Asian Legend

Slow service took fifty minutes to get a fried pancake. Had to call them twice. Sticky rice wrapped in non food safe plastic bag. I never seen it done anywhere.

I’m not unfamiliar with Asian Legend — excluding this one, I’ve been to three of their other locations (Vaughan, North York at Leslie/​Finch, and Scarborough). I’ve not the most discerning palate to distinguish between all of the different locations (unlike some of my friends), but I do know that this Markham location stands out — frankly, my experience here was the worst out of all of them.
We ordered a number of different items: a lamb dish, the Peking/​Beijing duck, mapo tofu, an eggplant dish, green beans, and some veggies.
The two meat dishes were good. The lamb was a touch salty but it was masked by the spice, so that wasn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, this didn’t apply to the rest of the dishes. The mapo tofu barely had any kick to it and its flavour was predominantly salt. The eggplant and green beans were so salty and oily that I was tempted to rinse it off in the tea. Again, I’m no stranger to Asian Legend or northern cuisine, I can handle food that’s heavier on the sauces/​seasonings, but this location was overboard. Even some of my companions, who normally like Asian Legend, shared the same sentiments. The highlight of the meal was the dessert soup that came with the meal at the end. It was taro based and very good.
Service was ok, more or less standard for a Chinese restaurant. Servers all seemed to have decent mastery of the English language in case you’re wondering (that’s noteworthy in Markham). Food arrived fairly quickly though they did forget one of our dishes and claimed to us that all of the food had arrived when it in fact had not. The location is also very small compared to the other Asian Legends, and they are pretty busy, so if you are going to come with a large group, your best bet is to make a reservation.
Prices are slightly higher than most Chinese restaurants and the portion sizes can’t be considered generous. If the food quality was there, they could justify the premium, but it wasn’t.

This review is primarily for the beef roll in onion pancake. I have been eating this for a decade at this location. I always take a couple rolls back home with me. It’s the best in North America. Their soy bean milk is good too. I have had all the food there. It’s not bad, but you are in Toronto. You have SO MANY more options that are better. Come here for the beef roll.

Menu has big selection. Food is very good. Service was friendly and quick. The restaurant is a little hard to find located in an off street shopping plaza. It helps to know Chinese :-j

Very bad service and very average food. We went there today (a group of 3) with good expectations.
We were greeted by a non smiling waiter, which was okay with us until the following episode: I ordered a dish and when it arrived I realized that was not what I had meant to order. I very politely asked our waiter if I could change my dish (which at that point hadn’t even been touched), and he said straight out: «I can’t», with no further explanation. When we said that most restaurants would have accepted this request and if he preferred to instead lose three potential customers, he continue to say: «we don’t do that».
Well I tried to eat my food (even though it was not what I wanted at all). Before that I had a wonton soup that’s was honestly very bland. My two dinner companions were not impressed at all. I, for sure, will never be going back to that location.
If you want good quality chinese food and much better service, you should try Dragon Boat Fusion Cuisine very close by (160 E Beaver Creek Rd #4−6, Richmond Hill).

Ohhhh sooo full… We did a family event! The whole 3 of us… This include a girl’s age that is 1.
We had a chicken both noodles with chicken, veggies and Chinese mushroom with noodles in soup. That is my all time favorite!!! Specially on cold days it keep us satisfied and warm. Please note not all location have the Chinese mushroom… Only at the metro square and commerce gate location.
Siu long bai. World famous! You can’t go wrong with that! The skin is thin with fair enough juice inside the bun that doesn’t overwhelm u. The size is prefect not to big not too small… And it comes out steamy hot! Add black vinegar mmmm so yummy! Three ways of eating it 1. Break it apart eat skin, eat meat, drink the juice. 2. Break and release the juice in a bowl and save it with the rest of the meal to add extra flavor and just eat the skin and meat! 3. Also My favorite way! my then bf now hubby taught me! Put the bun on a spoon. Take a bite at the top of the skin, tear open slightly so juice doesn’t fall out and everything is intact. Add ginger/​vinegar in the hole (where the meat and juice is in the skin. Note: don’t put too much vinegar or it will cover all flavors!) blow twice and eat whole… Ohhhh soooo yummy!!! I love it!!!
Fried dumpling: sear to a crunchy skin with juice intact like the Siu long bai Take a bite at the top of the skin, tear open slightly so juice doesn’t fall out and everything is intact. Add ginger/​vinegar in the hole and eat. Best to use chopsticks for this one!
Fried tofu: we once saw this order on another table and decided to order it and we never stopped! So good it’s spicy but for someone that doesn’t eat spicy I loved it! Fried to perfection with garlic and green onions it went well with the spicy soya sauce that came with it! Incredible!!!
Total cost under $ 30 for everything!

