Looks like I am doing another Hakka restaurant review. I decided to return to a restaurant that I haven't eaten at for 13 years simply because I forgot the name. Once I found out this was it, I had to go and see if nostalgia had the better of me or was it great indeed. The Place: Clearly since being here last the restaurant does have a nice face lift. Parking is available, but much more at the back. Experience: While it has a hole in the wall feel, it is a cult-favorite for a lot of people. It was packed but I was ready to wait. The staff was great, didnt write anything down but got everything correct; colour me impressed. Food did not take long to come out at all. The Food: My date and I decided on the Shrimp Pakoras to start, Szechuan shrimp, Manchurian Chicken, House Special Mixed Chow Mein. I have to say, I forgot how much they give you... For the quality of the food, the quantity was as impressive. Food came out hot, delicious and spicy. Due to the amount we could take this goodness home. Conclusion: Visit them now. read more

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Food is ok, but service is garbage. Arrived 3.09 and missed the lunch special by 9 minutes.- No exception!! Everyone is marching around like robots. Its ok tho- I dont know why people live and die by fredericks. Not as many options and not as tasty as other places. China Cottage over Fredericks read more

Federick - Chinese Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

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I had a craving for Hakka-Indo food the last time I was in TO and we dropped into Federick's. It's been awhile since I've been here and they did a pretty good job at renovating it. There was one dish and one dish only that I really wanted. Chili chicken, dry and spicy! We also ordered some Hakka noodles as well as mixture of pakoras. When the chili chicken come out and I bit into it I remembered why I loved the chili chicken so much. It's absolutely delicious! I found the noodles a little oily but the meal itself was great. I made my friend get me an order of chili chicken take out from here when he came to Ottawa the following week. It was delicious cold and also delicious reheated! read more

Whoa.....what the heck happened to this restaurant??!! Haven't ordered from here in some time.....ordered chicken fried rice, kanchu green beans, veggie noodles and chili chicken.....and everything tasted like they sold the restaurant and forgot to give them the recipe....wth? Where do I start....chicken was a bit pink and didn't taste good at all, rice tasted like it wasn't washed, beans were soft. The noodles were okay....gotta say I was disappointed. Not sure if it's a different chef but it wasn't worth the 30 mins drive. read more

Came by for lunch and was seated super quickly with no wait. Lunch specials are 5.75 for smaller (but still decent) portion size and a drink. Got the chili chicken lunch special and shrimp pakoras. Chili chicken was served with white rice, which offset the spiciness nicely. Really tasty and filling and not too salty. Shrimp pakoras were made from shrimp paste and I couldn't really tell if there was any actual shrimp inside. There were also chilies deep fried in them, which made them extra spicy. I prefer the shrimp pakora from Lin Garden as it's essentially a whole shrimp that's battered and deep fried and has a better flavour. They include a 10% gratuity for dine-in. Service wasn't as bad as others have commented. Our water was always full, which is my usually standard, so I was pleased. Would go back! read more

Federick - Shrimp pakora - Chinese Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

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This review is long overdue but I just had to from what I remember. Busy place, probably ideal to have a reservation to avoid waiting. The food is amazing though. We had chicken pakora (blew my mind) and chili chicken (best in town?)! Would come back again! read more

Disappointed is putting it mildly. I don't even know where to start. Let's just say it was like a dog's breakfast.....literally. He's eating some of the leftovers as I type this. Crispy beef was just beef dipped in batter, not the carmelized type we had had in other restos. The chow mein was a puddle of sparse overcooked bean sprouts swimming in a thin pinkish sauce ( it was supposed to come with crispy noodles, which were missing from the order). Chicken balls in the same sorry batter typically found at food court Chinese places. Even the steamed rice was dried out. This was supposed to be a Mother's Day treat. It was not. We had heard this place was good, but, apparently something bad has happened to it. read more

Ill be honest, i havent been here for over 5 years but back then my family and I went here all the time and it was fantastic. The flavors were there, it was spicy and huge amounts. Its not fancy or anything but if u just want good food then try it. read more

