After a delightful lunch at Federick Restaurant, we told ourselves to look for more Chindian (Chinese Indian) restaurants in Toronto. Our next target was Yueh Tung which has a very high media profile.
One of the things that piqued my interest was Yueh Tung's historic location. The restaurant is located at 126 Elizabeth Street, the only street still remaining from the original Toronto Chinatown which was demolished in the 1950s to make way for the current City Hall building (visible in the background). Toronto Chinatown was then shifted two blocks west to along Spadina Avenue where it stands today.
Yueh Tung restaurant is located on the upper level accessible only by stairs.
It's a big space upstairs with two sections. Neat unassuming contemporary decor with Chinese style furniture.
A family owned and run restaurant, the Liu family pioneered Chindian cuisine in Toronto. Yueh Tung serves Hakka Indian food and Hakka food.
Originally from Guangzhou China, the Liu family came to Toronto via Kolkata, hence the Indian connection. Founder Micheal Liu born and raised in Kolkata, came to Toronto in the 1970s.
He took over Yueh Tung in the 1980s when the diner became available for sale at Elizabeth Street. The Lius turned Yueh Tung into a Hakka restaurant after taking over. Yueh Yung is now run by the second generation with Michael's daughters Joanne as head chef and Jeanette as manager. (Source: Toronto.com.)
There's a lot of positive reviews online on Yueh Tung's signature chili chicken (price CDN10++). There are two versions - the wet one, and the more popular dry variety. As we didn't specify during ordering, we were served the wet one by default.
It's lightly battered chunks of chicken deep fried and smothered with a starch thicken sauce which was generously draped over a mound of boiled white rice.
The pieces of chicken had a blend of tender, firm, chewy texture. The sauce was quite robustly savoury spicy with slight sweetness but lacked the nuances I normally taste in Indian spices and herbs. In that sense, I thought this dish felt more Chinese, "American Chinese" in my opinion.
We also had a Spice & Pepper Mushroom on Rice, a vegan dish (price CDN9++).
Lightly battered mushrooms, deep fried and then tossed in a hot wok together with a savoury spicy sauce. The savoury spicy sauce blended well with the spongy mushroom's subtle savoury sweet earthly taste. We enjoyed this dish because the layers of savoury, spicy, earthly, sweet flavours came together interestingly.
Having heard so much about Yueh Tung's signature chili chicken dry version, we just can't leave without trying it. So, we added an order, midway through our meal. The staff managed this without any fuss.
Chunks of battered chicken deep fried and then tossed in a hot wok searing hot spices on the chicken's outside. The chili chicken was served heaped on a mound of boiled rice.
Firm, chewy chicken chunks. The sauce was robustly savoury spicy, but quite flat without nuanced layers of Indian herbs or spices. Truth be told, we actually like the wet version better.
Information for you 👌 While the dishes were spicy, we couldn't detect much nuances of Indian herbs and spices in the food we tried today. We need to be back to pick those dishes labelled "Manchurian" for the next visit. We like the spice and pepper mushroom.
Our total bill came to CDN36. Service was friendly and efficient.
What is Johor Kaki doing in Toronto? 👈 click
Restaurant name: Yueh Tung 粤东
Address: 126 Elizabeth St, Toronto, ON M5G 1P5
GPS: 43°39'18.5"N 79°23'06.3"W 🌐 43.655149, -79.385090
Tel: (416) 977-0933
Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm (Sat & Sun 12:00 noon - 10:00pm)
Non Halal
Date visited: 24 Jun 2019
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