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Came here with my family and we really enjoyed all the dishes, as well as the entire experience! We ordered the braised beef in tomato broth for the large cauldron stew and added noodles. The stew came with 3 pieces of bread so we chose the flour buns that were cooked by sticking them to the side of the pot and allowing the steam to cook it. We also ordered the sweet crispy pork, shovel cumin lamb dish, and a small portion of pork intestines. The lamb was super flavourful and not dry at all. The intestines came with much more than we thought, despite it being advertised as a special at a smaller size. It had just the right amount of chew to it and wasn't over-blanched. The pork came with a sticky sweet sauce and was served with thin pieces of meat. Everything was really affordable and the portion sizes were large, so even with everyone full, we still had leftovers. Service was great throughout and we were offered a coupon for a free drink pitcher next time, as well as a free hairtail dish. If you leave a Google review, they offer tokens to their claw game machine filled with cute food and animal plushies. The claw itself had no grip so it was practically impossible to win anything, but they gave the toddler in our group a free stuffed banana/goose as a gift! There was also a free kid's meal promotion during the time we went, which came with some fried rice, a fried chicken wing, some peas and a yogurt drink (normally around $5).
First time trying something like this for dinner. Device was decent, food was delicious! We got a set menu for 4 and there were 5 of us with leftovers to take home for another meal! There was plenty of food to go around. I would come back again!
Had to come here after my friend came here literally 2 weeks in a row. There was a bit of confusion with the booking arrangements, but we were finally able to get a table of 13 people. The private room with 13 people with a minimum spend of $300. The private room was inadequately air conditioned, considering 10 plus people sitting in a room with two large boiling pots. Lamb shovel - Probably come back just for this! Super tasty, fatty cumin goodness. Oh also there's a lot of those dry spicy peppers but super delicious on the lamb. Would get again! Lamb skewers - Not as good as the shovel, not even close... Would not recommend. Chicken gristle shovel - The chicken gristle has some good texture, but has nowhere near the amount of flavour as the lamb shovel. Nice to try, but would not get again. Crispy pork - Was not crispy and was lacking flavour, would not recommend. Sliced pork with sweet and sour sauce - Also was not crispy, ok maybe a bit more crispy than the previous pork. The sweet and sour sauce made up for it! Nice to try, not sure if I'd get again. Tomato braised beef brisket with bread - The 6 person pot was massive and probably alone can feed up to 8 people! The soup was flavourful and briskets was soft. The bread was meh, could skip for rice instead.
Came back last weekend with an even larger group of friends. We were sat together in the middle of the resto but half of us used one iron pot while the other half used the other iron pot. Seating was definitely on the squishier side for the amount of ppl in our group. My half of the table had bigger appetites so we ordered more food naturally. We ordered the same stuff as our first visit but tried some new items (and also forgoed the corn pancakes as those are just for IG imo and don't really impart much flavour). The shrimp fried rice was average. It had good 'wok hay' but wasn't fantastic or anything. Instead of the sweet n' sour fried pork slices we opted for 3 orders of the stir-fried lamb shovel. Yes, THREE. That dish is so GOAT-ed here. The lamb is so tender and spiced PERFECTLY. For dessert this time, I tried the strawberry ice cream. It actually wasn't too sweet! Had some sour notes so it didn't taste artificially sweet like most strawberry flavoured stuff.
Came here on a Friday night. We joined the wait time virtually. They have discounts depending on how long you wait for a table (ranging from free pop to a discount on your bill). However, these discounts do not apply for people who join the virtual wait list. My friends and I waited in person as well, and the restaurant honoured that and gave us free drinks. The decor is very immersive and fun. Lots of families and groups of people eating out. I came here with two other people, but I would recommend going with more people so you can try more food! We got the signature hot pot for 2 people, large order of corn bread (came with around 6), clams on a shovel, complimentary ice cream, complimentary pop, complimentary melons. The waitress came and refilled our broth midway through. The hot pot was very flavourful, a little on the salty side. The clams were also very salty. Most clams were empty unfortunately. Not worth the money in my opinion.
After seeing this place on social media platforms, friend suggested we try this place for the Iron Pot stew. Walking into the place felt like being transported back into an old Chinese Village. The decor was well thought out and each table is sectioned off so it gives you the feel of dining privately. We (3 people) ordered the Pork Ribs Iron Pot stew and of course some add-ons. The cornbread that is steamed right on the side of the pot was so good! We just wish the servers informed us that you can only order it at the beginning so we could have ordered more. The ribs were very tender and flavourful.