Shanghai chow mein was absolutely disgusting. No flavour at all and super oily. Chicken pakora was decent, but also super greasy. I would never recommend this place or return. read more

A friend and I stopped by Federick on a bit of a whim, since we had been shopping nearby. She'd ordered takeout before, and I'd never tried it, and we were both glad we made the decision to give it a go. We both ordered off their lunch special menu and shared. We got Shanghai noodles with chicken, and sweet and sour chicken balls. Both were really tasty! And with both dishes I was impressed with the amount of chicken we got. The Shanghai noodles dish was loaded with it, and the chicken balls were actually full of chicken instead of a little bit of chicken surrounded by a ton of batter like some places seem to do. The price was also amazing. $6.85 per dish, and that included a drink. The only reason this is a 4 star review instead of a 5 star, is the service. I'll clarify though: the staff themselves were actually great. We were seated right away, brought menus immediately, and had our orders in and got our food in a timely manner. Well, sort of. I was brought Shanghai noodles with shrimp instead of chicken first, and asked if this was okay, as it was close. I like both, so I said it was absolutely fine, but before I could get a fork into it, they took it away, and two of the waiters had a little argument in Chinese about it. Not right in front of me, but very close by. No big deal though, and the correct dish was on the table in front of me a few seconds later. We also got a takeout order afterwards, and that was a little slow, but in my opinion worth the wait. I'll definitely be going back here again anytime I'm in the area! read more

Federick - The mess was our doing. My companion couldn't help but grab a chicken ball before I could snap a picture! - Chinese Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

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Lady who takes orders barely lets you finish a sentence, and food was disgusting. Vegetable chow mein filled to the top with a mystery orange goo. Chili chicken underwhelming and probably made in bulk, sitting in gravy for hours. If you want to give money to a restaurant who clearly don't give a crap go here. $40+ straight to the garbage, thanks Federicks! read more

Dece! Killed me on the MSG, doe. Tried chili chicken, green beans, and fried calamari. We asked the table next to us and they actually recommend the general tao chicken so consider getting that over chili chicken (this was popular order coming out the kitchen). I know, I know, traditionalists will be outraged but you can reserve thanks when the flava hits your tastebudz read more

The bad: 1.) The service could be a lot better! I think little things go a long way with customers. For example checking in a couple of times to see how things are going would be nice. We were waiting a good 15mins before I had to get up to get the desert menu and to have our plates cleared I had to walk over and call the waiter. 2.) The Good: 1.) Cheap food 2.) food arrived fast 3.) short wait to be seated (even on Boxing Day) read more

Very disappointing lunch experience - bad food - burnt rice, overtly spicy and greasy. Do not eat at this location. Disappointed that the original location has gone so downhill. The food at the Markham location is a lot better and worth the visit read more

Good food, and great value for money, especially given the portion sizes. While the service is typically below average/mediocre, today at lunch, my family and I had an awful experience with the staff. About 20 seconds after placing an order, I walked up to the counter to kindly ask if we could replace the order with something else. The waitress, whose name I don't remember, was rude and literally physically pushed me to the side as I was mid sentence, speaking in a different language to the staff. She came back to ask what we'd like to drink, and before we could even finish our sentence, she turned around and grabbed three Cokes for us, which wasn't what we wanted. I've never seen someone look so angry due to a small change in an order, literally done seconds after the order was placed. I typically love this restaurant for its food - the chilli chicken and chicken pakora especially are delicious - but they really do need to improve on their service. read more

Visited this restaurant at lunch time on Nov 6th. Their temperature control was way off and it was getting really uncomfortable. I called the server to ask him if he could do something about it. He says "I don't feel it hot. It's probably because your food is hot". To the server - I didn't ask you how you felt. I didn't ask you to rate the spice scale of what I was eating. And, you have no idea the spice tolerance level of your customers, so don't assume. Your food was good but if your service levels suck, then that's even worse. Tell your customer what you can and cannot do - gently! It's ok to say no but be a little smart of how you want to phrase it. Food - 7/10 Service - 5/10 Speed of service - 6/10 read more

