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Konner Chinese Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
3250 Midland AveUnit 126
Toronto, ON M1V 0C7
Neighbourhood: Scarborough
(416) 760-8818
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
7 reviews for Konner Chinese Restaurant
7 reviews in English
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Review from Janelle W.
6/10/2011
Let me confess: I was afraid of Chinese food.
I wondered how good a cuisine can be, even at its apogee, when it has allowed itself to be so hideously bastardized by Americans. I mean, I know Americans can be assertive, pigheaded, and without sympathy for the human condition. But how much pride in, and attachment to, their authentic cuisine do the Chinese really feel, when they're so quick to abandon tradition when a Westerner asks for a nauseating permutation of deep-fried, sweet-and-sour, and sticky-orange?
This led me to suspect that Chinese cuisine doesn't really believe in itself. And for that reason, I've always been wary of it.
But if anyone could convince me that Chinese cuisine is honorable, prideful, and self-assured, it would be Wayne C. and Jennifer K., who confidently led me to Konner for fresh, spicy Hunanese cuisine.
Konner's menu is flush with Chinese small plates that would send most Westerners running to the nearest Swiss Chalet -- stinky tofu, assorted preparations of offal, a protein that ribbits when meeting hot oil. Timid, I hid in a safety net, the inoffensive taro with red chillies; but my tour guides made sure I ate with a little more fire in the loins, and thus selected the spicy winkles. And as I expected, Konner was proof positive that eating "safe" is never rewarding.
My taro ($8.99) was disappointing. It was tasty, don't get me wrong -- starchy, steamed taro slices bathed in a warm chilli oil and a tart relish of red chillies. But an entire corm was used, resulting in an oppressive portion of textural monotony.
Fortunately, we had the winkles ($6.99). Absolutely fantastic. These protein-rich snails were cooked with deft -- just long enough to loose the tiny captives from their spiral shells, but not so long as to scald them into a tough sinew. Extracted with an easy turn of a toothpick, then dipped in the deep, garlicky sauce, these succulent clam-like corkscrews danced with delight over my palate.
A brilliant blistered tofu is complimentary to each table. This is a cute Sichuan version of an amuse-bouche, in which a cloud of silken tofu is served in a salty chilli oil with a garnish of vinegar chillies.
Konner's dishes are Chinese food for Chinese food's sake. These are plates crafted with pride, thoughtfulness, and a sense of spirit, for people who want to believe in Chinese food. There is honor in the way Konner showcases the skillful preparation of a difficult protein, or the metamorphosis of an unpleasant ingredient into an harmonious dish. But above all, at Konner, one learns that it isn't the Chinese who have let gelatinous orange sauces represent their cuisine; rather, it is those who eat with fear who have done that. -
Review from steve t.
Toronto, ON
4/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
The spicy chicken in the bamboo was all bits and pieces. As much bone pieces as there were peppers... Which was a lot.
Other food might be worth a try. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
Updated - 5/8/2011 21 photos
I been coming back to Konner Chinese Restaurant for dinners a couple of time, and both times I have good experiences and of course great yelper dinner mates!
Now I realized that make Konner's spiciness uniquely different is their spiciness is garlicky spicy... yes they are still hot and have a great kick but it is more than pure spicy.. sometimes just being hot makes some dishes lost their character..and every thing just kind of taste the same!!
Other dishes I tried:
Spicy winkles ($6.99)
- winkles kind of looks like little snails. Stirred fired in a black bean garlic chili sauce
- I was trying to suck them out.. but really you do need to pick them out with toothpicks
Steamed Fish Head with Pepper ($15.99)
- If you like fish heads... there are a lot of gooey goodness inside the head.. and be cool when your friends making sucking noises when they eating the fish eyes.....
- Just look spicy with all the red chili.. but quite savoury
Steamed Taro with Pepper ($8.99)
- A healthy option... maybe just too healthy...
- steaming the Taro does changed the texture, my fellow yelpers were not too impressed.. but I have to give credit for the huge portion...
Dong Ting Duck Noodle ($6.99)
- Great savoury duck broth, surprising good tasting..
- Big portion good value!!
Chicken in Hot Pot ($11.99)
- interesting presentation with the burner heating the hot pot
- chicken a little rubbery and dry and tasteless
Services here always surprising good. Waitresses speak limited English... Mandarin preferred.. but with all the photos in the menu, you would not have problem ordering..Listed in: Lunch Specials in Scarborough, Northern Chinese Cuisine…, Sharing is NOT an Option!, Hot, Spicy with Tingly…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/27/2010 First to Review
Konner Chinese Restaurant is located at a brand new plaza at Midland and Finch, right in between… Read more »
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Review from Tong J.
10/28/2010 5 photos
Snap Judgement: Good vibes and lively. Great place to share a meal with friends and family. Decent food.
The décor is modern with dark espresso finishes. A large sparkly crystal chandelier is the main focal point of the dinning area. At its maximum capacity, it is a tight squeeze especially when trying to get to the back of the restaurant, where the new and clean bathrooms are located.