I love how a lot of authentic mainland Chinese restaurants and chains from different regions of China have been coming to the GTA in the past couple of years. Happy Valley Village is the newest addition to Scarborough, serving special Northern China-style food (Heilongjiang specifically) including the unique iron pot stews. We came specifically to try this, and we were not disappointed! Background: Iron pot stews originated in rural northeastern China, and are popular in Harbin (the capital of Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province). The food is warm and hearty, perfect for the freezing winters there. The city grew in the late 19th century with the influx of Russian engineers constructing the eastern leg of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. In terms of its cuisine, it's notable for the use of special wide iron pots (similar to hot pots), where you stew the protein and vegetables and stick corn pancakes / buns in the inner linings of the iron pot. This restaurant tends to get VERY busy, especially during prime time lunch and dinner hours (especially between 5-8 pm). They don't take reservations, so you have to join the online waitlist that you can access from their Google Business Page (just google "Happy Valley Village Scarborough", and you can see the "Join Waitlist" button). It tells you how many parties are already on the waitlist ahead of you. Alternatively you can go to the restaurant and join the waitlist from the tablet at the entrance. Wait time can be 1 hour or more, depending on how busy it is. They have a lot of servers and they're all very attentive and give excellent service. The decor inside the restaurant is SO nice - like you're transported to rural northeastern China, with the red lanterns, faux street signs, farm animals (chickens, donkeys, etc.), traditional red carriage, etc. It creates a nice and traditional dining ambience. All the seats are also very comfortable with pretty red pillows. The washrooms are quite clean, and they have dental floss, mouth wash (with a stack of disposable mini plastic cups), and body lotion / hand lotion by the sinks. Every table comes with a set of red-patterned aprons, napkins, small plates, and jug of lemon water that you can self-serve (located just in front / on the side of each table). Food-wise, everything comes in big portion and tastes delicious. We got the House Special Fish Iron Pot Stew, which was the highlight of our meal. It came as a giant bass fish that was split / butterflied in half (for faster cooking), along medium-soft tofu, pieces of corn on the cob, cabbage, and goji berries. You can order side dishes / ingredients to go in the stew (similar to hot pot ingredients). We added an extra Vegetables Platter (Chinese lettuce, cabbage, and chrysanthemum leaves), wood ear mushrooms, and king oyster mushrooms to our pot, as well as corn pancakes that they sticked to the sides of the pot (pretty cool how they cooked them). The server put all ingredients inside the pot, covered the lid, and set a timer. It took about 10-15 minutes to cook, then they came back, opened the lid, and scraped out the corn pancakes. The fish, veggies, and all the ingredients cooked very well inside the iron pot. There was less liquid compared to traditional hot pot, but it still had a good amount of broth that made everything flavourful and have a rich, umami flavour. The corn pancakes were a bit dry but good for dipping and eating with the stew. I could taste the sweetness of the corn in the pancakes. It reminded me of the savoury corn bread that you'd get at Southern American-style restaurants. We also ordered Stir-Fried Clams that came with red and green bell peppers and onions, Stir-Fried Cabbage, and Shrimps & Eggs Fried Rice. The Stir-Fried Clams and Stir-Fried Cabbage had a bit of a kick to them, as they were cooked with chilli. The Shrimps & Eggs Fried Rice, although simple in appearance and ingredients, was excellent. It wasn't oily or heavy at all, and a perfect carb accompaniment for the iron pot stew. They gave complimentary fresh fruits in the beginning of the meal (watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes), and also complimentary dessert in the end (fruit-flavoured popsicles).
Happy Village Valley is definitely not the best place to eat alone. All their tables are big and their iron pot stew dishes are geared toward 2-4 people at the minimum. But what can a curious foodie do if he doesn't live close to Scarborough anymore and the last time he tried to come with an inpatient little one, involved a table wait of 7 tables at 8:30pm on a Friday, and all of a sudden find himself in the area? The correct answer is, you go check it out anyway. I ended up ordering their signature fried pork with sweet and sour sauce and it was disappointing. The batter on the pork was quite inconsistent as some of the pieces were chewy, some were crunchy and others were hard to chew through. I also did not find the sauce particularly well done. It was sweet and sour, but missing the savoury. It just didn't hit the spot. The pork that was used was lean, but tender. Even then for a dish like this, I think they used the wrong cut of meat. There should be at least some fat left on the meat to give it the necessary flavour. Happy Valley Village operates like a typical Mainland Chinese bigger chain restaurant where they will offer you some fruits before your meal and popsicles after your meal. Perhaps the server read my mind and decided to seat me at a table that had a Chinese scarecrow (see pic) to keep me company. LOL. Service in generally is prompt, but lacked personality aside from the possible mind reading. I might come back with a village to try their iron pot stew dishes, but in general the experience was underwhelming, despite all the hype.
