This was my first time trying proper hotpot and I totally enjoyed the experience! The food is really good and flavourful. If I have to recommend one dish from this place it has to be their stewed pork with potato - I swear it tastes SO much like an Indian spicy chicken curry that's served with potato and I have to say this took me back down the memory lane. Also loved the tilapia hotpot - super spicy and super rich and was excellent in taste. We also got their fried rice and that was amazing too. Highly recommend this spot! The service could be a tad bit better but the ambiance was pretty good. read more

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Downtime from our work trip with the colleage. At first she wanted to smash some dimsum. But when we passed by this spot. We decided we want some fish hotpot instead. Picked out the fish which was the turbot. Then veggies, noods and a bit of beef bits. Gave the order paper to the server and to the back she went. A good few moments later, the most amazing hot pot sight emerges. We smashed and smashed and smashed until out bellies were Hella full. I love this spot and I would definitely smash here again if given the chance. Do bring cash cash because that's how they do business here. Either than or Wechat money. Thanks for reading my review. I hope this helps with your decision making experience. Enjoy your awesome yelptastic day!!! read more

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Yummy Yummy! The food is spicy, but they offer free drinks with the event. Will definitely come to the restaurant again! read more

Papa Spicy - Yummy! - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Great food and Great service! It's hard to find such an authentic Chinese restaurant in Toronto Canada! read more

Papa Spicy - Fish hotpot! - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Great food, great service and they have recently redecorated so it looks much more inviting.

Papa Spicy's specialty is fish! It's pan fried first then cooked in a plate full of spicy sauce on your table. You can choose what other options to add to the plate. Some of my favorites are tofu, enoki mushroom, spam and quail eggs. It's like a mini hot pot with fish! One fish is probably enough for 2 people. ⁣ They also have other regular appetizers and dishes to choose from if you want something to go along with the fish. And the best part is that they have grass jelly milk tea in the restaurant! It goes perfectly with the fish!⁣ read more

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Decore: -- Cleanliness: 10 Customer service: 10 Food: 10 Price: 10 Found this awesome hotpot spot in Toronto on a freezing Toronto winter night. This place is open late. We got there around 10:00pm and ordered Sichuan soup base with stripped bass, lamb, dried curd and Dichon/reddish. I am not a spicy eater but this mouth numbing experience was definitely worth it! The food was delicious and very tasty. Yes, it was extremely spicy but the good kind of spicy. All the vegetables and meat complimented the spicy broth. I highly recommend the ramen style noodles right when you are about to end your meal. read more

Papa Spicy - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Got Uber Eats from this place delivered, because I didn't want to put pants on. The roast fish I chose was the Mandarin fish. Originally I had ordered catfish but the lady called and told me they were sold out. Still, the fish was nice and tasted very fresh. I believe that they kill the fish fresh on ordering. The cumin beef was also very nice. The 辣子鸡 was very generous with chicken, not as many chilis as the 辣子鸡 you might get at other places, which is either a plus or a minus depending on what your taste is. Also, it was breaded with something, not the usual thinner crunchy layer you get on the diced bits of chicken. Still, tasty. The 窝窝头 were quite sweet, so heads up in case you're used to 窝窝头 which don't have any flavoring or are slightly salted. read more

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Me and my bf are probably the very first customers when this location opened. It was great at that time, then we visited about 4 times after over the course of the next couple months and I have to say it became probably the worst restaurant in Chinatown. Couple of things: the amount of food got significantly less while the price stayed the same. The containers got smaller as well. We didn't track how a specific flavour went for several months cuz every time we tried different options, in general I would say it's definitely not as good as it firstly opened. The dishes are very salty and consist of 90% pepper and 10% meat sliced into the minimum possible thickness. Also need to be careful when reading the menu since there's some tricks they put in it. All the other fishes are priced per serve, only catfish is priced per pound, in the smallest font. In terms of the payment! They accept every possible ways to pay EXCEPT debit and credit that everybody is using. They even went the extra mile to accept WeChat and Alipay which is popular in China and needed to be converted into Chinese currency. Oh did I forget to mention that they even take E-Transfer too. I don't know if there's some shady tax related issue involved in this but I just found it's really inconvenient for the customers. Yes they do cover the service fee if you withdraw cash from the ATM in store but why don't just put a debit machine in there!? Lastly, by default they put a 10% tips on every bill regardless the group size. I just found it's uncomfortable that it becomes such a mandatory thing so the last time we insisted them to take it off and we paid whatever the amount we feel like. I know this comment probably sounds like a rant about this restaurant but we are just so disappointed about how Papa Spicy has become. read more

