that they have a 1.5-hour seating limit per party, so if you're looking to spend an entire afternoon leisurely eating dim sum and drinking tea with your friends (like my mom does, for example), this is not the place for it. The hostesses at the front are somewhat rude and will ignore you even if you are right in front of their face, so be prepared to interrupt them to get anywhere with getting a table. (And yes, we had a reservation.) Strangely enough, once you get seated, all the servers are absolutely polite and attentive, so just get past the crappy people manning the front desk. Reservations are absolutely necessary, though, lest you want to wait an hour for a table, even on a weekday. (There were at least 15 people waiting for tables when we got there at 1:00PM on a Monday.)

The space looks upscale — sleek and modern with some traditional Chinese touches — which does set them apart from other dim sum restaurants which often look outdated, but this on its own is not enough for me to come here instead of my other go-to dim sum spots.

Luna Private Banquets

7225 Woodbine Ave., Unit East B

Markham, ON L3R 1A3

(905) 513-8989