I like trying different foods. Mainland China is filled with so many regional cuisines, and they are just starting to be available in Toronto. This restaurant just had its soft opening on 2023-07-09. This is the third location, after Vancouver, and then Los Angeles. Happy Valley Village features authentic Northeastern Iron Pot Stew. The restaurant also immerses you in the Northeast China culture by decorating the restaurant so that it resembles a typical town. There are different sections in this large restaurant. You can see farmers, a chicken, two donkeys, a ceremonial wedding carriage, and a street corner of Saint Sophia Cathderal and Central Street in the city of Harbin, in the province of Heilongjiang, which is the northern most province of China. Their private dining rooms have Kang bed-stoves, a two-metre high platform that provides warmth for various activities such as living, working, entertaining, and sleeping during the cold winter months. There would be a stove underneath the platform so they can put an iron pot on top to cook food. At night, they would cover the platform with mattresses while the platform retains the heat for the entire night. There is no other heating within each dwelling. Then, there is the food. I can only take their word that it is authentic because I've never eaten that cuisine before. It is definitely different from other more familiar Chinese cuisines. The service is courteous, but I found the wait staff are not very fluent in English. They are fluent in Cantonese. I don't know if they are fluent in Mandarin. The iron pot slow-cooks chicken, duck, fish, or goose, along with other ingredients, until the meat is tender. The resulting soup becomes very delicious. At this restaurant, you can choose non-spicy, or 3 levels of spiciness. We chose non-spicy. It takes about 15 mins to cook. It is communal dining, as with traditional Chinese hot pot. We chose the Stewed Goose ($78.00, serving 2-4 people), which is the restaurant's signature dish. The stew comes with ingredients such as potatoes, Chinese cabbage, and corn on the cob. We chose to add Black Fungus ($4.98) to the hot pot. The resulting soup was extremely delicious. I've never eaten goose before, so I was adventurous enough to try it. I didn't find a lot of meat with the goose bone; perhaps it fell off into the soup. There was plenty of goose skin; I'm not so fond of pig or duck skin, so it was no surprise that I wasn't fond of goose skin. Instead of rice as the staple, this cuisine uses pastry that you soak into the stew's soup. The hot pot came with freshly made pancakes. The pastry chef personally comes to each table, prepares the pancakes, and sticks them to the inside edge of the iron pot to cook and heat up. The pancake had the perfect consistency to soak up the soup. We ordered a Fried Twist ($5.98), which is a pastry that is twisted. You might expect it to have sugar on top, but it is considered a staple that you also use instead of rice and dip into the soup. This bread was delicious. We ordered two additional dishes: Stir Fried Pork with Sweet Sour Sauce ($15.98) and Shovel Stir Fry Squid ($19.98). The Shovel Stir Fry comes in a little shovel. For dessert, we ordered the Caramelized Sugar on Sweet Potato ($15.98). We actually managed to get a very long sugar pull! For drinks, we ordered Watermelon Juice ($7.98 for a jug) and Coconut Milk ($2.98) x 2. At the end of the meal, you get a plate of fruit, and everyone gets to choose a Creamsicle. Any additional Creamsicle costs only $1.98 each. There are about 6 flavours to choose from. We chose Coconut Latte and Red Bean & Date. They have separate male/female washrooms. Be careful because there is a stylistic symbol on the door representing a gender. One person chose the correct door but another person chose the wrong door. What made it worse is there is a giant fan on the wall when you open the door, but both fans are the same with a woman on it. So how do you tell? The only sure way is the male washroom has urinals in it, but that's after you enter and turn the corner. This could be embarrassing! The Toronto owner is Alex Han. There is free WiFi. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible, but I don't know if there is wheelchair seating (I didn't see it, but I didn't ask either). There are separate male/female washrooms, but only the female washroom is wheelchair accessible. There is free parking in the shopping mall's parking lot. Review 2023-223
This is a newly opened restaurant serving Chinese northeastern cuisine : stew goose is the signature dish, featuring a giant iron wok cooking variety of foods at the table. Also can add additional dishes and use the wok as a hot pot. Servers are all very young but have enthusiasm to provide good services. Interesting interior design and decorations, bold and vivid red / green colours. Price is reasonable, portion size is good too. Stew goose-4/5 Pancake in stew-4/5 Cold noodles-4/5 Would recommend to make reservations if you're coming at dinner time.
The decor here is cute and a play on a happy little village, there's gazebo seatings with private rooms as well. Very spacious and good for small or large parties. Service was attentive and each server was there to help with cooking and watching the pot for you. We got an order of their fried pork and spare rib hotpot (mild) for two people, add-ons of corn pancakes, potatoe noodle and veggie plates. The 2 person portion was very generous, between 3 people we still had left overs. Definitely recommend any of the pots, the fried dishes were light and crispy and came out piping hot. We'd come back next time to try the stir fry served in a shovel and the salted egg yolk fried shrimp. 2 people pots start about mid $40. There was free ice cream at the end.
