Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant

Was introduced to this mom and pop restaurant by my friends and never really knew what Hakka food was until I came here! Is a smaller place but prices are reasonable and food is delicious! Must try the Manchurian chicken/​chili chicken if you like spicy, I like it a lot more than sweet and sour pork! Other items that are great are the stuffed tofu and shrimp balls. I come here twice a month now to get my Hakka food craving settled down.

There are many Hakka Chinese restaurants in the east end of the GTA but this one stands out because of the food they produce. Their menu is not as extensive as some of the nearby competitors but whatever they do, they do it very well.
The food is always full of flavour. Their deep fried stuffed tofu is the best in the city! The stuffed bitter melon (foo gah) is another traditional Hakka dish. They do everything well. Try the chili chicken, Manchurian chicken, chicken in hot pot, Hakka chow mein… I could list everything on the menu. Don’t miss their spicy ginger beef either!

Great food. We were told about this place by a friend. It turns out they were bang on with their review of this restaurant. The food was fresh, good size portions, great service and clean. The food was prepared with just the right mix of spices. First time here and it won’t be the last. Strongly recommend this restaurant. Great experience.

This place was introduced by my co-​workers, i have never physically been here but i have tried the chili chicken and it is very delicious. The chicken is made hot and fresh and the little hot pepper that comes with it is my favourite too! Will definitely be trying more items here!

4.5
It’s been a while my last review. What better way to kick back into things than with a review of a Hakka restaurant.
Pros:
Very well priced dishes
Food is well done
Preferred by the locals
Cons:
Restaurant is on the smaller side
I came here based on Unilocal reviews looking for a new Hakka place to try. You know I love my Hakka. As soon as I walk in I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed. This place is a definite favourite of the local Indian and Chinese population. It’s the same with Frederick’s, which is still my all time fav. That’s really the telling sign that you’re a good Hakka place.
We came in early so we were seated promptly. By the time it was 630pm the place was packed. Being a local favourtie, you get entire families coming in to eat together here. Sometimes that families are 10+ ppl huge. Seating becomes a problem then because the place is rather small. I find a lot of their clients just order take out as well.
So of course we order our staples, the chili chicken and kan shue green beans. These are the two dishes I believe a Hakka restaurant absolutely needs to do well. This place does not disappoint at all. I still feel Frederick’s is better but this place does a good rendition of it as well. The portion size is OK too but I felt there was a lot of onion used as filler. No matter, still a very good meal.
Prices here are also very good. We ordered 3 dishes total. Each dish comes with a bowl of rice for free as well. All together it was less than $ 30 after taxes. Gotta love that!
All in all, Royal Chinese Seafood is another very good Hakka restaurant. Just be prepared to com a little earlier before the larger familes pile on in!

I was in search for something new to try and found this high-​rated restaurant from Unilocal.The photos that some reviewers posted of the royal pepper fish and legendary shrimp balls looked absolutely mouth watering delicious. While I was in the area I called and placed those two items for take out. It was 5:30 PM on a Monday and there was nobody in the restaurant upon my arrival to pick up my order. It wasn’t ready and on top of calling ahead to place the order I still had to wait 18 minutes for my two items to be ready, not acceptable in my opinion for a restaurant that had no customers.
Shrimp balls — they used square bread crumbs to coat the shrimp balls which gave the illusion the shrimp balls were big in size but the shrimp filling inside was rather small. I would give the taste a 3 star rating but it was one of those foods that tasted good only if you have one and food court quality, definitely not restaurant.
Royal pepper fish — this was poorly cooked. The deep fried battered fish tasted stale, old and the batter was so tough and chewy. I suspect it was leftover days old and they refried it.
I will not be revisiting this restaurant again it’s not worth it at all. The food taste and quality is comparable to Manchu Wok.

Found it on Unilocal,read the reviews.
It lived up to the reviews. Happy with everything. Only thing was hot and sour soup was way hot. I will ask them to tone it down next time.

I’ve never written a review on Unilocal so this is my first but i couldn’t help but leave my first on here.
BEST CHINESE/​HAKKA FOOD I’VE EVER TASTED!
Me and my husband’s family’s go to spot whenever we feel like chinese/​hakka.
Our usual order:
Hakka chow mein
Half crispy chicken
Spicy deep fried calamari
Masala chicken (pretty spicy)
Yang chow fried rice
Baby bok choy in garlic
Crispy shrimp balls
Chicken pakora

If this is a seafood restaurant. Where’s the live crab or fish? Maybe the gold fishes in the aquarium are the ‘seafood’ :)

Best place in Scarborough for Hakka Chinese food, hands down.
Me and my family have been going here for years and every time the food has been great.
For anyone not familiar with Hakka Chinese food it’s basically an Indian «style» Chinese cuisine. The dishes are very aromatic and flavourful due to the fusion of Indian spices into Chinese cuisine.
They have various spice levels that you can try and offer dishes for even the most sensitive pallet when it comes to spice level.
The hot and sour soup, royal pepper fish and Manchurian fried rice are a must try at this place. The staff are not pushy when it comes to recommendations and are always honest when you’re in doubt in regards to portion size.
The location can be very busy during holidays and weekends as its a «go-​to» place within the South Asian community for Hakka Chinese food.

