What’s on the menu at Hutaoli, Markham’s Chinese version of Hard Rock Cafe

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | February 27, 2019

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | 02/27/2019

Name: Hutaoli
Contact: #1-3760 Hwy 7 E., Markham, 365-608-5333, hutaolitoronto.com, @hutaolitoronto
Neighbourhood: Markham
Owner: Kaitlyn Zhang

The food

Hutaoli is one of the latest Chinese chains to open a Toronto location. The popular spot for spicy Sichuan plates and live music is offering Canadians all the mega mainland hits. A few of the dishes, though, have been tweaked a bit—not because the chefs thought Toronto palates needed coddling, but because certain ingredients (like the cheese used on the durian pizza) weren’t available here.

This shrimp-and-chili plate is one of the few dishes that’s only found at the Toronto Hutaoli location. $21.

This eggplant is lightly battered then deep fried. $14.

Fresh durian is cooked down before it’s blended and used as the sauce on this cheese-topped pie. $18.

This piquant jellyfish dish has some serious sting. $10.

Sliced beef and tongue in chili sauce. $11.

This pickled-cabbage fish soup is piled high with chilies, and gets some added spice from Sichuan peppercorns. $31.

This is the signature Hutaoli dish. The chicken is marinated for eight hours in a blend of 12 spices before going in the oven. The bird arrives to the table—in a cage. It’s then sprinkled with crushed peanuts and pulverized with a wooden mallet. $19.

The drinks

Signature cocktails, some beer and a selection of worldly wines (bottles of which are priced around the $50 mark). Instead of pop, Hutaoli serves fresh juices and house-brewed iced teas.

The Flaming Lips is found at all Hutaoli locations. The rose petal- and sugar-garnished flute is filled with a mix of lemon, vodka, and black currant and raspberry juices. $11.99.

The signature sangria is made with red wine, Triple Sec, melon liqueur and a blend of juices (pineapple, apple, orange). $11.99.

The space

Hutaoli is basically the Chinese Hard Rock Cafe: a restaurant chain that fuses music and food, with a stage anchoring every one of the 400-plus locations. The 200-seat room is decked out in faux greenery: fern chandeliers, ivy-festooned walls and wildflower-filled jugs. A random assortment of tchotchkes like vintage TVs, bird cages, lanterns and Grecian-style busts, give the 6,300-square-foot room a quirky, Alice in Wonderland-like air. Chairs upholstered with images of suit-sporting anthropomorphic hares and harts add to the Lewis Carroll vibe, while two cottages hanging from the ceiling (made to look like traditional ’60s-era Chinese houses) complete the surreal aesthetic.