4.5/5 This was an exotic experience as we've never tried Northeast China big wok stew. It's difficult to get in without a long wait if you don't make reservations, this time we reserved a week in advance. I was fascinated by the inner decor, they really have make efforts to infuse the place with rich Northeast China vibe. Servers were all young below 35, service was efficient and good. The Guo Bao Rou, five veggies and noodles in peanut and vinegar sauce, glutinous rice cake in brown sugar were all so fresh & delicious! However the chicken and mushroom stew which is the signature dish was too salty with too much bones to our liking. The corn breads need to be stuck exactly 18 minutes on the side of the wok to have them cooked with the stew, they were just fresh and tasty! The stew itself is overpriced at $68 for two, however all other dishes wete phenomenal, we'll come back to try other dishes for sure.
9 months ago
The decoration is eye-catching and full of Northeast Chinese character. The space is styled like a rustic village setting, with wooden booth structures, straw-thatched details, hanging dried corn and chili peppers, and red lanterns that instantly create a warm, festive atmosphere. The use of traditional elements, paper-cut window designs, red Spring Festival couplets, old-style newspaper wall coverings, and exposed brick adds a strong sense of nostalgia. It feels immersive and intentional, almost like stepping into a countryside home in Dongbei rather than a typical restaurant. The décor isn't fancy, but it's rich in cultural detail and warmth, perfectly matching the hearty, comforting style of Northeast Chinese cuisine. The space is unique and perfect for taking photos. The food here is very generous. We ordered the 4-person set with two side pots. Tomato Braised Beef Brisket and Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms and the portions were huge. Both pots arrived steaming hot and filled to the brim, clearly meant for sharing. The braised beef was rich and hearty, while the chicken pot was comforting and full of flavor, making it perfect for group dining or cold weather meals. Combined with the rustic, traditional décor, it really feels like authentic Northeast Chinese comfort food. The food and atmosphere were excellent, though the service was a bit lacking. Prices are reasonable for the generous portion sizes and the unique restaurant décor. read more
11 months ago
Happy Valley Village Restaurant offers a genuinely unique and memorable culinary journey focused on authentic Northeastern (Dongbei) Chinese cuisine. The highlight is the Iron Pot Stew (Tie Guo Dun), an interactive, communal dining experience where a massive iron pot is integrated directly into your table. Diners gather around as meats, seafood, and vegetables simmer in a rich, flavorful broth, filling the air with enticing aromas. Beyond the immersive stew, the restaurant shines with large portions of classic Dongbei dishes and flawless, homemade dumplings. The rustic, nostalgic decor successfully transports guests to a traditional Chinese village setting, enhancing the meal's authenticity. Service is attentive, with staff expertly managing the stew and adding fresh cornbread dough to the pot's sides, which steams to perfection. Happy Valley Village is a must-try for groups seeking great value, a festive atmosphere, and an incredibly satisfying and novel way to share a meal read more
Toronto has so many Chinese restaurants, but I've never been to one quite like this before. The iron pot stew was the star of the meal, brimming with fresh ingredients and a deeply flavorful broth. Portions are generous, making it ideal for sharing, which aligns perfectly with the communal spirit of Northeastern Chinese dining. The space itself is cozy and welcoming, a great setting for gathering with family or friends over a satisfying meal. If you're looking to broaden your palette of Chinese food, this place should be on your list. read more
Came here with my family and we really enjoyed all the dishes, as well as the entire experience! We ordered the braised beef in tomato broth for the large cauldron stew and added noodles. The stew came with 3 pieces of bread so we chose the flour buns that were cooked by sticking them to the side of the pot and allowing the steam to cook it. We also ordered the sweet crispy pork, shovel cumin lamb dish, and a small portion of pork intestines. The lamb was super flavourful and not dry at all. The intestines came with much more than we thought, despite it being advertised as a special at a smaller size. It had just the right amount of chew to it and wasn't over-blanched. The pork came with a sticky sweet sauce and was served with thin pieces of meat. Everything was really affordable and the portion sizes were large, so even with everyone full, we still had leftovers. Service was great throughout and we were offered a coupon for a free drink pitcher next time, as well as a free hairtail dish. If you leave a Google review, they offer tokens to their claw game machine filled with cute food and animal plushies. The claw itself had no grip so it was practically impossible to win anything, but they gave the toddler in our group a free stuffed banana/goose as a gift! There was also a free kid's meal promotion during the time we went, which came with some fried rice, a fried chicken wing, some peas and a yogurt drink (normally around $5). read more
First time trying something like this for dinner. Device was decent, food was delicious! We got a set menu for 4 and there were 5 of us with leftovers to take home for another meal! There was plenty of food to go around. I would come back again! read more
