I hate being one of those people who says, “back in the day… things were better.” Let’s be real - sometimes it’s true, sometimes not. But as I take my first bite at Tak Fu Dim Sum Emperor, I can’t help but think: this tastes like my childhood. A time when dim sum felt handmade, not mass produced.

Tak Fu even prices things the old-school way (by dish, no specials) with categories ranging from $5.99 (S) to $9.99 (SP). Tea’s a humble $1.50 a person, softening the blow of slightly higher food prices.

So, what’s so special about Tak Fu?

Start with the siu mai or steamed pork dumpling ($7.99). Most places pulverize the pork into springy meatballs. Not here. The pork is hand-chopped, juicy, and tender, breaking apart easily with each bite. Finely diced mushrooms add a hit of umami, while a plump shrimp crowns the top instead of being hidden inside - simple, balanced, and traditional.

Then there’s the har gow or De fu steamed shrimp dumpling ($8.99). The shrimp are properly cleaned and not over-tenderized, keeping their natural flavour and crunch. They’re cooked just right, encased in a slightly thick but satisfyingly elastic wrapper.

The steamed bean curd roll with satay sauce ($7.99) is dense and hearty… half a roll will do. Its filling leans pork-and-cabbage heavy, more like a spring roll in taste, so it’s not as exciting flavour-wise but still comforting.

For a contrast, the steamed rice noodle roll with fried dough in special style ($7.99). The hot, crunchy fritter wrapped in silky rice noodle is spot-on texturally, though the hoisin and sesame sauces could be thicker. Maybe they’re thinned out for easier pouring?

The steamed rice noodle roll with BBQ pork ($7.99) is stuffed to the gills with big chunks of meat and nothing else.

Pair any rice roll with the congee with preserved egg and pork ($8.99) and you’ve got a hearty solo meal. The pork’s properly seasoned, the preserved egg plentiful, and the texture rich and smooth.

For something lighter, go for the dried scallop & seafood dumpling in soup ($8.99). It takes time, but arrives piping hot with a massive dumpling stuffed with shrimp, octopus, scallop, mushrooms, and BBQ pork - generous and satisfying.

The deep-fried squid ($9.99) might just be the best I’ve had: crisp, tender, and barely battered. There’s also plenty of it to go around. Say what you will, Tak Fu doesn’t skimp on portions.

Even their fried rice noodle with beef ($13.99) impresses. Sliced beef, bean sprouts, and onions get a good kiss of wok hay, and those caramelized onion bits add a hit of flavour. A solid, classic version.

If you can wait half an hour, end with the steamed milk ($7.99) for dessert. Lightly sweet, perfumed with ginger, it’s a silky, nostalgic treat you won’t find in many places anymore.

Tak Fu isn’t fancy it's cozy and part of its charm. It reminds me of the old Chinatown dim sum joints: small, crowded, and full of heart.

If you’re in the mood for dim sum on a weekday, consider Zunyan Fine Dining & Banquet where any small, medium, or large dish is only $5 for the entire lunch period. Order before 11:00am on weekends and the price inches up to $5.25.

Their sui mai with fish roe (L) is solid with authentic flavours and the pork not overly pulverized. Just break into it before eating as they were not cooked through on one of my visits.

Oddly, the har gow is considered an XL and therefore not included in the special. But, if you’re a fan of shrimp dumplings, the shrimp and chive dumplings (L) is a close substitute. Moreover, the filling is heavy on the shrimp and skimps on the vegetable anyways. It’s a run-of-the-mill version of the dish with the wrapper slightly to thick and sticky.

It’s a similar story with the BBQ pork and egg rice roll (M), which has big chunks of barbeque pork, but lacks flavour. The rice roll wrapper isn’t consistently prepared: one visit it was too thick and another still thick but at least silkier.

If you prefer a thinner cheung fun, the fish paste with parsley and preserved egg rice roll (L) fits the bill and the filling a combination seldom found elsewhere.

Zunyan’s shrimp balls (L) remind of me of a crab claw without the crab. Hot, crispy, and juicy these are delicious! Just be aware that the crispy vermicelli noodles pieces coating it are not always used.

The shrimp balls are much better than the pan-fried shrimp with corn cake (L), which is really fish paste studded with shrimp pieces. Sadly, it also lacks corn… an ingredient that adds texture to an otherwise overly soft patty.

While there’s a fair amount of mushrooms in the tofu skin roll (M), there isn’t a lot of other vegetables and relies on vermicelli instead. At least they were well toasted to give it that crunch you need.

I prefer the steamed bean curd meat roll with oyster sauce (M) that encapsulates more filling. Big chunks of pork, shrimp, and vegetables are wrapped in the flavourful bean curd sheets. Having ordered this several times, the dish stays consistent and always satisfies.

