Pearl Harbourfront Chinese

After our first Downtown Toronto Dim Sum experience at Rol San, it was fine but we were wanting something a bit more.   We were willing to pay a bit more for a bit of atmosphere, hopefully attentive service and of course higher food quality.  Since we were staying not far from the lake front, we ended up at Pearl Harbourfront Chinese located in Queens Quay Terminal.  Since we were early, we snagged a beautiful window seat with a nice view of the water.  

We tried to cover as much of the menu as we could with only 2 of us.  The very first dish to arrive was the Beef Rice Noodle Roll.  As you can see, it was carefully prepared where the noodles were delicate and soft with some elasticity.  Inside, the whipped beef was at its bouncy best with a nice rebound texture.  It was mildly seasoned with only a minimal amount of cilantro.  With a touch of sweetened soy, this tasted good and the texture was right.

We didn't have to wait too long to get the most important dish of the meal.  Yep, the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumpling) is normally seen as the benchmark for any Dim Sum service.  Thankfully, these steamed dumplings passed the test as the skin was medium-thick while being tender with a chew.  Inside, the shrimp filling was buttery with a snap.  It was seasoned enough so that there was flavour to compliment the natural sweetness of the shrimp.

Of course, when you have Ha Gau, you must also order the Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling).  This is the ying to the yang or partner in crime.  Now these dumplings did not really look the part when we first laid eyes on them.  The wrapper was loose and the dumplings looked out of sorts.  Well, thankfully, they ate much better than they appeared.  The pork filling was bouncy and well seasoned.  The whole shrimp on top was not only for aesthetics as it had a buttery crunch.  Flavourwise it could've been seasoned a bit more aggressively.

Although the starch-thickened sauce was goopy and clung onto the Steamed Chicken Feet like glue, it did taste really good.  Nice balance of sweet, garlicky and a touch of spice.  As for those deep fried, braised and then steamed chicken feet, the texture on them was on point.  They were plump with soft cartilage and fat underneath.  Hence, all of it came off the bone really easily but wasn't complete melted off either.  

Another solid dish was the Steamed Beef Meatballs.  Numbering 3, the fairly large meatballs were whipped enough that the meat was bouncy and super tender.  However, they left enough natural meat texture bits that there was some contrast.  The mix was mostly meat with very little in the way of greens within it.  Hence, this might've lacked a bit of brightness, yet at the same time, it was properly seasoned being umami and savoury.

Went for another typical Dim Sum item in the Steamed Pork Spareribs.  Once again, this was a fairly large portion with a mix of rib and cartilage pieces.  I liked how there wasn't a lot of fat attached either.  At the same time, the meat wasn't dry or chewy since it had been marinated properly.  It had the signature rebound texture.  Seasoning was great too with ample salty garlickiness intertwined with bell pepper.

Had a few non-steamed items with the Spring Spring Rolls and the Pan-Fried Taro Cake.  I found the spring rolls to be crispy and not wound too tightly.  Inside, the shrimp was buttery and well-seasoned.  Whenever I see taro cake on the menu, I order it.  Reason being is that it is much more rare to find that on a menu than the daikon radish cake.  These were nicely crispy and nutty on the outside while the inside was somewhat firm, but had the aromatics of taro and the saltiness of Chinese cured sausage.

We ended this off with the usual Baked Egg Tarts.  Even though the puffed pastry was not particularly browned, it was still nutty, crispy and aromatic.  Inside, the egg filling was silky and sweet.  A very competent version of the dessert.  Overall, the meal at Pearl Harbourfront was good and not as expensive as one would think.  Service was attentive where the staff had a good attitude.  Loved the water views since we were sitting by the window.

The Good:

- Solid Dim Sum

- Good service

- Great views

The Bad:

- Dim Sum menu is not as diverse as other places

- Of course you can get better in Markham/Richmond Hill, but pretty good for Downtown

Rol San

Last time I was in the GTA, we had rented a car and hence, made it to Dragon Boat Fusion out in Richmond Hill.  Well, they have since closed and now it is The One Fusion.  This time, we decided to stay within TO and sans auto.  Therefore, we took a stroll up Spadina to Rol San ro get our Dim Sum fix.  They have been serving all-day Dim Sum since 1994, so hopefully it would be good?  I guess we were about to find out...

It was quite busy during lunch rush and we actually had to "dap toy", which is share a table with strangers.   Haven't done that since the 1990's!  We put in our order and had the usual Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings).  They were a bit small and featured a medium thick dumpling wrapped.  It was fairly dense and chewy.  Inside, the shrimp filling was good where it had a nice bounce texture.  It was lightly seasoned being sweet.

