They recently did a renovation of this Asian restaurant in the Doubletree. Lovely ambiance but also comes with a $$$$ price tag for the food. I have to say the quality and presentation are great and you can definitely share a number of dishes. We are not huge eaters - so for 3 people we had one appetizer and two mains. The service was really top notch but in some ways a bit over the top. (At some point just let people serve themselves). It wasn't really busy (maybe folks are not aware that it's open again). Or maybe folks are put off by the high prices. read more

Lai Wah Heen - Oysters - Dim Sum Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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This restaurant would be a great place to go on a date, or with friends. This was a pleasant higher-end Cantonese restaurant. This isn't the kind of restaurant that you'd order out from. Most of the experience was talking with the waiter and enjoying the elevated dishes. -Appetizer/Drink- 5/5 For this visit I didn't order too much as I didn't have a large appetite. I was seated very quickly; the atmosphere was quiet and intimate. I was served with a "Welcome" chrysanthemum tea and korean grape). Both were delicious and I ordered a pot of the chrysanthemum tea since it was so good. I was provided with a large pot of tea and a crystallized sugar stick to use for sweetening the tea. -Dinner- For dinner I ordered a chilean sea bass croquettes and prawn & scallop hot and sour soup. As I was warned by the waiter (Thank you Julian) it wasn't enough food for a whole dinner but at the time it was the perfect amount for me. The sea bass croquettes were coated in a delicious 20-year-old black vinegar based sauce which made the flavor rich and savory with a hint of sweetness. The croquettes were also cooked perfectly with a slight crunch and no chewiness. The hot & sour soup was my follow-up to the croquettes. The soup was thick, and delicious. The prawns and scallops were both cooked well, though I would've appreciated more of each in the soup. This was the perfect temperature and fullness for me to leave the restaurant happily. -Dessert- I didn't order any desserts, but I did receive a "complimentary" few slices of asian pear that were light and an elegant close to the meal. -Additional Thoughts- I really appreciated and was taken back by a few things (in a good way). As I said before, this is a higher-end restaurant, and I think I could've ordered another dish to get more bang for my buck. I enjoy trying new things and I wish that there was a cheaper tasting that could've been requested, though I understand why a tasting would be more expensive than a standard entree. I also appreciated that the waiter (Julian) would talk to me about some of the dishes and provided some recommendations when I was a bit overwhelmed with choices. The service is the reason I gave this a 5/5 instead of a 4/5. read more

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This is definitely the most elevated, bougiest Chinese Restaurant I've been to! Located on the second floor of Double Tree Hotel, it's tucked away in the back. Ambiance was dark and intimate. The food was very yummy and tasted just as good as the presentation, but also quite $$$ given how small the portions were. Wok Seared Ribeye (flatiron wagyu) $67 - mm melt in your melt w/ perfect amount of meat and fattyness - first time having brussel sprouts lol and I think it was cooked to perfection - good amount of wok hei Jellyfish w/ Cranberry Gelee $23 - taste was unexpecting. friend said it reminded them of ketchup chips lol, but I personally really enjoyed it. Sweet & sour, w the tiniest bit of spice?? - unique texture and had a nice crisp to it, didn't taste like your normal jellyfish - the jelly at the bottom threw me off though LOL Scallop & Prawn Dumpling $29 - ordered this for the presentation but really $15 for EACH dumpling should be a crime - taste was lacking - nothing special other than the looks & would not order again They also served Korean Muscat grapes as like a starter and ended off with some winter pear. Our server was great, but the only complaint was that I was seated at the table across from the bar and at times all the servers were standing there talking or looking over and it's kinda intimidating/awkward feeling if I'm trying to talk to the person next to me but you have a bunch of people watching.. Not sure if I would return to be quite honest unless I'm in the mood for some fancy dim sum during the day read more

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This is an upscale Cantonese restaurant specializing in Dim Sum. Located on the 2nd floor of the Doubletree Hotel on Chestnut. Food (4/5) - they have a mix of a la carte items and two fixed price set course ones. Mix of small and large plates ideal for sharing with a group. Food presentation is top notch across the board and all the items are premium priced vs most any dim sum restaurant in Toronto. - Scallop & Prawn Dumplings - the signature dim sum dish - it's a creative colourful fish shaped dumpling. Beautiful presentation and very nice overall. Came in a bowl with a spinach soup. Only callout was it was hard to taste the scallop. - River Prawn with Honeydew and Mango - thought this was the best dim sum dish imo. Nice mixture of delicious prawn on top of a honeydew base and swirled mango top. - Uni Siu Mai - it was pretty good overall. Not a big fan of uni but sucked it up and ate it lol. - Char Siu - it was pretty good overall as well however did take a bit to get it. 13 spices mixed in the sauce with honey. Meat was good with minimal fat and cooked properly. - Foraged Mushroom and Vegetable Fried Rice - interesting mix of items unlike anything I have ever had. Multiple mushrooms and diced vegetables with what tasted like some form of rice crispies. The mix seemed to work though... although I found it on the bland side overall. - Snow Chrysanthemum Tea - a somewhat rare flower tea from high altitude areas in China. Had a nice flavour and soothing feel to it. Service (4.5/5) - the service was very solid and professional... very attentive and our server was friendly and explained both menu choices and each item. Checked in many times to see all was good and to refill water, clean plates, etc. Floor manager also checked in a few times. Char Siu took a long time to arrive but rest of the items were fairly quick. Atmosphere (4.5/5) - it is a dim, upscale intimate layout with a good mix of ample spaced tables and booth plus a center bar. High quality plates and cutlery. Nice upscale bathrooms. Overall (4.25/5) - I don't take price into account in my food ratings usually but will call out that the menu items are on the overpriced side vs. some less glamourous dim sum restaurants. However, presentation is top notch. My only other callout is some of the food items were on the understated side and could use some additional spices/flavours. Service and atmosphere top notch and met my expectations for an upscale restaurant. read more

