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Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Restaurants Vegetarian Dim Sum, Vegetarian [Edit]
Market Village8 - 7131 Kennedy Rd
Markham, ON L3R 0N4
(905) 479-8381
- 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
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
25 reviews for Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"gluten(what they use to make the mock meat." In 3 reviews -
"The spring rolls are equally good too." In 5 reviews -
"It's located right across Pacific Mall so the parking may..." In 3 reviews
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25 reviews in English
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Review from Mama t.
Toronto, ON
3/4/2012
I love this restaurant! I drive up whenever I have access to a car for a few days, and get our fix of vegan dim sum. It's worth the wait-I think it's my fourth visit in just over a year. Vegan mock sui mai, har goi (etc.) are fantastic! The prices are great, and the staff are so accomodating. I tell everyone I know about this place-delicious! (from downtown to richmond hill.. it's worth the trek!)
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Review from Kyle G.
Markham, ON
2/28/2012
Only been to this restaurant once since I'm not a vegetarian. It is located on the west side of market village facing Kennedy rd.
The staff were extremely friendly and their service were timely as well.
You pretty much can't go wrong with any dishes but I would recommend that you as a larger group; maybe 6+. The dishes are quite expensive and you won't be able to order smaller sizes so the bigger the party the more dishes you can try out.
It was quite dead inside last time I was there but don't be fooled... the dishes are good and worth a try.
Cheers. -
Review from Alan W.
Toronto, ON
12/27/2011
After a day of Christmas gourging, I went here on boxing day for a meat-free dim sum. Also being boxing day the restaurant was not very busy so I didn't have to wait for a table -- a rarity for dim sum.
The dim sum menu is fairly lengthy and most of the dishes sounds good.
Service was incredibly polite, courteous and friendly. The waitor was pouring tea for the table so that he could get us another fresh pot, he was even apologizing for not getting our first plate out fast enough eventhough it wasn't that long ago that we placed our order.
A lot of the menu seems to be vegan, though there are many dishes that were made of gluten, so if you are on a gluten-free diet or have allergies this may not be a good restaurant to go to.
Some good plates:
Smoked mock duck - great smokey flavor and was wrapped in bean curd and shredded veggies. Glass drunken noodles were served on the side which were extremely slippery and was difficult to pickup with chopsticks.
Mock Goose - eventhough the slices of mock goose resembled spam, it had a nice flavour and was also served with a side of glass drunken noodles.
Rice paper wrapped donut fritters - yes you could get these at any dim sum restaurant, but these were extremely fresh, fluffy and crispy. Seems like they make them fresh in house. It was also a huge plate, much larger than other dim sum restaurants and was served with tasty light peanut and hoisin dipping sauces. A steal at $3.50.
Raddish cakes in XO sauce - Great flavours and nice amount of spicyness.
Stewed mock beef - great savoury sauce with a hint of sweetness.
Curry spring rolls - a nice alternative to the regular spring rolls. A nice amount of heat and the serving was large.
Plates that were not so good:
Siu Mai - was extremely soft and mushy
Har Gow - the rice paper dumpling was very thick and lack flavour and had no texture.
The restroom was a surprise. I thought I walked into a storage room. They were storing folded tables and chairs and laundry bags of used table linens. Though it was generally clean, it was weird that they were storing stuff there, including in the stalls. I think this is a hygene issue if this furniture is used in the dining room without being wiped clean.
The bill came to $40 for three of us and we had three boxes of food which we couldn't finish, so I think it is very reasonably priced. I will definitely come back to try more items on the menu. -
Review from U U.
Toronto, ON
12/19/2011
Good restaurant. Probably not the best place to come if you want something healthy though. Probably makes an interesting restaurant for a date, though it is definitely not fancy.
Pros:
-An incredible array of fake meat options.
-Much of the food appears to be vegan
-Good portion sizes.
-Good service - prompt and friendly.
Cons:
-Nasty mens room! Dirty and unkempt.. partially used as a storage area.
-I found both the dishes I had (beef + macademia nuts, and some sort of fake chicken) to have a lot of the fake meat, but not a lot of veggies. -
Review from Vivian W.
10/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
If you like chinese food and you are a vegetarian, you will love this place!
In the past, my impression of chineses vegetarian food is a bunch of greasy vegetables and with lots of starch. This place has changed how I view this cuisine.
