Orient Bistro - Richmond Hill

Highly doubt anyone in Canada's Markham/Richmond Hill area really need a review written by someone in New Jersey, USA about this place, but as a Cantonese living on the East Coast of the USA, coming up to Toronto is basically a cultural pilgrimage. This place was definitely a worthy stop along the way. I had dinner here one night and then immediately dim sum the next morning. I was immensely happy with both experiences, since both exceeded what New Jersey and New York City had to offer at a lower price than what we are used to seeing back home. We had food at dinner that was cooked to simply a higher quality, and the dim sum offered not just a big leap in quality, but also, variety. The atmosphere and décor made the place very comfortable and luxurious to dine in. Orient Bistro has offerings that can easily go toe to toe with what you'll find in Hong Kong.

I've been here twice for dinner and the food has been pretty good both times, though there's this one male server that is a bit rude. Highly recommend trying the roasted piglet, whole chicken, and seafood dishes here. The seafood is fresh and the vegetables dishes are a big portion. During our dinner, an older gentleman server told us that they had run out of snow pea leaves and a chicken dish and really didn't offer much solutions that would reflect the prices that we were going to pay (for example, a pound of snow pea leaves cost much more than a pound of broccoli). In any event, his attitude wasn't great but higher management was around to offer a resolution.

We first came here pre and during Covid and the quality of the food was mediocre. But we visited again recently and the food has improved SO much! Everything came out steaming hot and was flavourful delicious. Highly recommend. We also had their tofu dessert 木桶豆腐花 which was yummy. But we waited over 1 hour for it. Had to chase them multiple times too. So if you want it, order earlier! Service was alright we had to ask them to refill our teapot multiple times despite the lid being off. Shows that their servers are not very attentive.

Went to try this restaurant for family weekend lunch. Was heard this is good for dim sum and tea. Dim Sum and tea both above average. Really like it. And no need wait for the table is a plus. Dim sum is not bad. Price is abit on the high side I am still recommended since we dun need to wait for long

Giving it a 3/5 as food was good but service was bad. Servers were not responsive and had to ask multiple times for extra napkins. Worst of all is the owner. He came in before us and did not even hold the door, did not acknowledge customers and stayed on the phone the entire duration of our meal. Why be at the front hostess stand if you are not there to greet customers? If the service improved including from management side, the place could move up to a 4/5. Also have seen multiple comments/reviews on the same issues with customer service with the servers and issues with the owner himself so not surprised...