Cynthia's Paradise (Pan-Asian)

Cynthia's Paradise is at 16715 Yonge Street at Mulock Dr. in Newmarket, about 20 km. north of Toronto and just north of the town of Richmond Hill. Yonge is Toronto's major north-south street that divides the city in half and turns into Hwy. 1, so it's pretty easy to find. We actually found it by accident while going to a different AYCE for a writeup, so decided to try this one instead.

It's well-named for the interior, which is gorgeous… booths are circular with high backs and the interior is highly and uniquely decorated; it appears no expense was spared on decoration. iPads are used for ordering which I like as it makes for accurate and reviewable ordering. Chopsticks are reusable. Soy sauce was a bit salty and it didn't appear low-sodium was available. Ambiance was quieter but the music was oddly random; went from Michael Jackson to G. F. Handel within a couple of minutes. One unpleasant and strong caveat that we didn't find until the bill arrived is that green tea is $1.95!… there was no warning and it's free everywhere else, being little more than hot water.

Starting off, miso soup was quite good, and Mishy described it as perfect. She described the wakame seaweed salad as being perfectly seasoned. There is no green salad, but smoked duck salad instead, however I didn't try that. Lobster cream soup was somewhat watery and not like bisque at all and I didn't much care for it. Hot and sour soup was an improvement and was excellent (this is one of my "barometer" dishes that tell me how the rest of the food will be.) The Japanese chicken fried rice was excellent and Mishy loved it. Yam tempura was a bit oily but the sauce was good. Shrimp tempura was lighter and flaky. Cucumber and green dragon rolls were both good. Cheese vegetables were a tasty variation on the expected with a sauce resembling white cheddar, and I liked it.

On to the main courses, Mishy didn't like the chili basil beef but I liked it a lot. Beef teriyaki was in big tender chunks and was excellent. Curry chicken was Thai style and very good. General Tao chicken was excellent. We both enjoyed the salmon rose.

As expected for "Paradise", Cynthia's has over-the-top desserts: for starters there are coconut and cappuccino soft-serve ice creams; anything other than chocolate and vanilla is rare, and both were delicious. Mishy said that that mousse was the best dessert she had ever had, and I quite enjoyed it too. Chocolate cake and strawberry cake were exactly the same as the mocha and strawberry cakes at 8 Sushi (our usual weekend hangout) which indicates they are being ordered from an outside supplier. Mango yogurt was more gelatin and a small portion but was good.

Strangely, on doing this writeup I found we both didn't remember Cynthia's being as good as my findings at the time indicated. I think there are two reasons for this: first, the décor was so amazing that it actually overshadowed the food; one expected everything to be best-of-breed perfect. Secondly, we were very put off by the underhanded $1.98 charge for lukewarm water called green tea. Lunch price was $16.99 and this would have been excellent were it not for this. So I will say that I did enjoy Cynthia's Paradise, but unfortunately not as much as I could have.

Rating: 7.5/10