Had to come here after my friend came here literally 2 weeks in a row. There was a bit of confusion with the booking arrangements, but we were finally able to get a table of 13 people. The private room with 13 people with a minimum spend of $300. The private room was inadequately air conditioned, considering 10 plus people sitting in a room with two large boiling pots. Lamb shovel - Probably come back just for this! Super tasty, fatty cumin goodness. Oh also there's a lot of those dry spicy peppers but super delicious on the lamb. Would get again! Lamb skewers - Not as good as the shovel, not even close... Would not recommend. Chicken gristle shovel - The chicken gristle has some good texture, but has nowhere near the amount of flavour as the lamb shovel. Nice to try, but would not get again. Crispy pork - Was not crispy and was lacking flavour, would not recommend. Sliced pork with sweet and sour sauce - Also was not crispy, ok maybe a bit more crispy than the previous pork. The sweet and sour sauce made up for it! Nice to try, not sure if I'd get again. Tomato braised beef brisket with bread - The 6 person pot was massive and probably alone can feed up to 8 people! The soup was flavourful and briskets was soft. The bread was meh, could skip for rice instead. read more
Came back last weekend with an even larger group of friends. We were sat together in the middle of the resto but half of us used one iron pot while the other half used the other iron pot. Seating was definitely on the squishier side for the amount of ppl in our group. My half of the table had bigger appetites so we ordered more food naturally. We ordered the same stuff as our first visit but tried some new items (and also forgoed the corn pancakes as those are just for IG imo and don't really impart much flavour). The shrimp fried rice was average. It had good 'wok hay' but wasn't fantastic or anything. Instead of the sweet n' sour fried pork slices we opted for 3 orders of the stir-fried lamb shovel. Yes, THREE. That dish is so GOAT-ed here. The lamb is so tender and spiced PERFECTLY. For dessert this time, I tried the strawberry ice cream. It actually wasn't too sweet! Had some sour notes so it didn't taste artificially sweet like most strawberry flavoured stuff. read more
Came here on a Friday night. We joined the wait time virtually. They have discounts depending on how long you wait for a table (ranging from free pop to a discount on your bill). However, these discounts do not apply for people who join the virtual wait list. My friends and I waited in person as well, and the restaurant honoured that and gave us free drinks. The decor is very immersive and fun. Lots of families and groups of people eating out. I came here with two other people, but I would recommend going with more people so you can try more food! We got the signature hot pot for 2 people, large order of corn bread (came with around 6), clams on a shovel, complimentary ice cream, complimentary pop, complimentary melons. The waitress came and refilled our broth midway through. The hot pot was very flavourful, a little on the salty side. The clams were also very salty. Most clams were empty unfortunately. Not worth the money in my opinion. read more
After seeing this place on social media platforms, friend suggested we try this place for the Iron Pot stew. Walking into the place felt like being transported back into an old Chinese Village. The decor was well thought out and each table is sectioned off so it gives you the feel of dining privately. We (3 people) ordered the Pork Ribs Iron Pot stew and of course some add-ons. The cornbread that is steamed right on the side of the pot was so good! We just wish the servers informed us that you can only order it at the beginning so we could have ordered more. The ribs were very tender and flavourful. read more
I love how a lot of authentic mainland Chinese restaurants and chains from different regions of China have been coming to the GTA in the past couple of years. Happy Valley Village is the newest addition to Scarborough, serving special Northern China-style food (Heilongjiang specifically) including the unique iron pot stews. We came specifically to try this, and we were not disappointed! Background: Iron pot stews originated in rural northeastern China, and are popular in Harbin (the capital of Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province). The food is warm and hearty, perfect for the freezing winters there. The city grew in the late 19th century with the influx of Russian engineers constructing the eastern leg of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. In terms of its cuisine, it's notable for the use of special wide iron pots (similar to hot pots), where you stew the protein and vegetables and stick corn pancakes / buns in the inner linings of the iron pot. This restaurant tends to get VERY busy, especially during prime time lunch and dinner hours (especially between 5-8 pm). They don't take reservations, so you have to join the online waitlist that you can access from their Google Business Page (just google "Happy Valley Village Scarborough", and you can see the "Join Waitlist" button). It tells you how many parties are already on the waitlist ahead of you. Alternatively you can go to the restaurant and join the waitlist from the tablet at the entrance. Wait time can be 1 hour or more, depending on how busy it is. They have a lot of servers and they're all very attentive and give excellent service. The decor inside the restaurant is SO nice - like you're transported to rural northeastern China, with the red lanterns, faux street signs, farm animals (chickens, donkeys, etc.), traditional red carriage, etc. It creates a nice and traditional dining ambience. All the seats are also very comfortable with pretty red pillows. The washrooms are quite clean, and they have dental floss, mouth wash (with a stack of disposable mini plastic cups), and body lotion / hand lotion by the sinks. Every table comes with a set of red-patterned aprons, napkins, small plates, and jug of lemon water that you can self-serve (located just in front / on the side of each table). Food-wise, everything comes in big portion and tastes delicious. We got the House Special