Marathon Donuts & Coffee Shop

I’m not sure why everyone rave about this place? I keep hearing they serve the best HK style milk tea… but I really don’t think this place is all that good. I actually find their milk tea really stale. Food? well, for the price I guess I can’t complain but I’ve had better for a few more dollars. I rather pay a few extra dollar for my food.
I also find the place really dirty… I’m just not comfortable eating here!

the milk tea doesn’t disappoint! if you like Chinese breakfast, this is definitely the place to get it. very Hong Kong breakfast styled eats

Going to miss the iced HK style milk tea when I’m no longer working in the area. It’s pretty good! I tend to ask for half the sugar and prefer the cold version here. :)

Love Hong Kong style milk tea? This is the place to be. Marathon serves up Award Winning HK milk tea for year after year. Rich silky milk with the aroma of «red» tea.
A few places opt for a mix of Indian and Chinese teas, some just uses Indian tea, as there is a proliferation of «fake» Chinese teas in the market. Typically, evaporated milk and condense milk is used to give is the rich smooth frothy texture. Some places will introduce air into the drink by «pulling» the tea, pouring the mixture back and forth repeatedly between two vessels from a height. Others may use something that resembles a silk stocking to remove impurities from the drink.
Marathon just sticks to the basics — tea, sugar, evaporated milk.
I always appreciate the poems on the wall of the store. It provides insights on living a tranquil way of life. I try to sit at the café from time to time as a reminder to live modestly and to appreciate small things in life.
I would suggest avoid visiting Marathon after 6:00 PM. The tea tends to be slightly more bitter and acidic. If you must, request for the drink to be sweetened to mask the flavour. Also, if you bring you own cup/​mug, you get a free upgrade from medium to large!

Another breakfast day at Marathon. This time we were in a rush, but no worries! Their service was so fast. You order, pay, eat and leave. Once again their cold milk tea and satay beef vermicelli tasted good.

Hands down my favourite place to grab milk tea. The tea is much smoother and authentic compared to many other HK style cafés. The correct combination of sugar and evaporated milk create a taste that cannot be found elsewhere.
I’ve tried both the hot and cold milk tea and I can easily say that both are superb. I’ve also ordered a few food items from the menu and was quite surprised by the quality of their Satay Beef Rice Noodle.
In short, I highly recommend going to Marathon Café to have a taste of their award winning HK milk tea.

If we’re just talking about milk tea, then an easy ⁵⁄₅.
Marathon is usually our first and last stop when we drive to Toronto. It’s amazing milk tea! We were introduced to it by our Toronto friends last year, and both my partner and I could not thank them enough. Of course, there is absolutely nothing in Ottawa that could even live up to the strength, consistency and texture of the milk tea in Marathon, so when the cravings come, only a trip to Scarborough would suffice. Good to know though that they opened another location in Richmond Hill (although Scarborough is on our way in and out so we’ll probably stick to this location).
I do prefer it cold over hot — I find they don’t put enough sugar in the hot drink. For some reason, I also find that their milk tea is better when it’s busier (maybe I got bottom of the jar last time?); but even then, it’s still the milk tea we’ve ever had. We had some of their food once, but I’m not keen on getting it again. The buns are OK.
Any trip to Toronto is always worth a stop at Marathon! Just learn from our mistake and maybe not take two for the road (or at night) — these things are potent!

BeiNg from out of town and based on friends recommendation, I tried both hot & iced milk tea, both are great but I prefer the hot milk tea!

Take two… the last time I went here the HK Tea I got seemed like it came from the bottom of the jug, which is actually true because I saw them pouring the last bits of the jug into my cup giving it the left out for a while after taste.
This time I ordered one cold and one hot. I noticed it wasn’t from the bottom of the jug this time and the taste was noticeably better than the last time. The hot one does not add sugar but it wasn’t bitter to begin with and it went down better once it had cooled off a bit from scalding hot.
If it was just that then I would give this place a 4-​star just for the HK Tea with rushed service and 25c extra for debit card.
However, I ordered some food from them.
We had the wonton with rice noodle. According to my wife, the wontons didn’t have the fishy odor which is a plus (unfortunately I didn’t get to taste it).
I on the other hand got the satay beef with macaroni. The beef has a slight kick and very pleasant taste. A little strong but buffered well with the macaroni. Even drank the soup down.
Then a short while later on the drive home… BAM. MSG effects kicked in again.
At least drinking that much tea kept me awake on the drive home, but it was uncomfortable having a numb tongue 4 hours into the day. I need to drink more water to flush this thing off.
From this point on any place that uses MSG in their dishes AND *I can notice it* will get no more than 3-​star rating from me. This is after a few successive restaurant runs that I was basically zonked out or my tongue going numb from this blasted ingredient.

