Best of Toronto
The Best Dim Sum in Toronto
The dim sum experience in Toronto is a tale of two cities - the Spadina and Dundas haunts in the heart of Chinatown and the suburban dining halls sprawled north of the 401. Either way, the much loved Cantonese brunch of little dishes is best shared with big mouths and lots of gossip. Expect plenty of noise and so-so service where getting your number called after a wait for a table feels like you've won a medal.
My personal dim sum allegiances have a suburban bent. With a couple notable exceptions, the most authentic, straight up Chinese food these days is found a long way from Toronto's core. Dim sum lovers, if you haven't ventured to Markham, Scarborough or Richmond Hill on a weekend morning I urge you to make that trip to the boonies at least once.
Here's a look at some of Toronto's best dim sum.
Top photos by dapan on Flickr. Additional photos by ericadotnet, dapan, dapan, aser, Sifu Renka, Sifu Renka, Susan Hu and Amy Wong. Writing by Amy Wong.
Lai Wah Heen
Lai Wah Heen may be pricey and they don't have carts, but if top quality is what you're looking for this place is tough to beat. Found inside the Metropolitan Hotel near City Hall. The exquisitely crafted dishes will make you understand what 'fantastiche' tastes like. Alongside the traditional standards, specialty dishes include abalone and shrimp mousse coiled with fine Taiwanese vermicelli and wok-seared crepe with spicy smoked salmon. More »
Szechuan Legend
A restaurant that manages to be charming and modern without being kitschy. This place is honest to goodness dim sum uniquely paired with a great selection of spicy, authentic Szechuanese dishes. The flavours of two disparate Chinese provinces unite just north of Midland and Finch! A total plaza gem, and with a weekday set price of $1.80 per dish at all times, one can leisurely eat steamed to order till' bust. Their sifu makes great siu mai, and for dessert, seriously try the sweet and salty egg yolk bun. More »
Ruby
Ruby is a large, old school (really, you will find a lot of seniors dining here) restaurant that has a large variety of a la carte dim sum, although some of the dishes are a bit on the greasier side. If your gut gets tired of sitting and waiting for the next bite to roll around there is also an area up front where you can choose your own orders of noodle soups, congee and assorted other fried treats. Ruby has a set price after the lunch rush and is one of the cheaper dim sum options in Toronto with linen tablecloths. More »
Ambassador Chinese Cuisine
Ambassador Chinese Cuisine is the diplomat of dim sum in Richmond Hill. Many foodies find their offerings on par with Lai Wah Heen but at a fraction of the cost. Don't forget to order the fillet steak rice roll. More »
Scarborough Grand Seafood Restaurant
For locals who often yum cha (go for tea), this is one of the timeless spots in Scarborough for an easy brunch with a large variety a la carte including the divine roasted quail. Grand Seafood Restaurant is way in the back of the Chinese-Filippino Dragon Centre Plaza and offers no nonsense, very affordable dim sum, with a late lunch happy hour price of $1.50 for all sizes. Another big open area restaurant, the vibe is similar to Ruby or Bright Pearl - a coliseum of clinking cutlery, bustle and close to psychedelic proportions of lively chatter. More »
Ginger and Onion
Ginger and Onion is a pleasant, relaxed dim sum option. It's part of the Market Village Plaza (right across from the Pacific Mall) so one can go shopping after a full belly for weird imported clothes, designer eyewear and counterfeit everything else. They do a succulent lotus wrapped sticky rice, and a lovely fish rice noodle roll. More »
Casa Imperial
Casa Imperial is strangely located inside the Devonsleigh Place. It's housed in a converted old mansion, hence the name I guess. An upscale joint, eating here feels like the Chinese idea of British opulence in a Victorian setting - a roomy and comfortable setting decked out with chandeliers and faux rococo gold framing the oil paintings on the walls. More »
Dragon Dynasty
Dragon Dynasty offers a well rounded dim sum menu. Compared to some other places, the atmosphere here is almost calm. And the service is courteous. The restaurant can be found tucked on one side of the newly renovated Chartland Mall. Order the big shrimp rice rolls and short ribs in black bean sauce. More »