A (very discerning) friend recommended this small, relaxed, authentic Hakka place. A bit of favourable Toronto press was lavished upon it too, since the owners ran a downtown spot years ago, then migrated to Scarborough. The family has a following! (According to Toronto Star, it was the meet-​up spot for Hakka food lovers who helped launch a cookbook.) I came early on my first visit, so it was quiet at first, but later filled up with what seemed to be plenty of enthusiastic regular customers, of every stripe. Good sign!
Food! I ordered one of the Chef’s Specials — spicy garlic prawns. Delicious! They were perfectly cooked — just the right texture, and so flavourful. I definitely needed a thick mango lassi to cool my tongue. :) Generous chilli peppers, onion, and spices. Yummy! It came with a large bowl of steamed rice and Chinese tea. Next, I tried the Hakka specialty wonton lo mein. (I can’t resist a great lo mein.) Hmm… I have to say, I wasn’t a fan. It tasted a bit too much like packaged ramen, with an overload of black pepper to compensate. The wonton was good, though. This dish is definitely a filler — maybe something kids will like? I WILL return, however, and try other dishes — chicken manchurian, fish, meats — and other Hakka specialties. Overrall, I enjoyed my visit and would recommend!
Note: On a second and third visit, we ordered Crispy Shrimp Balls, Royal Pepper Fish, Chili Chicken, Tandoori Chicken Masala (crying-​tears-​of-​pleasurable-​pain-​hot), and egg fried rice. Family-​style (huge) portions, excellent home-​cooked quality, tasty!

Décor is a little dated but the chili chicken is one of the best in GTA.

This place is fantastic! I grew up in India and LOVE Indo-​Chinese food and I can vouch for this place. Their chilli fish is wonderful and the prices are very reasonable given the size of the portions.

Newly opened restaurant in Markham-​one of many Indo-​Chinese restaurant. Dishes were not only very crunchy but saucy too. However, the sauces were of the colourful variant; Red and radioactive yellow goo for some options. The food was very palatable and fresh. Will be back for more!

I get food from here almost every week. I have explored the GTA (including Mississauga and Brampton) searching for the best chilli chicken and I’m giving this place 5 stars because I KNOW it does not compare to any other hakka food restaurant I have tried thus far. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to try various dishes on the menu (From spicy black bean tofu to Cantonese chow mein) and I have rarely been disappointed (I don’t really like their chicken wings). They are very accommodating to the needs and wants of their customers (for example: my family likes food extra spicy or with extra gravy.) The taste of their food is always up to par even if their staff isn’t. At dinner time is can get quite crazy because in reality it is such a small restaurant, which is why its always best to call and place your order before pick up. The owner margarita is so nice and friendly and always makes sure that me and my family are always treated well. If anyone can challenge their chilli chicken, I would definitely be willing to put money on it.

I’ve know this place for at least 13 years and it has always been top of my list for Hakka Chinese food (or Indian-​style Chinese food).
This family run restaurant at the South-​East corner of Middlefield Rd and McNicoll Ave has recently expanded and renovated, yet the food is still very affordable and servings are generous and the place is very clean. Everything is made to order so you can request your preferred level of spiciness.
The owner and her family take extra care to see that everyone is receiving the best service and food.
Order Chicken Pakoras as starters.
Unlike the food at some of the other Hakka Chinese restaurants in the vicinity, the food here is not oily or loaded with MSG… that’s why I am still alive and loving it.

Hakka you will die for over and over again!!!
I’ve been coming here for years with my family, and I have to say this restaurant gets better every time. The Indian mutton curry guarantees a bowl-​licking it’s so good, the chilli chicken has the perfect combination of flavour and spice, and the Hakka stuffed tofu will melt in your mouth. Those are some of my faves, the menu is extensive and every dish I’ve tried has been delicious. The price is extremely reasonable. Modest décor and slow service at times but the food will make up for any shortcomings. It’s quite crowded now-​a-​days, so call ahead!

I’ve been here many times with my family. Food here is great! It has always been. But the service has somewhat deteroriated lately. Last time I went there to pick up I had to almost wait for more than an hour, and few people who sat down decided to get-​up and leave after wating so long.
But overall the food is great!

Some coworkers and I were talking food one day (as we do most days) and I was saying that I was in the mood for some good Hakka food. I was given the name of this restaurant.
To me, it was a diamond in the rough. The décor was bright and up to date and super clean! It looked like they just opened for business. The bathrooms were also very clean. Wait staff was very pleasant and helpful, unfortunately they would either all be on the floor at once or all disappear into the back, which is why I took a star away.
What was nom nomed — tandoori chicken, Spicy beef, Manchurian chow mein. (bill was approx. $ 30 all in)
This was no ordinary Tandoori Chicken, it was awesome Tandoori Chicken!!! fresh chilies added to the general warmth of the wonderfully spiced dish. Sorry can’t say any more than that as I am not 100% familiar with the authentic way of cooking tandoori so I couldn’t tell you how its different just that it was amazing!
The spicy beef had a great balance between great flavour and interesting texture. So it was thinly sliced lean beef (I want to say sliced flank steak but not 100% sure) coated in corn starch (as most crispy Asian dishes are) and fried. The beef was seasoned with garlic, onion, ginger, fresh chilies and some other spices to round it all out.
The chow mein was nothing to write home about, it was just chow mein. Chow mein noodles with onions, broccoli, bean sprouts, and you guessed it fresh chilies!!! It’s not that it wasn’t good, it just wasn’t anything special. Next time I would personally just opt for steamed rice.
Would definitely go back when I’m in Markham, great price point, good food and friendly staff… can’t really ask for more.
NOTE: I am a fan of spicy foods, and I can take quite a bit of heat. All three of these dishes were spicy and it was the building type of heat so if you are not a fan or suffer from heartburn or indigestion frequently I would recommend taking something to settle your stomach first, prior to tucking into some of the great food at Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant.