I came here for lunch on Sunday around 1 pm. There were lots of empty tables and we were seated right away. The food was mediocre and expensive. $10 for a small bowl of hot and sour soup... the portions were small, dishes weren't particularly delicious, service was average, and the space was run down. They have a lot of "winning" dishes such as their pan fried buns. Sadly it didn't blow me away, I found the bun too soggy and not very crispy. What rubbed me the wrong way was handing me the bill with tax (currently tax exemption in Ontario). When I asked them about it, instead of being apologetic, they told me to minus the tax. The restaurant just didn't seem very transparent with this. read more

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Crab meat Xiao long bao is 5/5! Other items were 3.5/5. Table service is ... something I cant expect much. Came back for eat-in after my super positive experience of take-out Xiao Long Bao (XLB) a few months ago. Items we ordered today (other than XLBs) were: # Pan fried pork dumpling # Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Bun (SJB) # Chunky Beef With Noodles # Bean Curd Sheets With Vegetables & Soy Bean The above items are nothing wrong. Fried dumpling's taste was great, but the texture of the wrapping was kind of dry and crumbly. Beef noodle was good, and the noodle had a good chewiness. Not as bouncy in the texture. Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Bun was also good. The dough is fluffy not thin/crispy (like popular SJB places). But the bottom is super crispy, and overall taste was great, and the stuffing was juicy. Bean curd sheets with vegetables were OK. We came here after peak lunch hours (1:30pm) and the place was not busy. However, some of the the dishes were served by a robot (see the picture). :) You cannot expect full table service here. I had to remind staff when I am ready to order, and when I am ready to pay. However, I should mention that the staff were very pleasant. They welcome guests and serve food with joy and warmth. If you expect North American standard table services, you will get disappointed, but if not, it is a nice homey space. I will definitely come back for Crab XLB. I highly recommend this item. read more

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The plates were small, the food wasn't even good. I am warning you, do not go there. You will waste your money.

My wife found this place on Chinese social media as a great go-to for southern Chinese/Shanghainese cusine. We ordered the pan fried bun, steamed Xiao long bao, NanJin salted duck, one of the seafood noodle soups, and a large soup. Overall the food tasted mediocre with small portions. The soups were hearty, but that's about it... read more

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Shanghai food | dumplings | slow service | Mandarin The food here is good and decently priced however, the service is quite slow ... My dinner pasted 2.5hours mostly just waiting for food. The server speaks Mandarin and the menu is in Chinese. The recipe comes with no item names so if you ordered a few more items than you can remember you may want to keep a note of it. Overall it's good if you have some time to sit. read more

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Absolutely not a fan. I'm aware that this place has won awards, but I found the food to be underwhelming and overpriced. We came here with a friend who is a regular at this place, and I left very disappointed. We ordered a variety of dishes to share, listed below. Choice of Four Cold Dishes ($45) Firstly, the price point of the assorted four cold dishes is embarrassingly high. The portions that are provided are minute compared to the cost! That said, I did find the cold dishes to be among the better of what we ordered that night. The four that we chose are as follows. Drunken Chicken The chicken was very thinly sliced (with roughly 10 to 15 slices), and heavily marinated in wine. The texture was quite smooth and velvety, which is a requirement in Chinese cuisine. Five Spiced Smoked Fish The fish came almost in a deep fried state, with bones included. The pieces were so brittle and crispy that you could very easily bite through the bones! It's an interesting dish, and reminds me like the deep fried fish that you find in the snack department of Asian grocers, or like the vegetarian fried goodies in Asian markets. Preserved Pork This was the one cold dish that I didn't try, but apparently (according to my sister) it tasted like bacon or ham. Jellyfish Salad Although this was one of the more simple dishes, I quite enjoyed it nonetheless. The jellyfish is springy and al dente; however, I did find it to be slightly oily. The cucumbers were a necessary addition to brighten up an otherwise salty dish. This dish alone costs $12 (we ordered extra because of the small portions in the original plate). Xiao Long Bao Decently executed, but they arrived to our table lukewarm. The wrapping wasn't too thick, but the filling wasn't too large nor generous either. Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings This was honestly so dry and disappointing. The wrapping and fillings were dry and tasteless. You must eat this with some dressings or sauces, though I would actually suggest not ordering this at all. Sauteed Braised Eel Fillet At $31, this is by no means a cheap dish. However, there were literally only 10 slivers of eel. Oh, and I guess the restaurant's definition of sauteed and braised means to do so in oil. The nakaimo yam, carrots, and eels came swimming in thick yellow grease. Disgusting. Sea Cucumber with Sizzling Rice Again, for $27, this was an absolute rip off. There were maybe 8 pieces of very thinly sliced sea cucumbers - if you pieced them together, they'd make up a measly and pathetic single sea cucumber. The sea cucumbers came drowning in a very thick cornstarch and oyster sauce mixture. The sizzling rice was essentially a fried rice base torn into bits. Interestingly, we received it separate from the solution, so missed out on the theatrical sizzling sounds. Chinese Cabbage Alfredo This was... An interesting dish. It tastes like some sort of cream chowder base with cabbage and bacon bits. To be honest, I wasn't a great fan, but you can probably tell so by this point in my review. I will never return. The food is overpriced, portions are small, and flavour is underwhelming. read more

