Sherman's Food Adventures: Sea Fortune

Sea Fortune

As much as I've tried very hard to stay on top of the Richmond Dim Sum scene, it changes far too often for me to keep up.  However, I do get into these missions every now and then to visit the spots I've never been to.  Of course there are a few obstacles such as distance (I'm not exactly close by) and traffic (that is a given and honestly an occupational hazard).  But these things ultimately do not matter when I'm focused on food.  Therefore, we made the trek out to Sea Fortune, which has changed hands a gazillion of times in the past decade. 

The first dish to hit the table was the Beef Meatballs.  These were generous in size, yet not crazy big (insert requisite ball joke here).  Texturally, they were on point being moist and tender with an appealing rebound.  There was only a modest amount of greens which didn't overwhelm the flavour profile.  With that in mind, the seasoning was quite mild, but that is why it is served with a side of Worcestershire sauce.  I wasn't originally interested in ordering the Sparerib Rice, but since it was on special (before 11:00am), I did the Chinese thing and got it.  Good call since the rice was dry and chewy (a good thing since it was going to be doused with sweet soy anyways).  On top, the ample spareribs were meaty with a good chew.  They were garlicky with a touch of spice.

Onto more starch, the Mini-Lo Mei Gai were actually smaller than usual (despite being mini anyways).  Once unwrapped, the sticky rice was on the wetter and softer side.  I would've preferred it to be chewier as it was sloppy to eat and didn't have a good mouth feel.  This might've been due to the ample ground pork filling which made the thing hearty.  It did taste good though with a balanced savoury-sweetness combined with the natural meat flavours and some mushroom.  Of course I had to get the usual Tripe & Tendon which in this case, was prepared in a "teriyaki sauce".  Honestly, this didn't taste like any teriyaki sauce I've had before.  Rather, it was more akin to a sweet satay sauce of some sort.  I thought the textures were spot on where the tripe was soft while retaining a chew.  The tendon was soft, but didn't disintegrate.

One of the better dishes we had also happened to be the gold standard for Dim Sum being the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings).  Although they were on the smaller side, the execution made up for that.  Beyond the relatively thin and perfectly textured dumpling skin (nicely chewy with a rebound), the shrimp filling delivered.  Made up of shrimp pieces and some mousse, the filling was buttery with the right amount of moisture.  The initial crunch of the first bite gave way to the classic bounciness.  It was sweet with the aromatics of sesame oil in the background.  Instead of the regular Siu Mai, we got the Black Truffle Siu Mai instead.  This was also very good featuring tender, yet meaty chunks of pork that exhibited rebound.  Mixed in was the same buttery shrimp as well as a small amount of shiitake.  It was finished off with a small dollop of black truffle.

Relatively large and fluffy, the BBQ Pork Buns were a good balance between bun and filling.  I found the bun to be airy and light while not taking on too much moisture.  Inside, the pork filling was a combination of lean pieces with entirely fatty ones.  This was not appealing to me personally.  That also meant the BBQ pork was tender though.  The glaze was nicely balanced between sweet and savoury.  Continuing on with the same protein, we had the BBQ Pork & Pea Shoot Rice Noodle Roll.  This suffered the same problem as the BBQ pork bun where the pork was far too fatty.  I had to pick out half of it since it was all fat.  Not appealing at all.  Too bad really since the rice noodle was thin with perfect elasticity.  The addition of tender pea shoots lightened up the fattiness of the meat.

The next 2 items consisted of the Deep Fried Dumplings and Deep Fried Taro Dumplings. We actually only ordered one of them, but they messed up entering the order replacing the intended Spring Rolls with the deep fried dumplings.  Whatever, we ate then anyways and both of them were on point.  The glutinous rice exterior of the fried dumpling was relatively thin, light and crispy.  Inside, the pork filling was generous, well-seasoned and tender.  The same could be said about the taro dumplings as well.  Outside, the layer of taro was soft and also crispy.  However, it was quite oil-logged.  Our last dish was the XO Daikon Pudding Cake.  This was so-so as each cube was cut a bit too small, hence they seemed oily and maybe a bit lacking in texture.  It was lightly spicy and briny.  In general, the Dim Sum at Sea Fortune was acceptable with a few highlights.  However, it doesn't stand out with the many options in Richmond.

The Good:
- Decent
- Dining space spacious
- Okay service

The Bad:
- Decent, but doesn't stand out
- Parking lot insufficient

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