I've driven by Golden Rice Bowl thousands of times and somehow it has always been a restaurant that has eluded me. Well no more! I finally made my way to this iconic Calgary Trail North spot that is beloved for dim sum on a Saturday evening and was excited to sample all of their small plates! In fact, the Edmonton Journal named Golden Rice Bowl as the Best/Favourite Dim Sum Restaurant 2020, 2022, and 2023. It was high time that I experienced it for myself! You'll find Golden Rice Bowl in a strip mall-style plaza that is full of various businesses and yes, if you've been an Edmontonian for any amount of time, you've driven by regularly. The restaurant looks large from the outside with huge red lettering alerting passersby to the dim sum within. The inside is just as expansive, boasting a huge open dining area. I noticed that they have various partitions and the ability to section off parts of the room if needed - likely for private events. As with many Chinese restaurants, you are immediately greeted by a sizable (and very clean!) aquarium filled with beautiful tropical fish. However, I was even more impressed by the aquariums at the very back of the restaurant - these ones filled with live fish and seafood for the kitchen. It doesn't get much fresher than that! The room is ornate but not overdone. Bright red paint on the walls is accented by golden decor items such as gilded dragons with glowing eyes. The ceiling drips with crystal chandeliers and the space is filled with a sea of tables in various sizes. This is the type of place where large generational families come to gather, sitting around huge round tables with a signature lazy susan in the center of each one. Once seated we were served a pot of Chinese Tea ($1.50 each) and began to peruse the menu. (No, the tea was not included.) I liked that all of the dishware was matching, from the teapot to the bowls. Golden Rice Bowl is known for their dim sum but they also boast a complete and extensive menu of general Chinese food. There's a lot to choose from! However, on my visit the plan was to stick to the dim sum menu only, which is available all day long (even though it is traditionally eaten as brunch). Originating in the south of China, dim sum features a wide variety of small, bite-sized dishes typically served in steamer baskets or on small plates. It's pretty similar to the Spanish concept of tapas. Many dim sum restaurants use trolley carts to parade their offerings around, however a more modern practice is to provide guests with a checklist menu that you fill out and hand back to your server. Golden Rice Bowl does neither of these things and the server simply writes down your order in typical fashion. The dim sum menu is two pages long and offers over fifty items! Some of the dishes were larger, family-style plates which makes sense to round out the meal especially at dinnertime. The only issue is that there are no prices listed on the dim sum menu so you sort of just have to hope for the best? Our feast began with an order of Wor Wonton Soup ($29.95). At first we assumed the this would be served as single servings but the server pointed out that it would come as one big soup to share. Very glad that he clarified this! I was very impressed by our gracious and attentive server who portioned the bowls of soup for each of us at our table. Giant in size, this was much more than a basic wonton soup with a couple of dumplings floating around! This flavourful version was packed full with big pieces of chicken, pork, and shrimp. Plus tons of vegetables, and yes, of course wonton dumplings containing a meaty filling. Every ingredient was bright and fresh and I was glad to get some veggies into the meal because dim sum can be quite a "brown dinner." The other larger dish that we ordered was the Ginger Beef ($29.95), a dish invented in Calgary with an interesting history. Certainly not traditional, ginger beef is a quintessential Canadian Chinese dish that was invented in the 1970s. Deep fried strips of beef are coated in a dark, sweet sauce and it's quite delicious. The tanginess of the sauce is so addictive and the texture of the beef is satisfying. The version at GRB is quite good, however the best ginger beef that I've ever tasted was at Emerald Garden Restaurant in Calgary. Then it was time for the actual dim sum! Little plates incoming!! We really wanted to try the Pan Fried Taro Root with Pork Sausage but were unfortunately informed that they did not have any available. Our server suggested the Pan Fried Chinese Turnip with Pork Sausage ($7.95) instead, which did look somewhat similar. (The fact that the dim sum menu shows images of every item is very helpful!) Unfortunately, this turned out to be the least favourite dish of the night just because the texture was really challenging. These cakes were extremely soft and mushy. I actually did enjoy the flavour of the turnip and sausage but the mushiness was a bit too difficult to get around. read more

