Since the opening of the new Destiny Tea House/Restaurant in Richmond Hill, I’ve heard a lot about it. Apparently a lot of people checked it out. On the first 2-3 days of the opening I heard it took a long time to get a table.

Thinking about the evolution of bubble tea places, I gotta say it has come a long way. I guess it was around the early 1990’s when bubble tea first came into Toronto. (The grotto monster has commented on the brief history on my previous post.) Then, around the late-1990’s, more and more bubble tea places opened up in the GTA and Richmond Hill. Back in the old days, most of the bubble tea places were quite small in scale - most of them can only seat about 30 people. Those are the places where high school kids usually hangout at night. You know… have a good time, sit there and chat without spending a fortune.

Of course, there were tons of other BBT takeout places around the cities… Top of mind - Tea 168 and Ten Ren are the two major players. Location, location, location is the determining factor of the sucess of these little huts. There are many places you can get BBT, but the quality of the bubbles (tapiocas) can be very much different. I guess it really depends on the person who’s making/boiling the tapiocas. So, chances are you can get good ones and bad ones from the same store (if the quality control isn’t good).

Then, I think around early 2000, the largest bubble tea restaurant, Go4Tea, opened up in Thornhill (Commerce Valley). It stirred up the industry. Another place that’s similar to Go4Tea at that time was the Destiny’s teahouse in Scarborough (Silver Star Blvd.) - but I guess these two locations were quite far apart to have a huge impact on each other. Can’t remember exactly which opened up first…

About a few years after, Ten Ren opened up a new tea house nearby on Hwy7… and now Destiny finally joined the game in GTA north and opened up this flagship store.

Since it’s opened, I’ve been to Destiny a few times. Obviously, it’s a huge place. The design is quite cool. With different levels and styles of seats, it’s more interesting. The servers usually approach using English - although some of them weren’t that fluent, I still think it’s a good idea - no need to guess Mandarin/Cantonese. The design is modern compared to TenRen’s Tea Time and a bit similar to that of Go4Tea. The food selection is wider compared to Go4Tea. But for the taste of the food, I’d say Go4Tea’s better. That’s from what I’ve tried so far… especially the beef noodle - the one at Go4Tea is better. Price range is about the same.

So, here’s the summary from my own experience: (Comparison among the 3.)
TenRen’s = Best service, Chinese dimsum, (carries traditional and more professional) tea, but no magazine, wifi (was only available to those in VIP room - not too sure about now)
Go4Tea = Best food, with magazines (but a bit too dark inside for reading), wifi access
Dentiny = Best food selection, Newest, largest, with magazines (and good lighting), wifi access

Some people comment on the waitresses at Go4Tea and Destiny… to be honest, I found they’re about the same.

Here’re some snapshots that I took…

FYI: Destiny Tea House/Restaurant
163 York Blvd., Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4A7
*Cash only*

An overdue post for an overdue dinner. It’s been how long since we’ve worked together? I think… at least 5 years. Still remember the time I had to commute downtown. I actually liked taking the subway, coz I could get more reading done on the road. It was the “waiting up early in the morning” part that I didn’t quite like, especially during the winter. It just sucked!

So we’ve decided to try out this place. Mandalay, a pretty nice restaurant in Scarborough. We’ve done our research online and it seemed to have received pretty good reviews so far. At around 7:30pm on a Saturday night we arrived this place. Of course, SJ was on time (as always - actually SJ was a bit early that night.)

We parked near where the Staple is, then walked to the restaurant. From outside - if you are driving on Lawrence, you can’t really see the restaurant. So, I think those people who were there should have either been there or heard about it before. Chatted a bit about work and school while waiting for our table. The place was full. So full to a point that we had to wait a while for the table. Looking at other people dishes - very appetizing.

Finally we were seated at one of the table on the left. On the right side, there were two long tables lined up - later we found out that was actually a huge party for someone’s birthday. The atmosphere was pretty good in there. Quite cozy I’d say. Looking at the menu, I think one could imagine… a restaurant called Mandalay - there must be some kind of fusion/combination of the east and the west. There you go. The menu was quite interesting, from pad thai to pasta, you want it, you get it. Price was pretty good as well.

