I know this place gets a lot of love but I felt pretty disappointed with my visit. It felt pretty overpriced and average overall. Their famous milk tea? It was good, but I was expecting way more from all the hype it gets. I've had tons of tea and it didn't feel like it stood out from the crowd at all. The service I received was pretty slow and the tables were dirty. I can't give this place anything more than a 2/5. read more

A Hong Kong cafeteria style restaurant. Award winning milk tea which is very good except too small. Corn Beef with egg sandwich is just so so. Very small, crowded seating area. I only recommend for take out because sitting there is very uncomfortable, people talking too loud, read more

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If we're just talking about milk tea, then an easy 5/5. Marathon is usually our first and last stop when we drive to Toronto. It's amazing milk tea! We were introduced to it by our Toronto friends last year, and both my partner and I could not thank them enough. Of course, there is absolutely nothing in Ottawa that could even live up to the strength, consistency and texture of the milk tea in Marathon, so when the cravings come, only a trip to Scarborough would suffice. Good to know though that they opened another location in Richmond Hill (although Scarborough is on our way in and out so we'll probably stick to this location). I do prefer it cold over hot - I find they don't put enough sugar in the hot drink. For some reason, I also find that their milk tea is better when it's busier (maybe I got bottom of the jar last time?); but even then, it's still the milk tea we've ever had. We had some of their food once, but I'm not keen on getting it again. The buns are OK. Any trip to Toronto is always worth a stop at Marathon! Just learn from our mistake and maybe not take two for the road (or at night) - these things are potent! read more

I'm a regular here for 10+ years, still the best milk tea I ever had! Even after trying some of the HK milk tea in HK. The quality of cooked food has decreased from years to years. Maybe I was just not lucky, my pineapple pork bun was full of mayonnaise and pork fat pieces (not much actual meat). The pineapple bun was still cold, not toasted. Quite disappointed with the food. Will come back for the milk tea any day, but avoid order any prepared food. read more

Simply the Best Hong Kong style Milk Tea. It's hot, rich in taste. I'm loving it! I also love their Hong Kone style breakfast... Sandwich, noodle, fish balls..... read more

Their Hong Kong milk tea is the best milk tea I have had. Well it's the most similar to those in Hong Kong. I like how milky it is. And it's not too expensive. $4 for a large size milk tea read more

Marathon Cafe - Can't go wrong with Hong Kong style milk tea - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Famous for their milk tea and satay, however IMO their milk tea is not as good as they promote to be, price is a bit overprice as well. I do however love their satay beef, the sauce should be made in house, soup is authentic HK tea restaurant broth, you won't go wrong with their satay noodle soup, it also is one of the most popular item in the restaurant. There is dine in seats and free wifi at this location, it's a good sit down place if u wanna grab some food/drink and kill some time. read more

Debating between 2.5 to 3 stars. Haven't visiting Marathon for a long time. I still like their milk tea but the food is so-so. I like the food keeping the local HK style, unlike a lot of places they don't put a thick sauce on the preserved vegetables & pork slices vermicelli, but the soup based is lacking flavour. Thumbs up for the new lid on the drinks to skip the straws!!! read more

Marathon Cafe - Iced chocolate, iced milk tea, bacon & egg sandwich, preserved vegetables & pork slices vermicelli soup - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Another breakfast day at Marathon. This time we were in a rush, but no worries! Their service was so fast. You order, pay, eat and leave. Once again their cold milk tea and satay beef vermicelli tasted good. read more

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Hands down my favourite place to grab milk tea. The tea is much smoother and authentic compared to many other HK style cafés. The correct combination of sugar and evaporated milk create a taste that cannot be found elsewhere. I've tried both the hot and cold milk tea and I can easily say that both are superb. I've also ordered a few food items from the menu and was quite surprised by the quality of their Satay Beef Rice Noodle. In short, I highly recommend going to Marathon Café to have a taste of their award winning HK milk tea. read more

Yes-- my parents and I will purposely drive to Toronto to stock up on the tea bags! Closest thing to Hong Kong style milk tea.