Fish Iron Pot Stew, which was the highlight of our meal. It came as a giant bass fish that was split / butterflied in half (for faster cooking), along medium-soft tofu, pieces of corn on the cob, cabbage, and goji berries. You can order side dishes / ingredients to go in the stew (similar to hot pot ingredients). We added an extra Vegetables Platter (Chinese lettuce, cabbage, and chrysanthemum leaves), wood ear mushrooms, and king oyster mushrooms to our pot, as well as corn pancakes that they sticked to the sides of the pot (pretty cool how they cooked them). The server put all ingredients inside the pot, covered the lid, and set a timer. It took about 10-15 minutes to cook, then they came back, opened the lid, and scraped out the corn pancakes. The fish, veggies, and all the ingredients cooked very well inside the iron pot. There was less liquid compared to traditional hot pot, but it still had a good amount of broth that made everything flavourful and have a rich, umami flavour. The corn pancakes were a bit dry but good for dipping and eating with the stew. I could taste the sweetness of the corn in the pancakes. It reminded me of the savoury corn bread that you'd get at Southern American-style restaurants. We also ordered Stir-Fried Clams that came with red and green bell peppers and onions, Stir-Fried Cabbage, and Shrimps & Eggs Fried Rice. The Stir-Fried Clams and Stir-Fried Cabbage had a bit of a kick to them, as they were cooked with chilli. The Shrimps & Eggs Fried Rice, although simple in appearance and ingredients, was excellent. It wasn't oily or heavy at all, and a perfect carb accompaniment for the iron pot stew. They gave complimentary fresh fruits in the beginning of the meal (watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes), and also complimentary dessert in the end (fruit-flavoured popsicles). read more
Happy Village Valley is definitely not the best place to eat alone. All their tables are big and their iron pot stew dishes are geared toward 2-4 people at the minimum. But what can a curious foodie do if he doesn't live close to Scarborough anymore and the last time he tried to come with an inpatient little one, involved a table wait of 7 tables at 8:30pm on a Friday, and all of a sudden find himself in the area? The correct answer is, you go check it out anyway. I ended up ordering their signature fried pork with sweet and sour sauce and it was disappointing. The batter on the pork was quite inconsistent as some of the pieces were chewy, some were crunchy and others were hard to chew through. I also did not find the sauce particularly well done. It was sweet and sour, but missing the savoury. It just didn't hit the spot. The pork that was used was lean, but tender. Even then for a dish like this, I think they used the wrong cut of meat. There should be at least some fat left on the meat to give it the necessary flavour. Happy Valley Village operates like a typical Mainland Chinese bigger chain restaurant where they will offer you some fruits before your meal and popsicles after your meal. Perhaps the server read my mind and decided to seat me at a table that had a Chinese scarecrow (see pic) to keep me company. LOL. Service in generally is prompt, but lacked personality aside from the possible mind reading. I might come back with a village to try their iron pot stew dishes, but in general the experience was underwhelming, despite all the hype. read more
I like trying different foods. Mainland China is filled with so many regional cuisines, and they are just starting to be available in Toronto. This restaurant just had its soft opening on 2023-07-09. This is the third location, after Vancouver, and then Los Angeles. Happy Valley Village features authentic Northeastern Iron Pot Stew. The restaurant also immerses you in the Northeast China culture by decorating the restaurant so that it resembles a typical town. There are different sections in this large restaurant. You can see farmers, a chicken, two donkeys, a ceremonial wedding carriage, and a street corner of Saint Sophia Cathderal and Central Street in the city of Harbin, in the province of Heilongjiang, which is the northern most province of China. Their private dining rooms have Kang bed-stoves, a two-metre high platform that provides warmth for various activities such as living, working, entertaining, and sleeping during the cold winter months. There would be a stove underneath the platform so they can put an iron pot on top to cook food. At night, they would cover the platform with mattresses while the platform retains the heat for the entire night. There is no other heating within each dwelling. Then, there is the food. I can only take their word that it is authentic because I've never eaten that cuisine before. It is definitely different from other more familiar Chinese cuisines. The service is courteous, but I found the wait staff are not very fluent in English. They are fluent in Cantonese. I don't know if they are fluent in Mandarin. The iron pot slow-cooks chicken, duck, fish, or goose, along with other ingredients, until the meat is tender. The resulting soup becomes very delicious. At this restaurant, you can choose non-spicy, or 3 levels of spiciness. We chose non-spicy. It takes about 15 mins to cook. It is communal dining, as with traditional Chinese hot pot. We chose the Stewed Goose ($78.00, serving 2-4 people), which is the restaurant's signature dish. The stew comes with ingredients such as potatoes, Chinese cabbage, and corn on the cob. We chose to add Black Fungus ($4.98) to the hot pot. The resulting soup was extremely delicious. I've never eaten goose before, so I was adventurous enough to try it. I didn't find a lot of meat with the goose bone; perhaps it fell off into the soup. There was plenty of goose skin; I'm not so fond of pig or duck skin, so it was no surprise that I wasn't fond of goose skin. Instead of rice as the staple, this cuisine uses pastry that you soak