One thing I loathed about Grandeur Palace was their ridiculous
wait times. I would channel my inner Zen master while waiting for a table on weekends.
It was a test of patience that I rarely had, so while I really enjoyed Grandeur’s
dim sum, it’s a restaurant I hardly visited.
Then COVID struck and now Grandeur’s pivoted to “all day” dim
sum and from 10am - 3pm, essentially the normal brunch hours, any small,
medium, or large dishes are $3.88. No trying to order before 11am, when the
special pricing is normally in effect, there is now five blissful hours to get your
dim sum hit.
The only small hiccup is getting an order placed, which
essentially means going old school and calling in. Of course, there’s always
the trusty delivery apps, but you’ll be paying a premium – the $3.88 dishes
will instead range from $5.85 to $7 before all the ancillary charges. So, get
used to redialing starting at 10am and after a dozen tries, you’ll hopefully
get through.
As with all my other dim sum experiences, takeout and
delivery just isn’t the same. As soon as the lid is lifted and the steam
escapes, the dish starts to wilt - it’s as if the protein packed dumplings are
a plant. The wrapper on the steamed shrimp chive dumplings starts getting
sticky and hard (although Grandeur smartly places them further apart, so they
don’t meld together). They’re just as huge as normal, but the filling is skimpy
on the chives, so they end up tasting like har gow.
While still the size of a golf ball, the shrimp sui mai
loses a lot of its juices so they’re much harder than at the restaurant and
sits in a shallow pool of liquid causing the wonton wrapper to become soggy. But
when you haven’t had one of these pork dumplings in a few months, it still tastes
awfully good, despite the sad state.
Forget about the deep fried savoury glutinous dumplings with
meat. Any crispiness disappears, and it becomes a sticky chewy ball. I have no
one to blame but myself – of course anything deep fried would be a
disappointment. But I so wanted a bite of that five-spice laced pork with the
slightly sweet chewy wrapper. At least the flavours were still on point.
The steamed rice noodle with shrimp was the dish that’s closest
to what you’d find at the restaurant. They’ve always made it a bit thicker, so
it held up to the travels and the consistency and texture remained consistent.
Strangely, the glaze on the honey sauce beef short ribs ($7.68)
sort of melts off, leaving the top pieces lacking flavours and the bottom
soaking in sauce. Do yourself a favour and open the takeout container upside
down so that the sweet sauce recombines with everything. It’ll taste a lot better.
Following traditions, I had to finish the meal with the stir-fried
lobster e-fu noodles ($18.88). Grandeur doesn’t skimp on takeout, really
packing the noodles into the container so it’s not the easiest to portion out
without having lobster fly everywhere. If I were the restaurant, I’d add a bit
more savoury sauce to cover everything since the noodles will get soft regardless
– it would allow the noodles to stay untangled.
Perhaps the lobster e-fu noodles aren’t ordered with
as much gusto in takeout as the crustacean didn’t taste the freshest – not rancid
or off, just not nearly as clean as normal.
Address: 2301 Brimley Road
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never order again
- 6 - decent for delivery and takeout, but there's better
- 7 - this is good, for delivery and takeout
- 8 - great for delivery and takeout, it's almost like you're in a restaurant
- 9 - wow, it's like I'm eating at a restaurant
- 10 - I'd happily order this for delivery or takeout instead of dining in any day!
Is That It? I Want More!
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