The shrimp paste and squid with vermicelli (L) is rarely found at dim sum restaurants, even though it was a staple in the past. While the dish isn’t heavy on the shrimp paste, it’s flavourful enough and the vermicelli soaks in all the juices and almost melts into the other ingredients. Sadly, in recent months the squid seems to have been taken off the menu… hopefully, it’ll make a reappearance.  

For a filling dish, the preserved egg with minced pork congee (L) arrives as a huge bowl and has a decent amount of ingredients. While the congee base could be saltier, it is accompanied by green onions and crispy wonton bits for colour and crunch.

Zunyan’s wrapped chicken with egg yolk and cilantro sticky rice (L) are larger arriving two to an order. However, it’s mostly rice with a bit of salty duck egg and meat. Overall, nothing really stood out and it was too dense. Having it with the steamed shiitake and chicken (L) is ideal. At least the chicken is marinated longer and flavourful enough to cut through the big chunks of rice.

If you can get past the overly oily wrapper on the fried chicken dumpling (M), it is crispy and stuffed with chunks of chicken, diced mushrooms, and green onion. For me, I found this was too oil logged and heavy.

In terms of dessert, sharing the golden mango sago (M) is a perfect finish. The sago isn’t overly large and just sweet enough to satisfy. The real mango pieces are also a nice touch.

I find the mango sago more satisfying than the black sesame glutinous rice balls (L), which wasn’t sugary enough. Ultimately, it tastes more like a nutty sticky rice ball than dessert.

Zunyan’s dining room is spacious, but even so, I recommend arriving before 11:00am on weekdays to avoid waiting. Tables of two will need to be okay with dining beside others as the small tables are set very close. There’s no privacy with dim sum.        

One thing I loathed about Grandeur Palace was their ridiculous wait times. I would channel my inner Zen master while waiting for a table on weekends. It was a test of patience that I rarely had, so while I really enjoyed Grandeur’s dim sum, it’s a restaurant I hardly visited.

Then COVID struck and now Grandeur’s pivoted to “all day” dim sum and from 10am - 3pm, essentially the normal brunch hours, any small, medium, or large dishes are $3.88. No trying to order before 11am, when the special pricing is normally in effect, there is now five blissful hours to get your dim sum hit.

The only small hiccup is getting an order placed, which essentially means going old school and calling in. Of course, there’s always the trusty delivery apps, but you’ll be paying a premium – the $3.88 dishes will instead range from $5.85 to $7 before all the ancillary charges. So, get used to redialing starting at 10am and after a dozen tries, you’ll hopefully get through.

As with all my other dim sum experiences, takeout and delivery just isn’t the same. As soon as the lid is lifted and the steam escapes, the dish starts to wilt - it’s as if the protein packed dumplings are a plant. The wrapper on the steamed shrimp chive dumplings starts getting sticky and hard (although Grandeur smartly places them further apart, so they don’t meld together). They’re just as huge as normal, but the filling is skimpy on the chives, so they end up tasting like har gow.

While still the size of a golf ball, the shrimp sui mai loses a lot of its juices so they’re much harder than at the restaurant and sits in a shallow pool of liquid causing the wonton wrapper to become soggy. But when you haven’t had one of these pork dumplings in a few months, it still tastes awfully good, despite the sad state.

Forget about the deep fried savoury glutinous dumplings with meat. Any crispiness disappears, and it becomes a sticky chewy ball. I have no one to blame but myself – of course anything deep fried would be a disappointment. But I so wanted a bite of that five-spice laced pork with the slightly sweet chewy wrapper. At least the flavours were still on point.

The steamed rice noodle with shrimp was the dish that’s closest to what you’d find at the restaurant. They’ve always made it a bit thicker, so it held up to the travels and the consistency and texture remained consistent.

Strangely, the glaze on the honey sauce beef short ribs ($7.68) sort of melts off, leaving the top pieces lacking flavours and the bottom soaking in sauce. Do yourself a favour and open the takeout container upside down so that the sweet sauce recombines with everything. It’ll taste a lot better.

Following traditions, I had to finish the meal with the stir-fried lobster e-fu noodles ($18.88). Grandeur doesn’t skimp on takeout, really packing the noodles into the container so it’s not the easiest to portion out without having lobster fly everywhere. If I were the restaurant, I’d add a bit more savoury sauce to cover everything since the noodles will get soft regardless – it would allow the noodles to stay untangled.

Perhaps the lobster e-fu noodles aren’t ordered with as much gusto in takeout as the crustacean didn’t taste the freshest – not rancid or off, just not nearly as clean as normal.