Dragon Legend (Pan-Asian)

 (Note: this was written in Feb. of 2020, just before everything was locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it’s being published now as the location is confirmed to be reopened.)

Dragon Legend is located at 45 Lanark Dr. in Markham, the municipality bordering Toronto's northeast. It's off of Woodbine midway between Hwys. 407 and 7. Dragon Legend has a very large dark cavernous interior like Dragon Pearl, even with huge projection TV set. There are custom noodle soup, sushi, special and other stations... too much to take in for one visit. $2.50 AYCD pop is available. Only Pepsi is available fountain AYCD, Coke products are canned. Reusable chopsticks are supplied at the sushi station. Soup spoon is included at table which is a nice touch as I’m always forgetting them.

Red bean soup was sweet and not much else (wasn't expecting that) but things improved with the very good hot and sour soup, which was fresh and just enough heat to not overpower the flavor. Wonton soup was excellent, among the best I have had, with wonderful savour and was very fresh.

Soy sauce at sushi station was only mildly salty and quite flavorful. Crab surimi sushi was very good and fresh. Salmon roll was quite good and also fresh., so were spicy tuna and salmon rolls, salmon avocado roll. I didn't like the vegetable roll as something in it did not belong... perhaps the cucumber was going off a bit.

From the dim sum area, shrimp dumplings very good with a nice wheat flavor. Pork dumplings were also quite good. Deep fried meat dumplings like the red bean soup didn't have much flavor except sweet, but pork bun was better with some savour and spice. Deep fried chicken was a bit dry but nicely spiced and flavorful.

The special station had Peking duck, served on a wrap with julienne cucumber and sauce. The sauce was five spice based and quite good, and altogether it worked quite well and was very tasty.

Curried fish on skewer was labelled as fried yam with Chinese herb for some reason, it was pretty good although again a bit too sweet. Deep fried chicken wings were excellent with a very tasty savoury breading, very fresh and moist... among the best. Spring rolls were alright, pretty much standard for elsewhere. General Tso chicken was fantastic with plenty of flavor not overpowered by either sweet or heat. From the custom soup station I chose chicken broth with noodles, with green onion and cilantro and both pork and beef slices, the pork was very good with five spice seasoning, the beef savoury like prime rib. The soup itself while a bit dilute was delicious and I enjoyed the noodles as well.

Olive flavoured string beans were just about my favourite vegetable ever with maximum umami in the olive(?) nuggets and a wonderful flavor. BBQ pork was very good and moist whereas it is sometimes dried out elsewhere, probably the same as went in the soup. Sweet and sour pork was good and flavorful. Black pepper beef wasn't overly peppery but was still good.

From the grill station, dumplings were quite tasty. Sea bass has a strong flavor and watch out for bones. Sleek" fried egg was not bad but could have used a little more seasoning. Bean sprouts had an interesting but enjoyable flavor. Scallion was a bit dry by the time I got to it but still good. Sweet potato pastry was pretty good. Grilled mackerel was also bony although less so and strongly flavoured but tastier with more smokiness. Grilled chicken was very good with lemon hints. Grilled mushrooms were again a bit too sweet and it didn't really work with them. Grilled pineapple wasn't cinnamon coated and had gone white by the time I ate them (half hour from closing) but were still quite edible.

For dessert, tiramisu was delicious with green tea flavor though not labelled as such. Caramel custard was alright but not particularly caramelly. Mango custard was much more flavorful. Cheesecake was excellent even without sauce, plenty of flavor other then sweet. "English cake", a fruit trifle, was deliciously excellent with large pieces of fresh fruit. Green tea ice cream was alright and not freezer burned. Sugar free cappuccino ice cream was excellent with a wonderful roasted coffee flavor. Tiger tail, a flavor rare to AYCEs and one of my favourites, was very good. Black sesame which at most places is only seen on the dinner menu, was quite good also with a roasted flavor. To be sure there was some inconsistency but not excessive. Weekday lunch is $18.99, rather expensive dinner $30.99  The "Legendary" items made it a memorably good lunch and I would return with Mishy on a weekday at least.

Rating 8-8.5/10