One thing I admire Asian Legend is how it can maintain the standard of its food at various locations consistent. It pains me to say it is standard Asian Legend food here, because the standard of Asian Legend is above-​average Northern Chinese food. I have eaten so many dishes at Asian Legend that I must say all of them are authentic and delicious. Any difference in opinion is due to different flavour preferences such as how spicy and how salty one likes.
The services we had this evening was okay. The waitress was quick and effective in giving us water, food and the bill, but she didn’t smile much.
This location is one of the older locations. Its seating area seems to be the smallest one in GTA, as the Chinatown location has a seating area in the basement. The ambiance and interior décor is similar to the Commerce Gate location, but less pleasant than the one on Sheppard Avenue.
Overall, 3.5 stars.

When I want to take one of my less-​versed-​in-​chinese-​food-​and-​very-​white-​relatives to a place they can feel comfortable in, I take them here. The menus are easy for them to understand, its clean, well decorated and modern feeling inside and the service is accomadating (if a little hard to attract sometimes). For me, however, the food seems a little overpriced for what is, in the end, pretty good (but not exceptional) non-​region specific chinese fare. The dumplings are good, as well as some of the fried noodle dishes. Also if the restaurant is at all crowded, expect it to be loud.

Not sure how people gave this place a bad review. I’ve been here three times and have not been disappointed one bit. The first time that I’ve been here, my aunt, mom, and myself were driving around for food and decided that all the restaurants were packed in this little strip mall on Saturday night… but this one stood out because of its large windows and chic design inside.
We waited for half an hour in the cold entrance and wind up being seated beside the door and this was close to winter. We were extremely hungry and they didn’t give us any utensils aside from chopsticks. I was just starving that I ate my seafood fried rice with chopsticks. The food was amazing! My first impression was… great food, NOT overly salty and I even started drinking real tea that night. After that we were back two more times and I’ve had their (*SP) pork mushu with pancakes, soup filled dumplings (probably the only thing I hated), beef hu fen, and crispy chicken. All were incredible! Now that I moved far from the GTA I’ve been missing this place terribly!

I had to update this old review. We still eat lunch here very often. The food always tastes great! It is pretty busy and loud at lunch but the food comes fast and hot. It is also a great deal at just over $ 10 for the lunch special, highly recommend.

My family comes here often for our weekly dinners; It’s efficient and food relatively good. Sometimes, the place is packed by 6pm, other times, we can get a nice, round table by the window.
Our go to dishes are of course the dumplings, but we also love getting Fried Rice, Fried Tofu with lots of Garlic, White Bread with condensed milk to dip, Fried noodles and soup. As you can tell, not the healthiest of meals with everything being fried, but YOLO.
Overall, a decent place to grab grub. Service is quick. Seating gets a bit cramped and they have 2 large party rooms. As with all Asian Legend restaurants, good place for big groups.
FYI — Don’t forget to use your discount card here!

I should have checked out the stars before sitting down and ordering. This is the first time o the Asian Legend franchise and I can say I was disappointed. I ordered the Siu Long Bao which is the quintessential Northern Chinese dish. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to introduce my son to my Chinese heritage because it never arrived. By the time I noticed they stopped bringing dishes to our table, it was too late. He was full and I wasn’t going to eat all 6 by myself. The food was actually not salty, but underwhelming. I expected a lot more flavour for the price. Probably won’t come back to this location but might try the others as I’m searching for the Siu Long Bao that I remember from my youth.

