Yu Garden

The xiao long baos are very good. I would say the best in Markham. The skin was very thin with a lot of soup. The soup inside was not very dense like other places. However the other dishes were average. Service here is okay. Would recommend giving this place a try.

Out of all the items we ordered, the ones that stood out the most were the steamed buns with soup (xiao long bao), onion pancake filled with beef and cured pork & vegetable fried rice. The rest were average dishes except one dish. Do not order the king sized steamed bun with a straw! There were no flavours in the soup… It tasted like the water the wontons were cooked in and the skin of the bun was soggy. A selling gimmick so save your money! Overall, this place wasn’t that impressive but if you crave the steamed buns with soup I would come and order that dish only.

I love Shanghai food, especially Xiao Long Bao (小籠包). Throughout the years I’ve tried numerous places in the GTA, but I haven’t found one that I really liked until I found this place. Their Xiao long Bao’s wraps are more delicate than most places, thin and smooth but still won’t break easily when picked up with chopsticks, and don’t get dry after leaving out for a while. The soup and filling inside tasted perfect. What I meant by perfect is they are tasty but you know there’s not a lot of MSG compare to most places. We talked to the servers and they told us they are the same company as the 南翔 in Shanghai, and their chef is from the same place as well.
There’re other dishes that I love too. Their drunken chicken is also the best in town. Again, I’ve tried this in numerous places.
Shanghai fried noodles, rice in soup (鹹肉菜泡飯), fried bun (生煎包), fried dumplings (鍋貼) are all simple stuff, but they can make them very delicious.
Their main dishes are also delicious. Haven’t try them all yet, but very interested in doing so.
Some people may find their dishes not flavorful enough. But this is probably due to the fact that they don’t put much MSG and salt, which I would appreciate. I don’t feel thirsty after eating here.
The place itself is clean and the seating is comfortable, not crowded at all. Even the servers may not look too friendly in the beginning, they’re very attentive.
Last but not least, their prices are very reasonable.

Left Shanghai my hometown 3 years already, this is the best place with Shanghai taste I ever visited. Look the menu, all those familiar names. I would recommend to all my friends from shanghai.

Pretty good, worth try it out. 粉絲汤,小dragon 包 都不错。。但高力豆沙does not like others. we don’t think it is makr by egg white.

I can’t tell if Yu Garden is authentic Shanghainese cuisine or not. The steamed pork buns were good but the rest weren’t impressive.
— Steamed pork bun (xiao long bao)
We ordered the steamed pork bun (xiao long bao) and truffle xiao long bao. The skin was thin and both were very juicy inside. You can’t really smell the truffle but somehow they were juicier and the meat inside was more tender.
— Crab roe soup in steamed bun
The crab roe soup was quite fishy. It was quite hot so be careful when using the straw. Should there be fillings inside? In the past when I had soup in steamed bun there was always a meat filling but this one has none. Not a dish that would fill you up.
— Salty soy milk
Salty soy milk is supposed to be served hot with preserved raddish, dried shrimp, fried dough, topped with loads of green onions, soy sauce, and chili oil. The vinegar mixed with the soy milk to create a creamy and custard-​like texture.
This is a big disappointment. The soy milk wasn’t rich enough and it was lukewarm. No fried dough in the soy milk. The texture was very watery.
— Rice rice in soup
The rice cake was chewy and well done but the soup wasn’t hot enough. Portion was pretty small.
— Soy sauce duck
First of the two cold dishes we ordered. The duck was meaty and not much fat. But the duck itself was pretty tasteless and the sauce didn’t get into the duck.
— Smoked fish
Another cold dish. It was done pretty well. It was quite juicy and I like the texture.

This place got me on the interesting xiao long baos. Unfortunately they were not as flavourful as I had expected them to be. The concept is quite interesting however, I really wish this place could just up the flavour. It was all very bland and doughy.
Stay away from the giant soup dumpling, the soup was very watery and after you drink it, you’re left with a giant piece of flavourless dough to attempt to eat.