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This is one of our favourite places to come for dim sum. The staff are always friendly and kind. They are very family friendly here and always treat the kids so well. The dim sum tastes great and fresh. The prices have gone up a bit since we last came but that's pretty much happening everywhere. Highly recommend this place if you're craving dim sum as they are fast, efficient, and delicious. read more

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The food was ok, but the prices are ridiculous. At the end of the day its STILL Chinese food and should not of costed us 70$ for 2 adults and 2 kids..... With NO DRINKS.... read more

So I haven't been to this dim sum since I was a little kid. I just recently moved back to Alberta. and i wanted to try dim sum. So I went to this restaurant and had the shrimp, pork dumplings. and all I can say about there food is that if I was to die tomorrow, I'd die a happy man. The service was wonderful, staff was very friendly and helpfu. I ended up meeting the owner Miranda. She was very kind to me when I was paying. We had a great chat about our lives. The ambience of the restaurant was welcoming. it was just like I remembered as a kid before I moved. Overall I had a great service and would comeback any day any. read more

As the only white people in this establishment, I've never felt racism like that before. Me and my girlfriend sat at the front door about 10 minutes, being ignored by the wait staff as they glared at us while half the place was empty. I sat down on the empty half while every Chinese person in the place stared at us menacingly. The waiter came over, gave us a menu with no dim sum on it, took no drink order, then everyone gave us dirty looks until we left. Never again would I enter this place... read more

Really enjoyed dim sum. Staff was friendly and efficient in getting food into our gullets. I loved the variety of shrimp, pork, and chicken dumplings. My only disappointment was in myself as I thought I had an appetite for destruction but only to throw in the towel a lot faster than anticipated. read more

I came here to grab a local bite with family. It's a cozy restaurant, not busy during dinner time. Very fast service. We ordered duck, birds nest, some other protein, some seafood stuff. Its food , no complaints. Definitely I found the food came out hot, the service ass fast, the lighting was good. Dessert is self serve in pots near where you pay. Today they served sweet pumpkin (like coconut milk base) and red bean. Location takes credit card. read more

Golden Rice Bowl - Front - Dim Sum Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Put in an order a week ago for Christmas Day .Went to pick up and they didn't have our order. This is not the first time this has happen to us .Once it was an online order this time it was over the phone . People at the front were rude and not helpful . Stay away! read more

We are very picky when it comes to Chinese food as we are from Vancouver. This place makes the best Chinese sausage fried rice ( not on the menu) ever! I am glad we found this little gem. read more

Their dim sum is pretty good and service is reasonable and they definitely treat the regular customers like friends. My family in Edm used to go there every Sunday until my parents went to be with God. The owner always comes out to greet the customers and generously bring to our tables congee and tofu desserts for free. If you are new in town, do go and try their dim sum but their dinner may be somewhat unpredictable... a hit and miss kind of experience... :-) read more

This is one of the best Chinese restaurant I have ever had in Canada. We had few dishes (sweet & sour pork, beef tenderloin with cashew , and congee). We were impressed by the quick service - our first order came in less than 10mins and the rest of the food came very quickly one right after the other. The attendant was very tentative! The washroom was very clean and smelled fresh. The food is delicious and piping hot, and price is very reasonable. We recommend this place for anyone who's craving for good quality and affordable Chinese food! read more

Delicious and fresh food, very good service,Restaurant boss Miranda she's super nice!

good food, good service.. personalize service from the owner herself what else can you ask for. we will come back for house special fried rice, steamed bbq pork bun, steamed pork ribs with black beans, and crispy fried chicken. The restaurant is clean from the inside and look fresh from the outside with the newly renovated sign. i highly recommend this place. read more