Papa Spicy - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This is such a yummy joint for spicy fish hot pot. I got the regular spicy broth with tilapia and added veggies ($1 each for first 3) and meats ($3.99 each). So my pot ended up being a nice hot pot filled with crispy fried fish, lotus, beef slices, shrimp paste, tofu, beef tripe, and enoki mushrooms. To accompany the food I ordered a bowl of rice. Wow, I never had before such a satisfying meal for lunch! The broth wasn't extremely spicy and had a flavourful taste. I really enjoyed chewing on the fish skin (my favourite part!) and dipping the fish meat back into the broth. Overall, the meal was highly enjoyable. read more

Papa Spicy - Tilapia Fish Hot Pot - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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This restaurant is a franchise. I would say the taste is consistent and the amount of each order is adequate. I overheard that the restaurant is partnered with the other restaurant called Tasty Hunan Cuisine. Both make spicy food, such as a hot pot style bbq fishes, or regular Chinese stir style spicy food. I don't usually enjoy these super spicy food since the taste is very strong. However, this restaurant does a better job to keep the spicy flavour but also make each order flavorful. We ordered the country style stir-fried pork with green pepper, steamed tilapia, and Lettuce with Chinese cheese sauce. I have to see the chef did a real job to highlight the specific flavour in each dish. It is spicy for the pork but due to the green peppers and the garlic, it smells very tasty and refreshing. The lettuce with the sauce offers a different taste, which is more flavourful than those typical lettuce dishes in other Chinese restaurants. The taste of the fish is average but no flaw to make a critique on it. I will definitely to revisit this place again next time in downtown. read more

Papa Spicy - Lettuce with Chinese cheese sauce - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Poor experience. The bbq fish only comes with fish bones like head and tail chunks. Soup base is very salty.

I have always been a big fan of Americanized Chinese foods but not so much of classic Chinese dishes like hotpot and barbecue fish. My recent visit to China changed that completely. To compare with barbecue fish I ate in Shenzhen recently, I decided to try out Papa Spicy in Chinatown. The ambience of this place is very similar to Chinese places in Chinatown, nothing special. We got Bass fish with classic spicy soup base. We topped it up with mushroom, potatoes, cabbage and bean sprouts. It was very tasty, even the cabbage tasted good with their amazing soup base. P.S If you can't handle Asian spicy, make sure you ask the server for less spicy option unless you like that morning fire. read more

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Ordering from this menu can be pretty confusing if you've never had hot pot style. The waitress here was extremely patient and helpful though. We ordered the bass bbq fish in classic spicy with 3 vegetable toppings and 1 meat topping. Rice is also extra by small bowls or big bowls. Besides their main hotpot dishes they also have a variety of regular menu items. The fish (like the reviews below) did come cold meaning it was pre-prepared which is fine I guess considering it still tasted excellent. Our bill came out to $56 after tax and tip. It feels a bit too expensive. I would prefer if the hotpot itself included some vegetables and toppings instead of having to get those extra (3 for $3 for veggies and $4 each for meat). I would definitely come back though because I love this kind of food or hotpot in general. Note: they are cash only but do accept wechat pay! read more

Papa Spicy - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I only reviewed because they offered 10% off if we put a review on yelp. Everything was okay but they don't take cards. Senior waitress lady was attentive. Even help me charging my phone. read more

We didn't get to try one of the fancy hot pot style meals since it was just the two of us, but we were pleasently surprised by everything we did get to try. Note that many things are spicy (hence the name) but nothing was too spicy for me and I generally stop at mild. We had chicken heart skewers (super yummy), popcorn chicken (lots of cumin in the seasoning so stay away if it's not your thing), stir fried rice cakes (perfectly flavorful and chewy), and fried rice (great wok/stir-fry taste is best way I can describe it). Other than the skewers there was enough leftovers to feed us another meal later. We'll be going back and I don't even think we'll stray far from these items that we liked so much. Decor was standard, staff were super polite. Restaurant was clean. read more

