Uncle Joe’s Family Restaurant — Poutine in Markham | Canada Poutine Directory | Canada Poutine Directory

Pari Light

After many years since our last visit, we came to celebrate the winter solstice tonight with a family dinner. My dad got the T-Bone special at medium (originally it was only meant for the 23rd onwards) which was allowed because the original owner was present tonight. My mom got the Certified Angus medium. I got the New York steak for myself at rare doneness. For the soup that came with I upgraded mine to French Onion and my parents took the regular/daily which was also accompanied by garlic bread-ish. Additionally, I got a Long Island Iced Tea and in the process of it caught a conversation between Kitchen and Old Owner that their ice machine is broken so I have NO IDEA where the ice for my drink came from—other than that it tasted fine and the old owner personally made it. T-Bone was not up to par. It was exceedingly tough according to my dad and inconsistently cooked. It was closer to a medium well than a medium rare-medium and subsequently whether from improper prep or age of the cut, it wasn't juicy. From what I witnessed when I did look up at my dad, it was tough to cut no matter how small or large he sliced it. Certified Angus was passable. My mom didn't have many complaints nor praises so take that as you will. Could tell at a glance the vegetables were the family pack frozen ones from Costco. My New York Steak was passable-ish. The fat cap wasn't rendered down properly and the steak itself was slightly tough in certain areas. The doneness was fine at rare, but with all this in mind—if you want a consistent cook medium to well seems to be the way. My problem mainly with the food lies in seasoning and ingredient quality. The vegetables are for some reason visually and texturally rough and fuzzy? They melt in your mouth in the worst way possible. There is no crunch, not even on the carrot. It was mush, plain and simply, same with the mashed potatoes. No seasoning aside from gravy and actual mush it was melting every forkful into my mouth. No hint of garlic, butter, milk or cream--just bland potato mush with gravy. Ambiance? Nothing at all. I don't know what to describe it other than quiet and empty. There was one other table aside from ours and one take-out order. From the bits of conversation with the old owner, I gleaned that at the turnover at first, regulars were aplenty but they tapered off and dwindled as time went on and that looks to be accurate based on reviews here on Yelp and over on Google. Business has been slowing down and much of it is attributed to the declining quality both in service and food/ingredients. The new owners of the establishment bought this restaurant for the brand name but didn't upkeep the standard for food, quality, and service. There's just no business acumen from the new owners from what I can see based on reviews of this year and my experience tonight. The old owner was the saving grace for this visit on Saturday December 20th, otherwise the rating might drop to a 1 or 2 out of 5.

Posted 12/21/2025

Uncle Joe’s Family Restaurant

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