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Fancy Chinese Cuisine
Category: Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Dim Sum [Edit]
7750 Kennedy RoadUnit 4
Markham, ON L3R 0A7
(905) 475-2822
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
18 reviews for Fancy Chinese Cuisine
18 reviews in English
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Review from Elaine K.
Damn girl! You fancy!
My family came for a birthday dinner for my bro. After braving the nightmarish parking lot (kind of small considering all the restaurants in the place) I was greeted by a sign on the door that said "fully booked, please reserve ahead next time" or something. My brother and I had a chuckle about that. Seriously, when is a Chinese restaurant ever FULLY BOOKED?! The servers all had these LED flashing nametags that were pretty cheesy, and the decor was classic Chinese Restaurant: peach wallpaper and recessed coloured fluorescent strips in the ceiling.
When the food came, I was pleasantly surprised. Then more came and I was in heaven. Basically, every dish tasted really really good. My bro is a fried rice snob, and he stated the that fried rice was top notch. I really enjoyed the deep fried fish in corn sauce.. still crispy under the sauce. Their deep fried pork chop also managed to be tender and not greasy at all. The peking duck with flour and lettuce wraps were also really great. Service was good and the food came out quickly. We had a ton of other dishes that I can't name/remember at the moment. There was a LOT of food. For dessert, they had three kinds at our table: my favourite sweet tofu soup thing, a sweet sesame soup thing and the dreaded red bean soup. Two out of three ain't bad.
All in all, it was a little less than $20 per person including tax and tip which is considered expensive for my family, but I think it's a steal. We had tons of leftovers to take home.
I will definitely be back for dinner with friends. I'm already planning on coming back here for my birthday. Next time, we're totally going to try their seafood.
If you'd like to go for dinner, make sure to reserve about a week ahead. -
Review from Fern H.
3/7/2012
Oh you fancy, huh?
We were trolling Markham for a dinner place when I remembered Fancy. We had been here once before about a year ago, when reservations were needed about a week in advance and there was still a 20 min. wait for a table.
On this particular Monday night though, we were able to stroll in sans reservation around 8pm and get a table for four with ease.
We decided to go with the set dinner for 4 ($53.95) which included our choice of a main like lobster, bass, crab, etc and then 3 other dishes. We chose lobster, beef with bak choi, deep fried salt and pepper fish and half a crispy chicken.
Dinner started with complimentary house soup and then our dishes arrived quickly after. Lobster was good with impressive meaty pieces. Beef and bak choi, a bit on the greasy side and bak choi cooked pretty al dente but I prefer it this way. Salt and pepper fish...so salty, so satisfying. Crispy chicken, just crispy like it's namesake. Portion sizes were good and along with 3 bowls of rice, it was just enough food for the four of us (no leftovers).
Dessert was a choice of red/green bean soup or warm tofu (tofu faa), and a few cookies. Other tables got sesame balls but we did not.
Service was not bad. Wait staff had a sense of humour and were efficient at taking away empty plates and lobster shells. And how could you not love those flashing neon name tags? Just when I thought the service industry couldn't introduce any more flair.
They don't take VISA so cash is probably preferred.
We'll be back if we're in the 'hood again. -
Review from Mary C.
Richmond Hill, ON
2/29/2012
First off, if you ever want to come here, make sure you make a reservation. If not, don't even think about it. They perpetually have a sign on their door that says "fully booked"
Secondly, I want to commend this restaurant other English name selection (common, FANCY CHINESE CUISINE?). But even more, I would like to commend their Chinese name selection. It is essentially named after the wealthiest business man in all of Asia. Not that it has anything to do with anything, just wanted to point it out.
The food here is actually pretty good, and this is coming from a Chinese person born and raised eating Chinese food from the homeland. You can't go wrong ordering the peking duck, lobster, chinese style deep fried chicken, and the sweet and sour prawns. Oh man don't even get me started on the sweet and sour prawns. I think I ate the entire plate. Addictive!
If you have a big enough group of people, they will serve you a tofu dessert at the end of the meal that comes in an wooden bamboo pot. It is so very very smooth and delicious!
