4300 Steeles Avenue E.
Markham, Ontario
905.470.8785
website
Golden Regency Restaurant
(second floor)
905.948.8811
While my family was visiting over Easter weekend, we decided to head to Pacific Mall in Markham on Saturday afternoon. We had talked about going there a few times but never got around to it on previous visits. Pacific Mall is a huge Asian mall in Markham, where there is a large Asian population. In the mall, you can find little stalls selling all sorts of things, such as clothing, shoes, electronics, illegal DVD's, jewelry and even car rims.
We shopped for an hour or so on the first floor. My sister was interested in looking at very affordable and funky clothing. However, it seems that all the clothing stalls seemed to offer very similar, or even the same, products. We did not end up buying anything.
We then decided to go check out the second floor where we saw a mini food court. Even though dinner was fast approaching, my sister and her boyfriend couldn't resist ordering some food to bind them over. They decided to order shrimp rice noodle rolls and fried wontons at Good Taste Garden, which seemed to offer dim sum treats. Although both were good, we were most impressed by the piping hot wontons, that were generously stuffed with shrimp and served with mayo.
Har Cheong, shrimp filled rice noodle roll and fried wontons.
We then checked out another section of the mall on the second floor, where we were led to another food stall by the sweet smell being emitted. This small was selling freshly made sweet Chinese treats. My sister L bought a package of sweet egg rolls that she saved for later. I've had these egg rolls before but it came from a box; they're a perfectly flaky, not too sweet treat. My mom bought us some waffle-looking pancake treat that we wolfed down on the spot. There's nothing better than a freshly made, still warm, sweet dough-ey treat. They also made little cakes stuffed with red bean paste that we did not buy but enjoyed watching being made.
At the top, egg batter being poured and rolled for sweet egg rolls. Bottom left, waffle-like dough. Bottom right, red paste being piped.
Bubble Tea offering.
We came in to find a part of the restaurant closed off for a party. For our meal, we could hear high pitch Chinese singing... Once we sat down, we were very much underwhelmed by the menu. The offerings seemed pretty limited and prices were on the high side compared to other Chinese restaurants. We decided on our usual, including seafood and beef chow mein, salt & pepper shrimp and General Tao chicken. My sister was craving a whole fried fish. Since the items we wanted did not all seem to be on the menu, we tried to order off the menu, first in English and then my mom struggled in Cantonese. She would say something and the waitress would repeat something that didn't really sound the same.
We then checked out another section of the mall on the second floor, where we were led to another food stall by the sweet smell being emitted. This small was selling freshly made sweet Chinese treats. My sister L bought a package of sweet egg rolls that she saved for later. I've had these egg rolls before but it came from a box; they're a perfectly flaky, not too sweet treat. My mom bought us some waffle-looking pancake treat that we wolfed down on the spot. There's nothing better than a freshly made, still warm, sweet dough-ey treat. They also made little cakes stuffed with red bean paste that we did not buy but enjoyed watching being made.
At the top, egg batter being poured and rolled for sweet egg rolls. Bottom left, waffle-like dough. Bottom right, red paste being piped.
Next up, we finished walking around the first floor. My sister was thirsty and got herself a bubble tea. She did not order any of the interesting food items, including beef stripe (I'm guessing they meant tripe) or ICE RICE.
Bubble Tea offering.
After having fully explored the main building, we decided to take a look at an adjacent one. There, we found a large store with very affordable Japanese wares. My sister and her boyfriend came out with a few very nice bowls. We were then all ready for dinner. We noticed a Chinese restaurant but there was a long line. We decided to head back to the second floor of the main building and have dinner at the Golden Regency Restaurant that we had previously noticed.
Golden Regency Restaurant.
We came in to find a part of the restaurant closed off for a party. For our meal, we could hear high pitch Chinese singing... Once we sat down, we were very much underwhelmed by the menu. The offerings seemed pretty limited and prices were on the high side compared to other Chinese restaurants. We decided on our usual, including seafood and beef chow mein, salt & pepper shrimp and General Tao chicken. My sister was craving a whole fried fish. Since the items we wanted did not all seem to be on the menu, we tried to order off the menu, first in English and then my mom struggled in Cantonese. She would say something and the waitress would repeat something that didn't really sound the same.
Seafood chow mein.
The food arrived very quickly. Once the dish was placed on the table, the waiter would quickly try to divide the dish and serve it up. I would hastily try to snap a picture. It was a bit annoying since we did not necessarily all want the same thing. It was very handy for the fish dish to have the waiter quickly debone it so we could more easily eat it. The tilapia that was fried with a soy sauce on top was good, thought it seemed there was not much meat on it.
Salt & pepper shrimp.
Before and after deboning the fish.
I don't have a picture of the General Tao chicken but we actually enjoyed it. It did not taste like typical red sauce General Tao chicken. We were surprised by the salt & pepper shrimp; it did not look or taste like the usual. It consisted of large tiger shrimps with sliced of onion, or rather it was a dish of onion with some shrimp. It was good enough but it wasn't what we wanted.
I don't have a picture of the General Tao chicken but we actually enjoyed it. It did not taste like typical red sauce General Tao chicken. We were surprised by the salt & pepper shrimp; it did not look or taste like the usual. It consisted of large tiger shrimps with sliced of onion, or rather it was a dish of onion with some shrimp. It was good enough but it wasn't what we wanted.
Salt & pepper shrimp.
Overall, we were disappointed by our meal at the Golden Regency Restaurant. Not only did it not meet our standard but it was rather pricey. So much so that a week later, my family went to another Chinese restaurant back in Montréal.
The Pacific Mall is worth visiting at least once if you're in the area. It was about an hour drive from Hamilton but it's probably 10-15 minutes from Toronto. Once you're in the area, it feels like you could easily be in Asia, though definitely less crowded. We did not find anything to buy except for the Japanese wares although if you're into illegal DVD's or Chinese treats, this is the place to be! (Chinese food was not the sole offering. There were Japanese and Korean restaurants in the main building. We only saw a Vietnamese restaurant in an adjacent building though.)
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