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| - bummer. and here i was really wanting to like this place.
but a fried eggplant appetizer consisting of two raw slices of eggplant with ground, unseasoned pork sandwiched between 'em, dipped in gluey tempura and fried, a chinese-style-fried-eggplant-dish does not make. very underwhelming way to kick things off.
the pork and chive dumplings-- were alright. a little too big, and a little too doughy, truth be told. the veggie (tofu) dumplings-- were no good, and actually watery (to the point where I'm guessing they hadn't squeezed out the excess moisture from the tofu in making the mixture). nor did they actually'taste' like anything... making up for it were the standard vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil (though mostly chili oil and not much chili) accoutrements.
to top it all off, the younger girl working behind the bar and serving most of the tables was doing her best surly-old-backstreets-of-harbin-chinese-dumpling-lady-impression which was met with confusion on behalf of most diners there who just seemed to find her plain rude. us included.
next time, to satiate a dumpling craving north of the mountain, for 1/4 of the price, id make my way up to Jean Talon & Saint Denis to buy dumplings from the corner grocer and make em myself at home. or head south to qing hua or sammi and soupe-- the latter serving the best xiao laong bao i have had in canada.
too bad harbin dumplings, could'a had something here...
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