It is a bit more pricey here, but the food you get is well worth the extra shiny penny. -
Review from Laura C.
Toronto, ON
10/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
Not too shabby.
Made a reservation about a 1.5 weeks in advance and I was surprised I was on the list. We got our table in about 15 mins of waiting. I don't really understand their queuing system, but i think we were just put in priority bc we made a reservation.
Food choices, are your basics. Har Gow, congee, rice noodle rolls, turnip cake etc. Prices range from $2.70-3 depends on size. If you order before 11:30 on Saturday, it's $2.50. I think this is why I made a res. for 11am, and we didn't seat until closer to 11:20. After looking at the menu, I made out the chinese at the bottom and I was like omg!!
We were on the border line of this cut off, and i don't think she gave us this deal.
Stuff didn't taste terrible, except some got cold quickly, but nothing I would run home and call about. I've had better for simliar price.
There are three things on the dim sum menu with no translation. I have learnt that if in doubt, do not order it. We were looking for some vegetarian dishes and I read the first two words of a 4 part phrase (Gow Choy, nine vegetable, garlic chives). I thought it was a dumpling. UHHH, I ended up with blood cubes, with the chives on top. Fail. And I've learnt my lesson.
Service was okay. Not especially fast, but they were busy. Our dessert arrived first, but good thing it was supposed to be served room temperature.
Wouldn't come out of my way for here, but if in the area, an okay choice.Listed in: OCT 2011 - 30 days Yelp…
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Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
Finally, Finally, I got to order the special set meal I been wanting to try!
Our table has some disagreement on either lobster or crab... but crab wins!!
And we have more disagreement on what to order as the 3 other dishes from the set menu.... But all I care was I going to have my crab!!
The XO sauce was spiced by real fresh Thai chili! While my dinner mates were in tears, I saved them by eating all the chili and most of the crab!
- Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet
- Chinese Broccoli with Beef
- Fish Fillet with King Mushroom
I guess they all tasted not bad as my dinner mate finished most of them while I busy eating my crab.
3 choices for dessert... and I got to try them all too!!
The only complaint is they ran out of the complimentary soup of the day!
With 10% discount our bill came out to be $53 with taxes!Listed in: Yelp 30 Day Challenge October…, Cantonese Food in GTA!, Sharing is NOT an Option!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/2/2010
I think Fancy Chinese Cuisine is one of the most unfriendly restaurant if you are coming as a party… Read more »
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Review from Rao R.
Brampton, ON
2/10/2012
I have heard many great things about this restaurant and wanted to try it. I finally did and it met my expectations of what it should be. Fancy Chinese Cuisine demonstrates what Authentic Chinese Cuisines is about but has a few flaws that stop it from being one of the best in Markham. The restaurant decor is nice but really nothing special about it. The servers are attentive and will always be as helpful as possible. We ordered the four course dinner (Lobster, stir fried bak choy, etc with rice) and the dishes were very flavorful. However, some of the dishes we ordered were bland and overcooked. Overall, this restaurant is a very good and I recommend this to anyone looking for a Chinese place to eat at. I rate this 4 stars out of five. If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to ask.
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Review from Yvonne T.
I have heard many aunties and uncles ranting and raving about how good the food is at Fancy Chinese Cuisine, and how hard it is to book a reservation. It is alleged that without a reservation you shouldn't even think about stepping foot in this restaurant - even on a weekday! It is also alleged that you must make reservations 2 weeks in advance. With all this hype - I had to go see for myself if these allegations were true.
The place was indeed pretty busy for a weekday. Upon entering, I noticed a sign on the door that said "FULLY BOOKED." I am just wondering if they keep that sign up permanently or if they really ARE that popular as I have passed by many a times and the same sign was hanging on the door. Fabricated demand (e.g. marketing tactic?) or truth? I would soon find out.
Whenever we go out with my uncle, we let him do the ordering. Tonight, the fate of my taste buds would again, rest in his hands. My uncle likes fried, or roasted things - things with a nice crunchy texture and he loves his carbs. So I was not surprised at his menu selection tonight.
