We have landed in Toronto safe and sound. The flight was pretty uneventful. Sally was extremely well behaved for her first time on a plane. I think she actually liked it. I was shocked at the number of babies on our flight. I guess many people are flying to Toronto to visit family members, which is one of the reasons I’m here.
We didn’t waste much time after landing in the “center of the universe.” Instead of heading to the place we are staying at, we went directly to dinner with some family members at Very Fair Seafood Cuisine. No, I am not making that up, that is the English name of the restaurant. The Chinese name doesn’t translate to very fair at all. I noticed many Asian restaurants have English and Chinese names that are completely unrelated to each other. I guess the restaurant doesn’t care what English name they choose because they don’t get many non-Asian customers. One look at the menu and you’ll understand why.
It’s pretty hard to attract English customers when your entire menu is in Chinese. The above menu is the standard 11 course, stuff your face until you can’t eat you more, menu. It’s way too much food for nine people to eat but it’s designed that way on purpose. It is considered bad in Chinese culture if the dinners consume all the food and have no leftovers. It means the host was too cheap. Here are photos of all 11 courses.
Dinner came to $540, which was very reasonable for nine people and the amount of food we had. I’m sure I’ll end up spending that much just for two at Susur.
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(12 votes, average: 3.83 out of 5)
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wow that looks absolutely delish!
Is making us all jealous part of your evil plan?
NO descriptions of the courses? You must be busy!
It all looks damn tasty, cept for those fish heads~
id eat the fish but not the heads
Yeah those fish heads look nasty…
I’m no food expert, but I think that 8th dish is a steamed grouper — those are just too good.
How many Torontians does it take to change a light bulb? Just one: he holds up the light bulb and the world turns around him.
Montreal = cool. Toronto = not so much.
Hey now, be nice!
Note to self: never visit John Chow’s blog at night or I’ll just get hungry.
If you have time go to Saigon Palace (College and Spadina) and get #37. Was my favourite when I lived in T.O.
Bon appetit!
-Peter
Why at night? he posts these delicious pics 24/7!
Look very yummy to me
How’s it compare to Vancouver food?
It’s about the same but that lobster was HUGE!!!!
You looked very happy in that picture, John; the food must’ve been really good. Can’t wait for your Susur review.
Wow! it seems the flight really made you get hungry, and the pictures made me get hungry!, enjoy Toronto! it is a nice City, do not forget to visite the CN Tower!
Wow, I don’t believe the places you eat at. For most of us regular folks, we might splurge a couple times a year to spend over $50 per person. Once again John, your success has motivated me. Thanks.
Adam
Theadambox.com
Motivated you do to what? spend all your money on food?
Nice Nice did you fly first class? Its way better..
Westjet only has one class. Very strange.
Not strange, cost effective
First class rules.
“May I take your coat Mr. Lau? Would you like a glass of champagne or orange juice?”
Hells yes.
i dont really like chinese food.
There happens to be a restaurant in San Antonio just like that. Menu in Madarin…and it’s one of my favs. It’s 2:00am CST and I’m hungry. Thanks for the food pics. I’m sure I’ll be full in a sec.
It’s funny, I’ve started reading all of the food entries, and I love seeing what each dish actually is. Here’s hoping that John updates with course descriptions.
blabEditor
i second that!
I didn’t know that about Chinese table manners. All this time I thought having leftovers was rude!
The food looks delicius!, It made me get hungry.
Hope you enjoy your visit to Toronto it is a great city!
I am just starting reading you, and I can see you really like food!
Wow! the food looks just delicious, it made me get hungry,
hope you really enjoy your visit to this wonderful city, try to visit the Niagara Falls, and the CN Tower.
I am just starting to read you, and could see you really like good food.
A very typical 10 course Chinese meal
There is a restaurant in Toronto called
“Nice meeting you restaurant”
Are all of these odd names just a “literal translation” issue?
blabWire
That’s the thing — some are not even direct/literal translations. They just make sure the food is good; the name of the restaurant is somehow inconsequential.
I would love to be able to spend that much on food. But then again I spend more than that on couture :\
Well, keep it mind that it works out to $50 per person. That’s not too bad for an amazing dinner, and it most likely includes drinks, etc.
blabEditor
im hungry!
$540! for two people aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
sorry.
Nice one John, I think your site should have a section of ‘food, wining & dining’
whoops didn’t see that you have one already *embarassed*
cheers
“The Chinese name doesn’t translate to very fair at all”
– no wonder you can guys can’t translate the name, you can’t even speak English properly! Haha
I miss the Chinese food stuffing your face marathons, but don’t worry because I’ll be home soon!
There are a lot of Asian restos that have really odd English names, but the food rocks anyway.
So is the rule of thumb the poorer the name, the better the food?
blabEditor
I guess the moral of the story is that the restaurant’s name only becomes secondary to such awesome food.
WOW! It all looks delicious
John, while you’re in town you’ve got to check out the Ambassador or Lai Wah Heen. Best Chinese in To.
I could support that effort quite handily! I usually prefer to know what I’m eating, but there’s enough there to skip things you aren’t sure of. I surely do miss good Asian food!
I have a hard time coming off $50 for a meal let alone $540, i’ll stick to my 20$ slab of ribs;)
It’s OK to splurge on food once in a while…especially if they look half as good as the courses above.
I don’t understand why you don’t weigh 1,000 pounds yet… plate after plate of food…
coz he’s ‘evil’
looks tasty
[...] Toronto readers, family has to come first. Yesterday, all the relatives gathered together at the Very Fair Chinese Seafood Restaurant for a mega dim sum fest. And I do mean [...]
Everything looks good about that restraunt except the menu! I hope the servants would help me out
i’m flying in from new york tommorow. I hope they have a menu for fewer people! Looks great.