Came back again to try they breakfast with my sister . The breakfast was cheap but OK , nothing special . The sugar bread with butter was overpriced. But the tea is the main reason we keep coming back . Will definitely be back for tea but not for its breakfast. read more

Marathon Cafe - Great tea .. no one can beat this one - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Fantastic milk tea and coffee.....haven't tried anything else there though. They could use a renovation but with all the business they draw it's really not nessesary. read more

came here for lunch today. and ordered instant noodles + pork chop and a cold milk tea. instant noodles and pork chops is pretty much what you'd expect of it. lol. instant noodles, broth, fried pork chop and some lettuce. the highlight of the meal was of course the milk tea. i've had their hot milk tea once before and was told about all the marathon goodness but never knew where marathon actually was. today, a friend and i were wondering around as we were looking for a place to eat close to my mechanic's shop and stumbled across the store. so we decided to get lunch here. this is definitely the home of one of the best milk teas i've ever had, hot or cold. read more

Marathon Cafe - Instant noodles w/pork chop and regular size cold milk tea - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Good hole in the wall Hong Kong style tea shop in the heart of north Scarborough. For those who are not familiar with HK style milk tea, it is a blend of Indian and Chinese teas designed to maximize aroma and flavour, and is meant to be had super strong, with condensed milk, also in very strong portions. You can have it iced or hot, but the flavour has to be in your face. This is the best incarnation of HK style tea I've had in Canada. The owner apparently won a competition in HK for best HK style tea a few years back, and has been featured in the Toronto Star. The décor is definitely old school Scarborough, meaning no frills and basic. When you walk in you're greeted by old uncles chatting in Cantonese while watching news from HK. There is a newer location in Richmond Hill, but this is the original so you get 'authenticity' with your visit. If you're dropping in though, be sure to try the food, particularly the HK style breakfast favourites. They have all the classics like macaroni and instant noodles soup, with different toppings like pork chops, ham etc... One time I wanted the pork chop pineapple bun sandwich for breakfast but the bakery doesn't deliver the pineapple buns until later in the day so I went for a rice noodle with satay beef on top. Everything tastes as it should, with the satay sauce complementing the beef nicely and lettuce on the side. A word of caution though: for those of you coming in expecting traditional Chinese food, or Thai style food, you won't get it here, but what you will get is a delicious tea, and a taste of HK's melding of different cultures from all around the world. read more

HK milk tea is worth the hype here. The flavor is so hard to replicate! Price is fair and service is quick. I don't recommend eating noodles here as the broth is plain and probably microwaved. The menu is kinda confusing and pretty much everyone there seems to know what to order. The menus are located at the cashier so you can just grab one and look for what you want. Tldr; get the drink, not the food read more

My 5 star rating is solely based on their HK Style Milk Tea. Whenever I'm craving one, I always come here. ALWAYS. Hot or cold, they make it the best! I haven't tried any of their food but i'm sure it's no different from any other HK cafe; the simple macaroni, instant noodles, condensed milk sandwiches, etc. You get what you pay for it! read more

I love the Hong Kong style milk tea here. The authentic taste cannot be explained! This place is great to sit, chat, and eat with friends/family. It is also super convenient and the staff are efficient and nice. read more

I come here all the time with my Dad for breakfast, and it's really good. Their milk tea is exceptional, and the food is good. The only thing I would say is that it's a little bit more on the pricier side compared to other Chinese cafes, but I think the service and the drink counteracts this. If you're looking for a cafe just to unwind and catch up with friends, this is the place! read more

This place is a combination of bakery/donut shop/HK style cafe/convenience store. I usually come here for the milk tea and maybe noodle soup. My most recent visit here was in early October. The hot milk tea I got was very good, probably one of the best in the city. I also had the satay beef instant noodles, which was also good. Prices are waaaay too high for this style of restaurant. You order and pay at the cash, then someone will bring the food out to you. I paid approx $9 for a large milk tea and the satay beef instant noodles, which is higher than most sit down, full service HK style cafe! To end, service was good, food was good. Overpriced!! read more

