Ginger & Onion Cuisine

Had high expectations for this place from all the reviews but was dissapointed with the food. The service was great (the dim sum cart ladies were very nice and attentive even when we were in an inaccessible location of the restaurant) but unfortunatley the food failed to impress. The dim sum tastes like the McDonalds version of dim sum but at mid-​range prices.

Mmmmm …
The pushcarts — what’s not to love, especially when you have a seat near the exit of the kitchen …
Ordered desserts first (to take home and gorge on in private): jean dway, mai lai go, lotus bao …
We had: 1. stuffed pi taofu (very nicely done, served hot with a good variety and texture of filling); 2. Crystal shrimp dumplings with chopped chives and garlic (on point); 3. foong jow — the spicing on the chicken feet here is the B.E.S.T; 4. choi sum with garlic; 5. vegetarian «jaozi» (steamed) — could have been warmer but a good taste and texture; 6. chong fan with char siu — exceptional — no fatty or grisly surprises in the pork. A definite mmmmmm …
Busy — lots of hustle and bustle. I always leave this place happy — full and satisfied.

The food just keeps going downhill. Today especially. The fried tentacles were good, the other dishes also seemed to have gotten smaller as well. We got the claypot rice and it was terrible. The rice has three different textures all in the same pot. There was undercooked, wet soggy, and extremely dry, didn’t think that was even possible. Very disappointed.

I was told that this was one of the best dim sums in Toronto, so I had high expectations of this place! However, I find that there is not alot to review about this place because the lack of food that they had. To start off with, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in, luckily we could bypass it because we had a large group. The waitress gave me attitude when she asked me to move out of her way, but that’s beyond the point (I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice!). The shrimp dumplings they had were good, but they did not have seaame balls or sweet sao bows which are a MUST. We saw a platter of lo mein that we wanted, and literally saw another table take it. When we asked the waitress if we could get one, she flat out just said no with any explanation. Overall I was disappointed at the customer service and variety of food, and I hope this isn’t representative of dim sums in Canada!

They have terrible service and that’s all you should know. Unless you’re some old senior that frequents it daily or nightly, you ain’t about to get shit around here. Especially if you’re not fluent in Chinese, and you seem like you’re stuck between the phase of adulthood and childhood– aka me, you’re gonna get treated badly here. Many times they just ignore you and there’s no hostess at the front. When the hostess is there, she doesn’t really do much of anything. When it’s busy, it’s packed– no organization of people + no room to stand between the door and the hostess stand = one big mess.
Food wise, they’re mediocre. It’s not terrible but not amazing. Everything is a little bit salty and a lot packed with the special Asian drug (msg). Gotta admit, I enjoy Peking duck anywhere though. The sweet and sour pork is pretty good sometimes but the quality isn’t always consistent. sometimes it’s a bit soggy? You know that soggy sweet and sour meat taste? Not good, right? There really is not much I can say about the food.
I haven’t been here for a few years and don’t think I’d be returning unless I am dragged here for a family dinner or something?

AVOID! Went for dim sum and the front desk manager/​waiter barely understood English.
Sat down after selecting dim sum and she tried to charge me for takeout before dim sum time expired! The octopus tentacles were VERY RUBBERY! LIKE THEY FRIED PLASTIC!
Then she started jumping to the music beside my table! Unprofessional and illiterate woman.
GO TO CASA IMPERIAL OR SPRING VILLA INSTEAD.

I am always a fan of dim sum and even the thought of it brightens my day, but the customer service my friend and I received this time around was absolutely crappy.
We had been seated in a wobbly table located in an area where it was difficult for the carts to come by and show us what they were serving. Reasonably we asked if we could switch tables and by the 2^nd inquiry we were promptly called out by an employee dressed in a grey dress suit and high ponytail for «preventing her from serving other customers». Another employee dressed in a black suit along with a waiter literally gossiped behind our backs for «being uneducated and having no manners», simply for wanting to be served properly. They even charged us an extra $ 2 because they had to wash an extra tablecloth when they could have brought it over from our previous table.
Thoroughly unimpressed that I just had to make a Unilocal account and leave my two cents. Also, watch out because they don’t even de-​vein all of their shrimps.