I visited this place in an afternoon, so it won’t be crowded with so many people waiting for a seat. However, after I have been to this place myself. I really don’t get why people are so attracted to this place.
Some foods are yummy but you really have to know what to order in the first place, since some of their dishes still need improvement. The small soup filled bun was delicious and I really liked it. The other dishes were alright, you won’t be surprised by them and they tasted the same in other cheaper restaurants. However, do not order their large soup filled buns, it should have been way better than what I got. The soup inside does not really have a great taste and there is very few ingredients inside of it. Judging by the food, I would give this place a score of 3.5 stars (ordered 5 dishes and 3 of them are tasty, and one was okay)
The reason I give this place a 1-​star is because of its service. The food arrived on time and everything is okay. But the waiter/waitress’s manner was amazingly bad. The waitress had a hard time to recommend any dishes for us. And two of our ordered dishes cannot be made because they are out of pork meats I guess (well not the waiter/waitress’s fault). Aside from these, the main reason that I am really upset about this place was because of the waiter. He was cleaning the tables and not servicing us, and he farted very loudly right beside me while I am eating. I mean, why would anyone do that? He is not servicing anyone and the whole place only has two or three small groups of guests. He could have gone to the washroom or other places instead of disgust me while I am eating. I understand that there might be some circumstances that made him behave like that, but this is really rude to the customers who are currently enjoying their dinner.
In general, the decoration of the place was nice and the kitchen seems clean. But I won’t recommend this place to anyone due to the behaviour of the waiter and the waitress today.

1^st time here. The décor look nice but when walking notice that the big black titles on the floor kinda look greasy but it wasnt slippery just felt it was maybe hard to clean the type of tiles they used on the floor. Lighting was quite warmer side not the led light that blast in your eyes.
Friendly servers, we ordered the siu long bao mini 4 pc. Did not try the big one maybe next time. The flavor insude the siu long bao was nice. The soup inside the siu long bao tasted good.
We also had oily noodle withdryed shrimp, green onion and soy sauce. A bit blend to my taste. When the bowl of noodle arrived i mix the noodle trying to mix some of the soy sauce inside the bowl with the noodle but found that i would need more soy sauce inside the noodle. I can taste the freshness of the noodle and green onions.
Another dish we had was the tofu in a salted soup base. Inside had the soft tofu some dry seaweed. The soup had a very tiny bit of maybe chilly oil in it. Soup was kinda blend and the tofu was avg i think.
We also got the pan fried pork buns. Typically this dish is quite oily. The bun is pan fired in a bit of oil inside the pork bun is similar to siu long bao that has the pork soup inside the wrap. i typically add some dark vinegar. Tasted pretty good.
Last dish we had was fried pancake roll with beef and green onions by far my favorite. Love the sweetness of the sauce with the tender of the beef. Only minor adjustment i would say is make it a bit bigger felt it was a bit smaller.

I visited for dinner with family. We ordered a stir fried rice cake (炒年糕) and a few Shanghainese cold dishes and an order of pot stickers (鍋貼). All of us were stunned by how delicious, fresh and exquisite the food was.
Best — Smoked fish (熏魚) and pot stickers. The smoked fish at Yu Garden was juicy and a bit softer than the same dish I got at other places, indicating that it was freshly made not so too ago. The pot stickers had soup inside, even thought they were pan fried. They were my favourites of the evening.
Good– Rice cake and soy sauce duck (醬鴨). The soy sauce duck was meaty, lean and not oily at all. The sauce was boldly flavoured but there wasn’t much flavour in the meat. The rice cake was skillfully stir fried. The texture was firm but in a nice way. The flavour was delicate. I sprinkled salt onto it myself.
Okay — Jellyfish (海蜇). There were too much shredded toppings that their textures overshadowed the natural texture of the jellyfish. Furthermore, there was a slight sour taste in the dressing.
Dessert — Soufflé Egg White Balls with Red Bean Paste (高力豆沙). These balls were freshly made per order, so they came out round and puffy, exactly the way they were supposed to be. I really enjoyed them. They were the second best I have ever had in Toronto. I realize that I am paying for the culinary skills not the ingredients. I still think they are a bit expensive at $ 8 for 4 balls.
Decoration is nice. Services are attentive and professionally. It reflects the higher end status of this restaurant. I like Yu Garden overall. I feel comfortable to entertain friends and guests who enjoy Shanghainese food here.