Review is only based on the HK style milk tea. You walk into the coffee shop and you'd smell the yummy tea brewing in the corner. HK style tea is suppose to be different from each coffee shop/restaurant because its a house blend of different types of tea. This place has a rich blend with a nice creamy flavor. You can also ask for sugarfree milk tea, which is great for those on a strict diet. I enjoy the flavor of the tea, but I wouldn't be able to drink this tea on a daily or even weekly basis. I'd probably drink the tea as a treat because it is a little rich. read more

Pretty good! Yummy milk tea and good breakfast choices at a low price. I really like to get the pineapple bun with butter with a hot milk tea :D I also like getting the satay beef vermicelli :D read more

First I want to say that I don't drink Hong Kong Milk Tea. I really wanted to try this place because the owner won the HK award for best Milk Tea in the world. I've gone past this place before and for some reason it stood out while I drive by, I don't know what it is. Is it the yellow sign outside? I can't say for sure. When I came by here today they posted that the guy won an award from 2011 which I never noticed before. Anyhow, I wasn't expecting a five star establishment and when I got there it is what I would expect a milk tea cafe to resemble in HK. The decor is bare minimum if that, as I think about it, this must be what ordering HK milk tea in HK must be like. There was a tvb show being played on the tv. Onto the tea, we ordered three HK style milk tea, one hot and two cold. It is more expensive when you order it cold. I don't know why, maybe it's because you get more? I'm not too sure. We also got the Four king's toast which we were hoping would be the extra thick toast served at most HK style places...Nope, here's it's just regularly sliced white bread with butter, jam, peanut butter and condensed milk. Overall I don't think we'd be back here as there's nothing else in this mall for us to come here for as the tea and toast isn't enough to warrant a trip here. All in all the toast was good but we can make it ourselves. I was expecting the milk tea to be very strong as the guy mentioned in the paper he was hesistant to serve the winning recipe in Canada as it's too strong for our tastes, but it wasn't strong at all. Tempted to try the donuts but we didn't. read more

The first thing you notice when you enter is the smell of Hong Kong style tea. Recommend "Satay Pork Chop Instant Noodle ~ 沙爹豬扒公仔麵". Try not to go in the morning time. That's when the crowd comes in filled with aunties and uncles. Around $5.5 for a medium HK milk Tea. Quite expensive. read more

This used to be our number 1 go-to for Hong Kong milk tea - both in jumbo hot and cold cups and 1 litre bottles. The Honey Mandarin Orange Tea was also a favorite with a condensed milk and peanut butter toast. Lately, however, we felt that the taste has been a bit off... we're not getting the milk tea as sweet or creamy as it used to be and the flavor has been inconsistent. I recognize that they have a few people making the drinks which may be the reason for the inconsistencies but as an award winning hk milk tea place, I expected better... try it with 2 creams 3 sugars - it's better! read more

The price and quality of HK style tea is indeed excellent! Just the right amount of tea flavor, milk flavor, not bitter yet strong! Great place for takeout, as the seating isn't all that comfortable nor spacious. read more

Marathon Cafe - Extra large cold HK milk tea and honey/lemon tea! - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

My fav are iced milk tea, corn beef and egg sandwich and on occasion, their ramen noodles with sausages. Also their pineapple bun with butter is really good! The spot itself is pretty small and simple. You order at the counter than they bring it out to you or put it on the counter for you to pick up. They are very reasonably priced, menu items are simple but have a lot of choices. The bathroom are not the cleanest however, I would reccomend those to go if they really have to. read more

Marathon Cafe - The dining room of the restauant - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Honestly, I'm super picky with my milk tea and this one is my favourite in the GTA. Most places make it too watery or not strong enough. However at Marathon, their milk tea flavour is robust and the consistency is rich. They also have some pretty simple but delicious, what I like to call, HK comfort food. Love it. read more

Well i'm not gonna go crazy on the stars here because like most my lower scoring reviews I wasn't trying a bunch of things here. It was my first time having a milk tea, and i'm not big on tea in general. However that evaporated milk definately makes a odd, but pleasant taste to the tea and it's great to try a different preparation of somthing you dont typically enjoy (tea) and then actually enjoy it.... so there ya have it.... Milk Tea For The Win read more