Honeybunny and I came here (after my recent China trip) because she was craving dim sum and because she wanted to show me a place she's been visiting for many years. So, pretty high expectations. The decor delivers the ambiançe. Ditto the staff; pleasant, limited in English, handy with the food shears and dim sim carts. Dim sum selection seems pretty usual, the taste is pretty good (except that one dish of beef balls which were rubbery, off-tasting, and inedible; cheerfully taken off the bill). Golden Rice Bowl is A-OK, as the YELP ratings go, delivering the complete Chinese restaurant experience, from the decor right out of central casting, to the staff and food. It's not gourmet by any means, nor does it pretend to be. read more

The good was really good and it was a lot! I find that their portion is more than usual. Anyhow, we ordered for pickup and they put it all in a box. Good idea when u have a lot of order and its secured, so it wont be spilling in your car. The food was good, no complaints. I loved it. The problem i had was when i called, ordered, and confirmed about the discount on their website. The woman on the phone denied it and said they dont do it anymore. So when we picked up the food, my husband showed them their own website. They honoured it eventually and said, oh next time, just keep insisting... wth. They then gave us free coconut pudding dessert after... Anyhow, for that little trick, im hesitant to go back. Trust is a must when ordering food. I wonder if they skimp on food when they apply the discount? Who knows. read more

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I wouldn't give any starts if I could. It's been a while since I went there last time. Today we went to the restaurant and decided never go back. We had to wait more than 15min to get serve, ordered hot water and took us half an hr:( and brought us ice water.. Not just for that. She is owner the restaurant and didn't care for the tables at all. When food came out the pork was uncooked and stainless dishwasher scrubbie was inside the food.. good thing I caught before my mom ate. We wanted to leave so went to the washroom and no toilet papers so it seems just don't care about anything for the customers. Customer service was terrible, food was awful horrible thing was they're responding who owns the restaurant just said sorry and blame for employees. Never going back. read more

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I have gone to Golden Rice Bowl several times for dim sum, but never for "regular" Chinese. Everything was perfect and the portions were generous. I was especially excited because they have mu shu pork, which I have not found anywhere in a long time, as well as peaches and fried prawns. We also had mixed vegetable, special friend rice, Cantonese chow mein, lemon chicken, and beef and broccoli. All pretty standard dishes, but all done very well. The service was fantastic, too. However, the very most charming part of the meal is that this restaurant has recently acquired a food-serving robot with animated cat face. Did not know this existed. We were thrilled. We took a photo with it. So so much fun and a delicious meal. read more

I'd been going to Beijing Beijing for dim sum, which is also great, but this place came highly recommended also, so I gave it a try. I went fairly early on a Saturday, just after they opened at 9:30, but even by the time I left it didn't seem too crowded whereas Beijing Beijing usually has a line out the door by 11. So, perhaps this location being a little more out of the way is an advantage if you don't like to wait? Or maybe I just got lucky this weekend ... tbd. As I was on my own I couldn't try ALL the dishes, but I judge a dim sum place on the quality of the har gow and this did not disappoint. The pork shiu mai was also above average quality - large and meaty, not the tiny little dumplings you often get elsewhere. It seemed as if the selection was a little less varied than at Beijing Beijing, but everything I tried was a similar quality level and they had all the regular dishes I would have wanted. One difference I noticed, when I asked if they had egg yolk buns they said I had to order those separately, they don't come around on the carts as they do in some other places. When I did order them, I was delighted to discover that they arrived decorated to look like the most adorable little round pig-like creatures. I almost felt bad about eating them - but only almost, because they were delicious. Can't speak for the dinner meals, but the dim sum is up to standard and would come here again just for the adorable egg yolk buns! read more

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We had the great pleasure of dining at this fabulous Chinese Restaurant. Undoubtedly the best Chinese food anywhere. Their chef produces a variety of succulent dishes, so flavorful. They are now open for dining in, with strict Covid protocols. Wonderful experience! read more

Golden Rice Bowl - Rice stuffed chicken wings - a real delicacy - Dim Sum Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

