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Lee Chen Asian Diner
Categories: Restaurants Diners Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Diners, Dim Sum [Edit]
832 Yonge StreetToronto, ON M4W 1J5
Neighbourhood: Yorkville
(416) 901-8869
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:30 am - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
12 reviews for Lee Chen Asian Diner
12 reviews in English
-
Review from Avitania B.
Toronto, ON
3/27/2012 3 Check-ins Here
Lee Chen has become one of my favorite staples in the neighborhood for Chinese food. I come here mainly for the soup dumplings, which are absolutely delicious and satisfies my soup dumpling cravings without having to drive all the way out to BFE for DTF (that's ButtF***Egypt -- aka Markham -- and Ding Tai Fung, if you're not acronymically inclined). The dumplings are small, bite-sized, and filled with porky broth and meaty filling. It's like having an inside-out wonton soup. :) So nom-tastic.
The rest of the menu is good, but not as good as the soup dumplings. The siu mai is large and meaty, and the Lee Chen Fried Rice is fresh and filling. The black bean beef is a bit too salty for my taste, though. I keep wanting to try the Wuxi spareribs, but every time I go to Lee Chen, I stuff too many of the soup dumplings in my face-hole and then unfortunately get too full to order spareribs! (First world problems!)
Service has always been great at Lee Chen. Attentive, but never annoying. I just realized while I was writing this review that they also deliver. Yay! -
Review from Christine R.
Scarborough, ON
1/20/2012 6 photos
This is not your typical Diner....In fact I have no idea why its called a Diner in the first place. Its really quite pretty inside, totally not what I expected. It's a pretty big space and very clean with dark wood running throughout, modern look with splashes of Asian decor and furnishings.
The hostess eagerly greeted and took us to a booth. She placed the menu on the table along with a sheet and pencil. You just tick off the items you want and place it at the side when your done.
Green Tea arrives as a prepackaged bag from Ten Ren and a big thermos of hot water. I liked that they gave you a thermos of hot water so I didnt have to keep asking for more hot water.
Our orders included
Fiery Wonton - boiled pork filled wontons served in a delightful sweet & spicy Szechuan sauce
Tender meat in a steamed wonton, good balance of heat and sweet. About 8 pieces
Sesame Buns -baked pastry roll sprinkled with sesame seeds w/bbq chicken filling
Pastry was crispy with a slight sweetness and a mild bbq chicken filling. I've never had anything like this before, it was a good combo of sweet and savory. 2 pieces
Kung Pao Chicken - tender chicken slices stir fried with dry chillies and roasted cashew nuts, in a sweet & spicy sauce
Chicken was indeed tender, nice presentation, and big portion, I didnt find it very hot though.
Steamed rice
Overall service here was really good. They brought out dishes one at a time so we were not overwhelmed with dishes and asked before if that was ok with us. They kept the tables clear and glasses full. Dessert menu is lacking...they don't even have Green Tea ice cream here?? However waiters were really attentive and food comes out hot and fast and portions are reasonable especially for the price. -
Review from john l.
Toronto, ON
12/28/2011
Checked this place out after some Bloor errands/shopping. It's fairly new and usually empty-ish inside.
Once inside, you'll be impressed by the simple and elegant decor. Really clean bathrooms (is that key in eating?! Well, you can tell a lot about a place about how well they maintain their WC's, lol.)
Menu is on the sparse side so if you're looking for variety, this probably won't be the place to check out. But in terms of a decent Asian style dinner with friends, it's pretty good. Prices are fair, booze is decently priced and there are a few spots where you can seat a big group. -
Review from jocelyn l.
12/23/2011
I was eager to find a reasonable (and Asian) dining option in the Yorkville area when I shop @ anthro (quite regularly). *sigh*
So i was excited to see Lee Chen on the Yorkville radar.
I came here for lunch today; it's steps from the Bloor TTC and the restaurant is huge.
Contemporary Asian Teahouse is the best way to describe it.
The prices here are reasonable, albeit higher than the usual Chinatown fare; but this ain't Chinatown folks...it's the borderline snooty Yorkville.
Had the Shanghai Dumplings (xiao long bao) steamed in a bamboo basket, and freshly made to order. The dumplings were quite delicious; delicate skin, savory filling with a drop of soup in the dumpling.
I also had the Shanghai Spicy Stewed Beef Noodles. I dumped a ton of chili in the soup coz i like it extra spicy...and it was delish.
The noodles tasted handmade, the soup was yummy and the generous pieces of beef were tender and flavorful.
The bowl of noodles was Huge.
Service was good; efficient, friendly, nice.
I'd come back for lunch with friends to try various dishes.
Highly recommend for the area. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
3.5 Stars
I never expect Lee Chen Asian Diner to be that good!
I was a little skeptic when I saw the menu. I thought Lee Chen is a restaurant that specializes in Northern Chinse cuisine, but Pad Thai? Teriyaki? Curry?
The decor is really chic and has a lot of Chinese styled furnitures.
I was greeted warmy by the staffs and sitted at the booth.
I want to drink some hot tea which is usually complimentary in "Chinese" restaurants and usually served automatically but here teas are $1.99.
Jasmine Tea ($1.99)
- it was served as a tea bag I got from T&T in a saucer cup... I wish it is loose leaf tea, no such luck!