Appetizer:
Daikon Radish and Pork Bone Soup - The natural "sweetness" of the daikon radish gave this soup a really refreshing flavour. Although it was not a highly concentrated soup, it was quite tasty. But it was not as "lo for" (old fire) as I've had. The term "lo for" refers to the amount of intense flavour that is attributed to the beef/chicken/pork bones that are used to form the soup base, usually, from long hours of slow cooking.
Courses:
Roasted Pork with Wakame Salad & Jellyfish - The pork was really salty and had an odd taste to it. The skin was not the crispiest either. However, I liked that the pork was the right amount of fat to meat as sometimes all you are eating are mouthfuls of fat. They could've been a bit more generous with the serving of jellyfish that accompanied the pork.
Garlic-Roasted Chicken - Chicken was tender and juicy though lacking in any real flavour. The skin was nice and crisp and I loved the fried bits of minced garlic. I hope I brought a stick of gum?
Ginger-Scallion Braised Lobster - This was a tasty dish, and the size of the lobster was bigger than most restaurants I've eaten at. My sister always goes for the tail, and she pulled out a substantial chunk of meat from it. The lobster was fresh, and meat was solid. Yum!
Yeung Chow Fried Rice - Pretty standard. Has chunks of barbecued pork, shrimp, and broccoli in it. It was not too oily nor too salty. Just right.
Fried Calamari w/ Tempura Jalapenos - This was an interesting dish. Portion sizes were mini-esque though. It was a spicy dish. The batter was light and not too oily.
Honey Garlic Beef & Chinese Broccoli - A tad bit on the sweet side for me. If you're bringing your nana do not order this dish as she might chip a tooth in her dentures trying to eat the Chinese Broccoli stems. If I were making a land model, the broccoli would've been one of the trees.
Sweet & Sour Battered Fish - The batter, again, was fresh and not soaked in oil. The colour was a nice pale yellow, which means they use fresh oil (thank goodness!).
Dessert:
What I loved about Fancy was that desserts are served in individual portions which meant that everyone could get their heart's desire. You could choose from: Red Bean Soup, Black Sesame Soup and Tofu w/ Simple Syrup. I ordered the Tofu w/ Simple Syrup and they neglected to include the syrup. I had to ask for them to bring it. I looked around and saw that other tables, in addition to their sweet soup of choice, got a plate of green tea cookies and sesame balls. Not sure if this depends on the amount you spend, or if you have to order their set dinners. But we didn't get to sample these.
Verdict:
The Chinese name of Fancy Chinese Cuisine is Li Ka Shing, which phonetically sounds like the name of the well-known Hong Kong tycoon who is the richest man of East Asian decent, and the world's 10th wealthiest. However, something tells me that if Mr. Li were to visit Toronto that he wouldn't choose to dine at Fancy.
Some of the dishes were a hit, some of them were a miss - but there was nothing that really stood out in my mind that differentiated their cuisine from other Chinese restaurants I've been to. Some points of differentiation from the service standpoint included: replacing dirty dishes with clean ones and providing wet naps. From a plating and presentation perspective, Fancy really doesn't make it a priority. The dishes came out at assembly-line speeds as we found ourselves eating at competitive speeds just to make space for the courses as they arrived at the table. However, the high-speed service came to a lull once we were finished our main courses. The bill appeared at the table even before dessert was served. It felt as if we became an afterthought once the main courses were served and the bill was paid. Parking was not a problem, but keep in mind I went on a weekday. -
Review from Rana L.
10/13/2011
Came here for a baby's 100 day celebration. The food overall was very good.
Service was ....ummm def had better. The waiter was polite but had little experience hence no clue what he was doing. Often times he would forget to serve the food for us. Or served more to others that some of us had nothing left (me!). First course (the pig)...I love my jellyfish but there was none left for me :( I almost didn't get a crab claw (2nd course) until my FIL spoke up.
The rest of the dishes were good and warm (yummm lobster... veggies....soup etc). Def. alright & a good place to bring a big family or relatives. The sweet tofu dessert was very well made. So soft and yummy. I also liked the green tea biscuits.
Washroom was clean :) -
Review from Jasper C.