Delicious Shanghainese food. Highly recommend the Minced Pork Steamed Bun (xiaolongbao), Pan Seared Pork Dumpling and the poached chicken.

A great Shanghi food restaurant. Maybe not the best in toronto, but at least in the top three of the many I have sampled.
Went on a sunday morning at 11:00 (when it opened). It was not empty but not way overcrowded like Ala Kitchen or Ding Tai Fung at First Markham Place. The location is nice and accessible and parking is easy too. Its in the location where Akbane AYCE sushi restaurant was before. They improved the space though and its not as dark & dreary as it was during the Akbane era. Its nice and clean too, at least in the dining area (i did not have a chance to visit the washroom facilities).
The menu is nice and easy to read and understand and has pictures for the non chinese speaking white guys such as myself. Its a full menu but not too extensive. You find all the Shanghi dishes you are looking for. The quality of the food is superb as well, and its authenticity as genuine Shanghi food was confirmed by the wife, who is from Shanghi and speaks Shanghinese.
I would certainly go back. My rating for itbwould be 4.5, but im rounding down, only because its relatively a bit more expensive compared to other Shanghi restaurants (which are in general a bit more expensive than the average chinese restaurant). And they accepted credit card, which was nice.
A winner in my opinion.

Most authentic shanghainese food I’ve had so far in Toronto. The restaurant has very modern décor and it is quite clean. The service was better than an average Chinese restaurant but nothing to rave about. The food was good and I felt the portion size was perfect for the price considering it is more of a 点心 store. We ordered a lot of dishes and the total came to $ 22 per person including tips.
The steamed dumplings filled with soup is amazing, the most authentic one I’ve had so far outside of shanghai. The fermented tofu was quite yummy too, very stinky. I would advise people to try the egg yolk stir fried shrimp as well. The only reason I took of a star is because of the fish, the duck and the large soup dumpling; these were not authentic and the flavor was very off.
Overall I am quite happy with this restaurant. As a shanghainese living in Toronto, it is very difficult to find good authentic food from home. Definitely will revisit.

Went to try this newly opened Shanghai restaurant today for the first time. We ordered 9 dishes and I rate each dish by star. Five star being the highest and one star the lowest.
1. Hot and sour soup. 3 star, average.
2. Truffle mushroom & pork steam bun. 4 star, quite unique with light purple colour. See photo.
3. Pan seared mini pork bun. 5 star, the only restaurant in this area that I went to that put sesame seeds and chives on the top of the bun (It is suppose to be). Good.
4. Crispy fried spring roll. 3 star, so so.
5. Deep fried onion pancake. 4 star, quite good.
6. Wheat gluten & black mushroom. 5 star, highly recommend.
7. Chilled smoked fish in spices. 4 ½ star, almost perfect.
8. Shanghai fried noodle. 3 star, couldn’t find any pork, disappoint dish.
9. Shanghai fried soft rice cake. 4 star, quite.
Mind you the portion is small. Not good if you are a big eater. Also it doesn’t serve glutinous rice roll with pork floss. Instead it serve rice cake, I haven’t tried it.
The service was good, a rarity in Chinese restaurant. And yes, it accept credit cards too, a rarity as well. Because it is a new restaurant, everything is new and clean. I consider this restaurant as upscale, it reflects on the price of the dishes.

