- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Tracy Dessert
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dessert
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
17 reviews for Tracy Dessert
17 reviews in English
-
Review from Karl R.
6/11/2011 6 photos
My calling Pension Babe's dessert mushroom soup "offensive" did not seem to scare her off from trying another HK style dessert cafe with me.
Pension Babe: How are you for deep fried milk?
Me: In my culture we have a saying "if it's not fried it's not good".
Oh man. After sharing a 40 piece sushi platter at Osaka Sushi, Pension Babe still seemed pretty hungry. I let her order at these kinds of places. "Surprise me." She ordered 5 dessert items. Where do these women put it? Seriously.
Verdicts:
Deep fried milk: One of the best things I've had since Krispie Kreme. A nice sugary batter, sweet solid milk cubes. Add more sugar to taste.
Some shaved ice dessert: At first I thought this was a Chinese interpretation of Korean patbingsoo but then I noticed the ice seemed more like a shaved milk ice. Watermelon balls were nice. The milky ice was nice. I think I still like patbingsoo better. No red beans. Yeah. I can't believe I'm saying that. "A cold dessert with out red bean goop? Why even bother?"
Mango tapioca pudding: You can't really go wrong with mango anything. Unless you're letting me slice open an actual mango. I get frustrated when holding a knife. Very frustrated. There's a poor outcome, usually.
Mango Egg Something: "What's this called?" "You know we don't really have a lot of different names for these things." Huh. Sweet baked egg whites with mango hunks? Different. Good.
Rolled Rice Cakes Something: "This was my favorite breakfast in Hong Kong. I would buy it from a stand on the way to the subway." It bore visual similarity to Korean ddeokbokki but a sweet sesame brown sauce as opposed to a sweet/spicy red sauce. Warm, sweet, nourishing carbs. I can see how this is a morning comfort food.
Seating: Ouch. No conducive to long philosophical chats. Low squat stools. (Erm. I'll leave that one alone.)
Service: Great!
Pro tips: This place fills up quickly on weekends. Before 9 pm forgetaboutit. -
Review from Jennifer L.
Markham, ON
4/9/2012
Cramped with limited seating and right next to the swinging door exposing the occasional chill, I only hoped my new experience with my parents would be redeemed since the last memory I had at Tracy was "enhanced" and under the influence.
The green pea/seaweed and black sesame desserts were noticeably watered down. I've tasted quality chinese desserts so that really spoiled my expectations. I had the papaya nourishment drink, which they place a papaya in a bowl and they cut a small hole no bigger than the size of a loonie. It was the most difficult spoon and opening to drink out of. Like they hollowed the fruit and filled it with water... not as innovative as I thought. Sucks for me trying something new. -
Review from Valery C.
11/26/2011 2 photos
Small, old-fashioned, and very traditionally decorated Chinese dessert place near one of the entrances into First Markham Place. We were looking for snow ice dessert and was specifically referred here as they offered it. Their dessert menu is expansive and comprehensive, plenty of options; they also serve foods. We went on an early afternoon so the place was nearly empty, and one person took care of orders and serving.
Tracy Dessert calls the ice dessert we wanted "Snowflake ice." This is a pre-flavored block of ice that shaves out snow-like. We ordered the original base topped with red bean, coconut jelly, and diced mango, and the matcha base topped with kiwi and ringed with watermelon and cantaloupe balls. Took a while to make, we were nearly done with one while the other was being made, but that was fine. Both desserts were very good, nice texture, tasty with fresh toppings. Matcha was the flavor winner in our group.
A bit expensive at nearly $8, but a good size portion, well-made, and worth having once in a while. -
Review from Patty L.
North York, ON
Maybe I ordered the wrong things but I was thoroughly unimpressed by this place.
Tucked in a little corner in First Markham Place is this little Chinese dessert place. They also have some snack items and rice bowls on the menu but I'd say the majority of the customers are here for desserts.
Upon being seating we were given some tea. I noted that the tables had dried "swirl" marks from being wiped down with dirty towels and were still sticky. Ick. The seating is not very comfortable - short Chinese-style stools. I guess they don't want you to be too comfy and stay too long.
I ordered the taro and tapioca sweet soup with coconut milk and it was ridiculously sweet and very watery. If I wanted sugar water with baby tapioca in it I could have gone somewhere and ordered a bubble tea! My friends ordered mango pudding (unimpressive, but at least they use fresh fruit) and the steamed milk and egg white custard. The milk & egg white custard was a bit watery as well. Be aware that if the menu states that something will take 20 mins to prepare, it really does so don't get annoyed at the waitresses.
There is are washrooms on site (which also double as their utility closet and staff locker rooms) and they accept cash only.
If I want Chinese dessert, I'll stick with Sugar in Chinatown. -
Review from Edward M.
8/22/2011
This was one of the few places we could find to get some dessert late at night. It's not the best service in the world, they were very nice but not very attentive. The dessert was good bang for the buck.
The Iced Red Bean Milk w/ Ice cream was bad, wasn't sweet at all
Iced Grass Jelly Milk was good
Mango MIlk Shake was really good :)
Original Milk Flavored Snowflake Ice (HK Style) was pretty good as was the Milk Flavored Snowflake Ice (HK Style) -
Review from Vivian L.
Scarborough, ON
7/29/2011
I think this is a cool little hang out place for a bunch of friends. The actual desserts itself were very "meh," but I think it's 'cause my standards are now ultra high after my previous visit to Hong Kong. I think if anyone were just suddenly craving a chinese style dessert, this place would be a decent destination. Only grief was that the tables seemed kind of dirty though =/
I think this is a place I would like to go back to, but not really frequent. Good in small doses! My goal on my next visit would be to try the savoury foods 'cause those look interesting =)
Overall, I think this place is a good hangout for teens or "young adults." They have a cozy setting, fast service (but not nagging you to leave), and some pretty good music =) Generally a decent place, but just nothing extraordinary. -
Review from Wendy C.
10/30/2010
Mango pudding, mango puree with fresh mango cubes, mango puree with fresh mango cubes and pomelo shreds, herbal jellies, sea coconut jelly --- YUM, refreshing Hong Kong style desserts.
I am guessing this is a branch of, or a licensed franchise of the famous Hong Kong chain of Hui Lau Shan. They use the same logo and the Chinese name.
The menu has some resemblance to the real deal HK Hui Lau Shan, but not as many mango dishes and the mangos aren't as fresh or ripe (no surprise, Toronto is waaay further from Philippines than HK is). But good enough a place for a HLS fix. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
I am so glad I come to Tracy Dessert when I have a craving for Chinese dessert one evening.
The fresh fruit with grass and sea jello I ordered really comes with fresh fruits! No Del Monte canned fruit at all.. Thanks so much! I was so happy. The only complain is the grass jello though home made not from can is a little too soft without too much texture and bite.
I for sure will be back again and again to try out their other desserts!!
It is so interesting that they put down the reason why they prepare certain food on the menu and what it is good for and who should not be eating that and why!
BTW, I wish they have better hours... they don't open till 2 pm till weekdays.. if not I can drop by for my lunch time desert.. (maybe not, I might get fat..........if I do that too often!)
They accepts CASH only! -
Review from Lucinda C.
Vancouver, BC
5/23/2010
I wish they had something here in Vancouver! The dessert is just amazing!
I was over in Toronto to do some sight seeing plus visit some family. A friend of a friend of mine recommended a dessert place that is similar to Pearl Castle. He took us over to Markam and my friend and I didn't know what to expect. We went in and the decor is just like an old fashion Chinese restaurant with all the Chinese furniture.
They are famous for their mango pudding so everyone ordered a mango pudding except for me because I am allergic to mangoes. I ordered a dessert with fruit and grass jelly. My friend said she loved the mango pudding. It had the perfect amount of sweetness and it wasn't sour at all. My grass jelly dessert was very good. I would go back and order orther desserts off the menu!
I can't wait to go back for another visit! -
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
4/2/2010 1 photo
I have been here for dessert from time to time but it wasn't until a friend told me to order their Pigeon on Rice in Ceramic Hotpot that I found it actually was good for food as well as their Mango or Tapioca desserts.
I was there before my friend as I drove pass him while he was stuck behind someone driving slower. When I got there he called me to order the Ceramic Hotpot item right away as it takes anywhere up to 20-30 minutes to be ready.
The three of us shared a good meal and the price was very reasonable as well. Too BAD there were 3 of us! I might not be able to finish it on my own but I would be happy to make that attempt. There's always NEXT TIME.
Usually I like to order some snacks at these Chinese dessert places such as Street-Style Rice Rolls (Cheong Fun) with hot sauce/sesame paste/hoisin sauce or Fried Fresh Milk (Direct translation).
Obviously if you're not that into having Pigeon, than other choices are available. You can take me there so I can take the pigeon and you can the rice, WIN-WIN situation. :-) -
Review from Colleen B.