This restaurant was amazing. I ordered pick up service & when I arrived was given a 10% off discount. I ordered: Crispy spring rolls. $6 Steamed bbq pork bun $6.25 Minced pork & shrimp dumpling $6.25 Deep fried taro dumpling x2 $14 Cantonese chow main $14.95 The food was excellent & to go dishes, cutlery and sauces were included & we went to the park for a picnic. The food was delish & we will definitely be going back. I highly recommend the taro rolls as these are hard to find. Service was friendly and fast! read more

Golden Rice Bowl - Dim Sum Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Although it is not my first choice for dim sum in Edmonton, it is great to have other options available still. With most of the standard Cantonese dim sum fare you'd expect, they do have a unique offering of bbq pork in a pineapple bun. This brings back great memories having dim sum in Hong Kong so this was a definite plus. It has been some time since I have had dinner here so I can't comment much on that right now. read more

Golden Rice Bowl - Dim Sum Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Our fav dim sum for the last 15 years. thank you for your yummy food!

I haven't gone for Dim Sum in a REALLY long time. Try twenty years. My friend assured me that this place was her favorite place in the city for it, so I was happy to join her. Decor was a little dated in my opinion, but there was lots of room and it was pretty busy. I appreciated the polite service, and the decent variety of dim sum treats. The old favorites, like shrimp dumplings and barbeque pork buns were there, as well as a few I hadn't seen before, or maybe just don't remember. All in all, I decent experience. I'll head back in another twenty years when I get the hankering again. read more

Golden Rice Bowl - Pork dumpling - Dim Sum Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

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Seriously, this is authentic, high-quality Chinese food, not some kinda weak fusion version of Chinese food. If you want the real stuff, it's Golden Rice Bowl (aka GRB), baby. I thought it was pretty good the first time, and since my recent visits here again, I firmly stand by my original review -- truly, as good as it gets. We've made it our go-to restaurant for Chinese from now on, seeing as our old joint just doesn't measure up anymore. New dishes I've tried are the peaches and prawns with rice, which is delicious! The prawns are large and fresh, and they don't add too much mayo sauce to the dish that it takes over the flavor. The wor wonton soup is great too. Basically, you can't go wrong with any dish you order from here. Dessert is included with every meal, and is served buffet-style at a table near their front desk. They recently came up with a new dessert recipe, it's basically a dessert pudding that has pumpkin, tapioca, and taro, I think. If they have it out when you are there, make sure you try a bowl ... it's delicious! Sweet and creamy, not too rich. I was disappointed when I came back a second time and they didn't have it ... And for those who get a kick out of fancy bathrooms (and let's be honest, who doesn't like a nice bathroom in a public place), GRB does have the ooh-ahh-worthy frosted glass bathroom stalls. One of the cleaner bathrooms I have seen, I must say. And that's a huge plus in my book. read more

Chicken balls and sweet and sour pork are amazing. Not cheap like other Chinese restaurants. Real quality here.

poor service. no cutlery or plates. wrong order came out. terrible. and expensive. Not worth it. Ate out of a tiny bowl and fingers!!

Been to Golden Rice Bowl a few times with the fam jam and have to say that the chinese food here is very good! It is a bit more pricey than some of the places you can go to in Chinatown but it's worth it if you don't want the same old dishes (this coming from an Asian that eats a lot of Chinese food). Plus the place has a pretty nice decor/cleanliness for an Asian restaurant (did I mention the washroom are the nicest I've ever seen in a Chinese Edmonton restaurant?) Anyways, back to the more important part of this review - the food. Went here on Sunday for a slightly earlier dinner. We were there around 6pm and by the time it was 7-7:30pm, the place was absolutely packed with other families and people eating! Maybe it was just because it was the long weekend? So for food, there were 6 of us and we shared the set dinner menu for six (the Asian menu at the back for total of $159). Total of 7 dishes which included: * Seafood soup (my favourite) *Sweet and sour shrimp with lychee (really good. Much better than the typical sweet and sour pork. Order this if you don't get the set menu) - Fried pork chop * Crab with yellow noodles in a creamy sauce (lobster cooked perfectly) - Crispy chicken - Deep fried swordfish (nicely fried with a great crunch on its skin) Also came with pot of steamed rice (the usual). We also ordered three more dishes a la carte style which were: * Steamed fish in black bean sauce ($16) - One of my favourite dishes. This one is sea bass with some black bean sauce AND tofu on the bottom. Yummy! - Stir fried mixed vegetables ($10) - variety of broccoli, mushrooms, snow peas, cabbage and carrots * Fried rice noodle with chicken (dry style) - normally this comes with beef but we switched it to chicken. Always a great noodle dish to order (for me at least). Obviously, we had WAY too much food so we had lots of leftovers to bring home. Definitely recommend if you are looking for some tasty, better quality Chinese food than the norm. Note: * is for dishes that I would order again :) read more