I go to this place 3-4 times a year, I'm sure I'd have gone more often if
1. my family member likes vegetarian food
2. I live in the neighborhood (yay, every single visit of this restaurant is a well planned day trip to Scarborough area and have to get myself mentally prepared for the long drive and annoying traffic)
I have been to this place for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, they have a good variety of dim sum to choose from. All dishes are delicately prepared. You will recognized a lot of the similar items as a regular dim sum place, but you will be amazed how it could be replicated with veggie and starch. They taste almost just like regular dim sum! All dishes are really hot when they bring it to your table. The environment is clean and overall very quiet because tables are mostly for set-up for small groups (4-6 people). I really like plain stuff sometimes, and buns. One of my favourites is their multi-grain steam bun! I like their steamed milk dessert too.
For dinner, they have lots of really good dishes, cooked in Chinese style. E.g. vegetarian ham wrapped with lettuce...vegetarian chicken
I can't remember what I ordered, but a lot of the chefs recommendations are yummy! -
Review from jil s.
North York, ON
9/18/2011 15 photos
Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant is still OPEN FOR BUSINESS.
Someone made a mistake saying that the restaurant has CLOSED.
It's still open.
Nice looking restaurant
- located outside Market Village (next door to Pacific Mall)
- drive / walk around the parking lot
- nearby are Curry's art store, Mongolian Grill, beauty spa, Ginger & Onion Cuisine restaurant, etc
The food is well made
Some dishes are better than others
Some dishes can be ordinary
example:
- fried rice with mock chicken / salty fish
- tastes better at a non-vegetarian restaurant
- pancake with curry is like an onion pancake (but without the onions) and a bowl of curry
Try the wok fried turnip cake with XO sauce
XO sauce is VERY spicy
so if you don't want this dish to be too spicy
- ask for medium or mild spicy or non-spicy
The vegetarian (imitation) chicken kabobs are good.
The vegetarian (imitation) goose meat is good.
Don't forget to look at the small white menu on the table
- desserts and drinks
- lunch menu
Dishes to try:
Assorted mock seafood and meats in hot pot ($12).
Noodle dishes
Tapioca pudding.
The mock (imitation) chicken kabobs
The mock (imitation) goose meat
Dumplings
wok fried turnip cake
Steamed rice noodle rolls (dim sum)
The honey lemon ice tea was kind of tasteless but cheap for $1.50
The pineapple freeze ($3.50) is pineapple juice with pineapple chunks.
They make their own ice tea and give you a little cup which contains melted sugar that you add to your tea. Or you can order a can of iced tea.
A tea pot of hot tea is not free.
You can ask for a second tea pot containing hot water
and you just keep adding the hot water to the tea.
Here is the current Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant menu:
Dim Sum:
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Sidenote: The reason why someone thought that this restaurant had closed might be
because they saw Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant's Facebook status which said "CLOSED".
The Facebook status was referring to the restaurant being closed for the night .
Opening hours = Mon - Sun: 10:30 am - 10:00 pm
It didn't mean that the restaurant was CLOSED forever. -
Review from Isaac J.
Thornhill, ON
10/23/2011
Hands down, this is the best Chinese vegetarian restaurant I've had in the GTA.
I've been here on occasion for both dim sum and for dinner. The dishes are a lot more varied and unique when compared to the nearby Lotus Pond. Flavours are a lot more refined without an overreliance on greasy sauces or heavy seasoning. The chicken kabobs are one of my all-time favourites.
If you're vegan most of the menu selection is vegan and many of the items can be made without eggs. I have brought my vegan friend from out of town here on a couple occasions and whenever he comes back to TO this is one place he's sure to visit! -
Review from Elise R.
Pickering, ON
4/16/2011
I tried this great restaurant based on the ratings that previous yelpers gave it... and I am not sorry I did.
I had a bit of a tricky time trying to find the place since I am not that familiar with this part of the city. But basically if you go in the Pacific Mall parking lot and just keep driving around it, eventually you'll find it. It is in the building behind the mall.
I was keen on this place because last week I opted out of going to a different dim sum restaurant (that serves meat) with my (meat eating) sisters because I don't speak the language and can't decipher between what is vegetarian and what isn't. BUT at THIS place, I get to order anything. In fact, I even picked a number at random for one of the dishes we tried.
While everything is vegetarian, the menu is in english too so you can know what you are ordering. And if you have any questions, the servers speak english very well and can help you out.
The menu is at the table when you are seated. It is paper and you just write a number beside the dish you want corresponding to the quantity of that dish you would like. I probably don't need to explain this as it is pretty intuitive, but at least you know what you are getting into before going.
I ordered the spring rolls, Shanghai dumplings, deep fired pumpkin and stuffed buns. All items were delicious. But my favourite were the dumplings.