York, ON
2/11/2012
Like its distant cousins, Ginger & Onion and Honey & Garlic, Fancy offers an efficient, somewhat inconsistent fare, though reasonably priced and in a pleasant and comfortable setting. Nothing in particular stands out on the menu - although the tofu dessert is better than most. I imagine everything is done by the book in the kitchen. I compare the food to that at Asian Legend - generic and not much imagination. You go there because it's a safe choice.
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Review from Velshin C.
7/1/2011
Seafood: excellent. Everything else: mediocre or bad.
We had a Cantonese banquet-style dinner of about 15 dishes. The shrimp was among the best we've ever had. The special grouper (not sure the proper name of the fish) was soft, succulent, and insanely delicious.
The non-seafood dishes were one disappointment after another. From lettuce wraps ("san choi bao") to Beijing duck to simple stir fried vegetables ("bok choi zai"), every one of them was broken in one way or another. The lettuce wraps duck meat was overcooked and too crunchy to chew, the veg dishes smothered in oil and rendered nearly inedible.
Go for the seafood, skip the rest. -
Review from BeBe K.
Markham, ON
1/9/2012 2 Check-ins Here
I had a terrible experience there. As we were waiting to be seated, the lady at the counter spoke to us in this very annoyed tone of voice, and kept on giving everybody annoyed looks. During dinner, we first ordered a 6 course meal, and they gave us free soup. However, because we had a few more people joined us, so the soup and food was gone fast. So we ordered for more food and asked for more soup. Before the food was served, they took away all our utensils along with the soup we asked for (it was still full), and only left us the tea. When we told the waitress who took our tableware away, and ask for replacement, because the elder really wanted the soup, I could not believe the waitress actually said it's already been taken away, she cannot replace it, and there's nothing she can do about it. So we ask for the manager on duty, the manager herself, only gave us new utensils, not a single sorry. The moment our food arrive, the waiter rush over to ask if we would like our dessert serve also. I did notice, they were closing, but it was around 10PM, so I think they were trying to rush us out. I still got to say this, we're paying customers!!
I personally would not even give this restaurant a star. However, Yelp requires at least 1 star.
Terrible service, food was alright, nothing special. Price was fair.
Would I recommend/return? NO!! -
Review from Tanya N.
3/9/2011
I've come here for both dinner and dim sum.
For dinner, we were able to get one of the private rooms behind the cashier's desk. We had one of the banquet set meals for 12 people. The service was great and the food was delicious.
For dim sum, I came here around 10:30am on a weekday. There was a bit of a line up as it's cheaper before 11:30am. I think it's $2 per plate before this time. Dim sum was delicious and service was adequate. Dumplings didn't tear apart when you take them out of the steamer so no picking at the fallen filling that's left in the steamer afterwards.
Yay! I'm a fan. -
Review from Vivian L.
Scarborough, ON
4/14/2011
I've only really been here for dim sum, so I can't really comment on the dinner experience. Originally this restaurant was only so so, but there seems to have been a change in their employees because much of the older managers/waiters have been replaced by relatively younger workers. (I noticed this months ago, so not exactly a new change.)Most would think that the younger crew would be less responsible, but ironically they actually seem to be working harder than the original set of workers, which helped to improve my experience at the restaurant.
Food wise, I believe that it's among the better dim sum places that provides quality food, along with affordable pricing. Some may argue that restaurants such as Spring Court Villa have better dim sum, but even if that were true, you'd be paying double the bill that you would get at Fancy at Spring Court. Food is flavourful, and of course there's msg but for a Chinese restaurant it's not that bad. Some of my fave dishes include the egg/milk tart, chicken pie, and chicken feet (if you think it sounds gross, just give it a chance!)
Overall this restaurant offers good food, with a good price to boot. My go to dimsum restaurant with my fam ;)
EDIT: In addition, you order by filling in a sheet, but there are some items that they roll around in carts. So they've combined both the efficiency of sheets and the cultural value of dimsum carts! A popular cart item is the tofu fa. I personally have never tried it, but I've heard good things, and it comes in a BIG tub to share =) -
Review from Heather B.