I've been here for dinner a few times in the last couple of months and would rate it 3.5 stars. The first time we had a reservation and we arrived about 15 minutes late but a table wasn't ready and we had to wait. The restaurant wasn't full, maybe 75% busy with a few table occupied by people waiting for take out. We ordered one of the 10 course meals and the food came out steadily. We sat close to the dessert table which is help yourself. They have bowls and spoons for 2 kinds of desserts, the red bean soup and white tapioca one, and there were cookies too. They were running low on one of the desserts but I don't think it's a priority to check and refill the pot. We found the food tasty and portions large so we came back for our next family meal. Our most recent visit, we were seated near the front window which I liked better because there was less traffic from staff, and customers going to dessert table or washroom. We ordered the 10 course meal with duck wrap, duck stir fry, tofu soup, sweet and sour pork, fish, crab, mushrooms and vegetables, chicken, fried rice, and noodles. The portions were again, pretty big. The rice had lots of BBQ pork, shrimp, and vegetables. The sweet and sour pork was thickly breaded but tasted ok. I liked the dish with the variety of mushrooms. It would have been better if they provided more wraps for the duck. There were no cookies at the dessert table this time around. Overall, the meal was good and service decent the second visit. I did find it to be pricey as it was over $300 for 10 of us although we had some leftovers. read more

I ordered a few dishes recently including the lemon chicken and discovered that two pieces of the chicken were raw. I called the restaurant to express my concern and disappointment and they agreed to refund me the cost of the chicken [$21]. That was over a month ago and I have yet to receive the promised cheque. Very disappointing. read more

Very clean place, food was excellent and the service was quick and very pleasant! The owner is a very nice lady.

Service: We were seated instantly being only 2. We were served well, which isn't always the case in places this busy for dim sum. We ate leisurely & to our satisfaction and were in and out 45 mins. This was perfect for us as we were on our way outta town. They brought the bill & the cordless card reader to our table, which I've never seen done at Asian restaurants. It was a nice touch and must help with their turn around. Dim sum: Cart service was good, with a decent amount of choice. Sometimes being a table for two at carted dim sum we have had a hard time getting full carts to pass us by as they focus on the bigger tables, but no such problem here. The dishes were standard for the most part. I did try a dish that I haven't seen before - the veggie bean curd roll. It was delicious, I loved the mixed mushrooms with the bean curd. (but I am an avid bean curd fan). Atmosphere: very ornate decoration and atmosphere with lots of traditional chinese red & gold. more thought put into this decor than most asian restaurants. Also the washrooms were recently renovated and done very modernly, which was a pretty big shock for me. I was so impressed that I had to take a picture and share as from my experience Asian restaurants leave the washrooms behind by a couple decades. It was pricier than our fav dim sum spots in Calgary, but worth it for the service, speed & atmosphere. read more

Golden Rice Bowl - Cool yellow blowfish swimming around in entrance way tank. - Dim Sum Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

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Golden Rice Bowl is definitely authentic Chinese food. After experiencing many spots that aren't quite up to par you get an understanding of what Chinese food is suppose to taste like after you try the Golden Rice Bowl. The dinner menus has so much to offer and it's a bit hard to choose. You will want to try mostly everything you see. I would suggest including the garlic prawns along with anything else you choose. The staff is very friendly and like I said the menu has a lot to offer, so come here on an empty stomach. read more

