Rainbow Dim Sum, Day or Night

530 Dundas Street West
Phone: 416.915.0053

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Posted by Tanja
April 21, 2006

Currently 3.67/5
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Rating: 3.7/5 (3 votes cast)

Rainbow Restaurant on Dundas (just west of Spadina) is definitely my favourite cheap dim sum place in Toronto. Partly because Mon-Fri til 4pm you can get near any dish for $1.88, but mostly, because when you stop by after those hours, even at say, 1, 2, 3 AM in the morning, they'll still serve it up fresh and steaming.

Late last night, all it took was a phone call from a friend who was craving the above pictured sesame balls, and there we were, dim sum'ing amidst other night owls.

While it's hard to go wrong here, in my opinion, some key dishes to check off on the list are:

- Special stir fried turnip cake - like the popular pan-fried taro version but softer and tastier.

- Sticky rice in lotus leaf - this classic comes in pairs, made with meat and mushroom. The only one that rivals it is the version by "East!"

- Sesame balls with lotus paste (pictured up top) -- Great, but be sure you're a sesame fan first!

- Steamed sweet cake - the yellow jenga-looking tower pictured here is almost as fun to eat as it is good. Go for this subtle dessert and have fun peeling away layers with your chopsticks

And one more that isn't on the order sheet, but you can ask for it if you want to be keen:

- Fried tofu with shrimp paste - pictured here, the name says it all. Usually you can only get this during weekend brunch when they bring it out on carts.

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My mouth = drooling. Now I know where to go for 2 am cravings! I can't believe they can still serve fresh chow at that hour. Excellent.

Posted by: Beth at April 21, 2006 6:51 PM

oh ya, this place is great...been my fav for a couple years now.

check out their $4.99 dinner dishes. offers a ton of variety for a fraction of price! My girlfriends and i went out last Sat night and totally pigged out!! it was great!

Posted by: melinda at August 2, 2006 4:25 PM

Update: Rainbow is now called NOBLE RESTAURANT. The food selection is mostly the same though the presentation and quality of some items has changed -- for the better. Love it still.

Posted by: Tanja at June 13, 2007 5:26 AM

I don't know if anyone has actually been to this restaurant after 2007... but a friend took me here the other night and we were served soup that had no flavour, Sui Mai made of SPAM and meatballs that looked like bull testicles. It was traumatizing, $20 was robbed from me... simply the worst meal I've ever had.

Posted by: Maggie at August 7, 2008 11:25 PM