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Lai Wah Heen

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Lai Wah Heen Review

In an elegant room with a sculpted ceiling, etched-glass turntables, and silver serving dishes, the service is formal; here mahogany-color Peking duck is wheeled in on a trolley and presented with panache as it's cut into paper-thin slices. Excellent choices from the 100-dish inventory include wok-fried shredded beef and vegetables in a crisp potato nest, and dried seafood delicacies like dried scallops with fried garlic on a bed of vegetables. Dim sum is divine for lunch: meat-filled morsels and translucent dumplings burst with juicy fillings of shark's fin sprinkled with bright-red lobster roe and in shrimp dumplings with green tops reminiscent of baby bok choy. Sister restaurant Lai Toh Heen, in the Yonge and Eglinton neighborhood (692 Mt. Pleasant Rd. 416/489-8922 www.laitohheen.com), also wins fans with a similar menu.

    Contact Information

  • Address: Metropolitan Hotel, 108 Chestnut St., 2nd fl., Chinatown, Toronto, ON, M5G 1R3 | Map It
  • Phone: 416/977--9899
  • Website: www.laiwahheen.com
  • Metro St. Patrick.
  • Location: Chinatown

    Restaurant Details

  • Reservations essential.
  • Credit cards accepted.

Member Reviews

  • downer, from NY
    4/22/10

    Do you get bewildered by the presence of table linens as opposed to animal zodiac placemats in a "Chinese" restaurant in North America? If so, it is very possible you'll be impressed by Lai Wah Heen. Once you get over the sticker shock and order something, that is.

    Been here a couple of times - just not that memorable, even after my $49 single-serving soup.

    Many restaurants in Chinatown NOT gentrified or housed in a fancy-ish hotel will provide cheerfully decent un-mainstreamed food. Several are perfectly 21ist-century and easy on the eye.

    If you insist on spending this kind of money - do it in Hong Kong or Taipei. Even East-LA overflows with affordable-but-banquet-worthy Chinese. There's just no real reason to perpetuate a travel-guide cliche.

    Ratings details: Food: 3 | Atmosphere: 3 | Service: 4 | Value: 1
  • lmhornet, from Earth
    5/9/08

    Terribly disappointing after all the hype. Neither of us particularly enjoyed the meal. We also tried Lai Toh Heen and it was downright awful. There are many better Chinese restaurants around without the hype or or the over inflated restaurants.

    Ratings details: Food: 3 | Atmosphere: 3 | Service: 4 | Value: 1
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