first of all, when i first came in there was a huge line up. it took about 20 – 40 mins for us to be seated which is pretty atrocious. when we finally got seated we ordered right away (pan seared dumplings, fried rice sticks. peanut sauce noodles, soup dumplings, the giant dumpling with supposedly shark fin and meat inside, wontons and this jelly dessert) at first the orders came relatively fast and OMG THE PAN SEARED DUMPLINGS WERE SOOOOO GOOD, the rest were meh. we tried to add two more orders of those dumplings and it took about 30 mins for them to arrive AND when they FINALLY ARRIVED THEY DID NOT taste as good as the first batch which made me want to cry
like others said… their food are WAY overpriced for what you get. especially that jelly dessert i got. i am quite aware that the pictures on the menu can be quite deceiving but it was nothing compared to what i – no what my family had witnessed. literally we were expecting like a standard radish cake amount of the jelly BUT NO THEY LITRRALLY JUST TOOK ONE 5 BY 5 CM JRLLY DESSEY AND SPLIT IT INTO FOUR AND THAT WAS FOUR FOLLARS DOWN GNE DRAIN. it was seriously like a 2.5 by 2.5 piece of jelly that costed $ 1 like my dad is still complaining about it and it’s been like three weeks …
oh and their servers
are literal crap like rude and just rude
this restaurant would have gotten a one star but that pan seared dumpling (first batch) saved its crusty ass
oh and don’t expect to be full cause you’re not going to be full … if you decide to be brave and wanna try their food go ahead but im warning yall, you ain’t gonna be full
you’re gonna have to end up going to heros or subway next door

We went during soft opening.
Service was good but they did not know their menu very well. My son has peanut allergy so we have to be very careful. The menu itself didn’t give much description about each dish. They couldn’t confirm if some of the dishes had contact with peanuts…
I personally don’t like their noodle, soft no texture at all. Soup base was okay.
Everything is in small portion.
Their significant dish, soup inside a bun was not great neither… soup was tasteless.
My husband described it was like drinking water from a straw
I don’t think we will go back … nothing special that we want to go back.

This place did not live up the name. Tried the soup dumping, so disappointed. The soup inside taste like water rather than soup. Tofu is blend, scallion pancake taste like fried dough. Would not recommend and never come here again.

If you come here, don’t look to be full but rather to try something new. I tried most of their meat dumplings which were pretty good. They actually had sauce in them and definitely far from those you buy from the supermarket. The meat within them were cooked well but it came in a small portion 4 dumplings cost $ 4
I tried the soup filled dumpling which was $ 6 and I’d say it was really unique. The soup was quite good but once you’re done you’re sorta just left with the dumpling wrap. There wasn’t a lot of soup either but definitely a cool dish to try.
The staff were really nice and were at your service right away. The décor was pretty nice too, I wouldn’t say there’s anything special but it was very clean and gives off the classy vibe.
If you’re in the area it’s definitely a good place to try!

I am a little confused.
Yu Garden 南翔 is specialized in Shanghainese cuisine. Think soup filled dumplings which it is famous for.
I had been to one of the originall franchise in Singapore
so I had tried their famous King Size Crab Roe Dumpling bun.
Is Yu Garden the same franchise as Nan Xiang Steamed Bun which originated from Shanghai? I will need further investigation. But I will just rate my experience based on food.
Pork and Crab Meat Dumplings ($ 4) was tasty. I love the fried dried shredded scallop on top. Nice flavour. The wrapping though a little thick (good in a way that the soup would not leak out from the dumplings)
Spicy Meat Sauce Noodle ($ 6) was meh. Dice stewed pork, dried bean curd, potato with noodle in soup. I did not finish my noodle…
Décor is classy and nice.
Servers speaks a mix of Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Menu beautiful prepared with photos. Ordering would not be an issue.
I would be back and try out other items on the menu especially the Crab Roe Steamed Bun that one would need a big straw to drink the soup.