The newly reopened Toa Toa in Sunrise is a surprisingly large, polished Chinese restaurant tucked into an aging strip plaza. Dim sum is à la carte rather than cart service, and they say everything is cooked fresh to order.
The menu is interesting because it almost feels like two restaurants in one. There's the familiar American-Chinese side -- General Tso's, lo mein, egg foo young, combination platters -- but also a much more traditional Cantonese/Sichuan/Fuzhou menu with congee, E-Fu noodles, casseroles, fish maw soup, live lobster and Dungeness crab, Chinese vegetables and an extensive salt-and-pepper section.
The har gow had thin wrappers and substantial, good-quality shrimp, but the filling was underseasoned and benefited considerably from the chile oil. The pan-fried pork dumplings had a good sear, but the filling was dense, starchy and fairly bland.
The house pan-fried noodles were a partial success. The noodles were fried nicely, the shrimp were big and juicy, the roast pork was excellent and the chicken properly velvety. Unfortunately, the sauce was much too sweet and threw an otherwise well-executed dish out of balance.
There are enough signs of a capable kitchen here that I'll definitely return, but I think ordering strategically is important. Next time I'd concentrate on the more traditional side of the menu, particularly simple Cantonese seafood preparations like black bean, ginger-scallion or the shell-on salt-and-pepper shrimp.
It's only been reopened a few weeks, so I'd consider this an early impression rather than a final verdict. There's a lot more of this menu worth exploring. read more