This is the second time in Toronto we were glad our cell phones didn't work outside of the US so we couldn't be turned off by the bad Yelp reviews. We took a chance on this place when we passed by and couldn't have been more satisfied when we left. It seems that our northern neighbors don't Yelp as much as we do in NYC, so if a restaurant gets bad reviews, it's kind of screwed because not many people here will try it and give it a good review if things have changed.
Well, Yelpers, things have changed for the better here. We peered in, entered to a clean restaurant, were greeted in a friendly manner and we delighted with the food. The price and portions were good and the flavors here are excellent, as Yelpers did point out. We tried the string beans(forgetting to eschew the pork) and it was cooked perfectly, crispy and and fresh and full of garlic goodness in every crunchy bite. The bean curd skin, with its light dressing of soy, didn't have the oomph of the string beans, probably due to the other dish's surfeit of garlic, but it was certainly tasty and felt like a light, healthy entree. Nothing was drowning in the grease I normally find in NYC Chinese restaurants so both the dishes tasted fresh. The service staff must have read the reviews because they were so far from rude, or maybe management just changed staff. The place didn't seem outdated at all, but the last review about that was from 2015. As far as not taking credit cards, many Chinese restaurants are cash only. We paid in cash anyway, not really perturbed by that. Perhaps Tian An should just post it or put it on their menus so customers won't be disgruntled.
If you live here, I seriously encourage you to give this place a try. If you're a tourist visiting, try it for a very good Chinese meal. We left happy and full, quite pleased with finding this gem.