Spicy Beef Noodle Soup ($8.99)
- the braised beef was so tender and flavoured. especially the tendons has this rich butter texture
- the noodles was chewy and soft at the same time, with a great bite
- apparently, the noodle though not made in house, but was made to order with a special recipe from the noodle factory
- The broth was quite good, but not spicy at all... chilli sauce on the table fixed that problem!
I was almost ready to leave then suddenly I have a craving for something sweet. The dessert choice here was diisappointing lacking! The waiter suggested:
Black Sesame filled Balls in Sweet Wine Soup ($5.49)
- a little over cooked as the filling was leaking when I tried eating them
- the sweet wine though smell good, but just too carb heavy for my taste
Free WIFI just ask for the password!
Waitstaffs needs a lot of training! Hopefully the next time I drop by to try out some dumplings, everything would be running smoothly! -
Review from Tony D.
Toronto, ON
11/12/2011
3.5.
I tried out this new resto the other day. It was fairly empty at the time. Service was good. The menu is pretty vast with different options. We ordered vegetable spring rolls (2.99) along with 2 "one-dish-meals" (8.99 or so). I liked the rolls, although my friend wasn't keen on them, insisting that they could be more full and less greasy.
Our mains were pretty good. I had the beef dish and my friend had the sweet and sour chicken. My beef was surprisingly tasty and not tough, and the chicken was equally yummy. The fried rice (+1$) was good -- not greasy and pretty basic. The plates also came with a nice pile of mixed vegetables. What sucked about them though was that they were pretty cold. Not cool! Another downer, the spring rolls came after we had gotten our main dishes. Also not cool.
Our dinner came to just $25 (no drinks), so in terms of value I think it was good. I think the cooks have a bit of work to do, but I'd return here, since the food quality was high given the price range. -
Review from Molly C.
Toronto, ON
3/16/2012
Most of what we ordered (soup dumplings, hot and sour soup, and black pepper beef with fried noodles) was like any other cheap and cheerful greasy Chinese food. I would much rather go around the corner to Dynasty.
-
Review from Steph L.
10/16/2011
Ho-Lee-Chen!
After a productive day of shopping on Bloor, I was in the mood for some noodles. Across the street from the reference library I saw a "We're now open" sign and a newly renovated restaurant.
This "Asian Diner" is the newest addition to Asian eateries in the Yonge-Bloor area and one of the better ones.
The owners and waitstaff are super friendly and immediately greeted and served me.
They offered me a glass of water while I looked through their take-out menu. The restaurant has only been open for two days and it was pretty quiet. A lot of people peered curiously into the window.
The restaurant is nicely decorated, dim lit with dark wood, and ample seating. I liked that the kitchen was open and you can see the food being prepared.
The music was loud and repetitive.
I wonder if Chinese restaurants use the same CD.
Probably from the album Exotic Sounds of the Far East.
I felt like I was trapped in a never-ending OMNI movie.
Anyways...
The menu had a assortment of traditional dishes and more western dishes. You can order.... sweet potato fries.... or tofu!
The menu is very similar to Asian Legend and so are the prices.
They had cold peanut noodles($4.99), spicy beef noodles in soup ($8.99), basic dumpling offerings (6 for $5.99), siu mei (4 for $4.59), a variety of fried rices (around 9 bucks), kung pao chicken, general tso, green curry, etc.
They said that their xiao long bao is good.
I'll have to give it a try next time...
And perhaps the sticky rice roll with dried pork and onion pancake too.
The Shanghai noodles didn't have that weird fake orange color.
The eggplant was not saucy but fresh.
Pan-fried dumplings were surprisingly satisfying.
I was happy with my meal and service and I'm sure I'll be back for several reasons.
* It's not Hue's (Horrific) Kitchen.
* It's less pretentious than Spring Rolls and about a billion times more authentic.
I hope this place stays around, Yonge-Bloor can use some more Asian flavour! -
Review from RJ T.
Toronto, ON
We had the pad thai, the soup dumplings, the onion pancake, and a dim sum item. Food quality is very high for the area ... service is commendable. There was always someone close by to bring an extra drink, or hot sauce.
The atmosphere at lunch time was busy, not too loud, and the food arrived at the table very quickly.
We shared the pad thai (vegetarian) and were pleased that it was not bright red when it was presented. The onion pancake was a nice starter, but the soup dumplings were the star of the meal for myself.
The menu is long and varied, so there will be something for everyone. -
Review from Melinda M.
Toronto, ON
11/27/2011 3 Check-ins Here
I was pleasantly surprised by the lunch here. This place is huge and so are the portions!
My friend commented that it was the "Asian Pickle Barrel" because the menu was so extensive! It's actually much better than that. I had a green chili shrimp and it was very good. The calamari appetizer is better than good - the Asian 5 spice kicked it up a notch to excellent!
Service was a little off - we didn't get our food in the traditional order - drinks, appetizers, entrees. In fact, the appetizers came last. It also took forever to get the bill - we asked at least 3 times.
Still, despite the service, the food was really good, and there was more than enough. I'll likely return. -
Review from Tom L.
Toronto, ON
1/28/2012
Went here on a Saturday night because of the yelp reviews and was not disappointed. Had the spicy beef soup and fried dumplings and shared some other appetizers. We will definitely return when in the Yonge/Bloor area.
-
Review from Ariel W.
Toronto, ON
10/31/2011
This place has a really nice staff, the food is freshly made by their own chefs, and the decor and ambience is great.
I went there with some Asian friends and they said that it is not just delicious, but very authentic.
Will go there many more times.
