This place is always packed during lunch/dinner whenever I go.

They offer dine-in and take-out options. You can grab BBQ to go

There's fresh BBQ hanging at the front of the window.

There's fresh seafood swimming around in the tanks at the back.

If you're not here to get something to go, you can sit at one of the many (large) round tables. Though, if you are dining on your own or a pair, you may be sharing a table with others. But hey, you're in Chinatown, so just call it the authentic experience. They do have seating for 4 I think, but it looks like they prefer large round tables.

Washrooms are a bit too small in comparison, however, and the way they've set up their floor-plan, if it's a full-house, you need to basically walk all the way around the restaurant to actually reach the washrooms because the tables are so close that there's no space if a bunch of people are sitting around them. But you can't really blame them there's only so much room and they want to maximize capacity.

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They have two menus: a green menu, and a red menu. I'm not sure what the difference is but they have different categories and items...So I guess you're looking at a restaurant with over 400 items to choose from.

There's also lists of weekly specials posted.

In addition to all those menus, they also have special menus for

1. Breakfast 8 AM to 11 AM

2. Lunch 11 AM to 3 PM

3. Afternoon Tea 3 PM to 5 PM

Given that they close at 2 AM or 4 AM, I'm wondering if they have a midnight menu.

Given the abundance of cantonese restaurants at dundas/spadina, prices are competitive, portion sizes are pretty big. Even the ones you get from the special menus. You're looking at something like a $6 lunch and it should be enough to fill you up.

Food comes up at a good rate, and while you're waiting, their selection of teas are pretty good to pass the time. Of course, refills included.

All of the dishes I've tried so far were enjoyable.

There was some hints of rancid oil in the flavours for a couple dishes.

House of Gourmet is a name no Chinese person will know if you tell them, but say the name in Chinese and you should get a bunch of grins and head nods. The place itself is identifiable by all the hanging dead animals on the window front. That image alone should entice you to walk in. And then as soon as you glance at the menu, you’ll notice they have close to 500 items!!