The menu looked good and the food on customers' tables looked great so we decided to give it a try. The waiter was very helpful and answered our questions. They explained that for the hot pots you choose a fish($20-30), a soup base($3-5), and then 3 veggies($3 and then 1.99 for each additional). Plus there are other dishes and you can have chicken hot pot. We also asked for tea and water- both were nice. The tea was good and strong; the water had slices of lime. We ordered tilapia, Szechuan spicy, with frog legs, noodles, radish, cabbage, and mushrooms. The fish itself is fantastic- well seasoned and cooked. It was golden and crispy outside and soft inside. My partner was also very happy that it was filled and covered in peppercorns (there are also nonspicy options). I think there should have been more veggies though since they were almost nonexistent after cooking for while. The frog legs were also a little bland but not bad. The noodles were good. Next time I will probably order things like noodles, tofu, yams, mushrooms- things that can really withstand the simmer. It came out to about $46 for two people including the 10% tip which is automatically added. Not bad but not cheap. They also only take cash but have an ATM. The ATM charges you $1.75 but they gave me $2 to cover the fee- a very nice surprise! Overall, we were very happy with the meal and will be adding it to our list of dinner spots. If you like fish, hot pot, or spicy food I would recommend it. read more

Papa Spicy - Tilapia, szechwan spicy - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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It is kind of like hot pot. The fish is in a stew and you select other items you want in the stew like tofu, noodles, veggy, meat balls..etc. Everything is already cooked. Place is decent, washrooms need a bit of work. Plenty of tables. Walk in is fine read more

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One grilled fish enough for 2 persons. You can add 4~5 sides. Tilapia is very good for 2. Their large fish is the catfish sold by lb. But, the best of the best is their icy water. OMG~ read more

I used to order from this place at least once per week. However in this latest order, I found a fly in the "fish-based hotpot". Ugh so disgusting! I called them but they don't even bother to apologize. Super rude. Never gonna order from this place ever again. Those who still choose to dine here should be careful and check for bugs in their soup read more

Papa Spicy - Fish based hotpot - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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This is such a great place!!! Loved the taste and it was definitely a go-to location for the cold weather in Toronto. The fish was fresh, and the veggies added were in good portion. The 3 of us finished the whole fish and it was 78 dollars for 3 of us. Would highly recommend this place. read more

Papa Spicy - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Will come back again with more friends. Love their food so much. The fish hot pot is good for a group of 3-4. They have 6 different flavours to choose from. If you go there just by yourself or with boyfriend. I recommend their stir fried dishes, especially the Stir fried Pork with green pepper and the beef with cumin. They take cash and some "Chinese Paypal" thing only. But the good side is that if you withdraw money from their ATM, the transaction fees with be refund to you. Thus, no worries with payment methods. read more

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One of our friends doesn't do spicy food so we ordered all non-spicy food. Realized that it may not be their strength. Maybe the spicy foods they make will taste better. The service could be better - the servers all look very unhappy when we were there. Keep in mind that the price already includes 10% gratitude so you don't have to give extra tips if you don't feel like it. read more

Papa Spicy - Shrimp fried rice Mostly rice and not too much other stuff - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Gross. It was disgusting. The noodles were overcooked and soggy (kept merging in into a dough was disgusting AF) and the chicken popcorn was only flour and no meat. Looked like it was last night's food. Simply gross. Went straight into the trash. Wasted my 40 bucks (Uber delivery) and I can't get the taste out of my mouth read more

Always a great place to try a fried fish hot pot experience. Not like your regular hot pot, this place is really yummy and authentic. read more

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I told them I have peanut allergy and not to put peanuts of even touch peanuts in the dish. But I found peanuts in it. I am anyphylactic to peanuts and it can cause death. When I called them to complain they didn't care about it at all!! Complete negligence on the restaurants part! Wouldn't be surprised if they are negligent in other issues as well! DO NOT GO THERE I DONT TRUST THEM AT ALL! HOW CAN U BE SO UN CAREFUL WITH SOMEOENS LIFE read more

Papa Spicy - I told them I have peanut allergy and not to put peanuts of even touch peanuts in the dish but I found peanuts - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

We visited this location after craving spicy chinese hotpot but not wanting to pay the price. Papa Spicy specialized in "BBQ/Hotpot fish". Essentially, a whole fish is either grilled or fried and then put into a hotpot where it bathes in a soup broth (there are 6 choices carrying from spicy to not spicy). You can then select what you want to add as toppings from a list at a fee of $2 for vegetables and $4 for meat (the toppings are the regular hotpot choices). The dish then comes in a large tray on a burner with the fish and the toppings bathing in the soup base. We went for the $20.99 fish (mainly because neither of us knew our fishes...)and added fresh tofu, cabbage, vermicelli and beef. Together, with two bowls of rice, it came to a total of $47 including tax and tips. The food while it satisfied our cravings for hotpot, was in my opinion a bit too much on the oily side. Everything was covered with a thin film of red chilli oil. The fish also came cold ... Which was indicative of it being prepared ahead of time and frozen/defrosted? Toppings were not the most generous but not too bad either. Overall, not a bad experience but I don't think I would come back on a regular basis They take cash only and charge a mandatory 10% tip. read more