Had to try this when I found out they've won awards for their HK tea. It did not disappoint! HK Milk Tea tasted fresh vs bitter/stale. I tried it hot and cold and preferred it cold. I had to suspend alarm bells going off about the calories I could tell were in the milk. All-Day Breakfast: - Macaroni with Ham in Soup: Taste wasn't anytjhing to write home about but for 3.71 including the HK Milk Tea, it was OK by my book. Chef;s Special C Preserved Veg with Sliced Pork with Vermicelli - 4.20 - again with HK MIlk Tea included. - It was also OK. Better than the Macaroni, but not that flavorful. Tea Break Special: Fried Chix Wing with Fries- 4.75 with HK Milk Tea 2 Wings on a bed of fries. The chix was flavorful enough. Took about 10mins to come out (a bit longer than what I'd expect from this kind of resto and considering it wasnt that busy). Fries needed more salt. Service was friendly enough. You have to order and pay first and food gets delivered to you. Items to try next time: Donuts (buy 1, get 1 after 6pm) Beef in oyster sauce (lady in the next table ordered it, and it looked interesting) read more

I ordered honey Iced tea and it was very disappointing. No honey taste at all and it was very bitter. I could get any better iced tea from anywhere else. I never expect good customer service from Chinese place but the cashier guy was really terrible. He seems to be annoyed by every customer to order and gave very bad attitudes. I just simply ordered ONE DRINK without any question and I was polite but he was rude...wait..actually I asked for a STRAW for the large cold drink but his reaction was like "No straw!"(like I asked for getting a diamond to come with my drink) I would be appreciated if they don't provide straw for saving the environment. But I believe they are just cheap and inconsiderable. I will never go to this place again no matter how everyone cherished their milk tea. I get better service by going to MacDonald. read more

Went to try their milk tea after reading about it in the Star. Unfortunately we did not experience what the fuss is all about. The tea is OK and fine but not extraordinary or something to crave...actually in our humble opinion, a couple of nearby places ...Ming's and Kam Fai make equal or better milk tea. YMMV, but that's our experience. read more

Their hong Kong milk tea is absolutely amazing, the donuts are addictive and did I mention there's free Wi-Fi?

Best Naicha I've ever had... Nowhere in the USA has anything close to this place. Very skeptical of the low ratings for this place.

Heard about this place from the news-- the owner apparently won first place in a milk tea competition in Hong Kong. Perhaps that gave me a higher expectation from the get-go because I thought the milk tea was just mediocre. My bf ordered the hot and i ordered the iced. I actually preferred the hot more because I felt the tea flavour was stronger, whereas all I could taste in the Iced one was milk. Perhaps it was an off day and probably depends on the person that makes it. I can find the same quality of iced milk tea from most HK cafes in markham...so I probably won't go out of my way to come here! read more

Really good HK style milk tea. The tea base is very fragrant though I do find the milk is on the heavy side but nothing new for this type of tea. The place definitely isn't pretty, not a lot of seating either but for the price (you could get breakfast with a large iced tea for $3.80 like seriously) you can't complain. Good local spot if youre close by but nothing to trek over to if you're just curious about its award winning status, unless you're into HK milk tea you wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways read more

Try the Hong Kong milk tea or Yuan yang here, won't let you down. Also it's cheap to drink a lot!

Going to miss the iced HK style milk tea when I'm no longer working in the area. It's pretty good! I tend to ask for half the sugar and prefer the cold version here. :) read more

I haven't had any food from here before but if you want a very good milk tea, this is a great place to go. There's always people inside and the parking lot can be a bit hectic, but I think it's worth it for the milk tea. Their tea is very rich, but still smooth. The ice milk tea is what I usually get, it comes in one size at an okay price. The sweetness level was perfect and there is never too much ice. Overall, a really enjoyable drink. read more

the milk tea doesn't disappoint! if you like Chinese breakfast, this is definitely the place to get it. very Hong Kong breakfast styled eats read more

Marathon Cafe - Donuts Near Me - Toronto, Ontario