Simon’s Wok

Delicious food, including mock meats. Friendly service and excellent prices!

I don’t understand the four stars for this place?! We ordered the following and nothing was good about them.
— Seaford fried noodles is very small portion and very bland tasting
— veg goose was cold and dry
— sweet and sour soup has no taste to it (not sour or hot… just taste like a starch soup)
— bitter melon fried rice noodles was extremely oily (swimming in oil) and the bitter melon taste like it was frozen before
— bean curd roll was too oily and only had a little carrot filling
Only positive thing was that the staff was friendly.
Would definitely recommend elsewhere and not go back.

if I could kiss Simon I would. he is wonderful man with a wonderful establishment and many treats to be discovered on his tantalizing menu. vegans and vegetarians rejoice in the streets at the 5 dollar lunch special.
and God bless Simon

Simon’s Wok is hands down my favourite restaurant in Toronto. I have ordered from them a countless number of times and they have never disappointed… except the soups. They are okay but need more seasoning. I won’t hold it against them though. I still get them from time to time!
My favourites are:
— salt & pepper mushrooms (only in restaurant)
— spring rolls
— vegetarian «duck»
— vegetaria «goose»
— assorted gluten platter
— stuffed bean curd sheets
— any of their fried rice
— mock sweet and sour «pork»
— fried «eel»
— vegetarian «duck» with vegetables
— vegetarian «seafood» with vegetables
— «beef» satay
— tofu and tomatoes on rice
— fried rice noodles
… and more… I love Simon’s!
I still don’t understand why they don’t get more love from the vegetarian community. They’re great! Go give them some love (and business)!

What a gem. The food is delicious and service is great. Do bring cash, they don’t take credit or debit.

I had heard a lot of great things about Simon’s Wok. My friends have described it as a vegetarian restaurant with a chef that has the skills to make vegetarian ingredients taste like meat! How cool is that?! So I got a bunch of friends together, and made the trek over for dinner.
The Good
I was able to make a reservation for 12 people easily — though we were the only guests in the restaurant for 90% of our meal
The prices are very reasonable — most dishes under $ 10 — 6 of us shared about 6 dishes, three desserts and two drinks and the total was about $ 15 per person with tax and tip
Service was efficient
Food was tasty, if not a little on the salty side with all the soy sauce used
Conveniently located — streetcar stop right in front of the restaurant
Menu available online
Green tea was free and regularly refilled
Most drinks are $ 1 (pop, milk and juice)
The Not So Good
Every item that was supposed to taste like meat tasted like egg and tofu. But then again, IT WAS egg and tofu. I don’t know how people tasted anything else
You purchase the rice separately
Found the food to be on the salty side
No liquor license for those that like their liquor
Would I return?
No. There are plenty of Chinese restaurants in my area that serve very similar dishes for similar prices. Why make the trek?

Family run. Delish!
Try the faux duck for sure.

Vegetarian food doesn’t have to be fancy or pretentious. Simon’s Wok has been around for many years and is hidden at the far end of Toronto’s Chinatown east (that’s the smaller Chinatown). It has been over 10 years since my last visit to Simon’s Wok, and it’s as if the prices have not changed. Almost every dish is $ 5-​$ 9 and is a good portion.
I’m always recommending this place to friends, but I understand their apprehensiveness. Firstly, it’s vegetarian and most non-​vegetarians balk at the idea and secondly, the place looks like crap. It’s small, it’s dark, and it looks like you just shouldn’t be there. Hopefully you can get over this little minor issue and try it out. I know that if Simon’s Wok were closer to me I’d adopt vegetarianism more often. My aim is to go back in less than 10 years though!

I’ve been coming here for YEARS. Well over a decade. It’s not fabulous, but it’s consistently good. For reliable, fresh, vegan food prepared quickly, it can’t be beat. Our favourites include the ‘duck’ with broccoli, the ‘eel’, and the green bean noodles.

