Max’s Restaurant is a huge chain in the Philippines known for its chicken so, when they opened in Toronto, I was curious to get a taste of back home.
I visited Max’s Restaurant in Vaughan and was excited since I loved their chicken sisig when I had Max in the Philippines. We bought the $15 for $30 Yelp Deal to use as well.
Also Read: Best Filipino Restaurants in Toronto
Food at Max’s Restaurant
We ordered the Crispy Pata, Chicken Sisig and Bowl of Garlic Rice.
Crispy Pata
The only thing I’d go back for at Max’s Restaurant (if ever I do since it’s too far and this experience was just disappointing) is for the Crispy Pata.
The Crispy Pata was done perfectly: crunchy skin and tender meat. That’s all I can ask for in Crispy Pata, which for some reason a lot of Filipino Restaurants can’t achieve.
There used to be another one who can do it best, LJ Kusina, which has closed down already and became an express joint.
Chicken Sisig
Having loved the one in the Philippines, I was surely trying their chicken sisig on my first visit to Max’s Toronto.
Blech, What is this?!? What we got here was nowhere even near the one in the Philippines.
First, the meat was just in huge chunks instead of being coarsely minced and chopped as what a sisig should be. It was more like eating non-fried chicken popcorn with some minced onions and stuff.
Second, the meat was white meat instead of dark meat. This may be because they’re targeting more to non-Filipinos who prefer healthy white meat.
But this is not what someone who drove all the way to eat what they had at Max’s Restaurant in the Philippines comes to expect in Toronto.
Because they used chicken breast, the dish was dry and there was just no flavour at all. Don’t do substitutes that you can’t pull off! I was hugely disappointed.
Third, usually chicken sisig (at least from Max’s in the Philippines and in Casa Manila in Toronto), is a little saucy. This is because chicken, in general, has less flavour than pork.
If you’re using Chicken Breast, you better put that sauce because it ends up exactly like what we had: dry, bland and just disappointing. If you want to experience real chicken sisig, go to Casa Manila please.
Garlic Rice
The garlic rice just wasn’t as flavourful as other places I’ve tried, like Casa Manila.
Ube Decadence Dessert
As we were checking-in on Yelp, we noticed there was a check-in offer for free dessert. Cool!
Let’s see terms and conditions: “Applicable for dine-in only”. Sweet! We showed the server my yelp check-in to avail of the dessert.
The Ube Decadence Dessert was just like pudding with some ube filling. There was nothing here that reminds me about Filipino food other than the ube which tasted a little fake, not like the ube you’d taste in the Philippines.
Also Read: Best Restaurants in Manila, Philippines
Max’s Restaurant Service
The service was horrible at Max’s Restaurant. There were many uncleaned tables when there were people waiting in line.
That just shows the inefficiency of the restaurant. Why not clean the tables so people don’t need to wait.
The Finale at Max’s Restaurant
When we asked for our bill, it came after 20 mins. We showed them our Yelp Deal and the server took my phone to bring it to the cashier.
She comes back and says the Yelp Deal cannot be used with Yelp Check-in Offer. So it’s either we get the $30 off the meal BUT pay for the dessert, OR get the free dessert and use the Yelp Deal next time.
I tell them that there was nothing in the Yelp Check-In Offer that stated that. And that if we had known we couldn’t use it, we wouldn’t be ordering that dessert to begin with.
She went back to talk to the cashier again and comes back to say that they can’t do both and we have to pick one of the two options.
I’m just frustrated at this point and definitely chose the Yelp Deal option since I don’t really want to have to go back here again. What an ordeal!
Max’s Restaurant
Address: 1520 Steeles Ave W #121, Concord, ON L4K 3B9