into the stew's soup. The hot pot came with freshly made pancakes. The pastry chef personally comes to each table, prepares the pancakes, and sticks them to the inside edge of the iron pot to cook and heat up. The pancake had the perfect consistency to soak up the soup. We ordered a Fried Twist ($5.98), which is a pastry that is twisted. You might expect it to have sugar on top, but it is considered a staple that you also use instead of rice and dip into the soup. This bread was delicious. We ordered two additional dishes: Stir Fried Pork with Sweet Sour Sauce ($15.98) and Shovel Stir Fry Squid ($19.98). The Shovel Stir Fry comes in a little shovel. For dessert, we ordered the Caramelized Sugar on Sweet Potato ($15.98). We actually managed to get a very long sugar pull! For drinks, we ordered Watermelon Juice ($7.98 for a jug) and Coconut Milk ($2.98) x 2. At the end of the meal, you get a plate of fruit, and everyone gets to choose a Creamsicle. Any additional Creamsicle costs only $1.98 each. There are about 6 flavours to choose from. We chose Coconut Latte and Red Bean & Date. They have separate male/female washrooms. Be careful because there is a stylistic symbol on the door representing a gender. One person chose the correct door but another person chose the wrong door. What made it worse is there is a giant fan on the wall when you open the door, but both fans are the same with a woman on it. So how do you tell? The only sure way is the male washroom has urinals in it, but that's after you enter and turn the corner. This could be embarrassing! The Toronto owner is Alex Han. There is free WiFi. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible, but I don't know if there is wheelchair seating (I didn't see it, but I didn't ask either). There are separate male/female washrooms, but only the female washroom is wheelchair accessible. There is free parking in the shopping mall's parking lot. Review 2023-223 read more
This is a newly opened restaurant serving Chinese northeastern cuisine : stew goose is the signature dish, featuring a giant iron wok cooking variety of foods at the table. Also can add additional dishes and use the wok as a hot pot. Servers are all very young but have enthusiasm to provide good services. Interesting interior design and decorations, bold and vivid red / green colours. Price is reasonable, portion size is good too. Stew goose-4/5 Pancake in stew-4/5 Cold noodles-4/5 Would recommend to make reservations if you're coming at dinner time. read more
The decor here is cute and a play on a happy little village, there's gazebo seatings with private rooms as well. Very spacious and good for small or large parties. Service was attentive and each server was there to help with cooking and watching the pot for you. We got an order of their fried pork and spare rib hotpot (mild) for two people, add-ons of corn pancakes, potatoe noodle and veggie plates. The 2 person portion was very generous, between 3 people we still had left overs. Definitely recommend any of the pots, the fried dishes were light and crispy and came out piping hot. We'd come back next time to try the stir fry served in a shovel and the salted egg yolk fried shrimp. 2 people pots start about mid $40. There was free ice cream at the end. read more
4.5/5 This was an exotic experience as we've never tried Northeast China big wok stew. It's difficult to get in without a long wait if you don't make reservations, this time we reserved a week in advance. I was fascinated by the inner decor, they really have make efforts to infuse the place with rich Northeast China vibe. Servers were all young below 35, service was efficient and good. The Guo Bao Rou, five veggies and noodles in peanut and vinegar sauce, glutinous rice cake in brown sugar were all so fresh & delicious! However the chicken and mushroom stew which is the signature dish was too salty with too much bones to our liking. The corn breads need to be stuck exactly 18 minutes on the side of the wok to have them cooked with the stew, they were just fresh and tasty! The stew itself is overpriced at $68 for two, however all other dishes wete phenomenal, we'll come back to try other dishes for sure. read more
2 years ago
Okay this place is a must try. It's a different kind of Chinese cuisine where you have a big pot they cook your food in. Definitely a unique experience. I love the walls with Chinese newspapers on it. When you go into the restaurant, the interior is true to the Chinese setting the type of cooking is in. Also the staff was super nice. Must have the orange popsicle to end a great meal! Definitely would come back! read more
1 year ago
Came here for the first time and I thought the food was pretty good. Their menu has a huge variety of dishes other than the stone pot. The stone pot portion size was generous. This would be a great place for large parties as you can share many dishes together. They also have specials after 9pm and service was okay. read more
3 months ago
This is a new spot in town that serves Northeastern-style food in China. We ordered the signature hotpot-style dish with pork bone, and beans, and you can add other items on the menu. I have been to their Vancouver location several times, and the interior decor shares the same ambiance. The service was excellent, and our server was very attentive and welcoming. I will return for sure, but this kind of meal is occasional for me, and I recommend trying it out if you haven't had this type of food before. It will be a new experience. read more
2 years ago
Wow! The interior and decor of this place is really beautiful, really reminds me of a village feel in China lol. Came here for dinner with my boyfriend on a Saturday night and we waited for about 20 minutes for a small booth. We ordered the beef ribs dish, 6 pancakes, egg yolk shrimp, clams and the jelly drink. Everything was so delicious, especially the beef ribs, you can also add any topping you like, we added lettuce, mushroom and vermicelli. Loved that someone would be cooking this right infront of us so we saw the whole process. I believe they have a membership as well where you can get $$ off certain dishes. I can't wait to come back and try other dishes! read more
