Looks like a normal Crispy Chicken from the outside...but it is completely deboned & stuffed with sticky rice (糯米飯)!
Recently, I wanted to find a Chinese seafood restaurant to try with 7 friends and decided on Maple Yip because of all the positive reviews on TripAdvisor and other review sites. We made 7:30 reservations for a Friday night and we were promptly seated when we arrived. Based on the reviews, we had pre-ordered the Winter Melon Soup ($45) and Chicken Stuffed With Rice ($42). The waitress was friendly, and when we told her we wanted seafood she gave us some suggestions on the fresh seafood they had. We decided on live Vancouver Crab With Ginger & Onion ($16/lb), steamed fresh Red Snapper ($23/lb), fresh Scallop With Garlic & Vermicelli ($9 each), Clams In Black Bean Sauce, and 2 veggie dishes. The seafood was fresh, the cooking method was perfect, and the taste was authentic Cantonese style - exactly what we were looking for. The bill was $461 (with tax & tip already included). This was a bit expensive, however the waitress had told us the prices at the time of ordering so we knew what to expect.
We live in an area that has hundreds of Chinese/Asian restaurants within a 20 minute drive and there haven't been any that I've tried in recent memory that I've wanted to recommend to my family until this one. So a week later I made another reservation for 7:30 on a Saturday night for my family. There were 18 of us so we had a table of 10 and a table of 8 - once again I pre-ordered 2 Winter Melon Soups, a Chicken Stuffed With Rice, and a "Eight Treasured Braised Duck" ($48) which is also one of their specialities that must be pre-ordered.
On this Saturday night we had to wait 20 minutes before we were seated but the staff were very apologetic and we were prepared that there may be wait. This evening's dinner we ordered 2 Black Pepper Tenderloin, 2 Sweet & Sour Pork, 2 Scallop In Taro Birds Nest, Braised Pork Belly With Preserved Vegetables, a Cantonese Chow Mein, and a tofu/veggie dish. The bill was $387 (tax & tip already included). Reasonable for the size of our party and the amount of food we ordered. My family was happy with the recommendation and were generally pleased with the quality and taste of the food, the service and the prices.
This restaurant reminds me of the Cantonese style restaurants in Toronto Chinatown (Spadina/Dundas) in the 80's before they started migrating to Scarborough & Markham and before the "fancier" Chinese restaurants of the last 10-15 years. If you don't mind the tables close together, waiting a bit even with a reservation, and the old-school décor (or lack of), and just want some good Chinese food definitely give this place a try.
Here's a tip: Opt for the 7:00 or 7:30 reservation even though you may not get your table on time. The early reservations get "rushed" out even if you want to sit and chat or are slow eaters because the parties have arrived for the next reservation.
We live in an area that has hundreds of Chinese/Asian restaurants within a 20 minute drive and there haven't been any that I've tried in recent memory that I've wanted to recommend to my family until this one. So a week later I made another reservation for 7:30 on a Saturday night for my family. There were 18 of us so we had a table of 10 and a table of 8 - once again I pre-ordered 2 Winter Melon Soups, a Chicken Stuffed With Rice, and a "Eight Treasured Braised Duck" ($48) which is also one of their specialities that must be pre-ordered.
On this Saturday night we had to wait 20 minutes before we were seated but the staff were very apologetic and we were prepared that there may be wait. This evening's dinner we ordered 2 Black Pepper Tenderloin, 2 Sweet & Sour Pork, 2 Scallop In Taro Birds Nest, Braised Pork Belly With Preserved Vegetables, a Cantonese Chow Mein, and a tofu/veggie dish. The bill was $387 (tax & tip already included). Reasonable for the size of our party and the amount of food we ordered. My family was happy with the recommendation and were generally pleased with the quality and taste of the food, the service and the prices.
This restaurant reminds me of the Cantonese style restaurants in Toronto Chinatown (Spadina/Dundas) in the 80's before they started migrating to Scarborough & Markham and before the "fancier" Chinese restaurants of the last 10-15 years. If you don't mind the tables close together, waiting a bit even with a reservation, and the old-school décor (or lack of), and just want some good Chinese food definitely give this place a try.
Here's a tip: Opt for the 7:00 or 7:30 reservation even though you may not get your table on time. The early reservations get "rushed" out even if you want to sit and chat or are slow eaters because the parties have arrived for the next reservation.
Y.C.
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