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Lunch Specials Mon to Friday till 3 pm for $6.99 at Tian Xin Place which is a Chinese restaurant that specialized in Shanghai cuisine. Their lunch specials though has a lot of selections but they are really all an entree that comes with a bowl of rice and a choice of soup or soy drink. I should have ordered the dumplings and other shanghai dim sum... but since I could never resist lunch specials I decide to try: Fish Filet with Sweet and Sour Sauce and their hot and sour soup ($6.99) was disappointing... As there were more batter than the fish filet itself. OK my mistakes to order this as there are 16 other choices to choose from in their lunch menu.... I might come back and try out their dim sum... and definitely would not be ordering any Fish Filet with Sweet and Sour sauce again! read more

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The food is not good here. The restaurant smelled funky when we walked in. I don't know what else to say... read more

We visited after finding out that Legend Chinese Restaurant closed down. Luckily we discovered Tian Xin! The food was authentic - the Peking duck, the xiao long bao and the sautéed snow pea shoots were not bastardized at all and were delicious! The staff were also really nice, which was a plus (we all know that staff at Chinese restaurants tend to be standoffish). Bill for four came down to $84. Not bad, considering how portions were generous! The place is definitely a hole in the wall but like many hole in the wall restaurants, all of that time and energy is invested in what they do the best - the food. At the end of the day, I appreciate delicious food over a good looking restaurant with mediocre food. I am definitely open to coming back here again! read more

Very traditional South Chinese food. Not beautiful, but the taste is so delicious. The boss is very nice. We went there at noon, about 2pm. Not too many persons, so we can enjoy our food quietly. read more

This place is literally empty on weekday nights. I went with my family and we were the only table that they served. It is also quite expensive. We usually have the steamed pork dumplings (xiao long bao), deep fried fish, soup, and vegetables. I found that their best dish is definitely the deep fried fish. It was lightly battered and they serve it fresh too. I would say that you should not judge a restaurant by its amount of customers but with the quality of food they serve and this place is falling in overall quality and the price is not right. read more

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Went here because Legend Chinese Restaurant closed on us after calling in and this was the closest Chinese restaurant that was "open". Actually when I went in there and asked if they were open it was actually near past their closing time, but the owner said it was okay and our group of 10 people went in for dinner after watching a play. We ordered 6 dishes off the menu based on the pictures Onion pancake Cold cuts (tofu, drunken chicken, meat+rice noodle with peanut sauce) 2 orders of siaw long pao (since there were 10 of us) fish topped with egg Shang Hai style pig belly Meat and seafood with rice patties (not really on the picture, the one on the picture didn't have meat) Though the order of the food was a little messed up, considering that it was late and they were kind to let us have our meal, I didn't factor it in. Overall the food quality was good, the only problem is I didn't check the price, which may be why this is 5-stars. However, presuming we paid $25 per person, I would say this was good quality. The only thing left over was a couple of untouched bowls of steam rice. The onion pancake was normal, nothing special. The cold cuts were dishes I haven't really tried before, I just chose them by pictures and all of them tasted really good hard to say which one was my favorite. The siaw long pao was good, so nothing special considering this is a Shang Hai place. Granted if you're a Shang Hai place and you can't do this right you might as well shut down or get yourself franchised like Asian Legend. They had a fish topped with egg dish. Originally I was going to order something else, because I didn't think people would like this dish, but apparently it was someone's favorite so AWESOME and I like it too. All I can say was it was good. The Shang Hai style pig belly was okay, but the fat was a bit "yucky oily" though not as much as other places. I ate this with the meat and sea food rice patties so it was a good mix. Most people didn't have room for dessert so we skipped it. Though I am thinking I want to try their rice dessert next time I go there. However, the staff waiting on us was friendly and I would definitely come here again recommend it to other people. I may stop recommending Legend in the area if I find out the price is good as well. read more

I agree with Yao below. This place is like home cook style food place. My favorite dish is rice cake with bamboo shoots :p

