Dragon Boat Fusion

At first, we weren't planning on having any Dim Sum in TO.  Think of it, we are from Vancouver where there is arguably the best Chinese (specifically Cantonese cuisine) in the world.  However, I never want to be complacent, so I just had to head into Richmond Hill to try out one of the best in Dragon Boat Fusion.  Love how the drivers here are so confused and terrible, just like in Richmond, B.C..  Also loved how the parking lot was a disaster with no parking spots available for the amount of customers.  This led to people fighting for spaces and doing all kinds of dangerous maneuvers.  Ah yes...  #RichmondDrivers = #RichmondHillDrivers

After a 45-minute wait (at 1:00pm on a weekday), we finally snagged a table.  Getting right down to the food, we had the Haw Gow complete with a whole head-on shrimp in their signature square steamer basket.  Although a bit thick, the dumpling skin was okay being chewy with a slight rebound.  I found the filling to be very good with a buttery snap and the essence of both shrimp and lobster.  The Siu Mai were on point too with large bouncy shrimp mixed in with chunks of pork that were mostly exhibiting a rebound texture.  The whole thing was spiked with dried scallop which added an aromatic brininess to an already well-seasoned dumpling.

For the kiddies, we got their obligatory Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice) which was dry on the outer portions, yet moist and glutinous in the middle.  However, when mixed together, everything seemed okay especially with the generous amount of ground pork filling that featured dried scallop and a certain floral quality.  Also for the kiddies, we got them their fave being the Donut Rice Noodle Roll.  This was good as the donut stayed crunchy throughout while the rice noodle was soft and thin retaining a good elasticity.  The large amount of bonito flakes on top made the entire dish more fishy than usual.  Loved the warm bottle of sweeten soy provided on the side.

I didn't end up getting any tripe this time, but I did substitute it with Beef Tendon.  So everything was offal in the world... (sorry, this was a very bad pun).  This consisted of consistently large pieces of tendon which were generally soft, yet some pieces were a bit more firm.  The dish was sweet with some savoury notes.  A similar tasting dish was the Ox Tail which was also sweet and fatty.  The large pieces of ox tail could've used more cooking time as they were not really that soft.  Rather, the meat was on the chewier side while still gelatinous and fatty.

Also exhibiting the same flavour profile except with the addition of more garlic and black beans, the Phoenix Talons (chicken feet) were completely on point and delicious.  Each claw was plump and buttery with attached skin.  Underneath, the cartilage was soft, yet not melted.  We thought the flavours were very appealing and impactful.  Unfortunately, the Spring Rolls were terrible.  Served cold and not crunchy at all, the textures did not work.  In fact, the filling didn't either as the overwhelming amount of cilantro killed everything else inside.

Another so-so item was the Steamed Pork Spareribs on rice noodles.  Nothing wrong with the noodles nor with the seasoning.  We liked the pepperiness as well as the salty black bean because the rice noodles were the beneficiary of such flavours.  However, the spareribs were completely over-tenderized where there was no meat texture left.  The meat merely disintegrated with one chew.  For dessert, we shared the Thousand Layer Cake which was excellent.  Pillowy soft while still retaining a resistance, the cake was layered with duck yolk custard which was just sweet enough while being spiked with coconut. So how did this one Dim Sum meal compare to Vancity?  I would say it was pretty comparable and the price point was reasonable as well.

The Good:
- Above average eats
- Reasonable-pricing
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Wait is rather long (good for them I suppose)
- Decent service, but still hard to flag someone down