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| - BOTTOM LINE: Their Malaysian chicken would easily make this place a solid 3-star but there are many things to improve.
I have a soft spot for HK-style cafes and Red Onion has many things going for it; it just needs to work out a few issues. The place is way cleaner than most places in Chinatown, so this is a huge plus. The service is what you would expect: utilitarian.
The food has some hits and misses. They have a daily special, which is where you'll probably be ordering from that gives you a rotating special for the day and soup. By far, my favourite dishes are the MALAYSIAN CURRY and also the SPAGHETTI IN BOLOGNAISE SAUCE. Their CREAM OF SHRIMP ON RICE was meh. Their BAKED PORK CHOPS IN TOMATO SAUCE was descent, if not a bit bland. I haven't ordered off their main menu, but they had some standard canto-style offerings.
What was a bit disappointing was their lack of selection of some noodle soup dishes and rice dishes. Where's my Portuguese Chicken on Rice?! If you go for their specials, unfortunately you can't choose your soup (or maybe you can, but I haven't tried asking). Their RUSSIAN BORSCHT is a bit heartier that I'm used to but still descent. Unfortunately their drinks are not very good. Don't bother ordering the BUBBLE TEA (even though it's only a dollar more) because it's basically watered down sugar water. The biggest disappointment, however, was the HK-STYLE TEA, which really wasn't good at all, not to mention really cold!
Overall, I'm a bigger fan of HONG KONG BISTRO CAFE on Dundas, but I'm hoping these guys can step up their game over the next few months.
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