I came here for lunch as it was nearby one of my relatives places. Seeing how I always seem to notice this time every time I go to Legend, I decided to try it out. We ordered the following: - Xiao long bao x 2: I'm a sucker for the crab meat filling, which this place has. For some reason I do prefer crab meat over the regular pork broth, and this place was no exception. However considering the price I paid ($7.25 x 2) I still prefer Ding Tai Fung's, even though theirs don't have crab meat. - Drunken chicken: The slices were quite small compared to Ding Tai Fung...also the alcohol taste wasn't that strong. That actually was a good thing though since I was DD for that day. My relatives also ordered other stuff which I forgot (and didn't bother having as I wasn't hungry). I did notice service was quite slow, especially since there wasn't many people when we arrived. It seems to be a family business, as some people who served us looked like the owner's daughters. Will I come back? Meh...it's quite far from where I live. read more

Urgent!!!!!!!!!!! The food was overpriced and terrible it's fake Chinese food. They claim to be genuine but it's all fake The pics are fake. The comments are all fake. The over priced food was served slimy and cold it taste like left overs from yesterday. It was frozen and microwaved. The owner is a con and she knows it. Please be honest with your customers God is watching you. read more

I don't know why so many people marked down this place, as a shanghainese I have to say that Tian Xin proprietary was the best shanghai cuisine I ever tried in Toronto. I love the sweet lotus root it tasted like my Mon used made for me at home. read more

The owner was nice and kind when we walked in. We ordered xiao long baos, dumplings and steam friend bun which I thought it was better than what I had in most places. As other yelpers mentioned, the food was pricey and I have to agree with that. I would come back to eat again. read more

My family has been dining at Tian Xin Place for a better part of the decade and I have to say the quality of service and food have been declining. Not only quality, the quantity of food has shrunk to a point where you really start wondering how bad business has to be for them to give you so little food for the price you pay. For example, the deep fried pork chop soup noodle dish only comes with a couple small pieces of pork, or if you order the snow pea leaves, expect a really small plate of greens (usually yellow because they most likely will be wilting). If the restaurant is full, do not expect your food to come out in an orderly manner. The last time we dined at the restaurant, we waited almost an hour before any food came out. We also saw someone wait over an hour for take out. Despite the small portions or the slow service, the dumplings and certain dishes are decent. They highlight some dishes that won awards and I would recommend that you order those. Note: this "list" is in Chinese and they have it on each table. It has been getting harder for us to decide to go to Tian Xin Place. Asian Legend unfortunately is more consistent and speedy... read more

I've been going to this place for over 10 years. Amazing food. Authentic dishes. The husband and wife owners are lovely people

Came here with several co-workers for lunch. Tucked away in a small plaza, along with a Korean mini-mart, Nino's Bakery, and a KBBQ. This restaurant specializes in Shanghai dishes and offers $6.99 lunch specials on Mon-Fri. We ordered: Steamed pork dumplings (6) - As with any Shanghai cuisines, this is one of their staple items to order. Though each dumpling is small in size, the flavour was savoury and bursting with soup. Pan fried pork dumplings (4) - Standard dish. Most of the pan fried pork dumplings I've tried retained some of the soupy broth inside, but this one was dry. Beef and Brocoli - I was quite surprised with this dish. The beef was tender, flavourful, and appetizing with accompanied with rice. House special Yang Noodles - Crispy thick noodles with a savoury sauce, loaded with ingrediants (bok choy, BBQ pork, squid, shrimp). One of the best dishes of the afternoon. Chicken fried rice - Small pieces of shredded chicken. It was quite bland, but it went well with the salty dishes that we ordered. My co-workers enjoyed the different types of flavours of each dish and will probably be back for another lunch outing. read more

Best Shanghainese restaurant in town. Get the xiaolongbao, chicken wonton soup, and any dish with bamboo shoots!

Came here for xiao long bao (soup dumplings) but the restaurant is pricier than other places and also less tasty. Server was kind but did not speak English, so she messed up our order and kept bringing us food from other tables. Would not come again. read more

Tian Xin Place - Chinese Near Me - Thornhill, Ontario

I was quite disappointed in the food presentation, quality, pricing and overall in general. This restaurant is inside a plaza with the Korean Marketplace and some Korean restaurants..There has been a few changes here...I noticed a few different shanghainese restaurants changed for the same location but the food hasn't improved at all... Their lunch specials had alot of choices but we did not end up choosing anything for the lunch specials lists as it wasn't very appealing.. Service wasn't attentive and it did take awhile for the food to arrive. We ended up ordering beef brisket noodles and dan dan noodles...both of which were bland and not authentic in my personal perspective.... We ordered the some appetizers..(3 different types) and it just all came in one dish...so it was just not cosmetically appealing... read more

This place is just ok and the price is not equal to quality of food , just one famous dishes is excellent and the rest just ok , if you have many choice , you will know which to pick .... [the price is not right - too expensive] read more

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I've been all around the city looking for the best soup dumplings, and this place has the best by far! The owners are incredibly accommodating and sweet. They provide excellent service and are always smiling. Every time I go, I try something new, and their quality never disappoints. I strongly recommend you try this restaurant out. If you do, I'll see you there, since I now seem to be a regular! read more