Don’t let the décor and location take you away from this hidden gem.
Can convert carnivores into vegans.
Clean and efficient service.
Quality ingredients.
Great price and always leaving fulfilled.
Everything i’ve tried has been sooo good and piping hot from a wok. I personally recommend olive rice, fried taro with sweet and sour sauce, seaweed soup, mushroom anything and sweet purple rice with coconuts.
Kudos.

Love the gluten appetizer! Didn’t feel like I was eating a ball of grease or msg, like some of the other Chinese veg places in Markham. Very refreshing. Also good was the stir fry snow pea shoots. Yummy!

This place is fantastic for vegetarians and Chinese food lovers. The food is so healthy and they go light on the oil — which makes my stomach happy. Last night we had the Eggplant bean curd black bean hot pot (they call it casserole), the curried vermicelli and the chinese broccoli. It was a very delicious and satisfying meal for under $ 25. I’m not into mock meat and there are so many options that you can avoid it if you like. The only reason I’m giving this four stars is because the decors is a bit down-​market but that is also part of the charm.

Specializes in tofu and seitan mock meat based dishes. Large portions for a very reasonable price, standouts are the homemade flat tofu skin roll, mock goose and duck, hot and sour soup. Whenever I’m here my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Needs some décor, but still a great place!

It’s not the fanciest place but the staff are friendly and efficient, they make delicious vegetarian food (lots of mock meat), and their prices are super affordable (under $ 10 for most entres, around $ 5 for apps/​soups).
I’ve ordered a lot of items on their menu and the ones that really stand out are: (1) beef and broccoli (2) shrimp/​seafood (3) mock duck.
I usually order more than I can eat and bring a doggy bag home. Can’t wait to go back!

Ordered a couple items from the menu.
The food was good. Not amazing, but great for the price that you pay.
I would go back to try a few more items. Maybe a couple of the «regular» chinese dishes

It’s authentic Chinese food at a great price. I order everything in Cantonese when I’m here, as the staff is very friendly, attentive and helpful if you’re feeling indecisive.
The fried rice and olive leaves is one of my favourite dishes here. And make sure you try the deep-​fried king mushrooms ($ 12). The batter makes it taste amazing!
4.5÷5 stars

i have been coming here for years and years.
surprisingly this staple in east chinatown has survived… while the neighborhood seems to be declining in new successful restaurants.
Their food is good. Any chow mein you get will taste the same but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Since they use to thicker noodles to make the crispy chow mein, this makes it taste very good. Every single time i go i would have to order their fried beancurd roll with carrots and mushrooms in the middle. It is simple the best here.
Unfortunately a huge downfall for this place is the serving size of the food. Portions have shrank in size significantly over the years while the prices have gone up slightly.
I never expect a bargain when eating vegetarian Chinese food however, the serving size is almost to the point where i question if i will be full after leaving the restaurant.
Something to think about…

Simple, humble, friendly. Good food. Will go again!

I was here twice in one week, after recently trying this place. Oddly, I have to say I’m a big fan of the fake roasted duck appetizer. I ordered a pineapple chicken fried rice and rice noodles with fake beef. Both were good, my more adventurous orders were less impressive. My bf had me ordering some 3 mushroom dish.
all in all, it was really good, and will end up in our regular rotation of places to eat.

Great inexpensive Chinese Vegetarian.
The setting is not fancy but everything is clean and the service is efficient if not overly coddling. Equal mix of local Chinese and local gwai lo.
Try the eggplant hot pot, the Shanghai fried rice cakes (I think that is what they’re called), the stir fried snow pea shoots. The sweet and sour dishes were well balanced but quite sweet, although I have a low tolerance for sugar.
The hot and sour soup is fantastic with the addition of a bit more vinegar.
We never pay more than $ 40 for two including tax and tip and always leave stuffed and with leftovers.
I suspect there is MSG involved in this equation :)