3 years ago
Yes Yes Yes! A thousand times yes! Love me some northern Chinese style sweet n sour pork. So rare to find this dish so I'll happily drive 30mins for this. The day i had it was a bit tad too sweet and not vinegary enough for me but it still works out since we order spicy/semi-spicy stuff to balance it out. My northerner friends come here with their family a lot for the iron pot stew and I will as well now. Thanks! read more
3 years ago
Great atmosphere of northeastern China. The pot they serve is one of a kind and very tasty. It's also a great place to meet clients and gatherings. read more
2 years ago
Came here for lunch on a Saturday and there was no line and we got a booth right away. Decor was very quaint as it was made to look like a market. They give you honeydew to start to cleanse your pallet. We ordered the chicken stewed with mushrooms, 2 orders of braised noodles, nappa cabbage and the some baos. We also ordered tossed mung bean noodles with assorted vegetables. That is a cold dish and came out first. The flavours of the cold noodles were really good. The chicken stewed with mushrooms came in a large iron pan which is steamed/ cooked in front of you. The nappa cabbage was added at the beginning as well as the boas. Once it is cooked, the servers added the noodles. Once everything was cooked and the boas were steamed, the servers took the boas out and we helped ourselves to the chicken and mushrooms and noodles. The flavours were really good (very flavourful) but the chicken was way overcooked. Maybe ordering something else would be better but the noodles absorbed the broth base really well. They give you popsicles for dessert at the end and the popsicles taste like bananas. Overall it was 3.5 stars because the chicken was overcooked. read more
We made reservations for a group of 10 adults and 2 kids and was offered the option of reserving a private room with $300 minimum spend. Since we have a large group the minimum spend is quite attainable we decided to do that. We ended up ordering the goose iron pot stew and the beef tendon stew. Both were pretty good to start, meat was tender, stew was flavourful. But as we continued, the stews got increasingly salty. Turns out the server can offer some clear broth to add to the stew as you eat to ensure it doesn't get too salty but we found out too late. So be sure to ask for additional broth early! The fried hairtail fish with dry spicy and garlic was pretty good too, but some pieces come with a lot of bone, so make sure people in your group are ok with that. We ordered some dumplings for kids but the meat was undercooked, so they ended up giving that to us for free after re-cooking it. Overall it was a unique experience so it's nice to go once in a while. read more
2 years ago
First time trying this place. It was really good. Nice ambiance and the staff were friendly. We went as a groups of 4. And ordered the beef and beef tendon stew for 4 plus 2 extra dishes, some fresh vegetables to put into the stew and a bowl of rice. Overall, it was very flavourful and even at mild spicy, there was quite the kick to it. The corn pancakes that get cooked in the pan was very good. Takes about 20 min to cook. We ate the other dishes. One was the fish dish and the other was the pork intestine. Both also really good and flavourful. Portion size was good for the 4 of us. We finished most of it and took home 2 pieces of the fish and a container of the broth from the stew. The fresh vegetables wasn't a whole lot but it was a nice addition to it. It was about $11 extra for it. The entire meal was decently priced compared to how expensive everything else is today. Would recommend and would mos def go back again. Plus they gave us some coins to play the claw machine. We didn't win anything but it was still fun. Their stuffies are their in house brand/tags. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
Went for early dinner on a Saturday about a month ago and place already was busy. Servers were very friendly and explained how the menu worked since it was our first time. Server made some recommendations and we are glad we listened. we were a table of four and the stew iron pot for 2 servings for four of us. We had some side dishes while we waited for the food to cook but forgot to take pictures of those. Overall great experience. Our group enjoyed the food,was flavourful, towards the end can get a bit salty. Would come back aba read more
3 years ago
The restaurant was decorated to give a feel of northern China in the 1980s. As someone from Northern China, I felt a really comforting nostalgia. The food was all delicious and authentic. We tried the Stew Goose in Iron Pot. The goose was super tender and flavourful. The corn flour pancake was super flaky and slightly sweet. It's a must try! Although if you hate eating around bones ,you might not enough this dish. The Tossed Mung Bean Noodles is a classic Northern Chinese dish that was done very well here. Also a must try if you never had it before. The Fried Hairtail Fish was fragrant, crispy and not oily. It's pretty easy to eat because it doesn't have any small bones. The shovel stir fry clam was also super flavourful. It's not too spicy. The pickled cabbage with vermicelli had great Unami flavour. It's also a classic northern Chinese dish. It's not that sour for people who are scared to try. Happy Valley Village is a tasty, fun and authentic restaurant offering a good selection of northern Chinese food. The portion sizes and prices are reasonable. Service was great. Highly recommend that you visit, especially with a larger group of friends or family! read more
2 years ago
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