TORONTO: Hung Fook Tong Chinese desserts

I loathe Chinese desserts. Beans, jellies, cooked fruit in hot soup… BLEEEACH. Nonetheless, I was willing to accompany my sister and a couple of good friends to a Chinese dessert house in Markham.

Hung Fook Tong is a Hong Kong company that manufactures bottled herbal drinks and packaged desserts. I guess this is one of their sit-down retail stores in Canada.

There’s a huge menu of hot and cold desserts, including basic red bean coconut drinks and a section of teas that are supposed to help everything from recovering from a cold to fixing your liver.

In the photo (clockwise from top left) are: black glutinous rice with mango topping ($5.50), strawberry ice cream mochi, purple sticky rice with pearl delight ($5.50) and hot papaya soup with snow fungus (雪耳).

I ordered the black glutinous rice with mango, thinking it was the most bean-less dessert I could swallow. It arrived … with bits of red bean in it! ARGH.

So after much pouting, Ben agreed to share the purple sticky rice with me. It came … with bits of red bean in it. DOUBLE ARGH.

Meanwhile, Scott was smartly enjoying his strawberry ice cream balls. Damn it.

My sister happily slurped away at her hot dessert soup, while Kevin and Jason slurped at their cold red bean drinks. Weirdos.

If you’re not familiar with the names of any of the dishes in English or Chinese, there are lots of photos you can point at. The bright, roomy restaurant also serves a small selection of dim sum and noodle dishes.

At about 10 p.m., the tables started filling up. Chinese soap operas on the TV and dozens of a magazines are there for your entertainment while you wait for your order. Or wait for everyone to finish eating their beans.

Hung Fook Tong Herbal Tea & Desserts, 505 Highway 7 East, Markham, (416) 335-8892.