For just about $8 you can get your fill of food along with tea or pop. The service, while rushed and impersonal, was also relatively fast. Sure, the service is hit or miss but at the price, can you really complain? I would say not. Federick is a great restaurant and one I always look forward to going to. Their standard fare is average. You have all your standard hakka options here. The food itself tastes a bit cheap but again, you really can't complain. The selling point of Federick is the incredibly low price, whether you're coming in for the lunch special or not. read more

I should've listened to all the negative reviews and avoided this place. Salty, greasy and flavourless. I hope the owners read these reviews and look to improve. We ordered the chilli chicken, chow mein, green beans and the chicken pakoras. All pretty awful except for the pakoras. Sorry but we won't be returning. Way too many awesome restaurants in Scarborough to waste my hard earned money here. read more

We ordered a whole array of items and loved every single dish honestly! Long beans, Manchurian chicken, fried calamari, Hakka chowmein, chilli beef. The portions were huge! Items were really greasy but I loved it. Long beans was my personal favourite, so much flavour!! Calamari was crispy and seasoned well. The Manchurian chicken needed more salt but nothin that we couldn't alter on our own. Had so much left over that it served me another two meals. Would definitely return to the their other items. read more

I was really looking forward to this place. I love Hakka - Chinese food, and I hadn't had any in a while, so I was really craving some spicy goodness! I came here with high hopes for a delicious dinner, and left with the bitter taste of disappointment and bad food in my mouth. We ordered the chili chicken, fish pakoras, and "famous" corn soup, which everyone recommends and seems to love. My mouth was watering at the thought of the feast that awaited us. The corn soup arrived first, and it was basically semi coagulated jello with bits and chunks of crab and corn kernels. The crab was fishy, and although it was real crab, it tasted so damn fishy, I could hardly bring my self to swallow it. I'm still trying to erase the gelatinous memory of that soup from my mind. The fish pakoras were OK. Pretty bland, and the fish inside was somewhat mushy and not seasoned at all. They weren't terrible, but not good either. In fact they were the only non terrible part of this meal. The chili chicken. I almost cried when I tasted this. I absolutely love chili chicken, however their version of it was just a plain pathetic excuse of this dish. First of all, it had no spice at all, no heat, no kick! It was cold, as if it had been left out for a while before being served to us. The chicken wasn't lightly battered, and the sauce was basically just a stickier version of soya sauce. It had no onions, and I only found one single chili pepper in the entire thing. Terrible. In fact this was so bad, that I would have rather had Machu Wok than this. Sad :( The waitress was rather rude and inattentive, but whatever. I could have experienced stellar service and it still wouldn't have made a difference. On the way out I saw a lot of newspaper clippings of all the press and praise this place has received. Really? I wonder what kind of people enjoy such mediocre food, but certainly not me. Won't ever be coming here again. read more

Federick's a restaurant you go to when you've told your life story to your partner and they accept you as you are. It's the kind of place where presentation is not the top priority - taste and spice are. Hands down, they have the best chili chicken, shrimp pakoras, and a red sweet sauce Hakka noodle that goes by the suave name "Foong Mee Mein" (literally translated as "Red Sauce Noodles"). Once you've discovered that person who "gets you", go get Federick's, together, and live happily ever after. read more

Okay!! Here goes!!! Other than today, the last time I went to Frederick was probably 2011...today I decided to give it a try.. My meal was manchurian chicken fried rice.. Portion: A very generous portion of rice and well flavored. However I didn't get much chicken. Quality: Love the flavor. No issues there. Price: For 10.00 I cannot go wrong. That meal can be split into 2 meals. The good: Good place to dine Clean Quality is good Service is okay Price is decent. The bad: Very little chicken in certain meals, however the chicken is very good. Thanks kimoneatz@gmail.com read more