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The venue is beautiful. The bar, dining areas, and even the bathrooms were designed with the intention of looking cery upscale. It's very moody and intimate of a vibe with the low lighting. It was quite dark where we sat that it made us feel like it was the evening, despite it being around noon. Upon being seated for lunch, we were shown a selection of teas and our server asked us which one we wanted. We made the rookie mistake by not realizing that you get a whole pot of the tea, since we were treating this more like fone dining portions versus what you get at dimsum. Had our server mentioned that it was by the teapot, we would have preferred to have shared one instead. We recieved a complimentary cold chrysanthemum tea that was sweetened that was very tasty and not too sweet. The candied foie gras was beautifully presented to us. I normally find foie gras can taste too salty or heavy, but it was pleasantly light and flavorful. The crispy shrimp cheung fan was one of my favourites of all the items we ate. The shrimp filling was crispy and generous, the cheung fan was perfectly cooked, and the soy sauce had a really nice seafood umami flavour. The scallop and prawn dumplings are beautiful, but I could not taste any scallop in the filling. It would have been better off just being prawn with "lilypad" shaped scallops on the side or something. The uni siu mai was a really nice pairing. The uni makes the siu mai feel less greasy. However, it just felt like regular siu mai, just with uni on top. The lychee shrimp balls are, again, presented beautifully. The use of rice puffs was a nice touch, and it added a great crunch to each bite. The mint really brightens up the flavours really well. We ended our lunch with two slices complimentary asian pears that were light and refreshing. As for the service, it was very average. I've had my fair share of fine dining experiences before, so I was expecting really good service. What we recieved was a server that was straight business, in and out. They were not personable, didn't share personal reccomenations, and didn't say anything else to us other than the name of our dishes. We're very easygoing people and came open to spend. In my past experiences, a great server can easily convince me to order more as a result. Instead, they forgot our order twice, and brought the wrong dishes to our table. Was the food beautiful? Yes. Is the food tasty? 100%. Can I find good quality dumsum without the gimmicks for significantly less? Absolutely. We kept saying over lunch that it reminds us a lot of dimsum at our usual favourite spots, only to find out that they are the same owners. Where I can understand an elevated experience requires elevated ingredients to justify premium pricing, aside from the nice presentation and luxury toppings, the quality of the dimsum is just as good as the regular items at their other restaurants. When the window of food quality comparison is that close and the value is so significantly different, I can understand why some people question their pricing. read more

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We had an amazing time at Lai Wah Heen. We ordered the general tso chicken and peeking duck friend rice. Loved the crispy elements on both dishes and the fried rice was really good the smoky flavours were delicious. The drinks we ordered were also good. Not great some pairings didn't really go super well together. But the food more than made up for it. The service was exceptional and the ambience was amazing. Everything was clean and I loved the little touches to elevate our experience. Seating was spacious and I really appreciated that! Excited to come back and try more of their food! read more

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I had an amazing experience here for dinner back in October. As someone who is Chinese and goes out for Chinese food fairly often in the suburbs, spending $100+ on Chinese food was steep. And honestly, I went in thinking I would be ripped off. When I first walked in to the restaurant, it gave a very high-end experience. The decor, the cutlery, the service everything was top-notch. Our server greeted us, handed us these lit up, menus, followed by offering us an exquisite variations of tea. And we also got these complimentary delicious cantaloup to start. If I'm not mistaken, these are similar to the Japanese cantaloupes and apparently grown locally in one of their farms. I got the $139 tasting menu which was 9 courses. And honestly, each course blew me away. As someone who eats most of these dishes pretty frequent they were able to put a very unique touch to them. A few of my favourites: - hot and sour soup (the way they cut up their tofu was so unique, and the flavours hit the spot) - scallop and prawn dumpling (shaped like a fish and the details was insane) - roasted goose liver, pork & roasted pork belly (the texture and the flavours were nothing like I imagined it to be and everyone at the table loved it) - lion's mane sweet & sour fritters (similar to sweet and sour pork but mushrooms!!! and so well plated) Honestly, every dish was really good. We also got the stirfry beef flat rice noodle on the side, which had a decent amount of wok hay. The only thing I didn't love was the dragon fruit tart at the end - it tasted like a regular milk tart. They also gave us complimentary golden kiwi which was a perfect end to our meal. I was so full by the end of the nine courses. I went in with little expectations and left telling everyone, including my traditional Chinese parents about this place. I got their lychee cocktail and it was really good too! For the quality of food they are serving and the service they provided, I definitely think it's worth the price. It's a perfect place for a special night out or a date night! read more

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Downgrading my review and rating from 8 years ago. Lai Wah Heen recently re-opened under a new owner and chefs earlier this year, so I went back to see if it still lived up to the hype from almost a decade ago. Unfortunately things seemed to have gone downhill since the ownership change. There were some positives, like how they renovated the place and the interior of the restaurant now looks a lot modern, luxurious, and classy compared to the old restaurant (that retained its classic Chinese / dim sum restaurant look, which I kind of liked for its old-school charm). Another positive aspect was that all the staff were courteous, helpful, and service was still pretty good (the typical attentive service you'd get when dining in a high-end dining restaurant). We were presented with a complimentary small cup of cold chrysanthemum tea which was really tasty and refreshing, a small piece of Muscat grape, and a "dessert" of 2 slices of Asian pear in the end - all nice gestures that elevated the experience. They also provided a selection of teas that were not typically offered in other, more average dim sum restaurants. We chose the goji berry tea and chrysanthemum tea, which were both excellent. The logistics of the menu and food, however, made me feel that it was not worth the high price tag compared to what you'd get at other Chinese and dim sum restaurants. They listed a number of larger plate dishes in the same dim sum menu, so we were under the impression that everything would be available during dim sum hours, which started at 10 am. Apparently that was not the case, and we were told that they would only be available until after 11 am. They cited the reason was because those were bigger dishes and needed to wait for another chef to come, and would take time for the chef to prepare in the kitchen - which was understandable. We asked if we could pre-order so the chef could cook them when they arrive (we were willing to wait), but we were discouraged from doing so. The manager came and told us that we only had 1.5 hours time limit for dim sum (even though the restaurant was 90% empty at that time). I'd expect that time limit to be communicated in a busy or less posh dim sum place, so it was a surprise but we didn't make a fuss. Then the waitress kept telling us to order other items from the dim sum menu (instead of putting our order in for the other dishes we wanted, which were the larger dishes that were part of the dim sum menu)... so we just complied. Then later, we saw another table (which came and were seated at the exact same time that we did) got one of the large dishes that we wanted (so they were allowed to order those but we didn't?). Perhaps they should make it clear which dishes would be available at what time right in the menu, to avoid any confusion and set the expectation straight. Another disappointing aspect was the food itself. The dim sum dishes were plated very beautifully and creatively - like works of art. But the dough / carb-to-protein ratio was very high. The dumplings, as beautiful, colourful, and laden with expensive ingredients as they were, did not taste as good as they used to from back when the old restaurant was still around. The tastes now were just average. The exceptions were the Wild Mushrooms Crystal Dumplings and Seasonal Mushrooms Cheung Fan - the assorted mushrooms in these two were excellent, as we could really taste the truffle. The rest of the dim sum items tasted sort of plain - nothing special. The Grouper Congee was alright; we appreciated the amount of grouper and abalone slices that were put in (comparing it to congee that we'd get at other Chinese restaurants). read more

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This restaurant has been known as a Cantonese Chinese fine dining venue for 30 years (opened in 1995). It was closed for two years and reopened (soft-opened on 2025-07-03) under new ownership, under the same name. It was completely renovated to be modern with a darkened vibe. Even the washroom looked amazing. The dinner menu is elegantly back-lit, which is unique to addresses the ability to read a menu in a darkened setting. The previous restaurant had a few dishes that were photo-worthy. But the new restaurant has about 80% photo-worthy dishes, with some of them as works of art! The quality is amazing, but so is the price (on the high side). But if you learn about the quality of the ingredients used, you will know why. Unfortunately the management prefers to explain each dish as they are presented. I did say to the general manager that people might want to know about the quality before they would want to come and pay high prices. I think they are relying on 30 years of reputation. As an example, the Wucheang Jasmin Rice is only harvested every 3 years; only some of the harvest comes to Canada. So you are paying for a bowl of rice with a distinctive taste and rarity. There are two co-executive chefs: Chef Huang Zhenging and Chef Heyden Sin, two of the best chefs from China. They were already cooking radical dishes in China, prior to coming to Lai Wah Heen. They reimagine classic Cantonese dishes with modern presentation, incorporating locally sourced ingredients, including produce from the restaurant owner's organic farm in Brampton. Most ingredients are from within Canada. We ordered the following: 1. Passionfruit Juice x 2 ($8 x 2). 2. Snow Chrysanthemum Tea ($18). 3. Prawn & Scallop Hot and Sour Soup ($19). Bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, silken tofu. 4. Spinach Soup with Foraged Mushroom ($19). Moral mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms, cauliflower. 5. Black Cod Croquettes with Black Vinegar Glacées ($37). Shanxi aged balsamic, Cantonese baby ginger, lime zest. 6. Scallop and Prawn Dumpling - 2 pcs, x 2 ($29 x 2). Jicama, squid ink, spinach consommé. 7. Crispy Roast Pork Belly - 6 pcs ($47). Heritage pork, crepe, truffle. 8. Gon Chow Ngau Ho ($39). Rice noodle, Canadian prime beef, yellow chives. 9. Seasonal Vegetables ($35). Poached amaranth greens in garlic broth, topped with goji berries and garlic cloves. 10. Sweet & Sour Lion's Mane Fritters ($47). Tomato confit, fungi, candied hawthorn berry. 11. Rice ($7). Steamed Wucheang jasmin rice. 12. Steamed Pumpkin and Cheese Bun x 2 ($23 x 2). 13. Sago Panna Cotta ($19). Mango, pomelo, strawberry. The customer service was excellent. The Chrysanthemum Tea uses Snow Chrysanthemum flowers from Thibet. It has a very subtle taste so you have to steep the tea longer if you wish a stronger taste. They also give you rock candy sticks to stir sweetness into your tea. The Hot and Sour Soup was amazing. The Spinach Soup with Foraged Mushrooms was delicious. The Black Cod Croquettes was presented in a little basket, shared like a wooden boat. The Dumpling is one of the most photographed dish, being in the shape of koi fish, with realistic skin including the sheen. It is set in a vibrant green spinach consome, that acts as an algae-covered koi pond that the fish swim in! The Roast Pork Belly are the most beautiful pork belly I have seen! The pork skin was indeed crispy! They put a generous amount of truffle on each pork belly piece! Nice touch. They use Heritage Pork, from the shoulder blade. The prime beef in the Gon Chow Ngau Ho dish was extremely tender. The bean sprouts have the head and tail removed so that only the silver section is served; this has only been done at fine dining restaurants in east Asia. Lai Wah Heen is the only restaurant in Canada that serves bean sprouts this way! The Vegetables consist of poached amaranth greens in garlic broth, topped with goji berries and garlic cloves. The greens and broth were good and I love goji berries. The Sweet & Sour Lion's Mane Fritters is another beautiful dish. Lion's Mane are mushrooms and I love mushrooms. They are made as fritters and taste good. The is surrounded by a half-sphere of a candied nest. Yes, one bowl of rice costs $7 but it is very special, as described near the beginning of this review. The Steamed Pumpkin and Cheese Bun look like mini pumpkins! The Sago Panna Cotta contains pomelo, strawberries, and mangos. I love all three fruits. It was such a refreshing dessert! There is free WiFi. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible. There is one gender-neutral washroom in the restaurant and more in the hotel. There is paid neighbourhood street parking and a paid parking lot in the hotel. Review 2026-007 read more

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Lai Wah Heen closed for a number of months and has come back as an absolutely gorgeous, bougie dim sum spot. The interior decor is really posh, they have two private rooms for bigger parties as well. The main dining is small and intimate with a baby grand and a bar with comfy seating. Our waiter was incredibly attentive and very inviting. He made sure my party, including a slightly energetic toddler, we're well taken care of and happy. Food is really good - on par with the previous version of itself except with much better presentation. Highly recommend. Hoping the new reviews will help pull the ratings up because the old restaurant struggled a little. read more

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The service here is extremely great. The servers are very attentive. In terms of the ambience, it was very very quiet. There was barely any music, and I felt a little bit intimidating, almost due to the lack of sound, although I do know this is a fine dining restaurant. In terms of the food - the food was good, but I think for the cost of it, there was no real wow factor. The favourite thing we ordered was the wok seared Canadian prime ribeye which was super tender and the charred Brussel sprouts were a great side. The drinks were great. The hot and sour soup was comforting and familiar. Guangzhou chow mein and dumplings were disappointing in flavour. Overall, this was a good place for vibes but in terms of food and at the price point, it isn't for me. read more

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This is one of my favourite places to go to eat dim sum in the city. I have taken family and friends there several times for special occasions. There are delicious items on the menu that you don't find anywhere else. The selection of loose teas are outstanding. read more

I've been waiting for Lee Wah Heen to reopen again. This time is under new owner and management. The decoration is much nicer and comfortable now. Service was very nice and attentive. You will feel very comfortable there. The scallop and shrimp dumpling was beautifully presented like a piece of artwork and our waiter Issac told us the story behind it. The siu mai had Hokkaido uni topped on it which is very unique. I love the shrimp balls, it was just the right level of texture with cheese inside that you can pull out! The lobster dumpling with fresh lobster, caviar was $37 per piece, the price was a little high for one piece. But lots of levels and work went into it. Since it's soft opening, probably things will be fine tuned. The steamed pumpkin bun for dessert is a must order! So chewy on the outside and inside filled with cheese. Sweet and savoury. The shrimp ball and the pumpkin shaped dumpling were my favourite! My parents enjoyed the xiao long bao, the wrap was thin and nice. Overall, a nice comfortable experience. read more

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There is a lot of competition in Toronto and you come here when you want a very catered five star service not for down and dirty dim sum. You pay a premium for the art and the service and the food is absolutely beautiful worth it for a special occasion. The Koi dumplings were almost too good to eat. Also, here you can get a cocktail with your dim sum. read more

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I'm so happy that tthis restaurant reopened. In my opinionopinion, it was one of the top 10 Chinese fine dining restaurants inToronto so i'm glad it reopened . In terms ofdecor I'mnot sure if they made any changes but this restaurant has a classic hasclassic modern look .Wewere herecelbrating my dad's bday and we wanted to bookeda private room whichcosted minimum$1,000 food/drinks order. So we order a set mealmeal around1,000. A bitbitpricey but the food was very excellent and service was amazing! Yes, it might be great great service given our expensive meal order. I will have to come again and see if the service is consistent if we just ordered regular priced dishes. Overall the food was all very tssty and presentation was top notched! For starters, we werewere served individually pumpkin siup with crabmeat dumpling. Love the soup especially the crabmeat dumplinzI was very impressed with the way thrytheyto serve the soup to each person in a nice soup bItis not typical for Chinese restaurants toserve soupthat way.wa at a Chinese restaurant. Usually a big bowl of soup is brought to the table and the server will scoop the soup into small bowls and then the guests will get their soup either individually grab a bowl from the turn table or server may pass it to each person.But what they did was pour the soup out first in indidual bowls in the kitchen and then brought it out to each person. Now that is prtfect way to serve soup! We will be back! read more

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I got a spinach fungi soup + chat siu rice + mango pomelo sago, also a koi fish dumpling and a deep fried pastry on the side. Both dim sum sides are chef's recommendations. There are three types of fungi in the soup, so it is supposed to be umami, yet the soup just tastes salty and starchy. The fish dumpling has a nice presentation with astonishing details, such as tiltable fins. The shrimp stuffing tastes umami, fluffy and smooth. This is the best har gow I have ever had. The char siu uses the regular pork cut, pork shoulder, just like everybody else. But it is more tender while maintaining a somewhat crispy outside. On the other hand, it is not tender enough to justify the thick cut, which is probably done for the presentation. The dish was garnished with a heart shaped pineapple and pig shaped cracker. The pineapple was kind of sour, which works well with the char siu. The Jasmine rice served with char siu is more one the wet and sticky side. Personally, I prefer japonais rice cooked dryer. And the rice grains were a bit broken. The pastry has amazingly shattering and flaky shell. The sweet paste inside the shell was smooth but not cloying at all. It is a bit of oily, as you can see the remaining oil on the shell. It would have been perfect for a savory pastry. Lastly was the sago. I am never fan of this dessert dish and their version didn't change my mind. Besides what I ordered, they also served complimentary fruits, fig and yellow kiwi. Overall I think the lunch set is so so. I would recommend chef's recommendations. His confidence in these dishes is definitely justified. read more

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Post Covid LWH has been transformed ocean going liner style into an eatery that flatters the hotel in which it resides. The menu ranges from value for money dim sum choices to high value items featuring choice ingredients. The food is complemented by an extensive bar and a wine list which goes from house at $72 to top draw tipples. If retained the young and immaculate FOH staff will grow in confidence and round out a package TO can be proud of. read more

What an amazing experience! Service & food was superb. The sweet & sour soup was fantastic. Loved the delicious home made chili oils!!

Very cool interior, upscale. Adorable food and love the plates/cutlery. Excellent service. Recommend the lobster fried rice and trying the teas read more

We were staying at the Doubletree downtown Toronto and the concierge recommended Lai Wah Heen, located in the hotel. This turned out to be so good that we ate here twice in the space of a couple of days. First of all, I am a fan of Hot & Sour soup and often find it poorly executed in most Chinese restaurants - usually not sour and too peppery without heat. At Lai Wah Heen they have taken it to another level by substituting prawns and scallops in place of the usual pork. And the balance of hot and sour was perfect. Here's another creative and delicious take on a usually pedestrian dish - Fried Rice. Except Lai Wah Heen substitutes Peking Duck for the usual pork. Once again, elevating a typical dish to a much higher level of taste. We had a number of other dishes, but let's just say everything here is exceptional. Service was excellent and very attentive, and we were very pleased with the beverage manager who helped us select tea to go with our meals, kept the pot full, and gave us a package to take home. We have since purchased more of the tea (Da Hong Pao), which is a beautiful oolong Wuyi rock tea with an orchid fragrance and a sweet aftertaste. Definitely a 5 star experience, and we will certainly return on our next visit to Toronto. read more

My family want to do something special to pre celebrate the Lunar Lantern Festival. So, we decided to give the legendary Lai Wah Heen Cantonese fine dining restaurant's famous dim sum a try. As I have not visited this restaurant before since they open in year 1995. Let first talk about the restaurant interior and parking. The restaurant itself looks very dated but not feeling classic at all. There is parking space available at the underground parking but physically parking your vehicle can be very difficult even with a multiple view parking camera vehicle. Steamed dumpling of fresh lobster escalopes & shrimp in garlic butter / Open-purse dumpling of minced scallop, shrimp & bakchoy, topped with caviar: Even though, both dim sum dishes look totally different but they almost tasted exactly the same with the same texture. My family and I did not taste any lobster escalopes in the lobster shaped dumpling. This is my first time at Lai Wah Heen and I am not sure do their lobster shaped dumpling suppose to have lobster inside, even when it is listed in their Prix Fixe menu. I understand we are in an age of hype-inflation. If lobster is too expensive, then rise the price or cut this dim sum dish from the menu. Another dim sum restaurant I went to recently did cut their lobster rice roll dim sum dish from their menu. Similar situation with their scallop open-purse dumpling. My family and I only tasted one very tiny piece of minced scallop in the scallop open-purse dumpling. For this price, I do not think customer is asking too much for a full piece of scallop inside an open-purse dumpling that is large as a mini muffin. Also, the caviar is only for decoration with no taste. The only thing I tasted in both dumplings are shrimps, which is fresh and bouncy. Seared crab claw, shrimp & green chive in wonton: On the other hand, the crab claw wonton is actually the best tasted steamed dim sum in this Prix Fixe menu in my opinion. Even though, the many ingredients of the crab claw wonton is shrimps but the green chive in the wonton does give this dim sum dish an unique flavour and texture. I can also tasted the crab claw, which give this wonton an umami taste. Deep-fried soft dumpling of Berkshire pork: The outer thin layer of the deep-fried soft dumpling is crispy. The glutinous rice paste in the middle layer is soft but not too sticky. The Berkshire pork inside is not salty. I personally real liked this dim sum dish. Crispy fried pastry of foie gras & minced pork: In my opinion, this is the best dim sum dish in this meal. I can already smell the foie gras as the waitress bring this dish to the table. When I take a bite of the foie gras pastry tart, it is still very warm and instantly melts in my mouth. The foie gras is not super strong but that's okay as foie gras is extremely expensive now-a-days. The foie gras and the minced pork blended together perfectly, I thought the minced pork is also foie gras. Classic honey glazed BBQ pork: This is one of the best classic Cantonese style BBQ pork I had in Toronto. It is percent in every way. From the use of high quality pork shoulder, marinated enough time before roasting, roasting (BBQ) perfectly with little crispy outside and moist inside, and the sauce is not too sweet but sweet enough to bring out the unique flavour of Cantonese style BBQ pork. The only thing I can pick on is the appearance of the BBQ pork dish. Chiu Chow style soy marinated duck: This dish looks very presentable, which increased my appetite. I can smell and tasted the strong duck meat flavour (not the Chiu Chow style soy) went taking my first bite. Everything went well until I tasted the tofu beneath the marinated duck. It turns out the Chiu Chow style soy sauce on the plate is salty as salt and totally ruin the tofu. My family hate wasting food but we have to gave up the tofu. Customers who pay a premium for their dim sum experience at Lai Wah Heen should receive exceptional food experiences. In my personally opinion, this is not the case at Lai Wah Heen, as there are too many hits and misses. read more

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Visited here for the first time as a company outing. We made a reservation for 11:30AM - The restaurant had not opened yet. When they did open we were promptly seated. Atmosphere: High end, fine dining restaurant located on the 2nd floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton. Not many tables, but when lunch time rolled around the place was filling up. Authentic decor, very well manicured setting. Food: We ordered many dishes, from dim sum, to e-fu noodles, to fried rice, peking duck, crispy chicken, spicy beef. The quality of food was good (for people that aren't too familiar with Chinese food); it is a great way to introduce friends of other cultures to authentic Chinese food as the presentation of the space and food was on par with other high end restaurants. Service: Everything is plated for you, it is not a hole in the wall, the level of service is exceptional, we were well taken care of by the staff. Tea was poured, dishes were brought and changed and she was very attentive to our table. Price: This restaurant is on the more expensive side as it does cater to a specific clientele that is looking for a fine dining experience, what they lack in food they made up for in service and the price reflects this. The majority of guests that arrived were there for business lunches. You can definitely find better Cantonese from other hole in the wall restaurants. Would I come back? Yes if I want to make my guests feel comfortable and enjoy a good meal. If my guests did not care about ambience/presentation - for sure I can take them to a hole in the wall restaurant. This is the definition of you get what you pay for. Overall I'd recommend if you want a bougie Chinese cuisine experience, but if you just want good dim sum without paying a hefty price tag there are other options. read more

Ate here again yesterday after many years. Still the best Dim Sum restaurant in Toronto in my opinion, just a cut above everywhere else. Food was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. read more

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Celebrating the end of lunar new year festival by feasting on this gorgeous crab from Lai Wah Heen. It's super easy to find lobsters from many restaurants. But crab, no, unless you are willing to sell your organs . I still find the price of this crab to be on the steeper side, but at the same time, I love how fresh and juicy this Dungeness crab was. Furthermore, when I called the restaurant to make inquiry, the guy was super helpful. He told me that the restaurant was located right in the midst of the protest, and that it will take longer to reach the location. I really appreciated his honesty and gave my business to them. Great dish, awesome customer service. read more

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I recently attended a dinner at Lai Wah Heen with 9 others. We had made a reservation with the expectation of having a set dinner, but when we arrived, we discovered the menu we had been looking at online was no longer available. We were presented with a few other options and in the end, we selected one that everyone could agree on. This was my first time trying sea cucumber and I'm not sure I'll be jumping at a chance to have it again. The texture was really strange, and it kind of reminded me of chewing on cartilage. Not my favourite, let's leave it at that. My favourite dishes of the evening were the scallops and prawns, the Wok-baked lobster and the fried rice with foie gras. They were packed with flavour and left me wanting more. Every dish was quite good, actually - those were just the standout ones for me. The dessert was a bit weird, based on comments from a few people in my group. The dessert trio included a soup that consisted of sweetened red bean, which is quite typical for a Chinese dessert and there was a sesame ball with taro inside (I loved this) and a strawberry jelly roll, which I didn't really care for, and was apparently the strangest item in our entire meal, after a very interesting conversation about Chinese desserts. Service was really good. There were a few people taking care of us, which helped speed things along when it came to plating the food. They would first bring the large platter to our table so we could see (take photos!) and then swiftly move to a serving cart beside our table and divided everything up between 10 dishes. I much prefer this to letting us serve ourselves, and I wish more places would do this. It takes away any chance of someone feeling slighted if, for example, they didn't get the lobster claw, or the 'best' piece of chicken. It was a pricey meal, at $100 per person - plus tax and tip (not including any drinks you ordered) and it's definitely not somewhere I'd be going often, but it was a nice way to spend a few hours. I would definitely recommend it if you wanted to splurge on dinner. read more

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I found the dim sum very average, even the few unique options. They tasted no better, and sometimes less flavorful, than what you would expect at a hole in the wheel type place. Also both the steamed and fried options were very doughy, not at all light. read more

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Lai Wah Heen is an elevated Hong Kong dim sum experience. Wide black granite steps, a solarium-style glass wall, and tall 12 feet ceilings. It's clean, minimalist, and very spacious inside the dining space. The "innovative dim sum prix fixe" features seafood bisque garnished with fish roe, lobster escalopes and shrimp dumplings, minced scallop / shrimp / bakchoy open-purse dumplings topped with caviar, bacon-wrapped deep-fried prawns coated in shrimp mousse and scallop, seared crab claw and chive in wonton, deep-fried Berkshire pork, lobster noodles laden in truffle scented oil, and a classic dim sum dessert sampler. Maybe I'm a sucker for the classics done well and the quintessential dim sum cart experience, but Lai Wah Heen's $55 "innovative" menu just comes off contrived, over-complicated, and fussy. On one hand, elegant, exquisite, and luxurious. But to my sense, a lot of truffle oil, caviar, fish roe, and lobster galore. Everything is well-balanced and presented thoughtfully, but it's all just average with an unneeded fussiness sprinkled on as an afterthought. Go to Chinatown or Markham for equally good dim sum at a fifth of the price. read more

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We came here for Peking Duck around late lunch time and ended up getting dim sum. Steamed barbecue pork bun: yes! Get this! Flavorful and light. I also enjoyed the pork shrimp and scallop siu mai. Average items: deep fried mini shrimp ball Things I didn't care for: deep fried dumpling of Berkshire pork and baby shrimp (tasted like a sesame ball with a filling), baked mini egg tart, steamed soft bun filled with custard, tapioca lychee and mango in chilled sweet soup DO NOT GET: steamed short spare rib in garlic and toasted garlic. This dish was horrendous! It was slimy! We weren't too impressed so we left to have another meal around the corner. read more

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Came to Lai Wah Heen with my family to try out their peking duck as I had received a coupon for a free order. Growing up in Scarborough and being completely surrounded by Chinese restaurants, and being Chinese myself, I've had my fair share of Chinese cuisine. Upon arrival, I knew right away it would be a different vibe as it was located inside a hotel and everything looked fairly nice. The staff was helpful and polite though a bit stiff. Nonetheless our order was accurate and the tea was always filled. We had dinner on a Tuesday night so it wasn't overly busy but there were some larger parties dining. On to the food: so as I said, I'm Chinese and have grown up around eating this food in and outside of the house. We ordered about 9 dishes for 7 people including peking duck, stir-fried beef flavoured with aged mandarin peel, sweet and sour pork w/ lychee, gailon vegetables, pineapple chicken fried rice, soy sauce fried rice noodle with beef and fried chicken. First impressions, the food looked nice but was pretty small portions and cost a pretty penny more than what you get uptown. Not surprising with this being a downtown hotel restaurant. The taste though was really really good. Everything was delicious and had lots of flavour. Presentation was pretty and at the end we ordered enough to feel full though not without a price. Overall, the food was delicious, the service was good but price for the amount of food was just a bit too much for myself. They are other options out there for upscale Chinese food that might possibly be less expensive and closer to my neck of the woods. read more

Lai Wah Heen - Peking duck - Dim Sum Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Lai Wah Heen used to be the best luxury dim sum restaurant in downtown Toronto. Overtime, the quality of the restaurant declined. While services and atmosphere still remain the same, quality and price are no longer on par. Out of the four items my brother and I shared, the best item was fried bean curd sheet with mushrooms served with aged balsamic vinegar ($5). It was crispy and juicy. Truffle Snow pea vegetarian wrap was unfortunately subpar ($5.5). The snow pea is not picked and over-steamed. With that said, it may still be a good option if you are a downtown dweller. However, I would not recommend Lai Wah Heen if you have access to dim sum restaurants in uptown Markham and Richmond Hill. read more

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I give this restaurant three stars. I have been to Lai Wah Heen twice, most recently in January. Lai Wah Heen is a upscale dim sum restaurant located on the second floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton, in downtown Toronto. The restaurant is spacious and bright, the staff is friendly and the service is excellent. The dim sum is very good but there aren't many, if any vegetable options so it is quite heavy. Also, it doesn't seem very expensive but the price can increase rather quickly when you purchase a few of the higher priced dishes. The bill was higher when my wife and I went here in January than it was when we took our friend last year for her birthday. We particularly liked the crispy shrimp rolls served with sweet hawthorn sauce and the sticky rice filled with assorted seafood & meat, wrapped & steamed in lotus leaf. The spicy, sweet oyster sauce goes really well with the majority of the dim sum and the tea is excellent. I will likely return to Lai Wah Heen sometime in the near future. I recommend this restaurant to anyone that likes dim sum and wants experience eating it in a high end setting. Three stars. read more

Lai Wah Heen - Dim Sum Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Located on the second floor of DoubleTree By Hilton hotel is Lai Wah Heen, a premium dim sum restaurant. The restaurant is clean and elegant with original Chinese calligraphy paintings. I have dined here for dim sum on a few occasions, and have enjoyed it each time. However, most recently, I finally tried their dinner menu. It contains a variety of classic dishes and some more imaginative items. They are also now serving casserole dishes. Got the Casserole of Lobster, which was a very flavourful dish containing a healthy chunk of lobster, and vermicelli cooked in conpoy chili sauce. The XOXO added a nice spicy kick to it. That was my favorite dish of the night. They also have classic clay pot dishes. I wasn't a fan of the eel one (a little salty), but I enjoyed the chicken and foie gras & minced beef ones. They're priced for four people, so definitely good for friends or family to share. Since it's upscale, prices are higher than the average Chinese restaurants. So, I think people need to go in with an open mind that the price is not the same as most of the places in Chinatown or Markham. Overall, what I like about Lai Wah Heen is the consistency of the dim sum dishes and creativity (while remaining tasty). read more

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Three stars for decor. I came with a group and we could hear each other speak! These days this is a rarity. The white linens and fancy appointments made a mediocre meal feel special. read more

Lets face it, dim sum can be a stressful experience. The waiting, crowds, loud noises and rushed service can all be off-putting. It may be a big price to pay for those delicious Chinese tapas that we call dim sum. Some may argue these unpleasantries are part of the quintessential dim sum experience, but I disagree. I don't like crowds and I don't like noise, so typically I stay away from dim sum. Lai Wah Heen is an exception to the typical Dim Sum experience. Dim sum at Lai Wah Heen is more like a High Tea experience. It's mostly calm and soothing. The service is impeccable with attentive uniformed waiters. The ambiance is upscale with white tablecloth and minimal ambient noise. It's pricier than average dim sum. True. But you get what you pay for. All the dishes are very good. The clay pot eel rice is delicious as is the steamed bean curd sheet wrapped with mushrooms. My gf's favorite dish was the steamed chicken with fish maw in rice wine sauce. Now that my mother lives in condominium close by, Lai Wah Heen may be my new go-to for some "peaceful" dim sum. It may be more expensive, but it's worth it in my opinion, since I only get dim sum occasionally. read more

