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| - You know the place is genuine when the owners converse in familiar Taiwanese from the moment you walk in. Wiki Star is operated by a very welcoming older couple who cooks and serves like how they remembered it back home. Of course, it has the ubiquitous Taiwanese mains like popcorn chicken and beef noodle soup. In fact all the people that came in for take-out while I sat and ate ordered the former, which I'll probably never as popcorn chicken is rampant in Toronto and you'll always find the next best places for it. As well, I swear by my mother's own beef noodle soup toward which I am biased, but that's besides the point.
What makes Wiki Star shine are the dishes that are so Formosan they induce nostalgia: Taiwanese meat ball, oyster omelette, pork blood cakes, shredded chicken rice, minced meat rice, and intestine vermicelli. These are your hallmark, run of the mill, sidewalk stall and night market food recognizable only to the true expats. The Taiwanese meat ball ($5.99) is on the expensive side but is one of the best renditions I've had. It possesses just the right chewy outer skin, good amount of filling, a great spicy sauce to go along, and good size; definitely better than Pa Pa Chang's. The shredded chicken rice ($4.99) is one of the only times when I stared at a dish resembled as it would be prepared by mom, and tasted every bit like so. It isn't exactly as I remembered it in Taiwan, which I noted, but the familiarity and homeliness is undeniable. I finished my dinner with a medium size winter melon tea ($3.15) which was perfect to end off a nice spring evening.
Wiki Star is a mom and pop shop and has none of the ambiance of upscale restaurants, which served me just fine. It is also a very small place with two two-seater tables, and would be crowded by any means for a eat in. The location in North York means parking can be a bit tricky. Nevertheless, I was quite grateful for the experience, both to have found a place for a taste of Taiwan and the new friends I've made in the owners. Rest assured, I will be returning for more.
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