A La Kitchen is located behind First Markham Place and features Shanghai-style cuisine. When we arrived before noon on Sunday, it was absolutely packed, and we had to wait for a table among pushy groups of Cantonese families. Although a packed restaurant is a good sign, I wasn’t too pleased that I couldn’t hear a single word of Mandarin. Was this really Shanghai-nese cuisine, or was it another one of a hundred Cantonese-Chinese restaurants in the area?
The restaurant is less than five years old, so the interior was still in good shape. However, they had tried to cram so many people inside that all the aisle space was taken up and chairs were back-to-back. I am pretty sure that’s a fire hazard, but nobody seemed to care.
When we were finally seated, we had to share a table with another family, which is never something we really enjoy. The other family was speaking rapid Cantonese extremely loudly non-stop for the entire meal. I think what they said in minute was more than what the three of us said combined for the entire meal.
The food arrived relatively quickly, and in a sensible order much to my surprise, starting with appetizers, then steamed items, and finally dessert.
The Nanjing Salted Duck was very tender and delicious. The Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs were definitely mainland style, although they were under-cooked, and they didn’t use the best cut of pork ribs.
Ji Cai Fish and Egg Drop Soup was thick and fragrant. It was not too salty, and naturally xian without MSG.
The xiao long bao were very savoury, second only to Ding Tai Fung’s soup-filled dumplings.
I haven’t had sheng jian bao since my summer in Shanghai, but these definitely did not live up to the savoury pan-fried pork buns in my memory. The baos were too big, and the pork filling was not savoury enough.
We don’t usually order fried noodles, but we saw this dish on every table, so we decided to try it. It was very average. It was surprisingly bland, despite the dark colouring.
Green onion pancake was my favourite item, the best I’ve had anywhere in Toronto. It was the perfect thickness, very crispy on the outside, with just enough green onions to savour.
I’ve had these red bean rice cakes before in Ding Tai Fung but these were still warm. They’re supposed to be room-temperature. Because they were hotter than normal, they were extra soft. There was also too much red bean paste inside, and the candy toppings were overpowering.
The food was Shanghai-nese after all, but the clientele certainly wasn’t. We were seated near the door, so throughout our entire meal, there were pushy people waiting right next to us, hovering over our table and practically elbowing us or swinging their purse and smacking us in the head. These people clearly did not know how to keep a respectful distance. One lady sneezed into our food. Another lady kept leaning over our table to get the waiter’s attention. She was there for 10 minutes and the entire time, we weren’t able to eat at all. I was appalled by how pushy they were; they had no sense of propriety despite the angry glares I tried giving them. What was worse, the waiters clearly saw that about 10 people had spilled into the dining area (all crowded around our table, as it happened) and wasn’t asking them to step back and wait in the foyer area. Customer management was non-existent apparently.
So even though we ordered eight dishes, we barely finished and left as quickly as possible. Would you be able to enjoy a meal with five people elbowing you in the head, leaning over your table, and sneezing into your food?
Rating: 
Author’s Note: I had to take cameras with my phone, so they came out very low quality. Some photos have been supplemented courtesy of Marz.
I’m sorry to hear about your awful experience with A la Kitchen. It’s a shame because it’s one of the few places in Markham that I actually like going back to. Like you said, the food is pretty good. I’m quite certain that you would have a better dining experience if you were seated nowhere near the entrance/exit. Hope you’ll still give it reconsider going back!
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I honestly looove this place!
I’m shanghainese and this is my absolute favourite go-to restaurant for shanghai food. It definitely ranks high in its authenticity!!
I hope you’ll reconsider going back sometime
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