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Gourmet Garden Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Singaporean Restaurants Malaysian Singaporean, Malaysian [Edit]
45-46-4465 Sheppard Ave EScarborough, ON M1S 5H9
Neighbourhood: Scarborough
(416) 332-8765
- Hours:
Mon, Wed-Thu, Sun 11 am - 9 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 10 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Alcohol:
- No
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
15 reviews for Gourmet Garden Restaurant
15 reviews in English
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Review from edwin h.
3/19/2012 1 photo
Way in the East end of Scarborough where no subway dares to tread is a row of strip plazas that form one if T.dot's Chinatowns. Gourmet Garden is located in a nondescript building that looks like its being readied for redevelopment. One of several now closed food stalls that form a small food court, Gourmet Garden seems to have all the customers to themselves. One taste of their spicy and fragrant laksa noodle dishes and one can immediately understand why.
Born out of the partnership that was Bunga Raya, whose other partner went on to form the wildly successful Restoran Malaysia. Gourmet Garden more than holds its own in quality of food and deliciousness but lacks the comfort of modern decor.
You place your order with the cashier who hands you a little cardboard chip with a number. Find your spot at any of the available spots and wait for your number to be called.
As with most Asian food courts, it's best to haul along a few friends so that you can all share a taste of a few dishes. Among the 4 of us, we had two kinds of laksa, mee goreng ( fried noodles), popiah (kind of like a spring roll that hasn't been deep fried), roti prata, tahu goreng (fried tofu on top of sprouts and covered in a spicey sauce and hoisin sauce). All dishes were tasty and are close to the hawker stall experience as we can get in t.dot. Singapore laksa was flavorful and chock full of a stuff swimming in a savoury coconut curry soup.
Roti prata was flakey while maintaining the chewiness you need to dip into the accompanying curry sauce.
Gourmet Garden delivers fully on providing the Malaysian/Singaporean hawker center experience without the jet lag of a trip half way round the world. With delicious food and quick basic service, it is well worth the drive for a filling and flavorful lunch. -
Review from Yvonne T.
2/25/2012 1 Check-in Here
Gourmet Garden is a place that my parents discovered. It is located in a plaza that houses a food court that is home to Chinese BBQ, a Cantonese cuisine joint and this Malaysian/Singaporean joint.
If I were you I would highly advise for you to get the food to go as the food court itself will leave your clothes reeking of all sorts of food smells and its not the most inviting of food courts (nor the cleanest).
I always get the Satay Beef Noodles here. Greasiness aside, its got the spiciness that I like, the beef is tender, and the noodles have the right amount of elasticity to softness ratio. Another dish that I quite enjoy from our friends at Gourmet Garden is the Hainanese Chicken Rice. The rice is always flavourful, and there are never any left overs!
They've recently opened up a full-service restaurant across the street called Gourmet Malaysia - my advice - stick with the food court. Better portions, and cheaper too!
Cash only. -
Review from D C.
North York, ON
5/21/2012
Food good, decor ok, it was cheap!
Great value, good price -
Review from Brenda L.
Markham, ON
5/16/2012
Heard so much about it but didn't think such Malaysian restaurant is possible in Scarborough. Owner Yummy (yes that's his name) is the friendliest Asian man I have ever met. His wife is the chief. Great curry and rotie . This is the real deal not run by hong kong or mainland Chinese. Very clean and big dining hall.
The curry lamb was very good.
Satay was excellent.
Just wish they offer chicken white meat instead of dark for all chicken dishes!
Price was reasonable.
They offer weekly lunch specials too. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
When I was waiting in line to pick up over the phone order of Extra Spicy Mee Goreng, I saw something that got me real excited...
Desserts and Pastry!! Kuid Dadar, Ondeh Ondeh etc... most of them are for $1 or 3... perfect snacks to enjoy after my noodle!
They are all made fresh daily...with great coconut flavour and not overly sweet.... and with the small bite size, I didn't feel I just pigged out!Listed in: Cheap/Fast Date!, My Favourite Restaurants, Malaysia/Singapore Food!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/11/2009
Good Food! Good Price!! Good Place for Takeout!
My favourite food from here are:
- Gado Gado
-… Read more »
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Review from Jiao S.
