For as
long as I can remember, weekends were a time for gathering family members
(whether it be one other person or the entire 20 member gang) for dim sum. The
meal consisted of varied bite-sized dishes and desserts
weren’t reserved as the last bites… eat it first, who cares!
As I’ve
grown, dim sum has changed from a weekly to bi-weekly affair, but acting as the
conduit for gathering family members, that hasn’t changed. How dim sum is
enjoyed has morphed - lunch used to take longer as you waited for the must have
dishes to be wheeled from carts to your table. With the exception of one or two
restaurants, everyone has moved to the ordering method so waiting and surprises
are things of the past.
To be
fair, I don’t mind the transition, made-to-order food is hotter and fresher.
You also rarely leave disappointed. Crown Jewel Fine Dining offers a decent
selection at competitive prices: S for $3.50, M for $4.50, and L for $5.50, but
on non-holidays if you order before 11am, S-L dishes will be $3.50.
Where
Crown differs is the size of their dim sum. Their steamed shrimp dumpling har gow (L) and steamed shrimp &
pork dumpling siu mai (L), are huge
and about 50% larger than other restaurants while the taste is still relatively
consistent.
Some
dumplings could use more seasoning. The steamed vegetable dumpling (L) is a
great vegetarian option containing snow pea shoots and prince mushroom slivers,
but desperately needs salt. Similarly, the seafood dumpling in soup (L) is
fairly bland despite containing chunky portions of various seafood and
mushroom.
I’m glad
restaurants are starting to offer more vegetarian options. A pumpkin congee
with chestnut and corn (L) seems to grace most menus and truthfully is quite
delicious. At Crown, they leave some pumpkin pieces strewn throughout the
congee so it ends up having more texture and bite. The chestnuts also make the
congee savoury.
If you
prefer your congee with meat, the traditional pork and preserved egg (L) is available. At Crown, the pork is shredded rather than diced, which may make it
easier for some to eat.
Of
course, there are a host of other family favourites including steamed beef
balls with vegetables (S), which were a little dense for my taste; silky
steamed BBQ rice rolls (M) that had me reaching for seconds; and flavourful
steamed curry cuttlefish (M), although the quality varies depending on the
visit.
What
surprised me the most were their buns, something I normally don’t order but in
a large family setting someone’s bound to want. The Crown Jewel BBQ pork buns
(L) have a slightly sweet crust and is stuffed with chunky pieces of BBQ pork –
they’re similar to the ones you’ll find at Hong Kong’s Tim Ho Wan. These are
now a must-order dish for me.
The steamed lau sha custard buns (M) were also tasty, the fluid milky egg custard specked with pieces of salty egg yolk so it added a bit of saltiness without becoming overboard.
The steamed lau sha custard buns (M) were also tasty, the fluid milky egg custard specked with pieces of salty egg yolk so it added a bit of saltiness without becoming overboard.
The deep
fried shrimp spring rolls (L) arrive with a beautiful fried lattice on the
bottom. However, the filling had little to no shrimp and instead tons of pork
and a fragrant herb that I can’t identify.
Larger
tables may want to “splurge” for an order of the clay pot rice ($8.80). It’s at
least two times the size of what you’d find elsewhere and a bit of rice helps
settle the stomach after the heavier proteins. There’s three versions to choose
from but the ground chicken and octopus patty is one that’s generally
not found elsewhere.
With so
many of the dishes being larger than competitors, the mango pudding (M) was
shockingly sparse with two palm sized gold fish in the order. The Chinese
description also notes it arrives with ice cream - in reality it’s canned
whipped cream, but admittedly an improvement over evaporated milk.
Not all
desserts were small. Crown certainly doesn’t skimp on the beans in their
clear red bean jelly (M); the dessert was bricks of soft beans solidified in a
lightly sweetened jelly. The coffee and cream jelly (M) was also a sizeable
portion and had a hefty kick of coffee flavours.
If you
need an excuse to gather a group, why not look into trying dim sum? There’s
tons of options and doesn’t cost much to try something new. My family has been
doing it for decades.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 325 Bamburgh Circle
Address: 325 Bamburgh Circle
Website: http://www.crownjewelrestaurant.ca/
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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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