Graceful Vegetarian
Any enthusiast knows that dim sum is by nature the delicate yet total celebration of meat. It can therefore be drastically limiting when accommodating vegetarians. Not here! The Graceful Vegetarian roster doesn't punish non-meat eaters and offers the best vegetarian dim sum. With mock meat substitutions, one can enjoy the flavours of, say, barbeque pork buns. An added plus, everything is also MSG-free, yay! More »
Casa Victoria
At Highway 7 and Warden, this is the sister restaurant to Casa Imperial. It's a bit farther north than her counterpart but the menu here is basically the same and it has a similar charming elegance. The difference is that on the outside, Casa Victoria is disguised like any other drab gray plaza unit facade, but stepping inside one is surprisingly confronted with intricate and elegant decor. Kind of like going to Narnia. More »
Rol San
Rol San liberally uses sesame oil in many of their fresh steamed dishes. Their ha gow shrimp dumplings arrive with a hint of sesame, and the wrapper does not fall apart before eating - a way to gauge the caliber of a sifu's craftsmanship. More »
Grand Chinese Cuisine
If you happen to be by the airport and are hankering for some fine dining dim sum, then Grand Chinese is the place. What better way to see someone off than with a round of fancy chicken shitake dumplings? Or if you want to pretend you're going on holiday, just drive to the airport and treat yourself to lunch as a compromise. Located inside the Doubletree by the Hilton. More »
Discussion
77 Comments
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I would stay away from Bright Pearl. Overpriced.
I don't remember the exact name, but my favourite place is beside Mix2, at Denison and Kennedy in Markham. It's clean, the dimsum is always hot and the decor is great. I think it's called Gar Far Hong.
My chinese grandmother always has this saying just stop and watch, if you see there are more Chinese people going into the restaurant you know its good.
I agree that the best Dim Sum is in the 905 area. Ding Tai Fung in Markham is my personal favourite, as well as Spring Villa, the Ambassador and Casa Imperial.
I got the $#!+s from King's Noodle Restaurant on Spadina. Rol San, and many others, give me a bad MSG reaction; Pearl Harbourfront and Dynasty do not: costs more but you get what you pay for.
Lai Wah Heen is proof that you can solve any problem if you throw enough money at it: big deal. Also, make these lists separated between places I can get to without taking a car, and the others I won't go to. Thanks.
But as long as we're talking suburban dim sum, Mississauga shouldn't be ignored either. Emerald (Eglinton/Hurontario) and another one near Dundas and Dixie (Sun Sun, maybe? I just go to the one in the corner of the little plaza through the Chinatown Gate) have my allegiance.
Way to promote an utterly vile dish, dumbasses...right up there with "best nabe spots for fresh panda eyes".
Shark fin soup is made by cutting the fins off live sharks and dropping the helpless fish back into the ocean to die. Even if Lai Toh Heen's consomme was only called 'shark fin', and didn't actually contain any shark, the fact that they feature it on their menu only perpetuates mainstream acceptance of this horrendous dish.
Look...I love dim sum, and I'm sure LTH does a damn fine job of it. Too, I'd love to count myself among those that pass on only the best word-of-mouth about their food. But until I hear that LTH has stricken all shark fin from their menu, I'm telling everyone and anyone to steer CLEAR of the place.
ok ok and about the shark fin thing, it's a fancy traditional ingredient that no one eats regularily. I've had it twice in my life. Non free-range organic meat on the other hand, is something I sadly do eat regularly. Obviously I find shark fin fishing absolutely abhorring, but for the sake of your morality you better be a strict bloodless vegan! Or at least hope you've never had lobster.
xxxxxx
Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. It's funny you mention lobster because that's the example I was going to use to contrast abhorent food practices. Boiling lobsters alive, while inhumane and none too cool, kills them almost instantly. "Finning" sharks prevents their ability to swim, so they just sink to the ocean floor and eventually bleed to death. A reputable place like Lai Toh Heen shouldn't want any part of that.