FatCat's taste buds get confused first time FatCat try Frederick many years ago. Is FatCat eating Chinese? Or is FatCat eating Indian? FatCat not know.... so he create new category in brain for this food. FatCat later find out that this food have name already.. Hakka Chinese. FatCat get happy because he experience something new. FatCat learning new things about different cultures all time. Things FatCat like - foooood. - prices. - Mr owner recently redecorated store and make more space for customer. FatCat wish he have human hands so FatCat can do thumbs up for Mr Owner. Meow... Things FatCat not like - lady server sometimes try to rush FatCat out when store busy. Not big problem for FatCat because FatCat take his time anyway and not feel rushed even when server lady try. read more

Dry chili chicken with dark meat is delicious

Food is good and spicy, service is cold. Went there for the first time in February during a snow storm. The restaurant was pretty much empty except for my group and two other tables. We ordered and got our food fast. It was good and spicy. Throughout the night, the wait staff kept rushing us out of the restaurant. They took our dinner plates while we were barely finished, and dropped us the cheque while we had 60% of our dishes remaining on the table! When I asked to keep the receipt after we paid, the waitress gave us the b---- face. I don't understand why they kept rushing us out when there was no one else in the restaurant. Good food, BAD service. Go for the takeout, not the dine-in. Would NOT recommend, would NOT visit again. read more

Deep in the Heart of "ScarGhetto" (sorry I live in Detroit now, I'm highly doubtful of Scarborough's Ghettoness now) is a little store called Fredricks. It's easy to miss, as it is fairly modest from the outside. Inside it's not really a whole lot better. But the food is pretty awesome. The food in this restaurant is what many people call Hakka Chinese. As I have said before, a number of people immigrated from the Hakka region to India; consequently people think this is Hakka. It's not, at least not anymore than Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls is authentic Chinese Food. It is food made by people often from the Hakka region, it has traveled from China to India and now it's in North America. I definitely like it. Though I don't like Kingfisher beer. The food is probably one of the best examples of Fusion foods, the food is really worth trying, read more

Worst service ever received in entire Canada... I am a big time foodie and love to try different places. This place was so disappointing. I went there with a friend and we were starving so badly. We visited it for the first time by checking reviews like 5 stars so it's obvious that we expected more but it was not good at all. We reached there 45 mins before it closes and they already started cleaning the place. The waitress was not even welcoming us and we felt so bad but had no option so wanted to atleast try the food. We ordered couple of items which were Luke warm as if they prepared it a while ago. The waitress wanted us to leave before we started our food. Even though we mentioned we want it spicy they made it sweet which was unacceptable. The behaviour was so bad and they were mopping the floor which smelled so bad that we couldn't even finish our dinner. I never gave bad review for any place but yes this is the place which I would never ever recommend to anyone. read more

Scarborough institution. First hakka restaurant that I'm aware of in Toronto. Excellent chilli chicken, chicken pakora and large portions. Good prices and value. Cheaper if you pay cash. Service may be slow at times, but all things considered they are the best.0 Also, very happy that they have white meat chilli chicken (but quite pricey) read more

I was so excited to finally eat at Fedricks especially after hearing so much about it but sadly I was quite disappointed. I ordered munchurian fried rice, chicken fried rice, chilli chicken and munchurian chicken. The munchurian rice was by far the most disappointing, the rice was wet and flavorless. Overall every dish I ordered lacked flavor. I have tried my fair share of hakka restaurants in Toronto and I would rate Fedricks as one of the worst. However, to my surprise the interior was very nice, maybe they recently renovated. I went on a Monday night and it wasn't overly crowded and it was quiet. Also the service was pretty good, our waitress was really nice and joked around. read more

Fredricks used to be the classic place for Hakka in Scarborough. Not sure what happened but we ordered from them after many years and it was awful. Tasteless, bland, and old tasting food. Threw most of it out. Beyond disappointing. read more

was going to check out Hakka Legend down the street, but the place was jammed and line up out the door. while i was waiting for a spot.. i noticed the number of unsatisfied customers inside.. virtually noone had food on their table and everyone was getting upset. I realized they were taking care of the huge line up of take out orders instead. I opted for Federick instead... and it was not a mistake. Small restaurant but the portions of the food were large.. very large.. and price was very reasonable. The food came out very quick.. the chilli chicken came out almost instant which have been wondering if it was pre-made... i tried their federick chop suey chow mein and chilli chicken. Both were okay. Great value... huge bowl of rice.. and service was very attentive. Price was actually on average about 50cents to 1 dollar cheaper per dish than Hakka Legend down the street. I will definitely come back to try other food on the menu. read more

