Metro Square Cafe Restaurant Pt 2.

metro square cafe part 2... I have been going to Metro Square Cafe Restaurant quite often and have tried a bunch of different dishes. In the Metro Square Cafe Pt 1 post, I already talked about how this place gives out unlimited garlic bread and soup when you order most of the meals, which ensures that customers are full when they leave. Some other dishes that my friends and I have ordered in the past include dishes from the daily specials. The picture at the top is of the Daily Special "Korean Beef Ribs and Shrimp on a Sizzling Plate" meal (~$13 + tax). This also came with a salad that had lettuce, corn, ham, mayo and a bunch of fruits. Usually the Daily specials are written on a chalkboard in Chinese, so if you can't read Chinese like myself, they will be happy to translate it for you (the older Chinese guy working there is pretty fluent in English).
The second picture is of the deep fried pork chop with rice (~$10 + tax). They make this alright and the portion is huge! The picture doesn't even show clearly exactly how much pork chop they give you. This was pretty good, but the deep fried pork chop at Phoenix Restaurant is better (more expensive though).
Another dish that we've had here is the Hainan Chicken Rice (海南雞飯) (~$7-9). This is a popular dish served at many restaurants and can be described as steamed garlic and ginger chicken that is usually served with rice that has been cooked with chicken broth. The chicken is usually boneless, but here it was not, and from what I remember, the rice seemed to be just normal white rice. This tasted alright, but I would recommending their grilled meat dishes more (ex. steak and mixed grill meals).
Finally, a good cheap item you can order here is the condensed milk with butter on toast. It is what it is, condensed milk and butter on toast-very sweet, very tasty! The bread isn't the super thick ones you get at bubble tea places, but it tastes just as good. The one's at bubble tea places may look much thicker and nicer, but the one at Metro is only around $1.40 I think. Or you could just make this at home and eat it until your sick of it! lol

Also in response to the person who commented on the previous Metro Square Cafe post about their milk tea... They are correct, this place does make some really good cold milk tea, so grab that along with your meal (~ + $0.70 for cold drinks for the meals that include drinks).

Metro Square Cafe Restaurant is located at Metro Square (Steeles and Warden, West of the T & T plaza). It is the restaurant right at the corner facing Steeles).

Phoenix.

yum... Maybe it's because of my canto background that I've become a regular at Phoenix, but this place has some damn good food! I went to Phoenix today for a late lunch around 3 pm. Phoenix serves Hong Kong style Chinese and Chinese fusion food ranging from from HK style baked rice to HK style french toast. If you've ever been here you know the menu is huge and covers a variety of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I wasn't too hungry today, so I ordered the French Toast with condensed milk on top from the tea time menu (2:30-5 pm), which included a hot drink (ex. milk tea, coffee, hot lemon tea). The HK style french toast was good, being made from a thick slice of toast and had a sweet crispy batter. Having the sweet condensed milk on top makes it even more of a dessert type dish (don't even have to use the syrup that comes with it). The one recommendation I would have when ordering this dish is to ask for butter on the side as the butter was pretty heavy (as you can see I brushed it off in the picture, but theres still tons of buttery goodness on the french toast). My friend had just woken up and was really hungry. He ordered his usual order of the Pork Chop Cutlet Rice with Tomato Sauce and Rice. This is his order every single time he comes here and he swears that it is the best pork chop cutlet in Toronto. I have tried this and agree that it is HELLA tasty, but I prefer choosing the option of having it baked in a casserole style rather than the one in the picture.
Quick Notes: A good tip when ordering any meal with the hot lemon tea is to keep refilling the lemon tea with the free tea that has free unlimited refills (this way your hot lemon tea becomes "unlimited" hot lemon tea.lol). The French Toast is $4.50 + $0.50 for condensed milk on top or an extra charge for having a filling inside the middle such as condensed milk or peanut butter. This price includes the hot drink (+$1 for cold drink) during the tea time period(2:30-5 pm). The porkchop cutlet w/ tomato sauce and rice cost around $8-$9. Our total bill came to ~$17 after tax/tip. Phoenix is definitely not a cheap restaurant but the food is always good and you can be sure that there will be a lineup during weekends or busy hours. It is located at Woodbine/Steeles (just south of the Frankie Tomato's). They also have a location further north on McCowan between 16th and Highway 7.