Swatow Restaurant

Terrible portion! It's not worth for money at all! I paid 11.5$ ( 13.5$ including tip) for this stupid "crab" soup but DON'T HAVE any crab!!! Only egg and water and some green onions! It's definitely rip off. Please stay away from this restaurant, there quality has been gone down a lot covid reopened

When in the late evening with my SO over the Civic Holiday and was impressed. The restaurant is extremely efficient and the workers courteous given their busyness. We were given standard tea and condiments for free at most Chinese Restaurants. We ordered the special fried rice, chicken wings, and salted and spiced fried shrimp and were impressed. Along with the speedy ordering process (DIY-style) the food came quickly, was hot, and full of flavour. Not too salty or over-seasoned, just well enough for an extremely pleasent experience. Overall, very impressed as Swatow lives up to its name as one of the best bang-for-your-buck low profile Chinese restaurants in Chinatown-Spadina.

I chose to dine here simply because it was as run down and incognito as could be. No Yelp reviews & no tourists. As authentic as you can get. When they handed me a pen and a receipt, I thought it was a dim sum joint but prices led me to guess otherwise. I obviously ordered too much & it was aiight.

Visited for Chinese New Year and had a great dining experience. The food was tasty and good value for money. Definitely recommend a visit if you are in China Town.

Located in the heart of downtown Toronto Chinatown, Swatow has been in business for a long time and have amassed loyal followings (including myself) for more than 4 decades now. They serve no frills traditional food and offers a wide menu of Chinese food favourites. They are best known for authentic Cantonese dishes and huge portions but the only drawback is they only accept cash payments. I’ve tried everything on their menu but these 3 are simply the stand out dishes for me because they’re comforting and delicious. Beef Stew Noodle Soup (aka Beef Brisket): I must have eaten a dozen appalling beef brisket noodle soup before I tried Swatow’s. Swatow’s beef brisket noodle soup is the real deal and one of the best bowls of beef noodle soup you’ll ever have! The brisket is slow-cooked which results in a very tender meat. They cooked it with beef bones and different dried spices/aromatics which transforms it into a delicious broth and adds an overall depth of flavour to the soup. You also have the option to choose for your noodles between Ho Fun (flat rice noodles) or Vermicelli (thin rice noodles). Cantonese-Style Ginger Scallion Lobster: Okay this one is more of an indulgence since it’s on a pricier side but whenever I’m craving for seafood, this is what I order at Swatow. For the price of $65 for two lobsters, I think this is still a good deal. You get a buttery and succulent lobster meat that easily pulls apart from the shell. The ginger scallion sauce is to die for, it generally coats the shellfish to create a light savory glaze. All the flavours meld in perfect balance to bring out the natural sweetness in the lobster. Beef Fried Rice: Beef fried rice is probably one of my favorite dishes on a Chinese menu so I’m a little bit picky when it comes to this dish. It needs to satisfy my criteria to make it a distinctly good beef fried rice. This is why I like Swatow’s beef fried rice. There are ample quantity of bite-sized juicy and tender beef, perfecly seasoned rice and of course the most important factor - the taste of wok-hei, the elusive seared taste that enhances the flavour of the fried rice. Finally, the restaurant staff are all nice, friendly and approachable no matter how busy they are, hence I’m giving the 5 star rating.

Passed by this restaurant on a really cold day and decided to try it since it seemed popular. I was not disappointed. The food was very warming and comforting, would definitely come here again.

Probably one of my favourite spots in Chinatown. I used to come her to grab takeout for work frequently and then hadn't been back since the pandemic hit until last week. They have the best beef in black Bean sauce I've tried anywhere in the GTA. Service is always efficient. You just have to remember to bring cash. Their prices have increased a fair bit though. $23 for beef in black Bean and a side of steamed rice. I know beef prices have gone up but I'm not sure it's worth it. Or maybe a half portion would be better.

Flavor is wonderful. The fried rice with something on top was amazing. We also had Snow pea leaves stired fry and shrimp dumpling soup and egg drop with mushrooms and shrimp cashew nut . Bring cash !! They accept only cash however, there is an ATM machine in restaurant .