Pacific Mall Food Court in Markham: What We Ate and Paid
By Michael · October 24, 2026
Pacific Mall in Markham is one of the original Asian malls in the Toronto area. Most people come for the food, and the food court upstairs, Pacific Heritage Town, is where the Hong Kong street snacks are. We spent a day there as a family of four: Michael, Rina, Spencer (3) and Archie (almost 1).
The short version: the street snacks were cheap and decent. Fish balls were $3, fish siu mai was $4.50, and the squid tentacles came to about $3 to $4 a skewer. Bubble tea for two was $18. It’s a fun mall to walk around and snack in, but we don’t come here to shop, and the snacks weren’t something we’d make a special trip for.
We filmed the whole visit: watch the episode.
Quick facts
- Place: Pacific Mall, Markham. Food court upstairs in Pacific Heritage Town.
- What we paid: fish balls $3, fish siu mai $4.50, squid tentacles about $3 to $4, two bubble teas $18, a $30 arcade card, $10 for four gashapon coins.
- Good for: a snack walk with kids, bubble tea, Hong Kong street snacks, looking around.
- Good to know: bring cash. A lot of places around the GTA want cash, and we were running low before we even walked in.
Breakfast first: KLN Cafe at New Kennedy Square
We didn’t start at Pacific Mall. We had breakfast at KLN Cafe, a Hong Kong style cafe stall in the New Kennedy Square food court. It’s a food court, so you order at the counter and sit wherever there’s room. They do set meals: you pick something like chicken or a pork chop, then add a carb such as macaroni in soup or a pineapple bun.
Here’s what we ordered:
- Satay beef macaroni (沙嗲牛通粉). The beef was tender. The satay flavor was on the lighter side, but still pretty good.
- Tomato soup macaroni. This was Spencer’s request. The soup smelled great and was very tomatoey. A hearty breakfast.
- Pork chop with toast. Tender, with sauce on top and an egg.
- Pineapple bun with butter (菠蘿油). A big slab of butter inside. Fluffy, with a sweet topping, though it wasn’t very warm.
- Iced lemon tea for Rina, in a big cup.
The food court sets came to $26 for everything. Michael also had a milk tea that was bold but not sweet enough, so he added sugar.
We also picked up a second pineapple bun and an egg tart (蛋撻) from the bakery in the same plaza so we could compare. Both buns had been sitting out, and honestly they were very similar. Rina likes the egg tart with the cookie-style crust. Michael likes egg tarts in Toronto in general: they seem to use more lard in the crust, so there’s more flavor, and the filling is heavy, creamy and just sweet enough.
Walking Pacific Mall: what’s downstairs
The main floor is where most of the shopping is. It’s a maze. There are two entrances that look almost the same, and we got lost looking for the bubble tea shop. What you’ll find:
- A lot of eyeglasses shops, phone cases and phone tripods.
- Nail salons, jewelry and clothing.
- Snack shops with Japanese and other Asian snacks. One had the little cow crackers we used to eat.
- Claw machines, and a Mid-Autumn display when we visited.
Every time we come to Pacific Mall, we never buy anything downstairs besides a drink. It’s interesting to stroll through. It’s just not much for us to buy.
Mr. Sun International Tea Shop
The one thing Rina always gets here is bubble tea at Mr. Sun International Tea Shop, a Taiwanese bubble tea shop that’s been around since 1999. They make handmade fruit tapioca.
We got two drinks for $18:
- Grape green tea with grape pulp for Rina.
- Strawberry milkshake for Spencer, with mango and strawberry tapioca.
The handmade tapioca had great flavor. Both drinks were too sweet for us, though. Spencer gave up on his, so Michael finished it. Michael’s tip: wait for the ice to melt a bit.
Upstairs: the arcade and the cosmetics store
Upstairs there’s more bubble tea, bubble waffles and a milk tea shop that says it has won awards. Michael was too full to try it this time.
The store Rina likes to shop in is the big cosmetics shop up here. It carries Japanese and Korean skincare, shampoo, lotions and contact lens supplies. She picked up mascara and eyeliner.
