Dining Out: Dim Sum Brunch at Luna Private Banquets

Starting my vacation week with a round of dim sum with Minji and Daniel at the newly-opened Luna Private Banquets:

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai)

Steamed BBQ pork buns

Deep-fried turnip patties

Steamed giant soup dumpling

Braised beef tendon

Steamed charcoal salted egg yolk buns

Everything we ordered — which is standard yum cha fare — was tasty, but pretty average for a good dim sum restaurant. We noticed that the size of each dumpling we ordered is smaller than average, but the portion per steamer is bigger. (For example, most dim sum places have four bigger har gow per steamer, whereas Luna has five smaller ones.) The only dish here that I found particularly notable and different was the deep-fried turnip patties, which are usually pan-fried. (Here, they cube them and deep-fry them so they're deliciously and addictively crunchy, and serve them with peanut and XO sauces.) That having been said, I personally prefer Casa Victoria and NKS Banquet Hall for dim sum, where the quality is excellent and the portions are bigger for the same price or cheaper.

The main draw here is that they only have private rooms, which means it's not deafeningly loud like at other dim sum places. However, the drawback to this is that they have a 1.5-hour seating limit per party, so if you're looking to spend an entire afternoon leisurely eating dim sum and drinking tea with your friends (like my mom does, for example), this is not the place for it. The hostesses at the front are somewhat rude and will ignore you even if you are right in front of their face, so be prepared to interrupt them to get anywhere with getting a table. (And yes, we had a reservation.) Strangely enough, once you get seated, all the servers are absolutely polite and attentive, so just get past the crappy people manning the front desk. Reservations are absolutely necessary, though, lest you want to wait an hour for a table, even on a weekday. (There were at least 15 people waiting for tables when we got there at 1:00PM on a Monday.)

The space looks upscale — sleek and modern with some traditional Chinese touches — which does set them apart from other dim sum restaurants which often look outdated, but this on its own is not enough for me to come here instead of my other go-to dim sum spots.

Luna Private Banquets

7225 Woodbine Ave., Unit East B

Markham, ON L3R 1A3

(905) 513-8989

Dining Out: Christmas Eve Dim Sum at NKS Banquet Hall

Went for a late dim sum brunch with my mom at her regular spot, where the servers are efficient, the food is affordable, their dim sum hours run until 3:00PM, and they have the biggest har gow I have ever seen:

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Baked egg tarts (daan tat)

Steamed BBQ pork buns (cha siu bao)

Dough fritter rice noodle rolls

Deep-fried stuffed tofu and eggplant

Steamed bean curd rolls in oyster sauce

Nothing like dim sum to get us into the Christmas spirit!

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Dining Out: Xiao Long Bao, Shanghai Chili Oil Wontons, Shanghai-Style Rice Cake Soup with Shredded Pork and Pickled Cabbage, Braised Beef Noodle Soup, and Stewed Beef Pancake Wraps at Ding Tai Fung

In deciding what to eat for dinner, Minji told me she was craving xiao long bao, so off to Ding Tai Fung we went.

Xiao long bao
Shanghai wontons in chili oil
Shanghai-style rice cake soup with shredded pork and pickled cabbage
Braised beef noodle soup
Stewed beef pancake wraps

I don't know if it's because I haven't been here in nearly two years (?!) but everything was particularly delicious this evening, especially the xiao long bao and the rice cake soup, but even the braised beef noodle soup came with better quality meat and less oily broth than before. Ding Tai Fung is still pretty overpriced — it was about $33 per person after tax and tip — and I do think The Dumpling King is a better choice overall for Northern Chinese cuisine in Markham, but Ding Tai Fung is still the winner for xiao long bao.

Ding Tai Fung

3235 Highway 7, Unit #18B

Markham, ON L3R 3P9

(905) 943-9880

Dining Out: Belated Birthday Dim Sum at Casa Victoria

To further celebrate my birthday and also Minji's first day of early maternity leave, we had a glorious dim sum session along with Daniel at Casa Victoria:

Steamed BBQ pork buns with abalone sauce

Super har gow (jumbo shrimp dumplings)

Deep-fried meat and chives dumplings

Spare ribs with garlic and black bean sauce

Beef tendon in chu hou sauce

Pan-fried turnip patties with preserved meat

Baked BBQ pork pineapple buns

Baked milk tarts

Maybe I should celebrate my birthday for another week...

Casa Victoria

8601 Warden Ave., Unit 4 - 6

Markham, ON L3R 0B5

(905) 948-1618

Dining Out: Sunday Dim Sum Brunch at NKS Banquet Hall

It has been FOUR MONTHS since I've had dim sum (when I was in Hong Kong, actually), so when my mom invited me for dim sum with her friend today, I was like, "Alright, twist my rubber arm."