Been there twice for there grilled fish, or you can call it fish hot pot. It is GREAT! It has good varieties in flavor base choice. It's not overly salty but not blah. Taste right good for me! Very worth of trying. read more

The taste was good but a little bit too salty. Would recommend turning off the heat early (also would be safer). Could be quite noisy as people there talked very loudly (not the problem of the restaurant tho) A 10% tip is mandatory. read more

Only cash WeChat and some other payment method. $70 for two person Food tastes not bad but obviously overpriced and probably evading some stuff read more

Came here with the mindset of trying something new in the Toronto area. We ordered the Tilapia fish with their signature spicy sauce, bean curd, small cabbage vegetable (Shanghai bok choy) and hotpot noodles (instant noodles). And we added a side of fatty beef that was lean and a bowl of rice. The base was so salty oh my goodness. Beware if you have high cholesterols read more

Papa Spicy - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Serving Stinky fish by frying the fish chunk dry to hide the bad bad taste. So ugly doing that.

This place was actually pretty decent. We got the halibut with sichuan soup base and it was pretty much a pre-set hot pot. However, service was relatively quick and we were sat down pretty quickly on a Sunday night. For two people - the proportions were pretty much spot on and we finished the entire thing. However, there was nothing really special and we felt like it was kind of overpriced. Tips are included in the final bill. read more

Overpriced food. Cash only. Worst service. Coupon rejected without stating take out only. Not recommended and will never come again.

Service is awful, waitresses are rude and don't care about customers. They even tried to charge extra and hoped that I don't find out. Food is overpriced and they take a long time to cook. Go anywhere in Chinatown but this restaurant read more

Good food, loved the barbecue fish. Wait time is not too long. Staff are friendly too.

I never expected I can have authentic Chinese food here in Canada. But their food was so good that I would recommend to everyone who want to have authentic Chinese food. I ordered the fish pot with classic spicy. The fish is fresh and tasty. Will come again! Very good service and decent priced. read more

Very poor quality food, awful service (but they charge you 10% mandatory tip). Ordered $28.99 chicken plus other additional items and literally it was just skin and bone chopped in small pieces and no meat. It is a rip off and the worst dining experience. read more

I went here on a whim with some friends one night not really knowing what this place was. We didn't go for the hot pot type meal, but instead ordered a few of the regular dishes to share: rice with shrimp, stewed pork ribs with potatoes, spicy fried chicken with chillies, some kind of noodles with vegetables, and custard buns. All the food was really excellent -- we were pleasantly surprised since we'd never heard of the place before. The fried chicken was delicious and crispy without being greasy, and the noodles had a lot of garlic flavour which I enjoyed. This place differs from your standard Chinese restaurant in that the menu is much smaller, offering a few dishes which are very different from each other rather than an enormous menu with many variations on the same dishes (which is good in its own way, just not what you get here). I'd say it's also a little more expensive than typical Chinatown fare. We were all very pleased with the food and will come back. The only downside to this place is that they take cash only, which we were slightly unprepared for, so take note of that if you go. Otherwise an excellent find! read more

I went to Papa Spicy three times today: first time, last time, only time. I am royally pissed with the twits on Yelp who so highly recommended the restaurant's signature dish, the spicy fish hot pot. Some people clearly have their taste buds ins tuches. For $21-$30 you get a tasteless, seemingly boiled fish replete with all fins. You have the privilege of adding broth to the dish for an extra $4. Miniscule quantities of veggies are added at $1 per selection but $2 for every choice beyond three. Go figure! We paid an extra $4 to add a few thin rolled-up slices of beef. We asked for taro noodles and eventually got 5 carefully wrapped tiny bundles insufficient to even remotely serve one person. The dish cost us about $40, an outrageous amount for unmitigated tasteless crap. Management and service are less than competent. We had to complain to get our taro noodles. Our waiter seemed content with his explanation that we got tasteless green squares of kelp instead because on their printed selection sheet the checked off English "taro noodles" was mistranslated as "kelp" in an adjoining Chinese symbol. We had to hound our waiter to get a ladle and spoons. Initially he delivered only 3 spoons despite there being 4 members in our group. Counting was obviously not his forte. This was undoubtedly the most disappointing Chinese dish I have experienced in my 66 years on this planet. read more