I'm not going to give this any more stars as I've heard this was a really great Resturant but was disappointed. Our waitress was nice and would follow up till we got our order served. The food was lukewarm/cold as if they pulled it from a fridge and just warmed it. The utensils were a bit dirty and place looked old. read more

Newly renovated, however take out is always the best option! Hot and soup soup is delish and filling. Can never say no to the best chili chicken ever! I always eat it by itself, no rice. Their chicken pakoras are good. I never knew I liked pakoras until I tried theirs. General Tao chicken is yummy, definitely better than other places. I would suggest ordering over the phone and than picking it up as there is very little space inside and there is always people coming and going. read more

My boyfriend loves fredericks. Once in a while he picks up food to go, so I can't speak on the dining experience but I can say the food is good. Fredericks was my first taste of Hakka cuisine and definitely won't be my last. We always order the chilli chicken, chicken/fish pakora and the chilli green beans (not sure what they are called). It taste like Chinese food kicked up a notch with more spices and flavours. The green beans were the biggest surprise. I'm not a huge fan of green beans but they were so good. A nice blend of sweet and spicy. I actually googled the recipe and made them because they are that good! read more

Federick - Chilli chicken and chicken pakora - Chinese Near Me - Scarborough, Ontario

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It feels like I'm in an Out-of-Town Chinese restaurant from the outside and the interior design. We're only in Scarborough but it's nice to have a feeling that I'm Out-of-Town as a getaway from work this morning. I'm pretty new to Hakka/Indian food/restaurants so my review is based on the simplicity of what my personal preference tells me I like or dislike. Fish Pakora($8.25) reminded me of Clam Cakes from Rhode Island except the Crab Corn Soup($7.50) wasn't the perfect accompaniment like how Clam Chowder goes perfectly with Clam Cakes. Fish Pakora had that doughy spongy texture and small chunks of Fish meat inside. Crab Corn Soup was below average as I've had plenty of those before and as a Chinese descendant I can make my own that isn't as overly Corn Starched. Real Crab Meat, but probably not the fresh variety. Chili Chicken($11.50) was a bit bland with the Soya Sauce more dominant than the Chili flavour which even as a non-spice eater, it lacked the Chili aspect however the dish did have a couple whole Chilis but I wish the sauce was where the heat should be. read more

The year is 2048 and the Food Network finally shuts its doors and sells the channel, this puts everyone working at the network at this time out of a job. As we follow the last remaining worker onto his deathbed, he is surrounded by his family and friends. He knows his hours are numbered but he has to eat at one more restaurant. He dusts off his red convertible and drives off far away, frosting his remaining hair as he drives. Once he arrives at the restaurant he orders the Crunchiest, Unctious, Most delectable dish on the menu - chili chicken. Once he receives his hakka comfort food he reflects for a minute, thinking back to the forty seasons of his show and how every single meal was a blessing. He bites into a fork-tender piece of poultry and his heart stops. After he awakens in a bright white location (anywhere other than Scarborough, perhaps Barrie as it's pretty white if I recall correctly), squinting his eyes he sees him. God aka chef Bhupinder Singh himself with the same frosted tips as the man does. When the man asks "Where am I" the lord replied swiftly. "You did it Guy," "You've made it to FlavorTown" read more