Went this morning with my husband and sister in-​law for dim sum for the first time. I was a little weary as I had read quite a few negative comments about the food and the service but was pleasantly surprised with the food… but not the service, hence the three stars.
We had:
Crispy Octopus — A little rubbery but very tasty
Crab Claw — not bad but couldn’t get over the texture
Radish Cake — Delicious!!!
Baked and Steamed BBQ Bun — Delicious and lots of filling!
Crispy Taro stuffed with pork — very crispy and tasty
Pork Congee — Bland — not good at all
Fried Shrimp Dumpling — Ohhhh soooo gooood
Shrimp Wontons — Fantastic!
Rice Pastry Stuffed with Pork — A must try!
Egg Tarts — Double up on these… trust me!!!
Mango Pudding — So silky and soooo delicious — get it with evaporated milk.
I would go again just because the food was really good but I was disappointed in the service. Most of the ladies pushing the carts with the food tried to ignore us but I made sure to stop them so that I could take a look at what they were offering. They looked bothered whenever I would stop them… so sorry ladies that I do not understand the language you are speaking but funny how you can explain in English what it is you have on your cart after you are forced to stop. Not professional at all. I would have given this experience a four star had the service been good. Although, I must say that there was one lady in particular that made the dining experience better for us. She was older, tall, and had wavy hair past her ears; she was nice, tried to explain what she had on her cart without being asked and was also quite funny! The others have a lot to learn from this lady!
With all that said, I would come back for the food for sure!

This place is always busy during dim sum hours. One of the few places that still does the carts pushed by yelling ladies between crowded tables — the way the dim sum experience should be. The quality of the food has been reliable and good. Since there is a crowd, you have to keep your eyes peeled for your favorites before it disappears. The good thing is that the dishes are always fresh and piping hot. The bad thing is that you might miss out. But that is part of the fun.

Came here to celebrate a family members birthday and it was your typical Cantonese style restaurant. I’d come here again for another celebration or even for dinner with family.

The restaurant got a lot busier after 11am. Dim sum quality is average. The food selection is also average. The price is affordable, six of us paid $ 15 per person.

I love this place
So good
I always leave super full cause I literally overeat cause I’m enjoying it so much
The food is fantastic!
I suggest to google the food you want to get before you go so you know how to ask for it since not many of the girls who push the carts are fluent in English but they know when you use your fingers to show how many you want
Amazing!

The food is on par with other dimsum places but the service terrible. I have never been so angry at a place for blatantly being so goddamn rude, I had decent experiences in the past but this time I will reconsider ever returning again. I asked for 2 extra chairs for our table, and the brought 1. Had to go and ask a different person again it only took a good 15 minutes to get our seats after we already received our food. During our meal we asked for 3 ice waters and a fork for the child at our table. The server proceeded to leave mid conversation. She brought back 3 ice waters so we asked again for the fork. She replied rudely «OK! OK! OK!» That was the moment I knew that I was not coming back. Even after that, another women driving the food cart had food that we wanted and she told us to wait because the wanted to go to the back of the room first. Then she came back and walked right past us. Great service!!! I had to walk to the cart myself and get my own food. It’s that day and age where the food industry is getting really competitive and another business with better customer service will run this place down. Absolutely disappointed in the place. JimStar Out

Although the food in here is not bad, it is not that great either. Please customers beware, aside from charging $ 1/​per person for tea (even though it is on the same pot and just filing it up with hot water), I found out too on my bill that they will charge you $ 1 for the table cloth. This place is getting ridiculous. If anybody out there who know a nice dim sum place, please let me know as I am sick and tired of this place charging you for everything. Their pigs internal organs too is so small a portion. They probably not buy these stuff and yet they charge a lot for it.