For appetizers, SJ ordered the Smoked Salmon & Goat Cheese Wonton w. mango salsa. I liked this dish. I would have ordered this dish as well… but I felt like something lighter that night. This dish reminds me of the cheese wontons that I used to have at a Japanese restaurant. It was pretty good. Putting both cheese wonton and smoked salmon in my mouth… yum.

For myself, I ordered the House Salad - mixed greens, soya beans, roasted red pepper, herb goat cheese w. balsamic vinegarette. I mixed the herb goat cheese with the veggie. Found the vinegarette a bit too strong. Overall it was ok.

In order to create a sense of privacy, we had this decorative light separating us from the table beside. It was quite a busy night for them I could tell. The service was ok, nothing to complain about.

So, SJ ordered Salmon Filo - baked in filo pastry, served w. a saffron cream sauce - I tried a bit and the fish was just right. Not over cooked. But I know I probably can’t judge the dish by one bite. SJ, you’re welcome to comment on your dishes.

My Seafood Platter - mussels, shrimp, scallop, squid and fish broiled with garlic and fresh herbs - was HUGE! I didn’t expect that much. There were quite a lot of fish in there… plus a bit of pasta underneath everything. Oh my god. I tried but I just couldn’t finish it all. Taste-wise, I found it so-so. Couldn’t pin-point what could be better… it seems to have missed something. Kinda bland.

We were the last table of the night. Again. Just like most of my dining experience with friends. Well, another thing is this place closed at 10pm which is a bit early. But we had a good chat! It’s good to catch up with friend after all these years.

Other comments… I think overall the dishes were alright, but there was no spark. I think the food could be better. We didn’t order any dessert since we were quite full by the time we finished. I saw a lot of good comments online - not sure if it’s because they ordered different dishes. But yah, if you’ve tried it, let me know what you think.

FYI: Mandalay Restaurant
3478 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto, ON.
Tel: 416-438-8688
Free delivery on dinner order over $15 ($2 delivery charge if under)

Ethiopian House - it has been on my “To-Try list” forever. I think the first time I heard about this restaurant was from JK - when we worked together, sitting face to face. The good old days… It’s hard to find a co-worker whom you know you can rely on when needed. Finally, I tried this restaurant on the New Year’s Eve. I’d say it was a great experience.

Took some pictures of the inside. There are 7-8 tables on the first floor and some more on the second floor. For some reasons, I like the setting of the first floor better. Very exotic.

Ethiopian language with the reflection of the Ethiopian House logo.

Menu is the same as the one they put on their website.

What we ordered? Greedy us… wanna try as many as possible - So we ordered the Bayaaynatu [i.e. "Of Each Kind" small servings of "Tibs", "Dry Tib", "Kitfo Special" with Gomen (collard greens) and aib (cottage cheese)] as well as the Vegetarian Bayaaynatu [i.e. "Of Each Kind" small servings of all 8 kinds of vegetarian dishs.]

This big plate came - meat on the left and veggie on the right. We was like… errr, are these for us two? We then confirmed with the server and he said yah. The food doesn’t look that much at first but eventually after we’ve eaten bit by bit, we felt so full!! @_@

You see, this is the Injera (Ethiopian bread) that came with the meat & veggie. They are folded like a large napkin (that’s what they said on their website, but I totally forgot about that and the first glance I REALLY thought they were napkins -_-)

But you know what? These spongy breads are really cool - they absorb all the meat and veggie sauce and oh you gotta try it. Before I came to this restaurant I’ve heard about the veggie dishes, and I would agree that their veggie (e.g. spicy split peas, chick peas in garlic, lentils, collard geens, potatoes, etc.) tastes better than the meat from the selection that we have chosen.

Finally, of course we won’t miss the wellknown coffee ceremony. It cost $12 per order and each order can serve up to 6 people. We ordered it and it came w/ the incense for relaxation. Special.

Another thing is, on their website they say many Ethiopian drink it with a pinch of salt or clarified butter. When we had the coffee they gave us popcorn which is = salt + butter. Smart. I liked the coffee.

My visit to the Ethiopian House was great. I’m glad that I could try it with RL and with the movie Kite Runner, the night was really special and foreign to us. Yah, good to do something different once in awhile.

FYI: Ethiopian House
4 Irwin Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Tel: 416-923-5438