The place was very clean and the service was excellent. Overall it was a pleasant experience and I will be going back. Next time my sisters are in a dim sum mood I know where to suggest. =)
When you are done eating, you can always stop in at the market in the adjacent building and pick up some more stuffed buns or dumplings to reminisce on your experience at a later date.Listed in: Pure Veg...
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Review from Isaac E.
North York, ON
9/28/2011
I try to go here when I can. I absolutely love this place for a good meal.
I haven't been in year but I still crave it. It's just a bit of a drive for me to get there but it is worth while.
The dim sum is great and so are the main dishes. -
Review from Vivian L.
Scarborough, ON
4/12/2011
Have been going to this restaurant often, because a family member is a vegetarian. Completely breaks the stereotype that vegetarian food is bland and boring! High quality food, well plated, and excellent and polite service. Probably the best Chinese style vegetarian place. For those who do not like the "mock meats" there is still plenty to choose from vegetable and tofu wise (ex. fruit salad spring rolls=yum!). In addition, to the people that actually care, they have good quality tea, and a decent selection as well. One downer is that you will be paying ALOT for the delicious veggies and well...gluten(what they use to make the mock meat). However, I believe it's worth every penny [especially since i never pay the bill in this restaurant ;) ]! And there's complementary dessert too btw.
I recommend: the fried milk (dessert), pumpkin (mock) sharkfin soup, classic sweet and sour pork (you won't believe its not meat!) and the lettuce wrap! -
Review from Vikas I.
Pickering, ON
4/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
I went here with Elise R. and it was nice to know that this place is a vegetarian restaurant, so we could eat anything from the menu.
It is nice to not have to ask for substitutions or worry about that when you are placing your order.
This place was relatively hard for us to find we had to call them to figure it out, although the address is marked as Steele's Ave, it is actually facing Kennedy, it is behind Pacific Mall, behind Market Village.
There was lots of room to be sit and you get a menu that is in English you write down how many of what you want and they bring it to you as the dishes start to get ready.
Food was flavourful, although their Spring Rolls could be better, I'm picky when it comes to spring rolls mostly because I've been spoilt by my parents who can make some pretty mean spring rolls.
Tea was included with our order which was nice (Jasmine Tea)
I will most likely go back if I am in the area, it is a little out of my way but all vegetarian Dim Sums? why not? Lets go!Listed in: Chinese Restaurants
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Review from M T.
11/18/2010 10 photos
This place gives the meaning of veggie delight!
The mister and I came to the outskirts of Toronto to celebrate the mister's great aunt 80th birthday. The families booked 4 large tables for aunt's celebration. In the past, I have been to very few vegetarian places. I love to eat veggies, but eating real vegetables, not the vegetarian chicken. Usually, they put too much salt and seasonings in making vegetarian duck, beef, etc., which I dislike.
But Graceful Vegetarian does veggies right. Not too salty and hey, this tastes like chicken. We had 10 courses for this banquet dinner. So the mister and I left with 10lbs of veggies in our stomachs.
Here is list:
1. Appertizers: Squid, Duck., and Sliced Meats ( yes, it's vegetarian)
2. Shrimps and Sliced Fish with String Beans
3. Fried Potato Basket with Chicken and assorted veggies
4. Shark Fin Soup
5. Abalone on bok choy
6. Fried Taro with Crab Claw inside - yum
7. Assorted mushrooms on bok choy.
8. Scrambled Eggs Whites with Corn over broccoli
9. Seafood and veggies over noodles and fried rice
10. OMG the desserts!: Steamed red bean buns, sweet red bean soup, sweet fried crispy noodles in honey, and gelatin round patties.
You would think eating veggies is healthier but not here! The mister and I overate to the point that we could not walk. Graceful Vegetarian has an elegant ambiance and a great place for celebrations. I would recommend to all even meat eaters. Service was outstanding and attentive! -
Review from Jenn G.
Scarborough, ON
12/22/2010 4 photos
Overall experience 5/5
Service 5/5: very goodThe manager/owner was very attentive. As soon as we were running out of tea, he came right away to fill it up and he was very nice and patient when we were ordering.
They have a large menu..i felt pretty overwhelmed because i didn't know what to order, but thankfully my cousin (Yelper Z) was there to recommend some dishes.
Atmosphere 5/5: pretty nice. It's not super fancy inside, but it was comfortable.
FOOD:
Appetizer: Satay mock chicken kabobs- 4.5/5 So...here's my problem...IT TASTED PERFECT...but as soon as i finish eating it...which was in a few seconds..my throat and tongue became itchy...(YUPPP, i didn't know that satay was a coconut/peanut sauce)..thankfully i didn't have a serious allergic reaction....
Mains: Sweet and sour chicken - 4.5/5....loved it,..enough to share it with another person...however it was a bit too sweet..thank goodness my cousin told me to order the lemon chicken to balance it out
Lemon chicken - 4.5/5... i appreciate how they put the sauce to the side. There's nothing worse then someone drenching the 'meat' and ruining the whole dish.
Final thought: LOVED EVERYTHING! I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK! infact...i'm going to go back next week! =D =D =D I'll post up pictures soon. -
Review from Julianna N.
Pickering, ON
11/19/2010
I have tried 2 vegetarian restaurants of this style thus far (this and lotus pond) and I have to say that this one is superior.
When I went, the staff was very quick to serve us and friendly enough. I (as usual) ordered the wrong thing (mock seafood chow mein.. really?) and wasn't that happy with my seafood, which is why this place is not getting 5 stars. My boyfriend ordered the mock steak and LOVED it though, the sauce was unusual and tasty, and the mock-meat was soft and went well with the sauce. The appetizers that we ordered were also really good (I don't exactly remember what, some sort of chicken skewers). I blame being dissatisfied with my own meal on my own choice (because mock seafood probably tastes horrible no matter where you go), and I would definitely go back!
The atmosphere is really nice also, and everything looks very clean. The only complaint I have is that this place was slightly difficult to find (and when I say slightly, I mean that I was driving around plazas on steeles for like a half hour until I found it)... but this could just be me being bad with directions ;]Listed in: Favourite Restaurants
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Review from Cheri D.
3/17/2011
Normally i would NOT venture this far north. But since i was up there anyways, why not get some grub?
A vegetarian friend of mine highly recommended Graceful and the reviews on yelp were fantastic. They were right!
Annoyance first though... what a hard place to find! The address is Steeles, but it's not on Steeles at all! It's around the back of a mall on the side that faces Kennedy. Tricky, very tricky!
Once we did find it, and were seated, the graceful experience began :)
The service was so attentive, and the restaurant was bright, clean and busy. We got a pot of green tea right away. Delicious. Then had veggie spring rolls for starters. They came out super hot (wait 'til they cool! Ouch!). Between us we had the mock steak w/honey & pepper sauce and the fried rice noodles w/XO sauce and mock beef. WOW!! I swear it's the best fake meat i've ever had! The mock steak w/honey pepper sauce was fantastic! I would have preferred the noodles w/XO sauce to be saucier, but it was still good. Although it was nothing compared to the honey pepper sauce (SO YUMMY).
The portions were good and large and I took the leftovers home with me.
I couldn't resist dessert and we ordered the Honey Crispy Twists. Four little pieces of wontons, nice and crispy with hot honey drizzled over them. Simple and just what i wanted. -
Review from Ann L.
Markham, ON
3/20/2010 1 Check-in Here
Wow. What service! Extremely fast and helpful.
It is very clean and well lit.
We came around lunch time but did not order any lunch specials.
The lunch specials were very cheap, however, you cannot do a special order.
There was not a long wait for the food. It came quite fast and it was very good.
We've ordered rice, fried 'chicken' with sweet and sour sauce, fish taro, gluten appetizers. Everything was great!
I would recommend this restaurants for celebrations like birthdays or special occasion or even just for lunch. -
Review from Lynda W.
Toronto, ON
9/19/2008
Finally! A good quality vegetarian restaurant! Who would have thought Vegetarian and Chinese would go together!?! I discovered this restaurant probably close to ten years ago, when I first became vegetarian. Every birthday or special occasion, this is the restaurant I would pick to go.
The quality of the food here is the highest of any restaurant i've been to. The quality has waned a little the last two times I visited, but it's still far above other chinese restaurants. They have the vegetarian versions of popular chinese dishes like Har Gow, Sui Mei, BBQ pork buns, and rice noodle rolls, amongst other dishes.
They use soy based products as meat replacement. A lot of it tastes pretty similar to the real thing, such as their mock chicken and beef. Others, while it still tastes good, it has it's own flavour (the mock shrimp).
Try their Zin-Zang fried rice or their baked porkchop rice, both pretty excellent. The spring rolls are equally good too. If you're in the daring mood or want to try something new, this place is worth checking out for sure! -
Review from Robert H.
Richmond Hill, ON
6/15/2009
A really good vegetarian restaurant if you live outside of Toronto. It's located right across Pacific Mall so the parking may be hard to come by depending on which days you go.
The menu at first look is overwhelming. Nothing is really grouped together properly so it might take you a good 5 minutes to carefully look over the dishes. There are so many items on the menu as well. They have a good variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes so it will appeal to everyone. Lots of mock meat dishes. My favourites are the ham and vegetables on a potato nest and the popcorn chicken with lemon sauce. One of the best things about the dishes is that the vegetables are so fresh. Their hot pots are amazing as well.
The service is good and the food comes out fast. The only downside to the restaurant is that it's a bit over priced.
The address for the restaurant is different. The actual address is 7131 Kennedy Rd. Hope that helps. -
Review from Helen L.
Toronto, ON
8/11/2009 1 photo
Graceful Vegetarian Restaurant is located at the back parking lot of Market Village. It is the third (other 2 were Gourmet Vegetarian Restaurant and Lotus Pond) vegetarian dim sum place that I've tried in Toronto and I would say its the busiest and the best of the three.
I am a fan of the vegetarian dim sum at Gourmet Vegetarian Restaurant but the decor of Graceful is nicer and so is the presentation of the food. Our favorite dishes of the day were their faux crab balls with lemon sauce and the wok fried turnip cakes. Their "shrimp" dumpling was also the best of the 3 places. That being said, we didn't like their "pork" dumpling (aka shu-mei) at all as it was too mushy.
Graceful also have a huge dinner menu that we have yet to try. Would love to go back to try their dinner next. -
Review from Tracey E.
Thornhill, ON
2/15/2011
Great service and great food! Large menu means plenty of choice - something vegetarians don't often get! This is often our restaurant of choice for special occasions.
Attentive servers - all questions are answered respectfully and their recommendations are helpful. Ask for the "special" menu if you want something different - there are even more traditional dishes that aren't on the English menu.
Love the chicken with black bean sauce in hot pot, chinese broccoli with ginger sauce and beef with black pepper sauce. Great place!! -
Review from Daniel C.
6/2/2011
I've eaten vegetarian Chinese before, but not quite like what this place serves up. The quality of the food they deliver is excellent. I can honestly say that there were times where I couldn't even tell that it was vegetarian. For example, there is a dish in which they bring a hot stone bowl and pour in what looks to be beef and a Japanese mushroom. The vegetarian "beef" looks and tastes like beef, but is made of gluten (as is most vegetarian Chinese substitutes). I even had a vegetarian shark fin soup that was flavorful.
Overall, it was a great dining experience and I would come back here again. The staff are great. Courteous, prompt, and efficient. -
Review from Yelper Z.
Toronto, ON
8/27/2010
Being a vegetarian..
the only thing i miss about meat, is the savoury marinades and sauces used..but its all here at graceful vegetarian !!!
one of my favourites here is the lemon chicken, SATAY CHicken SKEWERS, sweet n sour chicken, and lots of others.... i would say their dim sum is ''arriiite'' , like someone said here, one of them is mushy-ish
Also some advice... to save money skip the fried rice and just order a small bowl of white rice,( their fried rice is overpriced in my opinion)... their individual small bowls of rice, is waaaaaaay cheaper n good enough for me
i like going to this restaurant knowing i can order anything on the menu that is allll vegetarian.. so many choices ...!
if your a vegetarian ...visit this place! especially when u miss those 'lemon' 'sweet n sour' sauces - marinades MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm !!! -
Review from Tina N.
Toronto, ON
10/20/2009 1 photo
Been going here for about a year since my family is buddist and they have to eat vegetarian food at least once a month. This is probably the only good vegetarian restaurant i enjoy. Best and unique dishes you will ever find! Usually come here for dinner and i love their menu. Everytime i go, i like to try a new dish. It's amazing how they can make tofu taste and look like REAL meat. It's really fantastic here!
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Review from Laura W.
12/23/2008
When I lived in the Detroit area, my family and I would find an excuse to drive three hours north to eat here. The excuse being "OK I'm hungry." We're 75% vegetarian; the remaining 25% is vegetarian by proxy. Anyway the entire menu is vegetarian, and the vast majority is delicious, pretty authentic, and non-oily! They offer popular dim sum dishes, mock beef, chicken, duck, and even fish, with realistic flavor and texture (which is a little startling after 10+ years of being a vegetarian). My personal favorite is the mock beef hotpot. Since moving out to the SF Bay Area, which is a veg-haven in itself, I've held every restaurant to the standard of this place. So far its variety and quality is unmatched.
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Review from jay g.
7/17/2009
Very pleasant, peaceful restaurant with very friendly and helpful service. The food isn't amazingly delicious, but it's satisfying and there is a big menu with a lot to choose from. I've never seen a vegetarian hotpot before, so that was a nice novelty.