As for the ying to the yang, the Siu Mai (Pork Dumplings) were all pork, rather than the pork & shrimp mix we see most of the time.  Despite that, the dumpling was of a good size and the pork filling had a good rebound while being tender.   I found that the seasoning was on the milder side and we needed some hot sauce to elevate the flavours.  I liked how they added fish roe after steaming.  This meant they looked more appealing and had pops of brininess.

We also got the classic steamed Beef Meatballs atop bean curd skin.   These were also modest in size with a considerable mix of cilantro and green onion.  Hence, there was inherent flavour to the meatballs including some meaty sweetness.   Really enjoyed the fried bean curd skin underneath as it was appealingly chewy.   Of course we had some Worcestershire sauce on the side for dipping.

Onto the offal part of the meal, we had the Steamed Chicken Feet as well as the Bible Beef Tripe with ginger and green onion.  I thought the chicken feet were plump and featured softened cartilage.  This was the ideal texture in my opinion.  However, it was under-seasoned and needed more salt and/or soy.   The Beef Tripe was tender with food hits from the ginger and green onion but could've used more salt too.

Featuring the same shrimp filling as the Ha Gau, the Shrimp Spring Rolls were decently-sized.  Unfortunately, the outside wheat wrapper was not as crispy as we would've liked.   It wasn't too greasy though.   As for the filling, it was still moist and had a meaty snap texture.  It was fairly well-seasoned with a balance or sweetness and saltiness.  This came with sweet & sour dip, which was good, but we preferred dipping it into Worcestershire instead.

We ended up ordering 2 more dishes including the Chicken & Mushroom Rice Noodle Roll.   I don't recall ever having chicken in this dish before but it was not bad.  The ample chicken filling was moist and tender.  There was some enoki mushrooms strewn throughout.  There was some sweetness but also a sour finish.  Not sure where that came from, but it wasn't a big deal. As for the rice noodle, it was soft with elasticity.

For dessert, we had the Baked Egg Tarts and they arrived looking a bit pale.  We found the egg filling to be silky and just sweet enough.  However, the puff pastry was not flaky enough.  Rather, it was touch doughy and firm. Overall, the Dim Sum we had at Rol San had some ol' school vibes to it.  I guess we should've expected that from something located in Chinatown and not in the burbs.  However, it was still decent and worth visiting if you were in the area.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Staff were fairly nice
- Relatively inexpensive

The Bad:
- I mean, you can get better elsewhere
- A bit busy and you may have to share a table

Harbor Bay Village

So when it is Christmas, there are limited places to go and also limited places to eat.  However, if you know, you know that Chinese restaurants are generally open and hence, that is your best bet for Christmas Day or really any other holiday for all that matters.  So on our visit to the Bay Area, we followed this strategy and made our way to Harbor Bay Village.  Incidentally, this was also only a short 3 minute drive from our hotel.  Really, we should've just walked on over!

So we weren't sure what the protocol for service at this restaurant.  I say this because there seemed to be far too few employees for the size of the place.  We eventually got seated, but then again, we didn't get any tea or water.  That arrived much later and it was also difficult to get our order in as well.  Once that happened, we were served the BBQ Pork Pastries.  These were actually pretty good with flaky and buttery layers encasing lean BBQ pork in a sweet glaze.

One of the larger dishes we decided on was the Roast Duck.  It really was more deep fried than roasted, but I guess that is one way to reheat it.  Therefore, the skin was super crispy, but it also meant that the whole thing was pretty dry too.  Fortunately, some parts of the duck were still tender and moist (mainly the dark meat).  Another benefit of the deep fry was that the skin was well-rendered with barely any fat left.

For our choice of Rice Noodle Roll, we went for the prawn.  So the rice noodle sheets were relatively thin and translucent but it wasn't as delicate as it appeared.  There was considerable elasticity and a bit of chew in some spots.  However, that was fine by me since it still ate quite well and didn't fall apart like some overly soft versions.  As you can see in the picture, we found 2 large prawns per noodle roll.  They had a meaty snap and were properly seasoned.

We ended up getting a big plate of fried rice since the kids wanted it.  We got their favorite in the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice.  When I say big, the portion size was very generous.  In addition, the rice was wok fried nicely where it was nutty, dry and caramelized.  There was a good amount of moist pieces of salted fish that added its trademark brininess.  Moreover, the pieces of chicken were tender and mildly-seasoned, allowing the salted fish to be at the forefront.

