dumplings – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Fancy Dim Sum at Yu Seafood

Published on December 30, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 270 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill
Website: http://www.yuseafood.com/

If you have anyone you’re looking to impress with a fancier dim sum joint, you could do worse than Yu Seafood. The restaurant itself is quite a bit more sleek than your average dim sum place, and the presentation of the dishes is a bit snazzier.

And of course, it also has the prices to match — it’s not outrageous, but it’s noticeably more expensive than the norm.

The food is all solid, though nothing quite blew me away. I think pretty much everything was slightly (or more than slightly) underseasoned.

One of their specialties is the visually striking Bamboo Charcoal & Egg Yolk Bun. It looks impressive and tastes pretty good, but the molten custard filling was broken; it was lumpy and oily.

Everything I tried was quite tasty — but given the hefty pricing, it’s not quite as amazing as you’d hope.

Dumplings on Wheels at FeasTO

Published on November 20, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: It’s a truck, so check their Twitter
Website: http://www.feasto.ca/

FeasTO is a very single-minded food truck: they serve dumplings, dumplings, and more dumplings. It’s always a good idea to do one thing and do it well.

FeasTO definitely does it well.

I tried a couple of things: the Korean Chicken and the Chili Sesame Shrimp Wontons.

They were both quite tasty, though I think the shrimp was my favourite of the two. They were basically like the shrimp wontons you’ll find in a bowl of wonton noodle soup, with a tasty sauce that adds some zing.

It’s nicely cooked; the thin wrapper isn’t too mushy, and the shrimp is perfect.

I didn’t like the Korean fried chicken quite as much, but there certainly wasn’t anything wrong with it. It’s deep fried and crispy, and tossed in the type of sweet and spicy sauce you’ll find on Korean fried chicken.

The sauce is a bit more subtle than I’d like (or perhaps there just wasn’t enough of it) and the spice level was non-existent (this was an issue with both varieties), but I still quite enjoyed it.

Mediocre Dim Sum at Planta Queen

Published on October 22, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 180 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.plantarestaurants.com/

I just talked about Shanghai Dim Sum, a dim sum restaurant in Richmond Hill that’s both delicious and delightfully affordable.

Well, Planta Queen serves dim sum on the weekends, and it’s the complete inverse of that — it’s ridiculously expensive and thoroughly mediocre.

I managed to try a few things, and while nothing was outright unpleasant, everything I tried was an inferior version of something you could get at a dim sum joint or elsewhere. The dumplings were probably the worst offenders — the various fillings were fine, but the wrappers were flabby and overcooked.

Adding insult to injury? They all ranged from 13 to 15 bucks for an order of four. For 15 bucks, I could get 60 soup dumplings from Shanghai Dim Sum (well, I’m sure they have a limit per table, but you get the idea) — and those dumplings were about a million times better than any of the dumplings here.

The other things I tried — a dosa, fried mushrooms, dan dan noodles — were all decent enough, but again, they were crazy expensive and thoroughly inferior to the real deal.

The best thing I had — by far — was the chocolate cake. The pastry chef here is clearly the real talent in the kitchen, because the cake was abundantly satisfying. It was rich, fudgy, and slightly fruity, with a deep chocolately flavour. It was amazing.

Tasty (and Cheap!) Eats at Shanghai Dim Sum

Published on October 18, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 330 Highway 7, Richmond Hill
Website: http://www.shanghaidimsum.ca/

If you’re looking for a delicious and delightfully affordable meal, you could absolutely do worse than Shanghai Dim Sum. If you show up before 11:00 AM (and you should definitely do this) you can order off a special early morning menu that includes an order of four soup dumplings for 99 cents.

99 cents! Are they they best soup dumplings you’ll ever have? No, but they’re quite tasty, and for the price, they’re outstanding.

Everything else was quite good as well. We managed to try a generous amount of stuff (I was quite full by the end of the meal) — the total bill? About 30 bucks for three people. You can’t argue with that price.

The restaurant also has the distinction of serving what might be the garlickiest dish I’ve ever had. The boiled pork with garlic paste features tender slices of pork belly doused in a sauce that’s effectively pure, uncooked garlic. It was actually quite tasty, but that garlic taste lingered on my palate for a solid 24 hours.

Stellar Dim Sum at Dragon Boat Fusion Cuisine

Published on December 11, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 160 East Beaver Creek Road, Markham
Website: http://www.dragonboatfusioncuisine.com/

Dragon Boat Fusion Cuisine is a dim sum joint that does well. We showed up at around 10:40 on a Saturday, and the place was seriously crowded. By the time we left, it was even more packed, with a crowd waiting for tables almost going out the door.

Eating the food, it’s easy enough to see why. Some highlights:

The char siu was sweet and incredibly tender.

These fried seafood-filled tubes were nice and crispy on the outside, with a fishy (but not overbearing) flavour.

The fried dough noodle rolls were probably the best version of that dish that I’ve ever had, with a surprisingly complex flavour and a very satisfying contrast of textures between the chewy noodle, the crispy fried exterior, and the soft interior.

I really should have taken a picture of the interior of these salted egg buns, because they were absolutely crammed with an oozy, sweet custardy filling.

There were only a couple of weak dishes — surprisingly, they were the dim sum standbys that you’d think they’d work especially hard to get right. The har gow featured an overly thick, almost gummy wrapper encasing overcooked shrimp.

And the pork buns featured a filling that tasted a bit too leftovery.

Still, they were only two mild weak points in a meal that was otherwise quite stellar.