Mother's Day at Maple Yip

Maple Yip aka "Look Yu" serves authentic Cantonese-style cuisine, it is one of the BEST Chinese restaurants in the GTA hands down. I've been dining at this restaurant since I was a kid. Thankfully this is one of the few awesome restaurants that hasn't migrated to Markham/Richmond Hill area :P

My family celebrated Mother's Day on a sunny Sunday evening. It's best to make a reservation because this restaurant is always packed during dinner hours. So packed, they took over the next unit to accommodate more tables a couple years ago. Chinese restaurants usually have a set menu available for special occasions. My mom opted for a-la carte items instead. Good choice. *Pssst* many of the restaurant's finest dishes aren't listed in the menu book, they are actually scribbled in Chinese on the colourful strips of paper found on the wall.

We started off our meal with the Winter Melon Soup. Hmm, one of my favourite soups just because it's so refreshing any season you have it. FYI, this soup must be ordered in at least 24 hours in advanced. Mushrooms, pork, and crab are cooked in the whole melon. When served, the waiter scoops out melon from the sides of the shell.



My favourite summer dish at Maple Yip is the Vancouver prawns, we ordered 2 lbs since they're in season, 1 lb just steamed and the other stir-fried with chillies. Look how meaty they are...

A summer staple dish that must be ordered: water spinach. Guangzhou-ers call it "ong choy", HK-ers call it "tung choy".

Guangdong's version of comfort food: cripsy chicken stuffed with glutinous (sticky) rice. This dish that must be ordered in advanced, but it's so worth it. The glutinous rice is cooked with Chinese sausages, stuffed in a chicken. Doesn't sound appealing, but it's delicious.

Sweet and sour pork, a jook sing's favourite. Crispy pork drenched in sweet and sour red sauce, stir-fried with onions, bell peppers and pineapple. The Julian Rule: rice is a must when eating sweet and sour pork.

The next dish, I have no idea what this type of white seafood is called! Any translators? All I know that it's delicious with snow pears and celery!

{ ??? }

{ l: minced pork with cured fish, r: fried oysters }

{ lotus roots and snow peas in a XO sauce }

Of course, dessert is always included. The daily dessert was red bean sweet soup :). The total bill, with tax and tip, came out to be $250. Not too shabby for 12 people! My family always resorts back to this restaurant despite the smaller portions and increase in prices over the years. The interior is nothing fancy, but the food makes up for it.




Maple Yip
4227 Sheppard Avenue East 
Toronto (Scarborough), ON 
M1S 5H5
(416) 297-1438

Happy Mother's Day!