@movernie
Auric King is a new Chinese restaurant that was just opened 2 weeks ago and is located inside CF Markville Mall in Markham. If you had visited Markville Mall before, this particular spot was formerly the Pickle Barrel (I surely will miss Pickle Barrel’s fish n chips and fried calamari).
With a highly populated Asian communities in Markham, Auric King is a much needed presence filling the void in the nearby area since many other Chinese restaurants have either been moved or closed down in the area.
First of all, there are 2 entrances, one is located right outside the parking lot (it’s a much needed entrance especially when the mall closes early and you want a separate entrance that allows its patrons to get to the parking lot during after mall hours.
The other entrance leads to the inside of the shopping mall. At this entrance, there is a BBQ station serving take out such as BBQ pork with rice or roasted pork, half a chicken or half a duck, the typical usual Chinese BBQ items you will find elsewhere.
Personally, I really like the waiting area, it has plenty of bench seats, individual chairs for people to sit while waiting. (I was informed by the staff that currently, people wait up to 1 or 2 hours for their tables coz everyone wants to come try the new restaurant). We waited for around 30 minutes on a Friday at around 1:30 PM so that was within reason. I personally wouldn’t wait for more than an hour for Dim Sum. I don’t care even if it’s great food, time is of essence and not worth my time to wait.
There is a machine beside the hostess table for patrons to type in the number of party size, the name and telephone number in order to get a number.
MoVernie TIP: After you type in your name and phone #, make sure to wait for the machine to print out the paper with your name, a number coz that’s your tix to get your table. I didn’t know there is a paper ticket until I observed other people who were holding a paper ticket. Instead of redoing it, I went to the hostess and told her my name and telephone # so she could tell me my ticket #.
Quite honestly, I thought the process was somewhat tedious, coz if you are going to print the paper ticket anyway, then what’s the point for me to type in my name and telephone #? At other restaurants or around the world, the purpose of the machine was that….you can walk around the mall or window shopping, when the table is almost ready, you go back to the waiting area to get your table. It’s pretty much defeat the purpose if you still end up sitting there in the waiting room for almost an hour.
Nevertheless, when it was our turn, we were greeted by a staff and she guided us to our table. This place is average in terms of size but it definitely looks grand, chic and stylish.
I really like the golden wall decor, the light fixtures and the golden bird cage looking design at one of the sections. Furthermore, you can also see a bunch of fish tanks holding the fresh seafood. Moreover, there looks like to be a big stage with big screen in the centre of the space, it’s most likely for wedding, live shows or other special occasions.
Moment we sat down, the friendly staff asked us what type of tea did we liked. The table had nice comfy chairs and table cloth. What impressed me most was the transparent tea pot came with a candle heater to keep the tea nice and hot. Furthermore, they also provided a hot water kettle for us to refill ourselves.
So…the candle warming up the tea was a nice touch. However, it could also be a fire hazard coz when the staff was placing the new table cloth, they placed the candle on one of the chairs, the table cloth almost caught in the flame, if not careful, I am sure it could easily lead to fire. I am not a fire inspector, so I can’t comment why candle flames are acceptable among all tables.
In terms of Dim Sum pricing, it’s very typical pricing at similar modern and fine dining restaurants such as Auric King. I like the fact that this restaurant didn’t over charge or jack up the prices, so you get to dine and enjoy high quality restaurant space to enjoy your meal.
Auric King Dim Sum Pricing:
Small – $5.50 CDN
Medium – $6.80 CDN
Large – $7.80 CDN
Extra Large – $9.80 CDN
SP – $11.80 CDN
J – $13.80 CDN
As I scanned the dim sum menu, there are hardly any small item. LOL Most are either Large or XL.
Although we didn’t order any stir fry noodle or rice dish, judging the pricing, it seems on the steeper side. Yang Fried Rice at $22.80 CDN and Stir Fry Beef Ho Fun at $24.80 CDN? Those are steep prices, more $$$ than Downtown Toronto and you can easily find great stir fry around the Markham area for less than $20 CDN. More like $14 to $17.50 CDN.
