The most affordable dim sum in Toronto has to be at Perfect
Chinese Restaurant: on weekdays most dishes are $1.80 rising to $2 in their
“VIP” room, weekends all standard dishes are $2. Of course, they do have
certain “special” items peddled from the dim sum carts, but theses are still $3
or less. Even the customary tea charge is only $0.60 per person. If there’s a
place that’s cheaper, I certainly haven’t found it.
Even with the low prices, the quality of Perfect’s dim sum
is good and certain dishes even larger than competitors. So how do they do it?
You’ll find out the moment you pull into the old neglected plaza and sit down
in their dated dining room – the surroundings aren’t palatial, but the low rent
and passé décor means savings in your pocket.
Perfect has such a large selection it’d be impossible to
highlight even half of their offerings in this post. Instead, this will focus
on the dim sum that’s particularly good, bad or I find special as it’s hard to
find elsewhere.
Stepping away from the “hamburger” method of providing
feedback, we’ll start with the poorly constructed dishes. Their nuggets of tofu
and fish paste ($2) has an awful mushy and sticky consistency. Save for some
saltiness from the sauce, they lack flavour and are forgettable. Moreover,
their pork & dried vegetable congee ($2) is gritty from the poorly soaked
vegetable, so I’d stick with the chicken & corn version instead.
Luckily, they have a lot of good offerings. When the steamed
shrimp and scallop dumpling ($2.20) is hot (a shame they’re not served covered
in bamboo steamers), these umami laced dumplings are fantastic and beat the
traditional har gow any day. Aside
from seafood, the filling contains diced celery adding a lovely refreshing
crunch to the dumpling.
If you’re a fan of ham
shuy gok, the oval crispy orbs filled with minced pork, the shrimp version
is worth a try. Shaped like crescents, inside is a fair amount of shrimp
dressed up with chives. The crisp slightly sweet glutinous coating is similar
to what’s used in the popular pork dish.
Getting a clay pot of their regular rice ($2) will require
luck as they’re generally gone by the time the cart arrives to your table
(people go to the cart). If you don’t like hunting down the food, splurge on
the baked seafood ($3) one that arrives piping hot with a creamy shrimp, scallop
and squid sauce on top of fried rice.
Their fried quail ($2.75) is a steal for a dish that takes
so much preparation (brining, drying and then cooking). It’s well marinated for
flavour and deep fried giving the skin a crispiness similar to Peking duck but
the fowl meat juicier.
You can find pan-fried turnip ($2) or taro cake ($2) anywhere,
but Perfect still uses the old fashioned cooking carts giving you a hotter dish.
Moreover, they really take the time to allow a golden crust to develop and if
you ask nicely you can mix-and-match any three pieces from the savoury turnip
& taro or sweet chestnut offerings.
For dessert you really should try their steamed glutinous
dumplings filled with red bean paste ($2). Sometimes it can be hard to rip off
the bamboo leaf wrapped around it, but the chewy soft dessert is very tasty.
The steamed custard roll ($2.20) is also a nice choice, the fluffy light sponge
cake smeared with a thick egg custard – a light but satisfying sweet.
After stuffing yourself with dim sum take the time to walk
around the plaza. There’s an eerie quality to the abandoned stores that seem
frozen in time: a relic space heater left in one and an entire supermarket
filled with empty shelves.
As a teenager there was even a defunct bakery with
its display wedding cakes still featured prominently at the window. Perfect
Chinese Restaurant has out lasted them all, survival of the fittest.
Overall mark - 7 out of 10
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 4386 Sheppard Avenue East
Address: 4386 Sheppard Avenue East
Website: http://perfectchineserestaurant.com/
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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!
Is That It? I Want More!
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