Steamed BBQ pork buns (char siu bao)

Dough fritter rice noodle rolls

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Deep-fried shrimp dumplings

Deep-fried stuffed tofu and eggplant

Stir-fried beef rice noodles

Egg tarts (daan tat)

You know, I hate leaving my apartment on Sundays but this was TOTALLY WORTH IT.

NKS Banquet Hall

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit B06

Markham, ON L3R 9W5

(905) 948-8668

Hong Kong 2024 Travel Log: Day 9 — Dim Sum Lunch at Voynich

Decided to check out a very fancy-looking restaurant (apparently it's inspired by secret agents like James Bond) called Voynich for dim sum lunch. We decided on their "Kwai" set lunch which is $218 HKD (about $38 CAD) per person, and thought it seemed somewhat reasonable considering the variety of dim sum included:

"Kwai" set lunch
Steamed shrimp dumpling with black truffle sauce
Steamed pork dumpling with crab meat and black caviar
Steamed mixed mushroom dumpling
Stir-fried rice noodles with shrimp and scrambled egg
Fried rice with seafood and dried scallop

Except what we were not prepared for was the portion size. The menu actually states every dim sum item in PLURAL FORM, but in execution, you get ONE PIECE of each dim sum. $218 HKD all of a sudden seemed like a complete and total rip-off. I get that the presentation is nice and there's some gold flecks in the har gow and the smallest dollop of caviar on the siu mai, but sorry, even with the quality of ingredients, this amount of food absolutely did not merit such a price point. (This doesn't include the tea fee, either, mind you.) The dim sim here doesn't taste any better than any other plebe dim sum I've had, either. The set meal also included your choice of rice or noodle dish, but again, in the smallest portion you can imagine. (To put in perspective, an order of fried rice or fried noodles at a regular Cantonese restaurant is around $15-20 CAD, but the portion is about five times bigger than what we got here.) 

Xiao long bao
Creamy chicken filo pastry puffs

We were not nearly full enough from this rip-off of a lunch set, so we ended up ordering xiao long bao and the creamy chicken filo pastry puffs on top of it. And that's when we learned that we should have just ordered à la carte from their regular dim sum menu, where both the prices and the portions are much more reasonable. A ROOKIE MISTAKE.

But, hey, at least the interior design is top-notch.

Voynich

Harbour City, 4/F, Unit 401

Canton Rd.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

(852) 2688-2408

Hong Kong 2024 Travel Log: Day 7 — Dim Sum Brunch at Social Place

My cousin Bianca (who lives in Hong Kong) recommended a restaurant called Social Place, so we went there for dim sum:

Steamed "koi" shrimp and pork dumplings
Steamed beetroot dumplings with mushrooms and black truffle
Deep-fried "mangosteen" creamy lobster and corn glutinous puffs
Deep-fried "pear" black pepper wagyu beef glutinous puffs
Baked "apple" salmon and apple puff pastries
Baked "black swan" shrimp, pork, and chives puff pastries

I have clearly been wasting my time with plain ol' plebe dim sum. Along with our lunch at YUM CHA a couple weeks ago, we have had the most ridiculously adorable dim sum I have ever seen in my life in Hong Kong. These were ALMOST too cute to eat, and there are some incredibly unique options here, too (I, for one, have never had wagyu beef, lobster, or salmon at dim sum before). But the best part? They actually taste as good as they look. Okay, yes, they are pricier than your standard (e.g. plebe) dim sum (about $68 HKD/$12 CAD per dish on average), but if you're like me and you eat with your eyes first, then it's worth every penny regardless of currency.

Social Place

Silvercord Building, 3/F, Unit 303

30 Canton Rd.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

(852) 3168-1362

Hong Kong 2024 Travel Log: Day 5 — Dim Sum at YUM CHA

With a recommendation from my friend Minji, my mom and I finally ventured into the Hong Kong side to go to the aptly named YUM CHA to eat some of the most adorable dim sum I have ever seen:

Char siu bao piggies

Egg yolk custard buns

Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)

Steamed mushroom and pork dumplings with sakura shrimp (siu mai)

Pineapple puff pastry birds (served IN A BIRD CAGE!)

Most importantly, everything was genuinely as delicious as it looked. Not a single flop here. Even my mom was impressed. Unique tea selection (lychee oolong!) and great service, too. Another perfect dim sum experience.

YUM CHA

Nan Fung Place, 2/F

173 Des Voeux Rd.

Central, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

(852) 3708-8081