MIMI Chinese – 265 Davenport Rd, Toronto, ON M5R 1J9
Country: China
Seating: Indoor seating
Must-try dish(es): Shrimp Toast & Steam Cake (we’re bad at just choosing one)
Dinner guests: Danny P, Pornstar Sam, The 4th & Young Matt
The high: “Fancy” Chinese food has finally made its way to Toronto, and our bellies are rumbling as a result. 
The low: Reservations are hard to come by and only get released once a month.

MIMI Chinese came onto our radar because of a sister restaurant pop-up called Sunny Chinese. Despite never having had the pleasure of ordering Sunny’s, we were extremely excited when we heard the announcement that they were opening a restaurant focusing on traditional regional recipes made with high-end ingredients and expectations for perfection. MIMI is located in Yorkville, so dress to impress without feeling the pressure to out-do the bowtie wearing servers. 

Mat was lucky enough to score a reservation during the opening week and since then hasn’t shut up about MIMI, promoting it to anyone who will lend an ear. As a result, a few months later we were able to reserve a table for six people to taste what all the fuss was about. At around the same time, friends of the blog ate there and wanted to share their delicious experience with our readers. 

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Happiness is MiMi Chinese
Guest Writers: Big Daddy & Smelly
Must-try dishes: Scallion and ginger sea bass & shrimp toast
Dinner guests: Chief Jesse & Mad Max
The high: Sharing is caring! What better way to share plates across the table than a fancy “lazy-susan”.
The low: Our stomachs weren’t big enough to eat the whole menu.

Walking into Mimi Chinese, you immediately know this isn’t your Canadian-style greasy Chinese food restaurant. The upscale vibe with colors of black, red and white highlight the beauty of Chinese culture.  

Let’s get started with cocktails. Visually, our favourite was the Jungle Panda, served in the cutest panda bear glass you ever did see. Taste wise though, you HAVE to get the jasmine cocktail – we promise, it  will not disappoint.  

We had the sommelier help us choose our wine and ended up with a Marie Kondo-esque lesson that we carried through the night. Similar to choosing “what sparks joy” as Marie Kondo has taught us, the  sommelier asked us to pick a wine that brought happiness. So, for the rest of the night we led with the motto “do what brings happiness” and being at Mimi Chinese the answer is easy – eat all the food. 

For our first course we had the shrimp toast, and would highly recommend it. They come in four pieces and the crispy bite sized appetizer with sesame seeds on top was seriously good. Another favorite was the smashed cucumber salad. We know cucumbers don’t seem too adventurous, but the preparation and sauces served with this dish made it refreshing and truly a highlight.  

For our mains, a must-try was the Scallion and Ginger Sea bass. The seabass is served whole and the server comes to the table with a tea pot filled with the ginger scallion sauce and pours it over top. The  sauce is mouthwatering… scratch that, the sauce is literally drinkable – you have to get this dish!  Another must-try main was the Char Siu Pork — Chinese style BBQ pork which Mimi executes perfectly. The wildflower honey gave a complimentary sweetness to this rich and savory dish – our mouths are still watering over this. 

Yes, we got the four foot noodle as did everyone else on your Instagram feed – but f*ck it was good.  Maybe we have a sore spot for service flare but the server cutting the four foot noodle at our table brought us (even more) happiness.  

On the topic of happiness, you must get dessert at Mimi, and if you can, get them all. The best one in our opinion was the Ma Lai Go – a steamed cake with a custard centre and sweet rice cream poured over top – oh. my. god. 

Summarizing our experience at Mimi Chinese is easy, it brought us happiness and we would go back any chance we got, and so should you. Thank you Mimi Chinese for an unforgettable, upscale experience that definitely did Chinese food justice. 

Resos book up quickly so reserve in advance, you won’t regret it!

Until next wine,

Big Daddy & Smelly
(Alex & Michelle)

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Thank you very much Big Daddy and Smelly for your ongoing support, and we can’t wait to dine together again very soon. As for Mandrea Bike’s must orders, without question you MUST get the following dishes when dining at MIMI Chinese:

• Shrimp toast
  • All of our must try dish, you just need this in your life
• Scallion & ginger sea bass
  • Love yourself, order this!
• House Char Siu
  • Come on — it’s moist, savory, sweet and you’ll dream about it!
• Stir Fried Rice Rolls
  • Less “instagramable” than the four foot belt noodle but better in taste
• Stir Fried Gai Lan
  • Eat your greens, cause these are the best greens you’ll ever eat
• Four Foot Belt Noodle
  • Not only is it all over social media but it actually does taste as good as it looks
• Ma Lai Go – Steam Cake
  • Sounds and perhaps looks boring, but this cake is anything but… There’s a reason it made its way to one of our must-try dishes

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)