Mabu
Hong Kong style fast food restaurant · Chinatown ·
Hong Kong-style fast food eatery with cute dishes
Hong Kong-style fast food eatery with cute dishes
"A contemporary Australian restaurant led by chef Nornie Bero that spotlights Indigenous ingredients and culinary traditions, showcasing flavors such as crocodile, emu, and wattleseed in inventive modern preparations." - Erik Trinidad
"Everything at this Chinatown cafe is over the top, from tables made of mahjong tiles to the teddy bear-shaped ice that comes with your milk tea. The oversized menu has a dizzying array of cha chaan teng classics, like a salted egg yolk french toast topped with a heap of pork floss, baked macaroni casseroles, and souped-up instant noodles. Mabu Cafe doesn’t take reservations, and you’ll probably have to wait in a line, but it’s worth it for the fun, photogenic food that actually tastes good." - neha talreja, will hartman
"A new Hong Kong-style diner in Chinatown with a flair for charming gimmicks, this outpost delivers spectacle alongside comfort: there’s a dessert served in a miniature bathtub—its tub not edible nor take-home—holding an adorable Teddy bear molded from frozen coconut milk with grass-jelly cubes, sago pearls, and taro balls, meant to be bathed with more coconut milk from a little pitcher. The show continues with white bunnies of firm, creamy milk pudding corralled by a tiny plastic picket fence over crushed-peanut “gravel,” and a tom yum goong whose crimped instant ramen spills dramatically from a ceramic mug reminiscent of a Nissin Cup Noodles; even the bathroom hides behind a pale-blue Smeg fridge amid retro décor of old thermoses, typewriters, and vintage Chinese soaps on TV. The digital wait list tends to run long. I get the sense that anyone chasing strict authenticity may be disappointed—this is an outpost of a Toronto restaurant, and a neighboring couple quibbled with aspects of a cheesy baked bread bowl stuffed with things like creamy curry chicken or Bolognese plus spaghetti, macaroni, or rice—yet it’s a good introduction to cha chaan teng culture, with milk tea and mid-century Western dishes refracted through a Cantonese palate. The most delicious dishes for me skewed Asian: chewy instant noodles topped with chicken, scallion oil, and a fried egg; sweet, sticky barbecued pork over lard-slicked rice; a neat stack of steamed choy sum in glossy oyster sauce; and bouncy fish balls in curry. I was charmed by the “Grills in Hot Plate” selections—sizzling cast-iron platters ringed with soda-jerk-style paper crowns—piled with combos like a fried pork chop with sausage, macaroni, corn, grilled onion, and sliced tomato, and I was surprised by how comforting a casserole of rice, beef, tomato, onion, and corn felt under a blanket of melted cheese. For dessert beyond the cutesy animals, a crackly-topped pineapple bun can be split and stuffed with vanilla ice cream or, better yet, a fat slab of butter, and I went crazy for the Dirty Caramel Cookie Cream Bun: a soft, slightly crusty roll sandwiching gobs of luscious cookie-butter pastry cream and crushed Biscoff, then coated in more crushed Biscoff—wonderful and wacky. Dishes $6.99-$26.99." - H, a, n, n, a, h, , G, o, l, d, f, i, e, l, d
"The photo ops at Mabu Cafe start before you even walk into the Hong Kong-style cafe in Chinatown. Cozy up for a group selfie with the Kaws-style statues outside before descending a neon-lit staircase, which feels a bit like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. Everything here is over the top, from tables made of mahjong tiles to the teddy bear-shaped ice that comes with your milk tea. The oversized menu has a dizzying array of cha chaan teng classics, like a salted egg yolk lava-stuffed french toast topped with a heap of pork floss, baked macaroni casseroles, and souped-up instant noodles. This is carb-heavy, cheesy, saucy comfort food at its finest. Mabu Cafe doesn’t take reservations, and you’ll probably have to wait in a line, but it’s worth it for the fun, photogenic food that actually tastes good. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte Pause Unmute" - Carina Finn
"The first U.S. location for this Hong Kong-style cafe has already been drawing lines in Chinatown for playful items like lava toast, baked spaghetti, and a Thai soup served with mussels and shrimp in a Cup Noodles mug." - Emma Orlow