Asian Legend is good, but short of amazing. Here are a few key points:
1. The dumplings are excellent. The soups are good, but a bit salty. The duck is average. On a whole, I found a couple of items to be too salty, but most things were pretty good.
2. Despite other critical reviews, this place does a brisk business. It is popular among the local Asian community.
3. The service here is absolutely horrible. If you want nothing but the hot tea they bring out and your food, you may be fine. Otherwise, you will not be offered anything else, plates will never be cleared, nothing.
4. The menu here is quite extensive. You can order a plate of very North American buffet style Chinese, or more regional/​authentic cuisine. They also serve dim sum style portions. Prices are somewhat reasonable.
5. The restaurant is loud. It is a difficult place to have a conversation.
In conclusion, you can eat a lot here for an ok price. You might like it. If you want service or ambiance, forget it.

I normally really love Asian Legend, but this location is just TERRIBLE!!! The food is soooo salty!!! Are salts really that cheap that u just spread it on everything??? Normally other Asian legends would cut the beef rolls or the sticky rice rolls for take out and put it in a foam box, this location left it as whole and put it in a paper bag for me. They didn’t even give me chopstick or forks to eat!!! How am I suppose to eat the noodles??? With my hands??? Not to mention the service is SOOO terrible!!! It’s like I owe the waiters money or something: S

I am surprised that this asian legend didn’t have more review. Good or bad it should have more people talk about it.
About 90% of my visit are take-​out, usually done with a telephone order to avoid waiting. a 4 star place for us.
This time we dine in.
we ordered the lunch special.
Pork Chops with Special Salt & Pepper on Rice
Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetable on Rice
Kung Pao Chicken on Rice
(price and additional info please refer to the picture)
to start the meal, we were served 2 bowls of soup.
as we were trying to taste it, we wonder if we should get 3 bowls of soup (as we ordered 3 special)
once we finished the first bowl (it’s really small when you share), we try to ask the waitress about it when we start to attack the second bowl.
(it’s not really flavorful, but nothing else to eat or do…)
after our meal is here, the 3^rd soup finally arrives.
but it’s a totally different looking soup.
the once we got before was a clear soup with tiny vegetable bits floating in it.
the 3^rd one we got was in like a beef broth color soup base with a un-​appetizing cloudiness to it.
after we stir it a few times, seems to us that it’s the same soup but really like an attempt to wash the bin to get one last bowl out.
after that, we just quickly finished our food and left.
I mean, if you don’t have the soup, suggest some else for us, or just sub it with a drink or something. don’t give us dish washing water…

Lured by the nice looking modern interior design with a Chinese edge seen through the glass windows, a mouth watering ad for Lo Mein and a logo accepting credit cards, we made our first attempt the previous night but they were closed.
We came back the very next evening only to have an unsatisfying and expensive Chinese dinner with poor service. The Lo Mein seems so good on the advertisement but don’t be fooled by pictures like I am; it is obviously not the same chef!
The Moo Shu Pork was terrible and so expensive to get extra thin pancakes; usually it’s free. We also got The Chinese broccoli side dish but it was so salty, I couldn’t eat any. The onion beef roll was the only plate I enjoyed yet it is so heavy and not a full meal. $ 50 without drinks, legendary enough to remind me never to go back.

The food was alright tonight. If I remember correctly his was one of the first AL in Toronto and this location isn’t as big as I remembered.
The menu is easy to order from with lots of pictures. I got my favourite Red Beef Noodle in Soup, but it wasn’t as amazing as I’ve had in the past. I also asked for hand pulled noodles (extra $ 1) but they gave me thick ones (i didn’t specify). Anyone who’s knows, knows that bad noodles to soup ratio doesn’t make a good meal. the beef was tender and good, but soup didn’t have much taste or spicyness to it. ($ 6.99).
We also ordered a rice combo. Seems like they added this to the AL menu for folks who weren’t into communal chinese dishes. You get rice, ice tea, and some sort of meat dish, on a plate! Strange to eat for me, seems perfect for some others.
The waiters here aren’t the friendliest. They just do their jobs.