TL;DR/The Short Version:
It's slim pickings for dim sum in…read moreOttawa and this place is the best I've had here (that is still open). Not as good as in Toronto or the GTA, obviously. Order only, no carts pushed around.
The Long Version:
I took my mom here for dim sum because she loves dim sum. We got there at opening on a Friday. We were thrilled to discover that Happy Hour was Monday to Friday 11am (opening) to 2pm. During Happy Hour, all Small, Medium and Large items were $5.95 (which is the regular price of Small items). Otherwise, medium items are $6.55 and large items are $6.95.
We ordered 8 items. We might have overdid it, lol, but we managed to finish everything!
Here's the rundown on what we had:
Shrimp Siu Mai: easily the best item of the lot. Four big and juicy shrimp balls wrapped in a wonton wrapper and steamed. So delicious!
Shrimp Dumplings: these are Har Gow. The wrapper was not chewy but rather starchy and ripped easily. However, the filling was excellent. Very similar to the Shrimp Siu Mai filling. All shrimp, no bamboo filler.
Chicken feet: I did not eat any. Too creepy looking, lol. However, my Mom enjoyed them. She said they chopped them up into smaller pieces than at other places though and she didn't like this as much.
Glutinous rice with chicken: glutinous rice with ground chicken and tiny pieces of mushrooms, wrapped in lotus leaf and steamed. It was ok, but was too filling, as it's mostly rice. I don't regret trying it, but I wouldn't personally order this again.
Radish cakes: crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Small pieces of preserved sausage mixed in. I enjoyed these.
Rice rolls: we got a shrimp one and a beef one. They were identical except for the filling. The rice rolls were soft and tasty. The fillings were good. The shrimp ones had 2-3 shrimp per roll. The beef was more a beef paste, not actual slices of beef.
Deep fried shrimp rolls: they were shrimp spring rolls. Crispy on the outside with ground shrimp filling. I enjoyed the sweet, sour and spicy dipping sauce.
Service was good. My mom noticed that some people who arrived after us got served before us (and ordered some items we had ordered too), but they appeared to be regulars or maybe friends of the staff/owners. We didn't wait too long for our food, so I wasn't really bothered by it.
I loved that they gave us a whole pitcher of water. Saved us having to ask for refills throughout the meal.
So they put 2 pieces of paper on the table for you with a pen. One of the papers is for you to indicate what you want. The other paper is for them to keep track of when you ordered, what you ordered and what's outstanding after they bring you your food, since plates are brought out one or two at a time.
The place is a good size and I loved the high ceilings with cool chandeliers. There's a nice mural on the back wall with what looks to be the CN Tower. Ah, a little slice of my hometown ;) The space is reminiscent of the Chinese restaurants in the GTA that are also banquet halls that are popular for Asian weddings, but on a bit of a smaller scale. And while most of the restaurant looks nice, along the walls and at the corners of the restaurant they do store some items in plain sight and it feels less nice as a result.
The restaurant is in a plaza, so there's lots of free parking.
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