came here at 10am to take advantage of $ 2.80 for S/​M/​L dim sum dishes this morning and was a little disappointed at the selection of dim sums. things were moving a bit slow and carts were repetative during that hour. had to wait till 11am to start to see the good stuff roll out. by that time, was pretty filled up on the so-​so stuff. quality of food was pretty average, nothing to exciting.
most restaurants will have special dishes or signature dishes that they are known for, but this place did not really have anything special. desserts were limited as well.
maybe it is me, we got a table at about 10:05am. by 10:20am, our sheet was at 14 (dim sum) already. keeping in mind, it was 2 adult and one little kid during that 10+ minute gap LOL
i think i eat too fast and too much.
will i come back… yes. next time around, will wait till about 10:30 to come and should be more happy than.

This year when we got to G & O Cuisine, we did not have to wait in line! Service was great, so was the meal! Everyone was famished by the car ride and it seems like we tried a bit of everything. A whole chicken and a lot of dim sum. Really love the mango pudding. The best meal I have ever had here and the best octopus tentacles in town.

Came here for dimsum on a Thursday morning, the carts were slow to come around and the more classic dishes came towards the end. Took a long wait for it, while less common foods were circulating for a LONG time.
Food quality here is mediocre in comparison, one problem about carts is that the food items do not remain as fresh. One of my fried foods were actually soggy, which took the flavour out completely. Also, the waitress was incredibly rude. I was still adding more money onto my bill and she just snatches it away, despite me calling after her. Not only was the waitress rude, but one of the cart pushing ladies was slightly aggressive. She didn’t see us looking at her and was getting our attention by yelling just so that we look at her cart. Really?
For two people, it cost us $ 35, I can get better dimsum for that money. Will not be returning

Hurray, lunchtime push cart dim sum! (I don’t understand why push carts are becoming rare these days – I grew up eating and thinking push cart service is how dim sum must is done.)
But boo, the variety and quality of food they push around.
It’s so-​so overall. Sure it is decently cheap, the service is generally acceptably standard, and they serve many of the classic dim sum food. I however found many of the food here underwhelming. Their har gow, siu mai and pig’s blood pudding were not as juicy, hot and savoury as I would like. The cleanliness could be much improved.
Generally speaking, the eateries within the Pacific Mall/​Market Village site leaves much to be desired. The only major thing going for Ginger & Onion are the three lion dance lions hanging from the ceiling, all pointing at the entrance (which is separate from the rest of the Market Village complex), greeting each diner walking in.
By the way, what the heck English restaurant name is «Ginger & Onion»? If it is meant to be a reference to the dip often served with dim sum, it’s a marketing idea only a Hobbit could come up with for a restaurant name.

1 Star for the food and 1 Star just because of nostalgic push cart dim sum
Food is really going downhill since I last visited. Everything is sticky and dirty from the spoons, teacups and chopsticks. My Unilocal friend kept trying to wipe the chopsticks with hot tea and napkins and it was not helping much…
A few old style dim sum items we ordered just for old time sake…
Probably won’t be back…

If you miss the old style of push cart dim sum that wheels past your table, this is the place.
It might not be the highest quality in Markham, but being able to see what you are ordering is a great part of the experience when you don’t speak Chinese.
Best dish was the Gai-​bao, the chicken in rice flour buns… the Cha-​sui bao was good too but I had never had the chicken version be so tasty, a lovely hit of ginger in every bite.
The shui-​mai and har-​gow were a bit disappointing, but I think I have super high standards on those.
Another steller dish was the chopped up pork spareribs with black bean… each of us could have had 4 dishes… yes, you have to eat the meat off the shards of bone, but its so damned tasty!
Oh, and the crispy fried squid — tender and tasty! In fact I would say all the deep fried items were surprisingly non oily.
I concede the MSG levels here are probably high, but just drink a lot of tea and have some of the lovely warm sago egg custard pudding bowl for dessert… so yummy!
If you don’t speak Chinese, prepare to do a lot of pointing and deciding if the mystery is worth the risk! And from my experience the giant metal heat trays have congee or other bland stuffs that are not what I want from dim sum.
While waiting in line, remember, long line ups = good food.