The Short Version:
Markham is a suburb of Toronto, but it's no sleepy suburb, it has lots of great restaurants and fun places to shop.
The Long Version:
I'm thrilled that Markham has its own Yelp listing. Markham is about 30 km northeast of Toronto, and it has seen significant growth in the last few decades.
When I was living in Toronto, I rarely ever went to Markham (except to go to Pacific Mall, more on that later) but after I left Toronto I discovered Markham more. This is mostly because when my parents and I would return to visit Toronto, we would stay in Markham as accommodations were more affordable there, and traffic was less congested than in Toronto. Also, my dad loves Chinese Food, and since there is a large Chinese population in Markham, he's in foodie paradise there. Haha. I soon discovered that Markham had plenty of restaurants and shops that I like.
My first time to Markham was to visit Pacific Mall. When it opened in 1996 it was the cat's meow. I remember my parents taking my brother and I there and I was fascinated by all the Asian shops. I was interested in the hair accessories and my brother was interested in the videogames and figurines. And we were both interested in the food court, lol. These days Pacific Mall is no longer novel and it has lost its former glory. Now there are many shops that sell the same thing and they are items that you can get elsewhere. The food court is still cool though. Once upon a time they even had a Beard Papa's franchise at Pacific Mall, but alas it closed.
Although these days, my favourite food court in Markham is at First Markham Place. It's fairly large with lots of vendors and prices are very reasonable. Most vendors are small independent businesses with only one location. I also like the Oomomo at First Markham Place.
I also love J-Town, which is in Markham. You'll find all things Japanese here. Sasaki Fine Pastry has amazing daifuku!
Kuo Hua Trading Co Ltd is also another favourite place of mine in Markham. They sell imported items from Taiwan.
CF Markville is a great mainstream mall in Markham. And it has my favourites stores, Marshalls and Winners!
Markham also has several restaurants that specialize in huge wonton soups, which I love, such as Big Trio Wonton Noodles and Wonton Hut. The wontons are the size of golf balls, lol.
Markham also has lots of bubble tea shops and I love my boba. Haha.
I'm a fan of Markham, although I feel like you need a car to get around. It's not all that walkable, everything is fairly spaced out, but this is expected since it's a suburb.
Review #26 (2026) read more