Oriental Gourmet - Vintage Garden Dinning Room

Vintage Garden isn’t the easiest to find. If you’re heading to the establishment from the south, most likely you’ll be directed onto the 404 North to exit at Finch, then perhaps through Gordon Baker Road through a commercial complex, eventually hitting Victoria Park where your GPS may tell you to turn right, but just go straight through the traffic lights into what looks like an apartment complex.

It looks like you’re lost, but you’re in the right place as the restaurant is located at the bottom of a retirement community. Their signage leads you to the south side of the building, but it’s mismarked. Instead, head to the busier north end instead where Vintage Garden’s entrance is found.

While I don’t enjoy offal, I nevertheless sampled the broth and vegetables in the pig tripe, preserved vegetable, ginger and peppercorn soup ($14), a signature Chiu Chow dish. The strong spicy hit of ginger and pepper is great for clearing the throat and does the work of those gingery immunity shots.

I prefer the Chiu Chow style oyster and minced pork with rice in soup ($12.50 for regular (pictured) or $21.50 for large), that borders between broth and congee. In this case, the rice is added with all the other ingredients so doesn’t break down. Rather it soaks in the broth that is teeming with pork and seafood flavours.

Located near the coast, the Chaozhou region cultivates a lot of oysters, so you’ll find the ingredient in a lot of menus. Another common dish is the homestyle fried oysters egg omelette ($23), which at Vintage Garden is simply prepared with tons of oysters, green onions, and egg that’s just cooked through, so it’s still jelly-like in the centre. Use the dipping sauce sparingly as it’s a VERY salty fish sauce.

Other popular items include daa laang which are marinated items served hot or cold. My family thoroughly enjoyed the Chiu Chow style marinated intestine ($18.95), which given my aversion to offal I passed on. But I had my fill of the Chiu Yueng style marinated duck ($21.95 for a half order). Despite its disheveled appearance, the duck was steeped in flavours, especially the slices of deep-fried tofu on the bottom that soak up the braising liquid.

This is a long review for the rest head to Gastro World.

“If you like Chaozhou cuisine, you have to try this place. My friend told me that although the Chaozhou fried prawn balls aren’t very authentic, the fish ball noodles (魚蛋粉) and the Chaozhou marinated duck are really good.” FYI, they don’t have LLBI, can’t serve any alcoholic beverages.

Good Chinese cuisine at a cozy setting, portions are not as large as most restaurants in town but taste is up to standard.

I recently visited this (Chaoshan) style restaurant and was really impressed! I ordered a set meal that included a soup, three dishes, and four milk teas—all for just $54.99. The portion sizes were generous, the flavors authentic, and overall, it offered excellent value for money.

The service was polite and attentive, although the place can get quite busy, so I recommend making a reservation in advance if possible. The only downside is that it’s a bit tricky to find, as it’s tucked away at the bottom of a condo building. But that just adds to its charm—definitely a hidden gem worth discovering if you’re into Chaoshan cuisine!

First time to come here for family gathering dinner. Definitely hidden gem. The restaurant is at a senior service building. It is not big at all. You may really want to make reservations to come here. There’s not much parking too as many spots are marked for another senior building visitors. As far as food, I would say it is average for general dishes. We preorder some special dishes and those are excellent like the stuffed chicken with sticky rice. Juicy inside and crispy outside. The only thing I don’t like is their speedy serving speed. The table is already full of dishes and they won’t slow down until you request it. So if you want to eat slowly and enjoy the food, make sure to monitor the serving speed and ask them to hold on. Btw, don’t forget to order the satay beef on rice noodle. It is a must!