Normally, we go for the XO Daikon Radish Cake, but here, they had the XO Taro Cake instead.  Worked for us as we prefer the taro version more anyways.  Whereas the radish cake is delicate and pudding like, the taro cake is more sturdy and dense.  Hence, the deep fried cubes held together and had a crispier exterior.  Also, the pieces of taro had that nice starchy powder texture.  This was not particularly greasy since the wok toss wasn't aggressive.  Therefore, it need some more spice as a result.

Getting to the most important dishes of the meal, we had the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings).  These were pretty decent in size and had a medium-thick wrapper which was translucent with an appealing sheen.  It was on the chewier side with plenty of elasticity.  As for the filling, it was mostly whole shrimp with some shrimp mousse to bind everything.  It had the desired snap texture while the taste was sweet and a touch briny.

Now Dim Sum would not be complete with the other part of this duo in the Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling).  These were also rather large in size with a fairly appealing appearance.  I would've preferred that they didn't steam the tobiko on top though (raw would be better).  Beyond that, the dumpling itself was bouncy and juicy.  The pork was tender and properly seasoned.  Best of all, there was minimal fat too.

One item that didn't pass the eye test was the Beef Meatballs.  They were pretty pale and the texture was a bit too dense.   I did appreciate that there was some actual beef texture left though.  We also had the Pork Spareribs and they were serviceable.  I thought that the seasoning was rather one note being salty with some garlic.  The meat itself was tender enough but lacking that classic bounciness.  These 2 dishes were my least favourite.

Onto the offal portion of our meal, we had the Bible Tripe with ginger and green onion.  This was decent with tender strips of tripe.  It was maybe a bit too soft as we lost some of the usual bite.  Flavours were good though.  On the other hand, the Chicken Feet need some improvement.  Other than so pieces being too light in color, the cartilage was still a bit crunchy underneath the plump skin.  Hence, it was hard to eat each piece, literally.  It needed to be cooked down a bit more.  Flavors were okay though with sweet and salty garlickiness.

We got some veggies into the meal with the Peashoots with bean curd skin and ginko nuts.  This was good with tender pea shoots that were cooked just enough.  Broth was mild and lightly sweet.  For dessert, we had the Pineapple Buns that were fresh out of the oven.  We had to wait quite a long time for these but it was worth it.  The bun itself was pillowy soft while the sweet topping was crispy and aromatic.  In general, the Dim Sum at Harbor Bay Village was fine and certainly did the job for Christmas morning.  However, possibly due to lack of staff on Christmas day itself, it wasn't a great experience.  People literally had to go refill their own tea at the hot water station.  I went as far as clearing our table so we had space to put new dishes.  Lastly, we got our own takeout containers from the front to pack our leftovers.  I was wondering if I had to go up to the register to print out the bill and pay too.  If this isn't the norm, then I would say Dim Sum was decent.  But if the lack of service is the usual, then I would skip this place.

The Good:

- Decent eats

- Fairly large portion size

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Essentially no service

Grand Neptune

We all know that the most prevalent Chinese restaurant chain in Vancouver is Neptune.  They come in many flavours such as Neptune Wonton Noodle, Neptune Seafood Restaurant and their higher-end Neptune Palace.  Now, they have gone one step further with Grand Neptune, taking over the spot that used to house Grand Dynasty.  Naturally, the place is a step up with a gorgeous VIP room (that I dined in) and subsequently, higher prices.

Even though the first dish to arrive was the congee, I'm going to talk about the most important dishes first - Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumpling) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling) first.  Both were textbook in terms of execution with the dumpling skin on the ha gau to be fairly thin and translucent.  It had good elasticity and wasn't oversteamed.  The shrimp filling was buttery with a sweet snap.  I could taste the sesame oil and the natural flavour of the shrimp.  As for the siu mai, the pork was "wat", which means there was a buttery tenderness to it while still retaining a rebound texture.  Seasoning was mild, but the balance between sweet and savoury was on point.  Also, there was not overly porky flavour to be found, which was a good thing.

In addition to the classic aforementioned dumplings, we had some of their specialty version including the Scallop Dumpling and Tomato, Egg & Shrimp Dumpling.  With a squid ink outer wrapper, the scallop dumpling was good with the same shrimp filling as the ha gau while topped with a scallop.  The scallop was still buttery  while the dumpling skin was chewy, but in a good way.  As for the other dumpling, it was whimsical as it did look like a tomato.  The dumpling skin had appealing elasticity like the ha gau while the filling had the same qualities as the other shrimp filling but with egg and a touch of tomato flavour.

Back to a usual dim sum dish, we had the BBQ Pork Buns.  These were also textbook with a fluffy steamed bun that was lightly sweet.  Inside, the BBQ pork filling was quite lean and mixed with a sweet and savoury glaze.  Not that we were expecting anything other than "okay", the Xiao Long Bao were exactly that.  Cantonese dim sum is not known for great Shanghainese dishes, and the XLBs were no different.  The skin was semi-thick but not dense.  Inside, the pork filling was tender with a decent amount of soup.  It was mostly one-note though.