Great milk tea! You can really taste the difference once you try it. Their milk tea has more tea flavour than other places and the milk is really creamy too. It has the right sugar among so you can really enjoy the milk and tea.
Food was average however. Even though everything is under $ 10 and do come with a small hot milk tea. It costs an extra $ 1 to upgrade to cold milk tea which is just ridiculous. This place is more suitable for breakfast and lunch or even afternoon tea in terms what they offer on their food menu. The good part is that you order at the counter, which means no tips!!!

I’m a regular here for 10+ years, still the best milk tea I ever had! Even after trying some of the HK milk tea in HK.
The quality of cooked food has decreased from years to years. Maybe I was just not lucky, my pineapple pork bun was full of mayonnaise and pork fat pieces (not much actual meat). The pineapple bun was still cold, not toasted. Quite disappointed with the food.
Will come back for the milk tea any day, but avoid order any prepared food.

The price and quality of HK style tea is indeed excellent! Just the right amount of tea flavor, milk flavor, not bitter yet strong! Great place for takeout, as the seating isn’t all that comfortable nor spacious.

Famous for their milk tea and satay, however IMO their milk tea is not as good as they promote to be, price is a bit overprice as well.
I do however love their satay beef, the sauce should be made in house, soup is authentic HK tea restaurant broth, you won’t go wrong with their satay noodle soup, it also is one of the most popular item in the restaurant.
There is dine in seats and free wifi at this location, it’s a good sit down place if u wanna grab some food/​drink and kill some time.

The HK milk tea here is one of the best I’ve had. The place looks very dingy and rundown inside and out, but definitely worth a try to go into.
I have not tried any of their food/​other items on the menu. I only come here for the tea!

Good hole in the wall Hong Kong style tea shop in the heart of north Scarborough. For those who are not familiar with HK style milk tea, it is a blend of Indian and Chinese teas designed to maximize aroma and flavour, and is meant to be had super strong, with condensed milk, also in very strong portions. You can have it iced or hot, but the flavour has to be in your face.
This is the best incarnation of HK style tea I’ve had in Canada. The owner apparently won a competition in HK for best HK style tea a few years back, and has been featured in the Toronto Star.
The décor is definitely old school Scarborough, meaning no frills and basic. When you walk in you’re greeted by old uncles chatting in Cantonese while watching news from HK. There is a newer location in Richmond Hill, but this is the original so you get ‘authenticity’ with your visit. If you’re dropping in though, be sure to try the food, particularly the HK style breakfast favourites. They have all the classics like macaroni and instant noodles soup, with different toppings like pork chops, ham etc…
One time I wanted the pork chop pineapple bun sandwich for breakfast but the bakery doesn’t deliver the pineapple buns until later in the day so I went for a rice noodle with satay beef on top. Everything tastes as it should, with the satay sauce complementing the beef nicely and lettuce on the side.
A word of caution though: for those of you coming in expecting traditional Chinese food, or Thai style food, you won’t get it here, but what you will get is a delicious tea, and a taste of HK’s melding of different cultures from all around the world.

came here for lunch today. and ordered instant noodles + pork chop and a cold milk tea.
instant noodles and pork chops is pretty much what you’d expect of it. lol. instant noodles, broth, fried pork chop and some lettuce.
the highlight of the meal was of course the milk tea. i’ve had their hot milk tea once before and was told about all the marathon goodness but never knew where marathon actually was. today, a friend and i were wondering around as we were looking for a place to eat close to my mechanic’s shop and stumbled across the store. so we decided to get lunch here. this is definitely the home of one of the best milk teas i’ve ever had, hot or cold.

Love the milk tea coffee mix. So smooth and perfect sweetness. Very small place for eating and drinking in. I see most people getting take out.

Fantastic milk tea and coffee… haven’t tried anything else there though.
They could use a renovation but with all the business they draw it’s really not nessesary.

Best milk tea that I’ve had. Strong tea taste.
Note the pricing mentioned in these reviews seems outdated. Its over $ 3 for a milk tea now (I think around $ 3.2 after tax). Looks like its increased pretty rapidly over the recent history, although definitely worth it.
They sell a large variety of HK café style food as well, but I’ll probably stick to the tea

Came here after reading rave reviews for their award winning HK style milk tea.
The place is small but packed. The inside reminded me of a tired coffee time type of joint where people were just milling about. Difference was that they were being served HK style snacks and noodle soups.
We went specifically for the tea so that’s what we tried. We got a cold HK style milk tea and a cold lemon tea with a pineapple bun. I thought the milk tea was good but if you asked me what made this tea an award-​winner in my books, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. It was good but not too different from other HK style milk teas I’ve had in the past. Lemon tea was refreshing with the addition of real lemon juice.
My toddler loved the pineapple bun so that’s probably what we’ll go back for next time. As for the tea? Sure, if I happen to be thirsty when I’m there.