Canteen

A few friends and I decided to try a new place while we were visiting Toronto and found the Canteen. Looking at the menu, it seemed like they had just about everything, and so as soon as we could get seats, we sat down.
As starters we ordered calamari, escargots, and the buttered garlic shrimp, all three of which were absolutely delicious, however the main courses were less than impressive. My one vegetarian friend ordered noodles and vegetables, and instead he had all sorts of meat in it, and they charged us for something completely different. My other friend had the seafood platter which was okay, and I had the fettucine pasta with.something. it was gross. The meat tasted like what I’d imagine dehydrated fungus would, the pasta was rubbery, and overall I just didn’t eat. I also had a mango smoothie, with was filled with my ice chunks than smoothie, but unfortunately I left the restaurant still hungry.
I got a hotdog from one of the stands at the corner of Spadina.

I went in to canteen on hearing they served hainan chicken rice. I placed my order and during the wait read through the Unilocal reviews to see what else on the menu might be worth a try, and ended up reading the review about finding a roach in the food… now I don’t know if it was that review, or if it was just the food itself, but by the time I was eating the food I felt gaggy and couldn’t really enjoy/​finish the food. Also, when being served the food, I asked the waitress for the accompanying soup that goes with hainan chicken rice, and was told «no, we don’t serve soup with it»… okay, didn’t really fault them for it if that’s how they served it… but after I paid at the counter and was walking out, saw another couple eating hainan chicken rice AND THEIRS CAME WITH SOUP. Whatever, at this point I’d already decided that Canteen wasn’t worth a second try based on their sub-​par chicken rice, seeing that the waitress jipped me out of a soup just sealed the deal.

A little on the pricier side for the food court quality food you get. One notable thing for me was the tea: it tastes like dish water and I only had one sip of it before deciding to abandon it. Won’t go back again, if you have the time and are downtown, go to kaiju instead for their excellent Japanese curry.

you cant go wrong with this place.
for less than 10 bucks you got soup, drink n the entrée
they serve great Hong Kong style (cha chaan teng) westernized food

You’ll be surprised by how tasty the food is here! My mom actually suggested this restaurant for me to try. We went there for an afternoon snack. We shared a ham and egg sandwich and escargot (with complimentary garlic bread). The escargot was surprisingly very good. Both meals came with complimentary tea.

You’d never expect it from seeing the exterior or the location, but their selection of Hong Kong style dishes is huge… but their quality was SHOCKING for the price.
Big portions, flavoured really well, and all for under $ 10 with soup and drink.
Highly recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a Hong Kong style café in downtown Toronto with totally acceptable prices.

I feel that this place is very underrated in the Spadina Chinatown area.
The fact that it’s hidden in a corner in the Dragon City mall, and has few prominent signs out front (drowned out by signs from other restaurants like Owl of Minerva, Yooj Express, and Sky Dragon), means that Canteen is not easy to find. However, take the time to go up to the second floor, and you’ll find Canteen to be a far superior alternative to the Chinese-​style fast food offered by Yooj Express.
Canteen serves what’s called «Hong Kong Steakhouse» food. Places like these usually include menu items such as noodles and rice as well as Western fare such as steaks, grilled fish, sizzling dishes and so on. For some strange reason, this kind of food is neither very abundant nor very good in Toronto’s Chinatown. This type of restaurant is very popular with Chinese people, especially people from Hong Kong, in the tradition of Café de Coral, because of large portions, variety of food and reasonable prices.
I’ve had a few bad experiences trying out this style of food in the Spadina area (several spots along Dundas St. serve this food, but they are pretty pathetic, and I’m not going back). Canteen is the one that passes the grade.
I usually order something simple such as the Pepper and Salt Pork Chops with rice. They make a pretty good Ox Tongue in White Sauce (a very hit-​or-​miss dish, usually), and their Sweet and Sour beef is good. For larger dishes they have a really great sole fish/​chicken steak combo, and you can get some very delicious fried rice to go with it. With your soup comes some simple yet great garlic toast. And their iced milk tea is well above average.
I wish Canteen would improve its décor a bit, because it’s quite dark, a bit cramped, and adding to its somewhat hidden location, it just doesn’t catch the eye. But give it a chance and you’ll find it to be quite a good contender in the area for fast, uncomplicated, reliable food.

A modernized asian fusion as I’m not a fan of mainland food. A variety of HK, Malaysian and Singaporen food. Curry fish head noodle is my fav so far, sambal fried rice is good as well (bit too salty, also it’s pretty spicy for non heat lover) and i always order lemon coke (i don’t see elsewhere serving this).
The only con is, they only accept cash.
RECENT UPDATE:
They serve SAMBAL PETAI AND SHRIMP WITH RICE. OMG. DIED.
It’s a but pricey though like around $ 11-​$ 12 but hey it’s worth it if it helps to remedy homesickness.

Right in the most recognizable building in Chinatown (always being shown on TV), the Dragon City, it’s Can*Teen.
Canteen: a restaurant attached to a factory, school, etc., providing meals for large numbers of people (reference:the free dictionary
)
they serves great Hong Kong style westernized food, and with few other Asian signature dishes.
they have a rotating list of lunch specials, with the Steak always on it, and for only $ 10.99, it’s a great deal.
(Lunch special comes with a soup and a coffee or tea)
My favorites are the Hainan Chicken Rice, Cutlet Pork Chops, Cutlet fish… (the list goes on and on…)
advise: please call ahead to order, as wait time could be long if they are busy.
²⁄₁₅

Wandered in as we were walking around Chinatown looking for a late lunch. Had their «afternoon tea» menu, which were specially priced HK-​style small plates. Really enjoyed our meal Malaysian noodles, Montréal grilled pork chop over spaghetti, Sambal fried rice, fried chicken wings, cold lemon tea, cold almond tea. The whole thing was $ 18. Friendly service in a casual setting. Lighting was indeed dim, but I found it relaxing and very chill. Would go again.

We were recommended by a local staff at a mini mall. He said the food was great! so we went here the next day for lunch.
The place is very dim. I then realized because most of the spot lights are out and they did not fix it. It is very noticable since some table were brightly lit and some weren’t. Places like this should be brightly lit, it is def not a romantic place or anything like that.
When taking our orders, the waitress looked annoyed when my friend change her food within a second of changing her mind. It wasn’t like they made the food already. She was still taking my order.
Most of the entrée came with soup of the day and garlic bread which is a plus. I really felt that the food was mediocre. The only good thing was the honey chicken wings. That was good!