7/17/2009
Take a trip to Hong Kong without leaving the strip mall in Markham. The lacquer tables and tiny stools with carved Asian motifs were fun. The laminated menu on the table top was eye-popping for even this veteran Asian food connoisseur. The first item I saw was frog ovaries. This is considered a medicinal dessert so my guide who's from Hong Kong informed us. I politely passed on that one.
For those less intrepid stick with S.S's suggestion of the mango pudding which was so refreshing. They also have great ice cream with red bean and the watermelon ice was a really neat nod to shaved ice with fresh fruit. If you're feeling adventurous my guide informed us that the black sesame soup was delish. -
Review from Phil H.
Toronto, ON
3/31/2010
Came here for dessert after a dinner at Inatei recently.
I ordered the herbal jelly while my friend had the stewed papaya with rock sugar. I found the herbal jelly to be pretty darn tasty. It helps (a lot) to cut the bitterness of it with the little cup of sugar they give to you but I really liked it. It helped to think that what I was eating was relatively healthy and good for you. I didn't get to try what my friend got but he liked it so take that however you will.
Very interesting selection of healthy desserts and soups along with fruit-centric desserts and a small selection of clay pot cooked food as well. The table next to us had ordered one and it smelled delicious. We were pretty intrigued by the idea of coming back here sometime just to try the food (especially considering it's 11-12 bucks for something that purportedly feeds two). -
Review from Alan K.
4/7/2011
This was just one of the many places we went to for dessert during our time in Toronto. And just another place in which I had cold herbal jelly in Toronto. I think I've ordered that at every dessert place we went to there and I'm serious haha. A good herbal jelly should taste bitter but not too overprocessed, like Jello. The honey or syrup you pour into it should be sweet enough to counteract the bitterness. The herbal jelly here was pretty good. Either that or I've had so much in the days before that my tastebuds can't tell the difference anymore. Nevertheless, it tastes better than any of the stuff back home (well, actually, I've never really come across herbal jelly when I am home; then again, I wasn't really looking). I know it definitely tastes better than the crap you can buy in little plastic cups at the supermarket though.
Oh yeah, the thing that got me super excited here was the fact that they have deep fried spicy salty chicken knee. I became obsessed in trying to find a place that serves this here so I can taste what this was all about after a friend asked if I had tried this in HK while I was there and I hadn't so I became super disappointed. And now, I FINALLY get to try it. Yayyyyy! And I wasn't super disappointed with how it tastes either. It was good. Basically, you know the part of the chicken bone that is white and around the joint area? If you eat chicken like I do and finish off every single bit and piece that you are able to chew on, like this white soft bony part, then you know exactly what I am talking about. Well, pretty much, they take this piece off separately and coat with the same breading they use for spicy salty calamari (I KNOW you've had that) and voila! You get spicy, salty chicken knee (or soft bone). And it tastes delicious! Mmm nom nom nom!
Only minus about this place is that we went after dinner, at night, so it was packed and we had to wait for a table. And there wasn't that many inside to begin with. How dare they make me wait to satisfy my craving for spicy salty chicken knee! Minus 1-star for that! -
Review from Lala L.
11/3/2010
I had the tofu pudding dessert and my friends had the mango pudding. mmmmm....so good! Wish I had tried more on the dessert.
-
Review from Jess J.
11/14/2010
Awww....heaven....
Got the following:
- mixed fruits with grass jelly, superb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- mixed fruits with mango pudding, pudding tastes a bit old, overall, good
- mixed fruits with sago, coconut milk, YUM
Every time we visit Toronto, this place is a must to hit! -
Review from Tina N.
Toronto, ON
12/26/2009 2 photos
Tracy Dessert is a little café that serves up Traditional Chinese desserts such as the typical red bean soup or mango pudding and popular spoon-able desserts that include fruits in them! (my favorite is the sea coconut ice with fresh fruits! very tasty and refreshing!). They also serve other dessert soup classics like sweet potato soup, green bean sweet porridge, water chestnut sweet porridge and an assortment of herbal teas. I remember once ordering the Herbal Jelly which is reported to be good for you but warning, it is VERY bitter! I love coming here, as it has a variety of different, nutritious and healing desserts!
-
Review from S. S.
Toronto, ON
8/12/2008
Great Mango pudding. Not only do they put real mangoes into the mango pudding, but they also cut up fresh mango to lay on top of your mango pudding dish.
Costs $4.50 for mango pudding, for a tasty one, I consider this to be reasonably priced.
