Cynthia's Chinese - Oakville Canada

To begin with, the sweet and sour spare ribs were virtually nonexistent; it felt like we received only the scraps. They were mostly cartilage and bone, making them nearly inedible, even though the menu claimed they were boneless. The sauce accompanying the ribs was overloaded with onions and peppers, leaving a minimal amount of sauce once we removed all the vegetables. We also ordered Mongolian beef, which had more filler—again, onions and peppers—than actual beef. Given the prices they charge, the portion sizes and quality do not justify the expense. Additionally, the honey garlic spare ribs came in a container about the size of a small sour cream cup, costing $16. You can do the math on that. Lastly, the rice was overcooked and firm, almost crispy. Overall, I’m very disappointed as I genuinely liked this place before.

The wonton soup, priced at $6.95 each and promised with BBQ pork, had a terrible broth that tasted like it was made from Knorr chicken bouillon cubes. There were only a few minuscule cubes of BBQ pork in the soup, which were barely noticeable. The chicken fried rice looked awful, and unfortunately, it tasted just as bad. It was basically plain white rice fried in some vegetable oil, with bland chicken, a few green onions, and an egg — but no standard vegetables like carrots or peas. There was hardly any sauce or seasoning to speak of. The Shanghai noodles resembled the cheap packages you find at the grocery store. They were served with a tasteless sauce, a few pieces of pork and shrimp, and not a single vegetable in sight. The sweet and sour pork consisted of fatty, chewy meat with a lackluster sauce. The vegetables seemed almost raw, as if the cook had no idea what they were doing. This entire meal was so revolting that I almost didn't finish a single plate. I’m appalled that this restaurant dares to call itself a fine Chinese food establishment while charging premium prices for such awful, subpar meals. I would expect this level of low-quality food from one of those budget places offering an $8.95 all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, but not from here. We felt completely scammed tonight, having spent $70 on this tasteless food. Never again! I sincerely hope others don’t fall for the allure of this place and choose to dine elsewhere. It would be hard to find worse Chinese food than what we experienced tonight. It was absolutely disgusting! I ended up throwing all the leftovers in the trash because that’s where this food belongs — not worth eating at all.

I recently picked up takeout from our favorite place for authentic Chinese food. As always, the fried rice was fantastic, and the hot and sour soup was delicious! I highly recommend trying this restaurant, especially their fried rice, pad Thai, and beef with broccoli.

Initially, I ordered takeout from Cynthia since dining in wasn't an option during Covid, and it was quite good. However, I really wanted to experience the food in the restaurant to fully enjoy it right as it was served...

I’ve occasionally ordered takeout from Cynthia's in recent years, and I have always found the quality and taste of their food to be consistently excellent. Since...