This literally is one of those hole-in-the-wall places that serves up some pretty decent food. There are definitely some hits and misses here. Misses: Cream Corn Seafood Soup - it's a bland soup with a heavy handed helping of corn starch slurry that leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. Manchurian Beef - both the look and taste of this dish are appalling. It came as a plate of red sauce with chunks of beef in it and it tasted just awful. We took a few bites and let it be all night. Hits: Chicken Pakora - I would come back to this place just to eat this dish. If you love pakoras this dish will knock your socks off. It literally tastes like pakoras but with huge chunks of chicken breast that's not hidden under a thick coating of batter. Fried to perfection and tender as ever. Yum Yum!! Szechuan fried rice with beef and shrimp - this dish is hot as hell. You don't notice it the first two bites but then it hits you like a ton of bricks. But no matter how hot it is, I couldn't stop eating it because it tasted really good. Ok: Chili Chicken - it was not too bad but I found the texture of the fried chicken pieces a bit off. The sauce could have done with a bit of sugar to highlight the chili flavour. read more

I went to Fredricks with the girlfriend on a Friday night right before we went to see a movie. I've heard good things about this place from many friends and have wanted to try it out for quite some time but just haven't had the time to visit this part of the city. At first appearance, there is nothing impressive from the outside. It is located in a desolate plaza but what is apparent is that those who visit the plaza often are in Fredricks themselves. When walking in to Fredricks, I noticed that they have an individual area for takeout that is before the actual sitdown area itself. The lunch menu looks about the same as other Hakka places around the city but for $5.75 it sure beats the generic burger from McDonalds. Upon entering, the first impression is that the restaurant is quite small. Probably seats about 25-30 at the most. We got a table right away and our table was clean and well setup. The napkin in the glass was a nice touch. My one complaint is when restaurants leave the utensils on the table themselves. Not very sanitary but pretty standard in restaurants. I ordered the Chilli Chicken & Chicken Pakoras and the GF ordered the General Tso chicken. All the dishes were excellent and were large portions. The one complaint here is that the restaurant is super stingy with the rice. You'd think given the portion sizes they would be a little more relaxed about giving away some rice. The dishes were prepared quickly and tasted great. 5/5 here. Now I'll get to why I didn't rate this place didn't get a higher rating from me. Firstly, the rice issue was a bit of a downer given that we ordered several dishes. To get one bowl of rice is not cool. Secondly, the kitchen staff come out from time to time and sit down in the restaurant area and stare at the patrons eating the food. Not a glance, but full on staring. I caught 3 or 4 of the chefs watching me eat my food. Even with me making eye contact with them for several seconds they continued to stare. A bit uncomfortable but didn't stop me from eating my meal. Overall, this is a great Hakka restaurant to try out, but I've definitely had better. The service was great, the food was great and the portions were plentiful. I recommend you try it out sometime. read more

The most awful flavored and bland hakka chinese I have had in my entire life. Even the mall foodcourt chinese food is better. When we order hakka chinese food, it is finished in one sitting. The food we got we had 2/3 leftover and they were thrown out. What we ordered Schezwan Fried Rice - They put paprika powder in the fried rice lmao!! I am used to eating schezwan cuisine and the sauce is so wonderfully flavored. These people iust threw in powder in their fried rice. Manchurian Chow Mein - Bland AF! Who the hell puts bok choy in a fried Chow Mein. It turned it even more bland. All it was just orange color, boiled shrimp, wilted bok choy and no flavor. Manchurian Chicken - Filled with cornstarch and overwhelming amount of coriander stems which made it so damn bitter. Fried Dumpling - flavorless meat Hot n Sour soup - manageable but I have had better elsewhere. I am never going back here. They do not know how to make hakka chinese food. Everything is a bastardization of original hakka and it doesnt even taste good. We had to throw out our food. Waste of money. read more

Why not, 4 stars. Great lunch specials for some spicy and Hakka style for under $7. Caught up with a friend here over a work lunch and couldn't be happier. It's a greasy spoon for a lot of wok and fried Chinese and Hakka dishes but it's delicious. They give you over 20+ lunch special choices each at $6.20 which includes a drink. It's a smaller joint but lots of tables and if there isn't parking in the front there is tons in the back. I got the Hakka chowmein with beef and shrimp. Friend had chilli chicken. Portions are huge and they bring it to you family style. Both very tasty and ready pretty quickly. Good spot for a working lunch in the area and would definitely come back. They don't accept Amex but many places dont so no big deal. read more