This is one of the best Shanghai-ese restaurant in GTA, and yes, they have the best soup dumpling. I love to order the dishes on their recommendation list (however, they only write in Chinese in the list). Their "squirrelfish", sweet and sour ribs are also my favourite dishes in this restaurant. Must visit again and find more fav dish :-D read more

Absolutely dreadful. Probably one of the worst Chinese restaurant in Toronto. The food is tasteless, not traditional Chinese at all. We sat there for 2 hours and we were the only table in there. The waitress hard sells all the expensive food. I would rate this restaurant to be 0 stars if its possible with Yelp. If you are Chinese, please do NOT come. read more

The service was excellent! We order streamed soup filled dumpling, pan fried green onion pancake, braised minced pork balls and fried noodles. Everything tasted pretty good! The noodles was a little bit salty! We are looking forward to come back and try more stuffs! read more

We have been coming to this restaurant since before it was even this restaurant. The old owner went on to open A La Kitchen in Markham. We come primarily for the lunch specials, but have dinner once in a while too, and they deliver to the immediate area which is nice. We have tried most of the menu and keep going back. The quality of food is definitely there. Definitely have the soup filled pan-fried pork dumplings. read more

This place by far has the best soup dumpling (xiao long bao) I have ever had and I've been to many places including Ding Tai Fung. This is a family owned restaurant whose chef has been perfecting Shanghainese for the better of 20 years. The soup dumpling has the thinnest skin and the best broth and I have yet to get one that's broken. My girlfriend and I have gone to this place well over a dozen times and we live more than 20 minutes away. The owner have also always asked us if we had any preferences and have made their dishes various different ways in order to accommodate us. If I could rate it 10 stars out of 5 I would!! read more

My friends and I wanted to try something new, so we gave this place a go. The menu had a huge selection, but the pictures helped and the waitress was friendly and helpful. We eventually settled on: Hot & sour soup, which was one of the items I wasn't sure about. I personally don't like sour things, but this was surprisingly good. From what I could tell it had shrimp, tofu, kelp, baby bamboo shoots and it was only mildly spicy and slightly sour. Excellent soup. Steamed Soup-filled Dumpling, I was told it was a must-have dim sum item. I was impressed with how the super thin skin was able to keep in the soupy meat. It was very flavorful even without any sauce. Singapore Fried Noodles, which I had some doubts about since this is a Chinese restaurant. When I saw the bright highlighter yellow sauce, I had to know how many highlighters went into making this dish. To my disappointment it was only garlic sauce, but it was delicious and good for my health. Snow pea shoots was the vegetable dish. I'm not a fan of vegetables, but this dish I wouldn't mind eating on a daily basis. It had a very appetizing aroma, it was fresh and tender and surprisingly flavorful for a vegetable dish. Definitely trumps salad. Pan fried dumping was another dim sum item. It had a semi-crispy skin on the outside and pork meat on the inside. For a fried dish I wasn't expecting soup on the inside, not too much, just enough for the dish to taste great without any sauce. Sautéed Beef on Sizzling hot plate. They weren't kidding when they told you it was sizzling. The dish actually made loud sizzling noises even after it was brought to the table. The sizzling onions, chives, and beef made it smell amazing. It was mildly spicy and fun to eat. To top it all off the whole meal was under $50! I am definitely coming back and I would recommend anyone else to do the same. read more

I've been to this restaurant a few times, and the quality is pretty decent. Foods to try include the dumplings, green onion pancake, drunken chicken, sesame biscuit and thick noodle beef soup. Quantity is not bad, but it's a bit pricier than competitors like Asian Legend. Seating is comfortable, not too crowded. Large parking lot too. Good for lunch for families or small groups. read more

Awful service. Average food. Not worth putting up with the attitude and wait. Wrote this wheniwas eating there. Waitress very unfriendly and does not take your requests or comments seriously, turns around and outright ignores you. Food is average, and it takes painfully long for one dish to come out. This is my first Chinese restaurant dinner where my family can actually finish a dish, and wait for 15 mins or more, refilling my tea multiple times, and still not get the next dish. Kitchen seems to be extremely disorganized. Some dishes taste like canned sauce. Hot steamed bun has enough juice and the peel is thin enough, but the minced pork's texture feels like it had been used to make a broth. Tables are way too close together, so everytime a waitress tries to reach a neighboring table of ours, she pushes our chairs. Worse off, there are two different tables around us and she needs two separate aisles! This means that she runs her greasy hands to dabble on our down winter coats while she pushes our chairs took get through the non-fire-compliant aisles. She passes her dishes and hot soups in the air over the heads of the kids in my family. Brocolli in egg dish not cooked through. Bean tips over aged, very tough. All tables got slow service, combo meals or a la carte, although the restaurant was only 60‰ full. Don't even waste your time and money. read more