- We decided to try Deep Fried Fermented Tofu. Because of the strong fetid aroma, this delicacy, especially for someone like me, was an acquired taste. [http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
- The steamed Fish Head with Chili Pepper was listed under Konner's specialty. The large fish head arrived steaming hot, covered with bright fresh red chili and scallion. The mighty chili will make you think, "man, this is going to hurt." But nope. It looked like some of the chili seeds had been omitted (?). Which, in my opinion, would have intensified the tasty broth even more. [http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
+ Chicken in the Pot had been prepared and simmered in spices. This pungent dish was presented in a mini cast iron pot, and hung over a small burner. Love the spicy sauce! The best part of this dish was the dark meat pieces, they were scrumptious. The white meat, on the other hand, was less than impressive. [http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
+ Dongting Duck Noodle Soup was delicious. The tiny pieces of duck meat was juicy and wasn't gamy. The broth was flavorful with a hint of spices. I would love to see larger pieces of the succulent duck in this dish. [http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
I'm totally digging Northern Chinese cuisine. I love the hearty and robust style of cooking, as well as the use of zesty spices. Is Konner Chinese Restaurant THE place for Northern Chinese cuisine? I'll have to go back, try other dishes and compare them to other Northern Chinese cuisine establishments. In the mean time, my search continues.Listed in: Asia On My Mind
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Review from Karen S.
11/25/2011
This is the restaurant of bits and pieces, and I have to say that I haven't been so let down in a while. Maybe my expectations were simply too high based on the strength of the reviews here. Taste-wise, they have the fragrant spices that I so love about good Northern Chinese cooking. The soup in the soup noodle was flavourful, the spices plentiful. We had the Dong Ting duck noodle and this steamed chicken in a bamboo thing that in menu pictures had looked so tantalizing and spicy. Both dishes ended up being made from the tiniest parts of the respective fowl. The chicken bits were mostly chopped up leg bones, so we were spitting out bone shards with almost every bite. It wasn't that spicy either. The duck bits looked like there were the butt tips of several ducks - all nubbly fat globs with a shred of meat attached. We also had the seafood 'bird's nest' (seafood presented in a fried noodle nest that I thought was average and overpriced.
As this place is relatively new in a not-yet full new-ish plaza, the restaurant was clean and bright with nice decor. However, with all the other great Chinese restaurants in the area, I wouldn't come here again. -
Review from Jen C.
Updated - 1/1/2011 1 photo
My on-going hit-list for Konner:
#94 Youlou sauteed preserved pork with bamboo shoots
Finally discovered what that "Smoky bamboo dish" was. Still good.
#89 Griddle cooked cabbage
Also, recently got a cabbage dish was awesome. It gets brought to your table with a hot-plate to boil it, however, I like it better when it's less-cooked, so don't wait to eat it. The crunchy texture of still-raw cabbage is awesome.
#202 Deep fried pepper with preserved egg (cold dish)
Still tasty. Better shared with more than 2 people.
I'd have bumped to 5 stars, but I feel like they dialed down the heat in general, so they stay at 4.
(Check the blog for accompanying photos)1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/26/2010
Konner is a great place to try some Northern Chinese cuisine and a treat for hot-chili lovers.… Read more »
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Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
10/25/2010 2 photos
Konner specializes in Hunan cuisine, one of the eight great Chinese cuisines. Excellent, I thought as I had no clue what Hunan food was about but at time all I knew was that it wasn't Szechuan. Little did I know that the distinction behind Hunan dishes is of it's purely Hot Spicy rather than Szechuan's complex Spicy. Hunan should also be fresher, oilier, and simpler.
There's not much lobby space while we lined up in queue and synchronized with looking at the Menu and writing up our order until our table was ready for this Hot n' Spicy crawl. Menu has lots of introduction for this cuisine along with great photos. I guess it's inline with their motto of introducing Hunan cuisine to the Canadian community.
Fish Head w/Pepper($15.99/small) is a Fish Head steamed and topped with Chili Sauce and side dish of Noodles. It was A-OK in general as Fish Heads go, however I felt that it was just slightly underdone as I sucked on the Head cavities. The Chili Sauce probably had some salt to give that savouriness and went GREAT with the Noodle(think Soba - Slurp!).
Hunan Fermented Stinky Tofu($4.99/small) looks to be five-spice variety Tofu as it was dark in appearance. It stank if you ZOOM close-by and the texture was crispy exterior and light airy interior. Alright snack but not my favourite Stinky Tofu of the bunch.
Chicken in Pot($11.99) was Snail and White Meat Chicken with Spicy Sauce/Bell Peppers/Onions. Imagine a small scale Cowboy style Chuckwagon Chili over the open fire, which is the style of presentation here. I didn't like the bland White Chicken Meat as it was neither marinated or juicy. (-0.5 *Star)
Dong Ting Duck Noodle Soup($6.99) was enough to feed a couple and it probably is an imagery of Dong Ting Lake in color. I didn't like the boney Duck pieces as much but it was only a small aspect of this dish. The Rice Vermicelli was a good selection as it doesn't get soggy while the Duck Broth was almost an equivalent of a Tonkotsu in depth which is probably why we thought over it. Obviously I won the battle!!! :PListed in: Northern Chinese Cuisine