Scarborough, ON
5/1/2011
First off - PARKING in this place is absolutely insane!
The restaurant is located in a tiny little plaza where there is limited parking.
The overflow ended up at the Mr Sub next door but then I was chased by him because I was using his customer parking (fine fair enough).
I ended up further away at a pizza pizza by the next traffic light which was a short walk over but come on! I want to park where Im eating people!!
I would make reservations. I think I was there at prime time for eating (Sat night at 8:00pm) there was a lineup out the door.
Although the restuarant is basically at full capacity - the staff are quick to get the ball rolling. I would suggest if you are not asian (like myself) that you have an asian friend or crowd with you - the 'specials' are basically in chinese so if you want the english menu you're probably getting riped off.
I had 9 people in my party and we ordered from the special chinese menu.
We had 6 dishes plus 2 desserts. The bill came to roughly $112 which ended up being $15/person.
The food came quickly and hot. In all we had - 2 dishes with duck, pineapple chicken, soup broth, BBQ ribs, lobster, fried porkchop, seseme sessert (like black soup lol) and the tofu looking soup with sweet syrup.
I was pretty stuffed and there was plenty of food to go around.
I would say I have had better chinese food - but I would like to try their Dim Sum since everyone on here seems to rave about it.
I will definetely go here again however maybe at a different time.
However I suppose it's good to walk off your meal :P -
Review from Calvin S.
Markham, ON
5/18/2011
I've came here for dinner a couple of times already. Aside from the parking issue (yes, PARKING UGH), I've been overall quite satisfied with the food. I especially enjoy the Peking Duck they have, it's definitely a must.
One question I would have is where's the "Fancy" part in this place? It's sure not the decor, and the service is average at best. I wouldn't say the food is fancy, because it would be served by glitter gold plates if it really was.
PS: It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you reserve. If not, expect a minimum 30 minute wait (I waited an hour once).
Fun fact: This place almost translates to Li-Ka Shing, who is the millionaire living in China. -
Review from Patty L.
North York, ON
I came here for dinner last night with a group of 8 people and it was quite busy for a Monday night - which gave me some hope for this restaurant.
The decor is simple - no gaudy chandeliers or gold gilded walls here. Instead there is light wood paneling on the walls, halogen lights recessed into the ceiling and blue "mood lighting" strips over the center part of the ceiling. The front/back part of the restaurant can be partitioned off to make a private room.
What I noticed right away was the overall cleanliness - the tablecloths are bleached white brocade fabric, you can see into part of the kitchen from the main dining room, dirty dishes that the waiters clear away are put into Rubbermaid storage containers with lids (so they can be stacked, and also don't look disgusting to customers walking by the "cleanup station") The washrooms have no doors - they are airport style where you walk around a little wall. I liked this since restrooms at Chinese restaurants are usually gross and I never want to touch anything... Automated soap and pull-down paper towel dispesers are also a nice touch. Obviously the manager here thought about hygiene.
The food was pretty good but service was a bit slow. About 4 of our main dishes made it to the table before we were brought our tureen of soup. A few bowls of white rice also took about 10 minutes to get to us. We ordered 3 large crabs prepared 2 ways - fried with chili salt, and wok fried with ginger and scallions. Both were too salty even though we had requested that they be prepared with less salt when we ordered and overall it took away from the crabs. Other things like chicken, fish, stir-fried beef with gai lan (Chinese broccoli) were good, not exceptional. The pork ribs were not impressive.
For dessert I've been used to getting a tureen of red bean dessert soup tossed at me at almost every Chinese restaurant I've been to in the past few years, so I was very surprised and delighted that they brought out THREE desserts for us! There was the red bean soup, but also black sesame (tzee ma woo) and tofu dessert soup (dou fu fa).
Dinner for 8 came to about $120 (with taxes and gratuity). The parking lot in this plaza is small considering there are lots of restaurants in it. It got busier later in the evening (around 7:30-8pm).
During peak evening dining times (Thurs-Sun, after 7pm) be sure to call a couple of days ahead to book a reservation; in fact just save yourself some grief and book a reservation regardless! Each time I come here there's a sign taped to the door saying "Fully Booked" - meaning they don't even want to bother dealing with walk-ins and apologizing for being busy.