10/30/2011
2 more reviews for 30 days challenge !!
I have a thing for curry and fried rice/ noodles, so that it was really hard for me to say no for Malaysian food or Thai food. I had a coworker who comes from Malaysia. When I ask her the #1 Malaysian food in her mind. She said Gourmet Garden, no doubt. But she did warm me that since it is a food court, so that you might have to wash your clothes inside out after, which by the way turns out to be true.
After I got to know this, I travel 35 mins up to east and found this place.
First time I ordered the fried noodle and fried chicken. I LOVE IT. It was a long day at work, and I was really tire. First bite of the friend noodle, I feels like I woke up again lol. The fried chicken is very special, I was thinking of ordering the bones in one, but owner recommend the boneless one, with dry little fish on top of it. VERY VERY TASTY.
Owner is very friendly, if you ever wondering what to eat, ask him for advise.
The only reason it is not 5 stars, is because it is not a restaurant yet. Although, it make the price really good ($6ish for noodle) but some people might not like the dinning environment that much. I heard the owner is opening a restaurant now. Can't wait to try it. -
Review from Wendy C.
4/17/2011 1 photo
A total dive-y place, even by food court standard. Hard-to-find no visibility from Sheppard, you will smell the kitchen when you dine there and smell like a kitchen afterwards.
But, it has some of the best Singapore/Malaysian food I've found in GTA. Despite a China Town location and mostly Chinese clients, they don't waterdown the spice level or flavour intensity.
Huge menu, they try to cram hawker food from Singapore, KL, Penang, and even Malacca, all into one place. So some are pretty good:
-- Laksa Singapore style
-- Asam Laksa, similar to Penang style
-- Ikan Bakar aka stingray grilled in Banana leaf
-- Roti prata
-- Oyster omelet
-- Balachan eggplant or string beans
Some dishes are only available on weekends like Roti prata, asam laksa, etc.
If you live close by, take-out would be a good option. Once I met a couple who drove all the way from Winston Churchill; they told me whenever they miss food from homeland, they'd drive to this place, which is weekly. -
Review from Erwin M.
2/23/2011
I just have to applaud any place that has the kahunas to offer a Singaporean/Malaysian menu as big as what GG is attempting to offer. Seems to me they're trying to serve dishes from an entire hawker center rather than just the all time favorites. It's like they took a whole recipe book on SG cuisine and put the index as the menu and for that I'm a fan.
The next question is of course, how was the food. Well let's get real, when you are the jack of all trades, master of none, the food can't be that great or authentic so I expected such and was not disappointed. It's decent enough for me to visit again but it's not a place I'd be dying to go to have a great SG dining experience.
Ordered:
Seafood Horfun
Hokien Mee
Chicken Rice
Teh Tarik/Coffee (they dont use real Malaysian coffee nor tea)
Food:3 stars
Kahunas:5 stars
Rating:4 stars -
Review from Joanne W.
12/2/2010
A total hole-in-the-wall hidden away in a little food court in Scarborough. However, it serves oneo fhte best Malaysian foods I've ever had. My friends had the laksa while I had the nasi lemak.
The only complaint that I had was the place was freakin' cold because the weather was getting colder and they lack any heating system there.
So.. I would suggest take-out during the cold season!Listed in: OMNOMNOM malaysian cuisine
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Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
8/8/2010 4 photos
Getting tired of the full SERVICE restaurant scene, I took my family to eat at the Centerview Square Food Court for dinner. It's been awhile since I took my family for Food Court since my School days probably at Pacific Mall or something.
I'm kind of glad it was Gourmet Garden because it's such a different atmosphere then we're used to in the last few years. When's the last time you've taken YOUR family for dinner at a Food Court?? Sometimes it's simply all about good food and family no matter where you go to eat.
The sights here are all on the Food and the SOUNDS come from the Wok constantly frying up something. It almost brings me back to the memories of Asian Street Stalls where those sights and sounds are a big part of the experience.
That aside, it's a Food Court so it doesn't have the cleanest tables, seats, washrooms, etc... It's not a place to stay either as people coming in to pickup their orders zoom behind your seats towards the counter. The air circulation isn't great but it depends on perspective as the HEAT is mostly from the Wok and whatever it is cooking.
