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| - This long stretch of Sheppard Avenue East is lined with rundown strip plazas with many vacancies. This particular plaza located on the southwest corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Birchmont had recently gone through a revitalization in the sense that large swaths of it has been rebuilt. It is now anchored by a large-ish, new and shiny Rexall pharmacy. The space where The Royal Chinese Restaurant now resides used to be the original location of Chinese Halal Restaurant now relocated north to Silver Star Blvd http://www.yelp.ca/biz/chinese-halal-restaurant-scarborough#hrid:XOYT8tagcp4WHJ5uOr69UQ as a renewal of their lease would have been much more costly. The Royal Chinese Restaurant itself used to be located further east on Sheppard next to the Agincourt GO station, however, I think that plaza had been expropriated by or sold to Transit City. That plaza is now a mess of construction and fencing.
This place is a popular Chinese eatery with inexpensive menu items. We arrived for dinner at 7 to a happening scene with crowds milling around the door waiting for seats. Many dishes start at $6.95 each. We had the braised eggplant with bean curd (delicious!), black pepper beef on a sizzling plate (impressive sizzle!-ing sounds but a very very weird, soft and chewy texture), various veggie dishes (one with white fish fillets, yum!), e-fu noodle and a whole crab fried rice (visually exciting and tasty to boot). Dinner came with free soup and orange slices for dessert. Service was efficient and could be friendly depending on the server you get.
To be honest, I've had much better Chinese food elsewhere, but for some decent, authentic eating at a reasonable price, The Royal Chinese Restaurant is definitely a good option.
Lots of free parking!
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