(I also noticed the security cameras all around the restaurant... Wonder what they are spying on... ) -
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
4/13/2010 8 photos
Once again another Chinese restaurant makes an attempt to fill this corner at 14th ave. and Kennedy rd. and it opened just recently so when I came here on Wednesday 2:00 pm hoping everyone is at work, NOPE! I was one of the younger person there though, at least give me that.
Waited behind approximately 5 groups of 3+ and as I wait I heard a guy at a table said "Hot Pot Rice" again? as 1 of 2 Push-Cart Lady circled their table but this is an ORDER FORM style place. The ONLY other cart was for Egg Tarts.
Another table ordered what I found later to be Egg White Stir Fried Glass Noodle and the Waitress ask them "What a Deal?" where I found later on it's a lunch special item for $5.95 that can feed 2.
The atmosphere here is no longer Traditional Chinese like it's predecessors but it is more Modernized Casual which makes it more relaxing for me so it doesn't feel like you're going to a Banquet Dinner.
Monday - Friday ($2.00, except special items)
8:30 am - 11:30 am
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Weekends ($2.30, except special items)
8:30 am - 11:30 am
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
The PEAK(11:30 am - 1:30 pm) time has specified pricing.
The Dim Sum pricing is inline with the immediate area as it's only a block away from Honey & Garlic. The Lunch Special list looked on point as well, as my nose lead me to the Ginger Onion LOBSTER pot(9.95) I saw at the next table.
The Hot Pot Rice(Ribs & Chicken Feet) was standard but what was NEW to me was the POT they used which is more like the Cast Iron used for HK Sizzling Steaks rather than Ceramic.
Egg White Stir Fried Glass Noodle I mentioned above was good too and I realized it had Pork Bites in it as well as Fried Dried Scallop Shreds on top. Took HALF of this home for my family.
Shrimp Dumpling is NICE, Chiu Chow Dumpling had good clean filling that wasn't mixed into a SLOPPY mess, Egg Tarts were FLAKY but Tiny.
Ordered Pan Fried Seafood Pan Cake which felt like it was all DOUGH so I will not try it next time. Another unique item was Sticky Rice Roll w/Mango which was nice and CRISPY outside but I wish there's more Mango flavour inside but worth a try.
The old standard for me is always Siu Mai, but this one was SUBPAR as it looked a little mangled and didn't fit the standard SHAPE. It had a piece of Shrimp in it as well as Fish Eggs(Tobiko) on top and something else I was able to PICK OUT, a small whole piece of Pork Fat. I love Pork Fat as much as the next guy, but not in this application. I only had 1 Siu Mai, so maybe I got LUCKY.
IF you want to come for a LATE LUNCH, I observed that around 2:30 pm about half the tables became available. I also saw a Hand Sanitizer on their wall next to the FISHY in the tanks. You will notice the KING CRABS for sure while you wait.
FYI, there's around 4 Security Cameras scanning the area which is displayed on an LCD behind the register counter. SMILE!Listed in: Southern Chinese Food
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Review from maverick m.
Toronto, ON
12/13/2011
Just *just* had a 10 course meal here and am impressed with the quality of food and speed of service. Had their house soup (complementary), 1/2 fried chicken (add on to the 10 course meal), peking duck, bok choi in fish broth (not a fan), fried tofu with seafood sauce, fish with veggie stir fry, crystal wrap which is diced duck from the peking duck served with lettuce, a few bowls of white rice, sweet n sour pork, 1/2 cold chicken, 5 desserts for the table (lotus buns, sesame with egg yolk custard, green tea cookies, tofu dessert, red bean dessert and black sesame dessert). I expected a huge bill but it only came out to $30, tax included. Not bad not bad... I wasn't there for the ordering process but our other table had crab instead of lobster and spicy tofu with chives instead of the tofu seafood dish we had. Would return here for a family gathering. It is not ultra fancy but there seem to be fancier people. It is not as loud as in your typical chinese restaurant.
