I have a love-hate relationship with Grandeur Palace: they’re one of better dim sum restaurants, in terms of taste for value, but the sheer amount of “friends and family” they let go to the front of the queue grates on the nerves while you’re waiting. Luckily, they’re quiet during dinner and with a small group we’ve just walked-in. It’s so much better when there’s no one jumping the line!
Unlike
other Chinese restaurants, Grandeur doesn’t serve complimentary soup. So, if
you’re used to wetting the whistle before the food arrives, plan accordingly.
Their soup of the day ($9.98) is reasonably priced and sufficient for about
8-10 people. While it changes, one evening brought us a bone broth made of
pork, carrots, apples, and white fungus, arriving piping hot and flavourful
(not having been diluted).
Almost
every table orders the roasted Peking duck special ($19.80), a steal for two
courses (duck with wraps and chopped carcass). While it’s not the most stellar
version of the dish, it’s still satisfying. Their biggest flaw being the
consistency of the bird – larger tables are given larger birds.
You will
spend more on other dishes – even a simple vegetable dish is above $15.
However, Grandeur doesn’t skimp on quality or portion sizes. The sweet and sour
pork ($16.80) is made with pork tenderloin, so even older family members could bite
through the meat, and there was enough sauce for flavour. Sadly, the large chip
is prettier to look at than eat: thinking it was a gigantic shrimp chip, I was
disappointed to be greeted with the taste of Styrofoam.
The salt
and pepper pork chop ($16.80) is a substantial dish. Again, the kitchen ensures
it remains tender while creating a crispy crust, it just needs to be spicier.
While it’s
common in Chinese restaurants, the actual seafood in the tofu, vegetable, and
seafood in hot pot ($18.80) has little flavour given it’s quickly blanched
before cooking. Most tables order the hot pot for the sauce over the natural shrimp,
scallop, and squid flavours.
If you’ve
never had bamboo fungus, it has an interesting crunchy spongy texture that I
love. At Grandeur, you’ll find the ingredient in the stir-fried vegetables with
bamboo fungus ($15.80), topping broccoli and mixed with black and white fungus.
The baby
bok choy with salted and preserved egg ($13.80) isn’t my favourite dish as the
grainy texture of the salted egg yolk is strange against the vegetable.
However, it’s simple and relatively healthy feeling for those wanting a lighter
option.
At $19.98
a pound, it doesn’t sound expensive for a large lobster, but when you’re
greeted with a behemoth 6-pound dish ($119.88), it adds up. Best for big
tables, large lobsters aren’t always as sweet as their younger counterparts but
there’s more meat, especially in the claws and legs. The traditional stir-fried
lobster with green onions and ginger was done well, chopped into large enough
pieces so it didn’t become overcooked.
The braised
grouper ($48) is another dish for larger tables – a platter with a big slab of
meaty fish topped with tons of tofu and surrounded with vegetables and
mushrooms (these sides alone enough to count as its own dish). The thick
grouper was just cooked through and there was sufficient oyster sauce to keep
everything flavoured.
Whoever
chopped the deep fried whole chicken ($33.60) did so in a haphazard manner, it
arrived disheveled looking. Nonetheless, it was well flavoured, the skin
crispy, and the meat cooked through but not tough. Perhaps it was cut while it
was still hot - if it’s between presentation or temperature, I choose
temperature any day.
Although
the restaurant doesn’t provide soup, customers do leave with a sweet ending.
The customary green bean soup with tapioca was hot and sweet and on a weeknight
dinner there were also bite-sized mango pudding and cookies.
While
dining at Grandeur Palace doesn’t
make you feel like royalty (even on quiet nights it’s hard to get a staff
member’s attention), their dishes are decent interpretations of Cantonese
cuisine. Just go in a table of six or more; they don’t skimp on portion size.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 2301 Brimley Road
Address: 2301 Brimley Road
Website: http://grandeurpalace.com/
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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