Continuing with the usual dim sum offerings, we ordered the Beef Meatballs as well as the Steamed Pork Spareibs with black garlic.  A little on the firmer side, the beef meatballs were still bouncy and tender.  There was a balanced amount of greens that it didn't dominate the flavour profile.  As for the spareribs, they were in large meaty pieces that contained very little fat and cartilage.  Meat had a nice rebound while still maintaining its texture.  Seasoning was on point with hits of saltines, garlickiness and slight spice, however, I didn't get much in the way of black garlic.

Of course I had to get my usual fill of offal in the form of Chicken Feet and Steamed Spicy Beef Tripe.  Both of these were also good where the chicken feet were plump and featured soft cartilage and fat underneath the delicate skin.  It was full-flavoured with garlic and saltiness.  As for the tripe, it was also garlicky with some spice.  The slices of tripe were cooked until tender while still having that classic soft chewiness.

If you have seen in my previous dim sum posts, it is pretty obvious that the Bean Curd Skin Roll is one of my favs.  This one here was also delicious with tender bean curd skin that had a light chew to it.  Inside, the pork filling was tender and moist with some amount of veg.  Now on the other hand, Viv's favourite dim sum item is the Deep Fried Eggplant with shrimp paste.  This was also good but we wished there was more shrimp paste (as you can see in the picture there wasn't much of it).  The eggplant was delicate, but not overdone while the shrimp paste was sweet and bouncy.  We also wished there was more black bean sauce too.

Not sure what they were getting at with the BBQ Pork Pastries, but I think they were jellyfish?  Whatever the case, they were good though with a flaky and buttery puff pastry filled with lean BBQ pork.  It was a bit sweet, but not overly so.  As for the Shrimp Spring Rolls, they were also textbook.  The outer wrapper was golden brown and crispy.  None too greasy either.  The shrimp filling was sweet and had a buttery snap.

We couldn't have dim sum without a Rice Noodle Roll of some sort, so we got the beef version.  Not trying to sound like a broken record (hey, these are back!), but this was good.  The rice noodle was soft with a nice elasticity while the beef filling was tender.  One of our family favourites is the XO Daikon Radish Cake.  I thought this was the weakest of the dishes we'd had in the meal.  The cubes were a bit too large, but the texture was soft.  There was not enough XO and hence, the flavours were muted and not very impactful.

One of my son's favourite things to eat is beef brisket, so we had to get the Beef Brisket with daikon.  In reality, this was beef finger meat (which is the meat in between the beef ribs).  The meat was tender while still retaining a meatiness.  The broth was super light and this dish was very subtle in flavour.  We also got another one of his favs in the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice Wrap) and this one was good.  It had some wild rice in it for texture and the amount of pork, dried shrimp and sausage was enough to make every bite meaty and flavourful.

To end things off on the savoury part of the meal, we had the House Special Crispy Noodles.  This was a good portion of fried noodles topped with a good mix of properly cooked seafood, meats and yau choy.  Loved the large scallops!  Also, the sauce had the right thickness while adequately seasoned.  Oh, and we can't forget about the Seafood Congee (that I mentioned earlier).  It was a bit homestyle in terms of thickness and appearance.  The flavours were a bit mild, but the side of peanuts, green onion and pickled mustard greens helped with that, as well as the white pepper.  There was a good amount of quality pieces of seafood that were prepared properly.

Onto dessert, we went for some whimsical items including the Lychee & Mango Rabbit.  The attention to detail with the colours made this appealing.  The gelatin was firm, but delicate enough that it wasn't dense.  Nice combination of aromatic lychee sweetness and mango flavours.  The Steamed Salted Egg Lava Buns came out with an "Hello Kitty" themed design.  Also cute and ultimately well-executed too.  Beyond the fluffy bun, the lava was runny, sweet, nutty and aromatic.

The best dessert was the Passion Fruit Mousse made to look like the actual fruit.  It was tangy and sweet with a lot of impact.  Texturally, it was a bit frozen, but I liked it.  Overall, the dim sum service at Grand Neptune was really good and almost worth the extra cost.  I say "almost" because it cost me a pretty penny to eat there and we didn't even order anything outrageous.  Hence, if money is no object to you, Grand Neptune should be on your list for higher-end dim sum spots in the GVRD.

The Good:

- On point dishes

- Decent service

- Nice dining space and also free parking in the casino lot

The Bad:

- On the higher end of pricing for dim sum in the GVRD