The arcade is next door. We put $30 on a card. Spencer played the motorcycle and racing games, and Rina won two Marshall plushes from the claw machine. We gave one to a little girl who’d been trying to win one and couldn’t.
Pacific Heritage Town food court
Cross the little bridge and you’re in Pacific Heritage Town, the main food court. It’s a long row of stalls: fresh egg rolls, a skewer shop, a dumpling house making siu mai and wontons by hand (they sell frozen packs too), a Hong Kong barbecue stall with roast duck and crispy pork, stir fry, Japanese curry, sushi, crepes, takoyaki, cold noodles, fruit drinks and a big Taiwanese fried chicken stall.
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The Hong Kong street snacks we ordered
We went to the Hong Kong street snack stall, the kind with fish balls, beef balls, tripe, squid and siu mai on skewers. We ordered:
- Fish balls, $3. We got them with no spice. Nice and chewy, pretty good flavor, and we dipped them in a little soy sauce and hot sauce. Spencer ate a whole stick.
- Squid tentacles, about $3 to $4 a skewer. We first read a higher price off the board, but that’s the bigger dish. What we got was just a few bucks. Good flavor.
- Fish siu mai (燒賣), $4.50. Good chewy texture, still steaming, but not much flavor.
Our honest take: it’s good as a quick snack, but it’s not a spot we’d tell you that you have to try. The flavors are decent. To be fair, people in Hong Kong are very picky about their fish siu mai and the soy sauce that goes with it, and this one didn’t stand out.
We usually eat before we come to Pacific Mall and don’t eat much at the food court. On earlier visits we tried the big fried chicken steak and the fried oyster from the Taiwanese fried chicken stall. This time we didn’t order from it.
Gashapon: $10 for four coins
Near the food court there’s a gashapon station, the Japanese capsule toy machines. Spencer wanted the rocket-power hippo. It took four coins, which was $10, and he got a different one: a flying hippo with wings. That’s the thing with gashapon, you don’t know what you’ll get. He was sad for a minute. We think the flying hippo is pretty cute.
The knife and cookware shop
On the way out we passed the shop downstairs that sells big Chinese cleavers, woks, Hong Kong milk tea pots with the cloth filter bag (Michael’s mom has one) and mooncake moulds. It’s Chinese cookware you probably can’t find in many other places.
Our verdict on Pacific Mall
For us, Pacific Mall is a ritual more than a shopping trip. We walk around, get a drink and some snacks, and usually leave without buying anything. The cosmetics store upstairs is the exception for Rina.
What we’d say to another family:
- Eat a real meal first somewhere else, then come for bubble tea and snacks.
- Bring cash.
- If you have kids, the arcade and gashapon are the fun part. Set a budget.
- We didn’t try the egg rolls, the award-winning milk tea or the Taiwanese fried chicken this time.
Then Spencer’s first swim lesson
Pacific Mall was the middle of our day. That afternoon both boys had their first swim lessons at a community centre in Markham. We signed up as non-residents: $163.46 CAD for 11 sessions. We won’t be in the area for all 11 weeks, but we’ll be coming back for lessons between trips.
It was Spencer’s first class without us, one instructor with three kids. He cried for about half of it, but he followed every instruction: hand up, hold your nose. Archie did the parent-and-tot class with Rina. He kicked, laughed, and didn’t mind having his head dipped under, only the water in his eyes.
Signing the boys up for local classes is how we want to travel now: less rushing from place to place, more of a weekly rhythm. We’re keeping every place we eat this season on our free Toronto Food Map.
FAQ
How much are the street snacks at the Pacific Mall food court?
We paid $3 for fish balls, $4.50 for fish siu mai and about $3 to $4 for a skewer of squid tentacles.
Do you need cash at Pacific Mall?
We brought cash because a lot of places in the GTA want cash, and we were running low before we got there. Bring some to be safe.
Next, we’re heading to Darlington Provincial Park for three nights of camping. You can watch our full Pacific Mall episode here.
