Gourmet Garden (Toronto)
4465 Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough

• It was just the three siblings for dinner at Gourmet Garden on January 8.
• We have been to this eatery located in a foodcourt before, but it had been a while since we were back. The place, run by Malaysians mostly from Ipoh, has since expanded to a stall next to their main one.
• Is there no one in Toronto who can make a good bowl of Singapore Laksa? The ones that we have had taste more like Curry Mee, including this which used yellow noodles and rice vermicelli rather than the white laksa noodles. Singapore Laksa is usually more lemak (richer in coconut milk). Restoran Malaysia still has the better one so far.
• The taste and smell of petai is strong and unique. We love them, but be prepared for petai breath if you feast on them. It was actually a nice surprise when we first found out that Gourmet Garden served them because while petai is sold in Asian grocery stores, cooking it with sambal the Malaysian way so that it tastes good is a whole other level. Even though it was nice to have it cooked for us in Toronto, this Petai with Prawns was not fresh, slightly sour and had too much onions in it.
• The Asam Laksa was too sour to the point that it tasted salty. Otherwise, it was presentable and good enough for its price and complexity in preparation.
• Roti prata is usually made crisp by flipping flattened dough over and over on a hot plate. The Roti Prata tasted like it was deep-fried and while the Curry Chicken went well with it, the prata is always the main draw. Microwavable frozen roti prata is available at grocery stores but we don’t know how good they taste to fresh handmade ones since we have never tried them ourselves.
• Pan Mian gets a low rating only because of the flavour of the soup. While the noodles were the authentic ban mian noodles, the soup was too bland. Satay House, as last reviewed, had a delicious soup base but not the right noodles. If only we can combine the good from both places…
• The biggest disappointment of the night - Mee Rebus. One of us had mee rebus mixed up with mee soto which added to the disappointment. Nevertheless, any Malaysian food would be sufficient, so we thought. The mee rebus had a huge serving portion but the colour of the gravy was too yellow and the taste was off. Squeezing lime into the noodles did enhance the flavour but there is only so much a slice of lime can do.
• The best dish of the night - Rojak. Not only was it refreshing, the rojak actually looked, smelt and tasted authentic and had the proper sauce and ingredients of fruits, vegetables, crispy tau pok and crunchy fritters. Two thumbs up!
• The Chendol had the right amount of beans, jelly and shaved ice, and the chendol was not too sweet nor too watery. The perfect beverage/dessert to go with the meal.
• Kuih Dadar and Kuih Angku were well-received by us. The only comment was that the kuih angku’s skin was too thin.
• Gourmet Garden is inexpensive (think hawker centre prices) and is relatively accessible (uptown within Toronto and TTC-reachable). What’s more is that they do sell other food products at the stalls like snacks and sauces from home, even kaya! Like Satay House, it was a hit-or-miss for each dish.

Overall: 3 kueh out of 5 - Okay lah!