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| - Came here for dim sum on Labour Day with my family. We decided to "class it up" a bit since we have relatives in from Hong Kong than taking them to our usual dumpy dim sum places - though if you ask me, the food is just as good in those places, if not better!
The pros of going to a higher end dim sum places usually include:
Better service
Less wait times
Specialty items
Better ambiance/decor/seating
Of the 4 pros, they excelled at 2, and failed in 2.
We arrived at around 10:30AM before the mad rush of 11AM came around (this is usually the time a dim sum restaurant starts getting busy and you have to start taking a number!) The smaller tables were getting called much faster (which makes sense because how much can 2 people eat really?) It seemed they only had 3 larger tables and I noticed that they implemented their sectional to section off part of the restaurant, presumably for a night banquet/function given the red table cloths and special table setting. I couldn't help but feel a bit irked that they didn't open up that section of the restaurant to accommodate the crowds that were now all tapping their feet in impatience. Our biggest mistake was not making a reservation - though that counts for little. You still have to wait, but it just means that if you have a reservation and there are 4 tables of 4 waiting, you get bumped up to the top. Its not a TRUE reservation in the sense of the word.
At approximately 11:10AM we were finally seated at a table that was meant more for 8 than it was for 10, so we had a very "intimate" family dim sum that morning to say the least.
We ordered more than our stomachs could hold (this is what happens when you have multiple people ticking off things on the menu. When this happens, we only see the items we ticked off, but fail to see the other dozen items that were already pre-selected which results in a WHOLE lotta food that we can't finish being shoved into styrofoam take-out boxes for later and an expensive bill. Ours fell shy of $120 for a table of 10 with tax and tip, which, by dim sum standards is pretty pricey.)
They had the standard dim sum items but some specialty ones as well: Korean Short Ribs, Papaya/Milk Tarts, Salted Egg Yolk Steamed Custard Buns, Salted Egg Yolk Sesame Balls, Osamanthus-Lychee-Goji Jelly, Deep Fried Sticky Rice to name a few.
The dim sum is priced according to size (S/M/L/XL). It is a tick-the-paper system as opposed to the old-school push-cart system here. Their marketing team really tries to sell you with the "fancied" up names they try to give to standard dim sum items. Golden this, dragon that.
The service wasn't particularly stellar. The ladies who bring out your orders could stand to smile a bit more. I found that they were rather rude. We had asked if they could cut some of the dim sum items in half with scissors and she grumpily replied "I don't have any" and huffed off to the next table.
The dim sum chef could use a lesson or 2 in making a Shrimp/Scallop Dumpling that doesn't fall apart. Most people would place blame on my amateur chopstick-holding skills, but even my elders who hold it the "proper" way had difficulty keeping these babies in one piece.
The Korean Short Ribs were a bit on the dry side albeit tasty. The papaya tart was anything but exciting. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
Alas, another restaurant in "Rich"mond Hill that has disappointed me. For me, the lot of them are not worth the trek just for dim sum as there are plenty of options in Scarborough that are just as good, for a fraction of the cost, and a quarter of the gas.
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