I love this place. Good ambiance and delicious food. We had a party of 4. We ordered a Peking duck 2 styles, one is with the wrapper and the skin and the other is mixed duck with lettuce cup. The only one thing I would say is the lettuce wrap portion was too much to put a quarter of the minced meat in one. They should have broken it down to a few servings for each person. The pouched chicken was top notch. No salty but smooth and silky with tons of fresh chicken flavors. The pea shoots with dungeons crab meat were so delicious. We just had the pea shoot at lunch at Moon Palace. Compared the pea shoots at this restaurant, it was 1000 percent better and tastier. And only 5 dollar for parking in the same Doubletree Hotel parking garage. At the end we ordered the glutinous rice rolls with red bean paste to share. Very good. read more

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Never been ripped off so badly in my life. You are better off going to a cheap Chinese take out. Same quality at 10% of the price. Do not be fooled by the way this place presents itself as high end Chinese food. read more

I am most definitely not an expert in this food! But it tasted very good, I especially liked the steamed barbeque pork bun. The restaurant is clean has a nice calm vibe and the wait staff is very attentive and good. Our waiter was very helpful in helping us pick out our food. They have cool Chinese artwork around the walls. A very cool place to try and would be willing to return. read more

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First of all, let's be clear. Growing up in Asia, I have tasted the best of the best! So I'm not easily impressed by Chinese restaurants overseas. Lai Wah Heen came with rave reviews by Canadians, so I thought I'd check it out and see how it measured up to restaurants in Singapore and Hong Kong. Verdict - Lai Wah Heen, which is supposedly 5-star here in Toronto, has dim sum that any 3-star restaurants in Singapore (eg. Mid-tier Wah Lok would win hands down) and Hong Kong can easily beat. The presentation was nice. The taste profile of some of their offerings were decent, but there was only ONE stand-out dish that wowed - and that was the lava custard buns, which were flawlessly executed. My biggest complaint was the skin on the steamed dumplings. The skin was too thick (especially the lobster dumpling) and chewing through it was laborious. Overall, it's not worth the price. read more

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This place is perhaps my favorite dim sum place in terms of food. It's very unique in terms of ingredients. This place never fails to impress combined with the nice atmosphere. My choices are the Ha-gow... the meat is very spacious and has a nice aura of flavours evenly distributed that has just the right amount of flavour in it and the texture is truly awesome read more

I was pretty excited to go to Lai Wah Heen, one of the ultra-high-class Cantonese restaurant in Toronto. I'd heard my friend rave about their $48 lunch dim sum prix fixe menu, but I wasn't really willing to shell out that much for dim sum. Stepping into the dining room, I felt transported to the 90s. Everything was very old school, perhaps due for a renovation. Though it was probably very nice when the restaurant opened, the décor felt a little dated to me, . For a restaurant of this calibre, the overall ambiance paled compared to the lavish extravagance of other Chinese restaurants, such as Casa Imperial and Casa Victoria. Lai Wah Heen's gourmet chili oil had chunks of dried conpoy and shrimps, which made very good snacks. But the chili oil itself wasn't very spicy at all and didn't make a very good dip. Now onto the actual food: Siu mai of pork, shrimp and scallop ($6.50). I'm usually not the greatest fan of siu mai, but this version was quite delicious. The bold, meaty flavours made up for the small sizes of these dumplings. Crystal shrimp dumpling ($6.50), or har gow, was quite ordinary. The sizes were on the smaller side, and it wasn't particularly outstanding. Overall, it was well executed, but for this price, I expected some sort of wow factor. Baked puffy turnover filled with minced barbequed pork & pineapple ($6.50)- My favourite dish of the entire meal. The soft, buttery pastry was filled with sweet, delectable barbequed pork fillings. The pineapple added an extra sweet dimension and a perfect tinge of acidity. Altogether, the turnover was divinely rich (in a good way). This wasn't one of the restaurant's intricately presented dishes, but it impressed me based on flavours alone. Certain items on the menu were served by the piece. We ordered one to try- crispy deep-fried roll of pitaya, mango and shrimp ($3.50). I liked it, but it sounded better on paper. The fried roll was filled with salad dressing, and I wished there were more fruits to counterbalance the greasy richness. Seared beef sirloin in rice roll served with sweet soy sauce ($8.00). This was a pairing of a dim sum classic with gourmet ingredients- in this case, beef sirloin. I didn't actually enjoy the combination all that much because the beef sirloin wasn't prepared in a Chinese way. However, I have to say that the rice noodle roll itself was lovely and velvety smooth. I ended up eating the two components separately. Deep-fried bumble bee dumpling of sweet green tea paste ($6.50) were adorably irresistible! On a side note, the bumble bee dumplings tasted as good as they looked! Tapioca rice ball in a lightly ginger flavored syrup ($6.50). I didn't love this because it was filled with red bean paste, and I prefer black sesame filling. But the unique part about the rice balls was that the skin was covered with tapioca pearls. My bf loved that part, and I happily gave him my share as well. Looking back at the bill, I noticed that they over-charged us by $1.50, as we had actually order 5 items that were $6.50 and only 1 item that was $8.00. But I'm willing to look past this small fault as we were offered complimentary tea for absolutely no reason at all. Nevertheless, the meal was still very pricey for dim sum. Would I come back again? Not anytime soon, but I'm tempted to come back just to try some of their more exquisitely presented dim sum. For ordinary dim sum, there are infinite cheaper alternatives uptown. However, some of the dishes here are definitely worthy of a visual feast, and I would very much like to have the pineapple and barbequed pork turnover again. read more

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