Jade Palace (Dim Sum Service)

Going for Dim Sum is generally a thing people do on the weekends.  Sure, it is can be a weekday thing too, but the busiest is generally on Saturday and Sundays.  If we want to be more specific, Dim Sum is a complete zoo from around 11:30am to 1:30pm.  That is why we made a reservation since we were heading to Jade Palace after Sunday morning hockey.  Yep, it was jam-packed and even with a reso, we had to wait about 30 minutes.  I've already done a dinner post about Jade Garden and it was time to also do a Dim Sum post.

JuJu, Milhouse and Tonya all joined me after hockey for some gluttony as we ordered probably too much food beginning with the Specialty Baked BBQ Pork Buns.  Channeling their inner Tim Ho Wan, these were pretty impressive.  The bun was ever-so-light and almost creamy.  It literally required barely any chewing.  The sweetness from the topping and the filling was rich and impactful.  The BBQ pork was plentiful and generally lean.  I highly recommend that you try these.

Now we weren't expecting the Sparerib & Chicken Feet Rice to arrive so quickly, but I guess they had some cooking already. I found the rice to be quite good being dry (which is a good thing) and somewhat nutty (no socarrat though).  There was no shortage of sparerib on top which was tender with some rebound texture.  They were well-seasoned with garlic and a touch of spice.  The chicken feet were on soft and somewhat plump.

Usually, an order of Beef Rice Noodle Rolls consist of 3 rolls stacked in a pyramid.  Well, it was rather surprising to see a whackload of rice noodle with beef strewn throughout.  Consistent with the recent trend of of a continuous sheet of rice noodle, this was a large portion and actually really good.  The rice noodle was delicate while still having some elasticity.  The little nuggets of beef was airy and light.

Of course we had to get the essentials including the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings) as well as the Siu Mai (more on that next).  The shrimp dumplings were pretty large in size.  Maybe not Western Lake size, but the quality was better than Western Lake in my opinion.  The dumpling skin was thin, yet a bit soft.  I would've liked more elasticity.  Inside, the whole shrimp filling was on point.  The shrimp was buttery with a sweet snap.  Plenty of seasoning and the aromatics of sesame oil.

Now onto the even larger Siu Mai (Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings), these were getting close to Western Lake territory.  Again, I thought these were better since the textures were more appealing.  The dumpling was tightly-packed, yet not dense.  There was a bouncy texture from the pork, yet the siu mai was mostly comprised of shrimp.  Yes, the shrimp had the desired consistency where it rebounded and was nicely seasoned.

Okay, I'm sounded repetitive, but the Beef Meatballs were also very large.  Yep, some really big balls!  Normally, these are processed to the point where they are airy and super light.  I thought these were probably too light where the whole thing as actually lacking texture.  Now this might be purely subjective on my part because I'm sure some people would find this texture completely fine.  In terms of seasoning, it was quite mild and definitely needed the Worcestershire.

Typically, we do not order Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Soup Dumplings) in a Cantonese restaurant because they just do not turn out.   Although these were not like the ones you'd find in a Shanghainese joint, they were still good in their own right.  Yes, the dumpling skin was a bit too thick, but it was not dense and rather delicate.  Inside, there was a decent amount of sweet soup and the meat was tender and slightly bouncy.

Somewhat similar to the ha gau, the Steamed Scallop Dumpling featured spinach mixed in with the shrimp.  That really didn't impact the texture much as the shrimp as still bouncy and well-seasoned.  It did add some squishiness and I suppose healthiness to the dumpling. Dumpling skin was thin and translucent with an appealing chewiness.  On top, there was a small slice of buttery scallop with some tobiko. 

So not sure how we doubled-up on the BBQ Pork Buns, but at the very least, we got the steamed version to compliment the baked one. These were decent in size and featured a soft bun which had a bit of a fluffy chew (if that makes sense).  Inside, there was a good amount of sliced lean BBQ pork (much like the baked ones) and was sauced in a sweet glaze.  This bun was less sweet than the baked one by virtue of not having a sweet crust on top.

As if we needed more carbs (we also ordered a noodle dish, more on that later), we ordered the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice).  They added some wild rice into the mix and beyond the visuals, it added some texture to the soft sticky rice.  As you can see, there was so much filling, it was visible even without breaking the thing apart.  I thought the seasoning was on the milder side, but this was pleasant enough.

So the other carb, as mentioned, was the Pan Fried Rice Noodle with Beef in soy sauce.  This was a solid dish sporting soft rice noodles that retained a bite.  The dish wasn't overly greasy and the noodles were not clumpy.  Loved the amount of gai lan as it added both colour and crunch.  There was a decent amount of tender sliced beef as well.  They used enough dark and light soy for colour and flavour.  There was also decent caramelization.

Our last dish was the Deep Fried Prawn Spring Rolls with nori.  Staying with the theme of large, these were indeed so.  The picture shows clearly that they were stuffed full of whole shrimp there were texturally akin to the ones in the other items.  They were seasoned enough too.  Now this was a lot of food for 4 people, but we finished it.  So there was no room for dessert.  I will be back for sure and there will be items added to this post.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Overall good food
- Owner seems to really care about the customers

The Bad:
- Crowded seating