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No doubt that Golden rice bowl has good Chinese food BUT it is a little pricier than other similar standard Chinese restaurants and the service is horrendous. I mean, when walking into a Chinese restaurant we expect mediocre service, but here is it just plain bad.... They r abrasive, rude and just not very nice! But onto the food: Peking duck 3 ways - the duck was ok. There was too much fat between the skin & meat (peking duck should not have the greasy fat stuck on the duck) but it was juicy with a nice crispy outside. the noodles were ok but had a generous amount of the duck in it which was nice. The soup was just blah... Bland and forgettable. House special fried rice - not bad Pekingese Sweet sour pork - Ok. the pork was a little over cooked so it was tough. Beef w ginger & onion hot pot - my favourite of the night. The beed was really tender and it came with generous amounts of mushrooms, corn and green onions. Pea sprouts w garlic - very good, veggies still had a nice crunch and seasoned well. read more

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I've been coming here for years, but the quality has slipped just a little. The service is still great, but, for a rating, taste is king. We had to return the beef balls because they were off-taste, rubbery, and pretty much inedible. The were very generous with the sauces, although it took a while to get them to our table (but, to be fair, we did arrive near the end of the seating, so there's that). What we really liked the entire kitchen and wait staffs came out to the main dining room, set up a huge table, and had a communal meal as we finished ours. read more

We've never had a bad meal here. We've hit dim sums across Canada and this place is one of our favorites. Delicious dishes with lots of options, an attractive layout with ample family-friendly seating, and the best coconut buns I've ever had. You must try the coconut buns. TRY THEM. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this place. It's great. Put it this way: I asked a group of friends where the best dim sum in town could be found, and everyone said, "Golden Rice Bowl" at the exact same time. read more

Came here for a wedding banquet and dim sum the following day. The restaurant interior is upscale, despite the somewhat ghetto neighborhood in the middle of the boonies. The food here was sub par, especially for a wedding banquet. The roast pork on the appetizer platter wasn't fresh, neither was the lobster on the lobster over stir fried noodles. The Snow Pea Leaves were overgrown and didn't taste good... The abalone that sat on top of the Snow Pea leaves were small and had a funny texture to it.... Service was decent for a Chinese restaurant... probably due to the mandatory 12% gratuity tacked on top of the banquet bill... ...Word on the street is that this is the fanciest, if not the best, Chinese restaurant in the area....I've had better.... try Los Angeles! :D read more

Went for Dim Sum with a group of friends and we were looking for a place on the south side, handy for most. Our first choice was closed that day, so we picked Golden Rice Bowl, which I had not visited in may years. This visit leads me to wonder why it has been so long... We arrived fairly early, at 10AM, and things were not busy, with about half the restaurant full. We got ourselves a nice table and tucked in for a couple of hours of camaraderie and good food. The food was standard dim sum fare, with all of the usual suspects making an appearance. All of the dishes were fresh and delicious, and there was near constant cart traffic offering a good selection of varied dishes. Tea was topped up often and much care was taken to ensure that we were being well looked after. The restaurant itself is clean, well maintained and nicely appointed. It is very popular with family groups, and while busy is not overly loud or raucous. We all left feeling full happy and with our wallets less empty than expected. I will definitely return here for another dim sum foray. read more

Went there over the weekend for dim sum for the first time. Food was ok..... not as good as Jumbo. Other than that the service was good and they spaced the tables so you are not sitting next to anyone except people you came with. read more

Was craving Chinese food so we decided to go try Golden Rice Bowl for dinner. We usually only come for dim sum or weddings so it was surprising to see the restaurant fairly empty. Ordered the flat rice noodle with beef and hokkien fried rice. The noodles was really flavourful and way better than cafe 852. The fried rice though was kind of bland. It was a bit on the pricey side too but it came with free dessert (red bean with tapioca/sweet potato with tapioca) and the food came quickly so that made up for it. The staff was attentive which is always nice. read more

Yummy food today!!!! We had lunch with the King crab, this only place I can order a live king crab. Reasonable price, good services!!! Thank you Mrs. Lau!! read more

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