But AC is right, you should watch SHARKWATER, it's an amazing and beautiful (if often repellent) documentary on the current state of the shark population. Even if you don't care about the whole shark finning issue, it definitely changes your POV on sharks. As a child of "JAWS"(brrrr...shudder!), I was blown away to find they are gorgeous creatures that are actually quite harmless. Anyway, enough said...I think we were debating awesome places to score dim sum, which I'm glad to see there are a lot of people wanting to join in because who doesn't love dim sum??
It's unfortunate that Rol San doesn't offer many vegetarian choices.
The Bright Pearl is a good option on weekdays if you wanted dim sum without the noise.
I liked Ambassador, when I went the attendant was new on the job. It was very fun.
Bright Pearl: nothing special
Lah Wah Heen/Lah Toh Heen: special occasions great, but otherwise way over priced and completely different category of chinese dim sum.
Ambassador: Not bad, a bit long of a wait, but I sure do like the Budha Steamed buns for a desert. Yum!
I just wish they would bring Congee Wong to downtown. I hate going uptown just to get stuff I can't get
downtown. And does no one go to Old Chinatown anymore?
Yay Dynasty!
1. bright pearl: cart
2. LTH: no cart
3. szechuan: no cart
4. ruby: cart
5. ambassador: no cart
6. scarborough grand: cart
7. ginger and onion: cart
8. imperial: no cart
9. dragon dynasty: cart
10. graceful vegetarian: no cart
11. casa victoria: no cart
12. rol san: no cart
13. LWH: no cart
14. grand chinese cuisine: no cart
15. dynasty: no cart
Tim: Thanks for the handy list.
S/Josuha: Given the response so far, it seems like us folks downtown are really missing out on some great dim sum north of the 401...who's up for organizing a 905 dim sum crawl??
TO foodies weigh in on Chinatown restaurants: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/350886
Give me a break.. you should see how the kill cow for your burgers
North Americans always use their own standards to judge how the rest of the world operates but hiding how they kill animals for food here
Ding Tai Fung is not considered as a Dim Sum restaurant
As for cart and no-cart.. those with carts are usually considered as average to lower end.. ordering from a check list is for higher end restaurants as the food is more fresh
Lai Wah Heen is great, just need to find a sugar daddy to go with
As for DavidC, replying to Mick, not sure how that is fascist propaganda? Brings to mind the proverb, "Keep your mouth shut and let others think you are stupid, rather then open your mouth and give evidence of the same."
Instead of your backhanded apology, how about just editing out your comments in the review about the shark fin dumpling. Pretty easy. Thanks.
Why wasn't Paradise (at Leslie and Finch) considered? They have MUCH better quality food than ANYTHING you can find in China Town.
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Are these Best Of Toronto lists all determined by a public vote. If so, I think it needs to be clearer. I read voter-determined "best of" lists differently than I would if they were determined editorially, by BlogTO staff.
I wouldn't be surprised if a publicly voted poll picked Bright Pearl as Toronto's "best dim sum." Most Torontonians know of it. But if this was decided by BlogTO staff, I would expect a better informed list.
I agree with DavidC, Bright Pearl is well beyond its prime.
Will the editors of this review please make sure readers stick to the subject???? The subject is DIM SUM, NOT SHARK FINNING. I would like to hear more feedback on good places to eat dim sum - the last time I checked, shark fin is not a part of any dim sum menu in any of the places that I've eaten in.
I find the tone of your comments right from the very beginning of this comment thread aggressive. Insults do not make for very good communication. Also, last time I checked the article was about Dim Sum and the best places to get it in the city ... not ethical morals reflected in the dishes that establishments choose to serve.
If you want to pick a fight there are plenty of other places on the internet where you can do that.
The restaurant's origins lies in Taiwan, their claim to fame are xiao long bao, which originates near Shanghai. Yes they do come in bamboo baskets like dim sum, but it's NOT dim sum. Dim sum is a Cantonese cuisine (ie. Southern China).
I just don't understand....