We ordered 5 Dim Sum items, including the restaurant’s signature specialty called “Dim Sum Combinations”, featuring 6 different variety of Dim Sum so you can try different types of Dumplings/Bun. It’s not cheap as it’s categorized as “Junior”, which is $13.80 CDN. It’s a bit pricey but we wanted to try different variety of Dim Sum. I tried the truffle mushroom dumpling, that was interesting with good truffle aroma and good mushroom texture. I also tried the spicy fish pickled dumpling. It had a bit of a heat to it, kind of eating the famous spicy fish dish but in a steam dumpling.
My parents tried the shrimp dumpling (Har Gao) and steam pork dumpling (Shiu Mai) and they both enjoyed them. My parents also shared a steam bun that had “red bean paste” in it as it resembled as a peach symbolizing as “Longevity”.
Overall, the sampler was photogenic and a great way for us to try different variety of the Dim Sum. Quite honestly, I normally wouldn’t order the spicy fish pickled dumpling on its own. But $13.80 for 6 pieces of Dim Sum is quite pricey, if I ordered 1 Har Gao and 1 Shui, $7.80 CDN each, for $16.00 I would get 2 more pieces of Dim Sum to indulge.
We ordered the century egg salty shredded pork congee. It came with a big bowl but ironically, it doesn’t fill out to the top which makes the portion looks small. Other restaurants have more pipping hot congee, bigger portion and more ingredients than here.
We also ordered the baked BBQ pork pastry, bean curd pork roll and a steam chicken with fish maw. Let me just say, not many Chinese restaurants offer this steam chicken with fish maw dish anymore coz it requires fresh and higher end ingredients and takes time to make. Nevertheless, it brought back my childhood memories of ordering it when I was a kid in Hong Kong. Instead of the “Gold Wa Ham”, they used imitation crab meat here at Auric King. But there was quite a good amount of fish maw.
Tea per person is $2.50 CDN which is on par with other similar fine dining restaurant. Unlike other places that offer Dim Sum discount if you dine early in the morning or weekdays or pay cash, this Auric King doesn’t offer any discounts. However, they do widely accept credit card with terminal which is not common at other restaurants. I paid our Dim Sum meal via credit card terminal. And I also paid with credit card at the BBQ take out station.
NOTE: Auric King automatically kicked in 12% gratuity which is common practice in many Chinese restaurants. I appreciated the fact that the staff informed me when they handed me my bill, which ensure I don’t double tip. This nice gesture is very welcoming.
Overall, we enjoyed our Dim Sum dining experience here at Auric King. I enjoyed the nice interior design, layout, the decor and the excellent service. The candle warming up the tea was a nice touch. Although, it’s very typical Dim Sum selections, flavours and quality, but I know I will be back here coz I like the fact that this is located inside the Markville Mall, which is great to walk around, running errands or shopping after dining at the restaurant.
We would be curious to come dine for dinner at night one time just to see what that experience is like in the near future.
NOTE: We also bought half a duck at the BBQ station located at the entrance of the restaurant. Currently, there is a bit of a lineup since everyone wants to try the Chinese BBQ and it’s very convenient.
Although I did find the BBQ station very odd design as the meat isn’t being prepared or cooked inside the station. There was no kitchen nearby or a corridor directly connected to the BBQ station. But instead, you see the BBQ Chefs pushed the wholesome BBQ roast pork and other BBQ items outside the restaurant and into the BBQ station. With some of the meat being carted through the waiting area and into the BBQ station. In terms of health and safety, I found it odd the Food Inspector would approve the meat being transported through so many human touching points, through the crowds from dragging from the kitchen far from the BBQ station. I don’t know if anyone, especially non-Asians are comfy seeing a dead wholesome roasted pick being trolley into the BBQ station from the entrance of the shopping mall.
Auric King 金瑞麟 – (Inside Markville Mall), Markham, Ontario, Canada
Website
Located in: CF Markville
Address: 5000 Hwy 7, Markham, ON L3R 1N1
Phone: (905) 477-7222
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/V9uMGERMXRsj68WX8
