The Cheap Eats issue of Now Toronto included Qian He Traditional Wheat Cake Room and its "chinese burrito". I couldn't find it on Spadina the last time I looked but I finally hit the jackpot on Saturday. 346 Spadina (at St. Andrew) is a building with numerous stores. The Spadina side contains mostly cheap clothes and knick-knack vendors. The large corner has the steps up to a dim sum restaurant (formerly Bright Pearl). But there's a row of stores just a few doors down the St. Andrew side including Qian He.
Looking at the bare-bones interior, it is obvious the sign is from a previous tenant. There is no wheat cake here, only hand-made frozen dumplings to go, typically $4.99 for a box of 20 and a display case of other "cold" offerings: chicken feet, duck wings, hearts, etc. But chef Fan is there behind his station, ready to make Traditional Style Smoked Pork Pie ($2.99), if you speak Mandarin or can at least hold up a finger to indicate how many. This is essentially the fried pancake you get with Peking duck. He rolls out the dough, lays it in the hot-plate skillet, brushes on vegetable oil, and lets the whole thing puffs up with some blister spots. It is then stuffed and wrapped with hoisin sauce, sriracha, chinese bbq pork, and various greens including bean sprouts and green onions.
This is the real deal and better than most burrito places at 3 times the price. Crunchy, pleasantly greasy, sweet and salty, the wrap satisfies the taste buds. Better make your way here soon because when I was there, a steady trickle of 20-somethings walked in, after looking apprehensively at the sign and their smartphone. They must have read the same article I did. Qian He is probably too low-rent to ever get a line-up out the door like some taco joints, but the wait could get lengthier.
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