UPDATE 2020-Oct-31 - In another loss due to the COVID-19 closures, Simple Fresh has not been open for months and now has a notice from the landlord on the front door that forty-six thousand dollars are owing and the property will be repossessed Nov. 2nd. Google Maps lists it as Permanently Closed.Simple Fresh is located on Danforth Avenue, very close to Pape and its subway station, so is very transit-accessible. AYCE is only offered on Friday to Sunday for dinner; I only discovered this from a sign outside, as it is not mentioned on the restaurant's Google Maps listing. The menu is so small that it fits on one side of an 8.5 x 11" sheet, but still as long as the quality is there it doesn't matter.
Hot and sour soup was fantastic, tangy not like other places but very good. Corn egg drop soup was also very good. Sweet chili chicken was delicious, although it was breaded and Mishy did not like it at all because of that; I was not expecting breading either but it was still very enjoyable. Mishy certainly liked the ginger and garlic stir-fried beef but be aware that it is mostly vegetables. She didn't like the Singapore Style vegetables fried vermicelli saying it didn't have enough flavour, but I found that it just needed a couple of drops of soy sauce to wake it up, and then it was delicious. Chicken shumai was fantastic, fresh and didn't have any weird aftertaste or anything else; very well done. Pork shumai was similarly excellent, with no aftertaste, and very fresh. Deep fried pork dumpling was excellent, clearly made on premises rather than cooked from frozen bought elsewhere, and was very tasty.
Black bean chicken was delicious, although Mishy for some reason thought the sauce made it seem that the chicken was going off, but I did not notice this at all. General Tao chicken was not only excellent, but we both said it was the best we've ever had, with a wonderful smoky flavour, just the right spicing and sweetness and hot off the grill rather than tepid as is sometimes found elsewhere. We ended up ordering seconds as it was so good. Vegetable fried egg noodles were similarly understated until a few drops of soy sauce were added, and then they became fantastic. Satay beef stir fry was also very good although a little understated as with the other wok offerings, and again was mostly vegetables just in case that's not what you were expecting. Chicken bun was tasty, although there was a little too much bun and too little chicken.
There are no desserts unfortunately. Dinner was $24.95. Due to the lack of desserts and brevity of the menu, I do think that this is a bit too much, perhaps a couple of dollars. However, with some objections from Mishy, I certainly enjoyed everything and some of it was nearly best-of-breed for AYCEs.
Rating: 8-8.5/10
Hot and sour soup was fantastic, tangy not like other places but very good. Corn egg drop soup was also very good. Sweet chili chicken was delicious, although it was breaded and Mishy did not like it at all because of that; I was not expecting breading either but it was still very enjoyable. Mishy certainly liked the ginger and garlic stir-fried beef but be aware that it is mostly vegetables. She didn't like the Singapore Style vegetables fried vermicelli saying it didn't have enough flavour, but I found that it just needed a couple of drops of soy sauce to wake it up, and then it was delicious. Chicken shumai was fantastic, fresh and didn't have any weird aftertaste or anything else; very well done. Pork shumai was similarly excellent, with no aftertaste, and very fresh. Deep fried pork dumpling was excellent, clearly made on premises rather than cooked from frozen bought elsewhere, and was very tasty.
Black bean chicken was delicious, although Mishy for some reason thought the sauce made it seem that the chicken was going off, but I did not notice this at all. General Tao chicken was not only excellent, but we both said it was the best we've ever had, with a wonderful smoky flavour, just the right spicing and sweetness and hot off the grill rather than tepid as is sometimes found elsewhere. We ended up ordering seconds as it was so good. Vegetable fried egg noodles were similarly understated until a few drops of soy sauce were added, and then they became fantastic. Satay beef stir fry was also very good although a little understated as with the other wok offerings, and again was mostly vegetables just in case that's not what you were expecting. Chicken bun was tasty, although there was a little too much bun and too little chicken.
There are no desserts unfortunately. Dinner was $24.95. Due to the lack of desserts and brevity of the menu, I do think that this is a bit too much, perhaps a couple of dollars. However, with some objections from Mishy, I certainly enjoyed everything and some of it was nearly best-of-breed for AYCEs.Rating: 8-8.5/10
