Showing posts with label shrimp dumpling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shrimp dumpling. Show all posts

Grandeur Palace 華麗宮大酒樓 (Toronto) for takeout

Note: Prices in post are based on regular menu prices and may be higher when using delivery services

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.  

While I’m glad it was an efficient meal from Grandeur – call to place an order, arrive at the stated time, go to the cashier area to tell them your number and pay, then bring the receipt to the takeout table to collect your order – the saying “good things come to those who wait” creeps into my mind. While the dim sum was passable, it wasn’t great. Who would have thought I’d actually miss the days were I would have to stand in line for 30+ minutes for a table? What I wouldn’t give for a test of patience now.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
  Address: 2301 Brimley Road
 Delivery: Uber and Skip the Dishes
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Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never order again
  • 6 - decent for delivery and takeout, but there's better
  • 7 - this is good, for delivery and takeout
  • 8 - great for delivery and takeout, it's almost like you're in a restaurant
  • 9 -  wow, it's like I'm eating at a restaurant
  • 10 - I'd happily order this for delivery or takeout instead of dining in any day!


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Shangri-La for dim sum (Markham)

Shangri-la dim sum in Markham

Toronto has no shortage of dim sum restaurants, but Shangri-La Banquet Hall touts theirs as one of the few where you’ll eat in a ballroom – their Esna Park ballroom to be exact. With no early bird specials on weekends, it’s also the place to go if you refuse to wait or have a large table and want to make reservations. While their regular prices will set you back $3.20 for S, $4.20 for M, $5.20 for L, $6.20 for XL, and $7.20 for SP (along with $2 a person for tea), if you order before 11am on weekdays, any of the S, M, or L dishes are all $3.20.

One of my favourite dishes is the large dumping with soup. At Shangri-La theirs is filled with abalone and conpoy and sits in supreme soup (SP). While the dish is expensive compared to other restaurants, it’s also huge and can easily feed four. The soup has a nice rich essence and the abundant seafood inside wasn’t too overcooked; yet, the broth could use more seasoning.


Their dumpling with shrimp (XL) and sui mai with fish roe (L) were both solid renditions of the staples, much larger than what you’d find elsewhere. While I didn’t try the har gow, their pork dumpling was springy and juicy with a generous dollop of roe on top.


If the shrimp in the har gow was cooked to the same doneness as the chives and shrimp dumpling (L), it would be spot on. Personally, I prefer the addition of the herby chives to the dumpling, which gives the dish more flavour.


While the bovine tendon (L) had that nice soft chewy gelatinous texture you want with beef tendon, the sauce contained a twinge of sourness that threw me off. It seemed like they added red vinegar to the marinade or to sweet potatoes at the bottom of the dish. In fact, a few of the steamed dishes had a filler, whether it’s sweet potatoes or the yam noodle bundles in the cuttlefish. Understandably, lining a dish is common for early bird special periods, but when customers are paying full price these fillers are disappointing. After all, I never pair black bean spare ribs with sweet potatoes.


Nonetheless, despite the yam bundle, the cuttlefish in curry (L) was well steeped with flavour - I rather enjoyed the hint of spiciness permeating the sauce.


The spare ribs in black bean sauce (M) and BBQ pork bun (S) were both average: it would be nice if the black beans on the spare ribs were mixed throughout rather than dolloped over top and the buns needed more filling.


Don’t miss out on their rice rolls, while they’re not as thin as establishments specializing in the dish, at Shangri-la the texture and thickness is still better than many dim sum places. The shrimp and leek (XL) and shitaki mushroom & chicken (L) both had adequate amounts of filling so it doesn’t feel like you’re eating mouthfuls of pastry.


Meanwhile, the rice roll with dough fritter ($5.20) showed interest with the pork floss on top, but the actual fritter needs to be hotter and crispier – taking one that’s been delivered in the morning and wrapping it in a fresh rice roll is not sufficient.



Generally, I don’t order spring rolls at dim sum, but their shredded chicken and crispy taro (M) version was yummy. Especially since they’re made-to-order arriving piping hot and the filling nicely balanced between the meat and earthy taro. Maybe it has something to do with eating in a ball room … somehow it makes everything taste fancier.


Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 50 Esna Park Drive

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  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


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Shangri-La Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Hishinuma 日本料理 菱沼 (Tokyo)

Location: Tokyo, Japan
Address: 5-17-1, Roppongi, Minato (in the Axis building B1 level)
Website: http://www.restaurant-hishinuma.jp/

Type of Meal: Lunch 

Hishinuma provides a tranquil environment against the busy Roppongi street with it being located on the basement level of the Axis Building. We had a particularly intimate experience, while visiting during the Christmas holidays, since we were only one of two tables. Upon arriving, there was no one at the door so we tentatively walked in and found the chefs preparing in the open concept kitchen. Luckily, they noticed us and shouted out greetings to alert the host (also the waiter for the day) to show us to our table.


Their lunch menu consists of three, four or five course options; we went with the four course version (¥5,000 per person). In reality, we received seven courses when it was all said and done. The first amuse bouche was a thick pumpkin mousse, the consistency of custard, with a rich savoury pumpkin taste. Granules of coarse sea salt were sprinkled at the bottom of the dish enhancing the natural sweetness from the squash.  

The second course was the most challenging of the meal for me - marinated cold sea snails. Personally, I’m squeamish when faced with bugs and lizards, so when the bowl of four of them were presented, my stomach dropped.  Luckily, they were cooked!  The hardest part of eating the dish was extracting the meat from the shell – a toothpick is given and you essentially need to stab it and rotate the shell until the snail is freed.  Honestly, they tasted decent having been marinated in a slightly sweet soy sauce.  The meat is firm and the texture and taste resembles abalone (another type of crustacean common in Asian cuisine). In the end, I was able to stomach three of the four. 

Arriving next was a simple braised daikon adorned with carrot slices and green onion slivers.  Upon lifting the lid, you get a whiff of smokiness that wasn’t present in the food itself. Poached in a relatively light consommé, the vegetables were soft but still held their shape.  It’s a nice neutral dish where the sharp green onion is what really adds any flavour. After the first two comparatively more flavourful dishes, this helped calm the taste buds prior to the sashimi course.

Kampachi (the red fish) and another unknown white fish comprised the sashimi and was my first experience in Japan.  The fish is firmer and has a more distinct flavour compared to the various sashimi I’ve had in Toronto. This could be on account of the freshness where restaurants regularly purchase the fish from the nearby Tsukiji fish market.  In fact, we were having great difficulties getting reservations after December 29th as Tsukiji was slated to close and move so specialized sushi restaurants ended up closing for the holidays as well.

Perhaps what I’ll miss most is the freshly grated wasabi we received adding heat to the tongue but not hitting your nose. Hishinuma’s soy sauce was also fairly neutral with neither saltiness nor sweetness being overly prevalent.

The steamed shrimp dumpling was my favourite dish of the meal. Although it was presented as a “dumpling” it was wrapperless with the shrimp paste being light as air with small pieces of shrimp mixed throughout to add texture. Accompanying was a light shoyu dipping sauce but was watered down so the sweetness of the shrimp still shone through. I would happily order this dish by itself again if I can ever find them elsewhere.

Alas, the final course is presented and you’ll know it’s the last as rice and soup arrive with it.

The fish was a beautifully grilled piece of yellowtail tuna (jaw portion of the fish); its skin was crispy while the meat tender and juicy with just the right amount of fat to give it flavour. The jaw portion is actually great for people who aren’t skilled with eating fish with bones as they are in large pieces so you won’t risk choking on anything. A plate of wasabi mixed with miso and marinated seaweed accompanied the fish for flavouring but I found the salt lightly coating the fish sufficient.

The miso soup also differed from the Toronto versions given it wasn’t overly salty and the paste didn’t settled or have any graininess to it. Moreover, it retained heat really well with plump soft mushrooms and herby leaves of some sort giving some meatiness to the soup.  

To end a hunk of strong coffee jello arrived in a sweet vanilla custard cream.  It was surprisingly flavourful compared to the natural tastes of all the previous courses. All in all, a good way to end the meal and helped ward off a food coma.

Dishes at Hishinuma may seem simple and understated (no heavy sauces or garnishes in sight) but it really allows the quality of the ingredients themselves to shine through.  Overall, I was pleased with my first Japanese style meal in Tokyo. 

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!