Penang Prawn Mee(Sat/Sun Only, $5.80) is MOSTLY good with delicious soup stock, 3 Shrimps, Fish Cake Slices, Bean Sprouts, Fried Shallots, Egg, Chili Pepper and a spoonful of Sambal Paste that tastes pretty good too. The only downside for me is the Egg Noodles which didn't excite me much.
Malaysia Pork Satay($5.80/pk) & Bef Satay($6.50/pk) were tasty especially with the PEANUT Satay Sauce which accompanies. Hokkien Mee($5.50) which is Egg Noodle w/Seafood & Chicken is where the Noodles worked better in this application in my opinion rather than as a Soup Noodle.
Guess what? We also had Roti Prata w/Curry(3pcs/$4.50) but it's a deep-fried THIN Roti that was very oily but nice and thin but it had a bit of elasticity chew which you can see when you pull it apart. It came with a small bowl of Curry that had a piece of small Chicken and if lucky a brunoise of Potato. This was a good snack though as I found myself DUNKING the Roti nonstop into the Curry. Maybe open up a restaurant called "Dunkin' Roti".Listed in: Sing Ma Thai, Fire'd - Asian, Pull My Noodles - Southeast…
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Review from jil s.
North York, ON
11/26/2010 12 photos
Gourmet Garden is located in a small food-court at Centerview Square (plaza next to Joey Bravo) (on Sheppard Ave E / near Brimley Road) in Scarborough
If you want spicy food,
carefully read the menu to make sure that your dish is marked "SPICY".
The seasonings or sauce "Belacan" or "sambal" usually indicate spicy.
Make sure to ask for spicy food- if you want spicy food.
NOVEMBER 2011 UPDATE:
Gourmet Garden has opened a new sit down restaurant with tables and chairs
(instead of a food court).
http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
I like One2 Snacks, Coconut Island and Restoran Malaysian better
Some Malaysian / Singaporean food to try:
Nasi Goreng - spicy fried rice
Char Kuay Teow - fried rice noodle with shrimp
Satay (meat or seafood on skewers / kebab)
Fried egg plant with minced pork
Mee Goreng- spicy fried noodle
Fried omelette with oyster
King prawn in fragant spices
Roti
Singapore laksa which is a spicy coconut noodle soup.
Items only available on weekends:
- popiah
- BBQ grilled seafood in banana leaf
etc
etc -
Review from Paul D.
Toronto, ON
1/10/2011 1 photo
Ate here a few weeks ago for lunch. Then ate here same day for dinner! My wife is Chinese Malaysian and found the food authentic and well made. The price is very good and you don't get too small nor too large a portion.
We had the beef rendang, laksa, and char kuay teow. All of which were good especially considering the price. We also had cendol to drink which you can skip out on - it doesn't have enough palm sugar.
We are definitely going back again and would recommend it to anyone looking for good Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine. Just remember it isn't a proper sit down restaurant with full service. These are like hawker stands, but we prefer that anyway! -
Review from Julian C.
6/22/2009
I'm surprised no one has written a review of this place.
Gourmet Garden is a hidden jewel. The Malaysian & Singaporean dishes are authentic and tastes good! Portions are good, but tends to be more if you decide to take-out (which I do all the time). Orders are made to order and are quick.
Lots and lots of variety and choices! I have yet to try everything. Costs are fair, as it's in a food court.
The only thing negative I can say about this place is the location. It's located in a small food court. Most of the people are seen doing take-outs, as it is limited seating.
By far, Gourmet Garden and Restoran Malaysia are my go to places for Malaysian food when I'm too lazy to make it myself.
Highly recommended.
Note: Penang Prawn Mee are only served on weekends. IMO This dish is better than Restoran Malaysia's version. -
Review from Ailin K.
Toronto, ON
9/30/2009
This place is awesome for the price and menu selection. Not to mention the authenticity of the food. I love the Laksa and Singapore Chicken dish.
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Review from John G.
East York, ON
4/15/2010
You certainly do not go here for the decor (as it is a small enclosed food court) but if you have a friend who is from Malaysia or Singapore go for it with him or her. My Malaysian friend raves about the food in his judgement the best Malaysian food he has had in Toronto. I found the food (which he chose) was fresh with a nice blend of different spices/vegetables.
