Robot, live acts recruited to elevate all-you-can-eat dining experience
Dragon Legend
★★ (out of 4) GOOD
Address: 25 Lanark Rd. (at Woodbine Ave.), Markham, 905-940-1811, dragonlegend.ca Chef: Jason Ruan
Hours: Lunch, daily 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dinner, Monday to Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Reservations: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes Price: Dinner for two with tea, tax and tip: $85
All buffets must contain Jell-O.
So goes the unwritten rule that seemingly governs all-you-can-eat restaurants around the world.
It’s no different at Asian buffet Dragon Legend in Markham, where jiggly orange cubes sit amongst the 130 offerings. But Dragon Legend goes further than most with an admirable lack of grease, perpetually hot tea and — in a GTA first — a white-toqued robot chef that slices noodles into simmering water. There is also live entertainment on Wednesdays, when a Chinese opera dancer performs at this three-year-old sister to Dragon Pearl in North York.
The vibe
The more-is-more approach extends to the decor. Chinese masks, animal carvings and red lamps are piled on to the point that some rooms look like a packing crate of traditional furniture exploded. Chinese programs play on stadium-size TVs.
Families abound, especially those with teens glued to their phones. In the waiting area, grandparents help wrap kids in winter coats.
There are no chopsticks on the tables; you get those at the noodle station where, alongside the recently added robot, a human chef pulls long strands of dough by hand for soup or stir-frying.
Duck luck
This is not the place to come for dim sum or sushi, since neither is good.
I’m happier gorging myself on Peking duck, sliced to order. So what if the steamed wheat pancakes for wrapping it up are stiffer than optimal? An endless supply of lacquered skin and chewy duck make me happy. So does autumn soup, white lidded jars of intense conpoy-broth with apricot seeds and dried greens. Find it near the pizza.
Few choices are outright terrible. Gray roast beef is one of them. Mushy cold fries are another.
Chinese best
As expected, Chinese dishes are Dragon Legend’s strong suit. “Fra- grant sauce” pig’s trotter is an inspired choice. Okra with bacon is another, as are curried fish balls and the flavour torrent of white fish soup with pickled vegetables.
A lot of the food is just OK, such as the shrimp in XO sauce or wrinkled green beans. Some of it — greasy fried sea bass, barbecued pork — is barely passable. But wokked dishes including pumpkin with mushrooms and snow peas deserve space on crowded plates. Ditto deep-cupped oysters grilled then topped with garlic. Or salmon fried rice laced with flying fish roe.
Dessert
Dozens of desserts occupy their own corner of the buffet.
There is the usual crème caramel (labelled “brown sugar egg pudding”) and mango pudding. But Dragon Legend aims higher than ordinary. The more interesting choices include honey fritters, glutinous rice dumplings with lotus seed filling, ginger boiled milk in old-fashioned metal coupes and red beans in jellied coconut milk. Yum.
Beside them, the orange Jell-O doesn’t measure up. Yet there’s a reason why I see it at every buffet, the manager later explains.
“A lot of kids like it,” he says.