Showing posts with label wonton soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wonton soup. Show all posts

Lee’s Dumpling House (Toronto) for delivery

Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2022 by
Note: Prices in post are based on regular menu prices and may be higher when using delivery services

I had to do a double take as my husband and I walked by Lee's Dumpling House on Old Orchard Grove, "OMG! There's a dumpling place in the neighbourhood, how did we miss it?" Was I going out of my mind and somehow in all the times we have been doing our walks, had ignored this little establishment? Turns out, Lee's is a new addition, taking over Kibo Sushi's old location, so we haven't been missing out. Phew!

The doughy wrapper on the pan-fried mini pork soup filled dumplings ($9.95 for 7 pieces) are a little thick, but it makes for a hearty bite and there is actually broth captured within each one. Perhaps what I most appreciated, was the time these spent in the pan as we could actually see and taste the golden crust stamped on the bottom of each xiaolongbao. 


An equally beautiful yellow hue could be founded on the chicken potstickers ($9.95 for 6 pieces), the wrapper on these thinner so the gingery filling could shine through. We added an extra $1 to have them finished in a chili sesame sauce, which gives it a different nutty quality. 


Lee's steamed pork and cabbage dumpling ($8.95 for 8 pieces) are pricy compared to the traditional Scarborough dumpling houses I frequent like New Northern Dumplings. Still, the flavours were on point, the filling well seasoned so each bite was salty enough even without the soy or chili dipping sauce that comes with the order. 


We'd skip the pork wonton soup ($8.95 for 12 pieces), which was a lot of soggy wrapper and not much else. Considering all the other dishes were so flavourful, the seaweed broth that arrives with the soup  seemed so tepid and forgettable. Who needs soup when you already have soup filled dumplings?


While Lee's green onion pancake ($5.95) did get soggy by the time it was delivered, this reheated quite nicely in the toaster oven the following day and makes for great leftovers. The pancake was expertly made with its many layers and incorporated a tasty ratio of salt, onion, and dough. 


Welcome to the neighbhourhood Lee's Dumpling House. There will be many more tasty meals to come. Maybe an in-person visit is in order, once the pesky lockdown finally goes away. 

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 399 Old Orchard Grove
 Delivery: Uber, Doordash, Skip the Dishes
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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!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:

Putien 莆田 (Hong Kong)

Posted on Saturday, June 09, 2018 by

Chinese cuisine, due to the size of the country, varies in tastes and ingredients amongst the regions. Putien showcases dishes from Putian (yes, there’s a vowel difference in the name), a coastal town part of the Fujian province. With its proximity to water, there’s of course a choice of seafood dishes, the menu also incorporates a variety of meat (mainly pork), tofu, and grain offerings as well.

From the picture, I thought the steamed Putien clams with garlic ($99) were razor clams, but they’re actually Duo Tou clams, named after the village they’re raised. The clams are bred in coastal soil that’s rich in nutrients (adding to its flavours) without the gritty sand. Smaller than razor clams (about a third of the size), they’re also meatier and much sweeter. Very tasty. The kitchen smartly purées the garlic so you can taste the ingredient without the harsh bite. Imagine our luck, visiting Hong Kong in April, so we could try them – there are only available from April to August.


Putien’s wonton soup stands out due to the fried garlic used in the broth and a light vinegar note in the background. The wontons were thumbnail-sized and filled with pork and chives, decent but the flavours largely coming from the soup. Just be careful to only order the per person amount ($28 a person). Our waiter insisted we get a small bowl ($79), making it sound like it’s a better deal, but it ended up being way too much for two and would only be suitable for a table of three or four.


While the flavours in the sesame deep fried bao with stir fried shredded pork ($52) were tasty, we had to add a lot of the stuffing to make it taste good as the bao was rather thick. It’s also overly greasy so is best after you blot the wrapper with a napkin.


Aside from the clams, the dish that impressed me the most was the homemade bean curd ($68) … yes, tofu! The centre was silky incorporating a mellow taste that’s almost like steamed eggs. Deep fried and braised, the end product is delicate, barely resisting a spoon, but deliciously flavourful. Overall, the vegetarian dish was tasty, even better if the green beans were cooked a touch longer.


Thankfully, we had the oyster sauce from the tofu as the cabbage rice ($68) was bland and sorely needed it for flavour. While a decent portion, it is nothing like the fragrant concoction my grandmother used to make; we would have been better off with regular steamed rice.


Putien certainly trains their staff to upsell, to the point that it borders on annoying. Indeed, I understand the need to increase bill totals, but when it happens during every step of the ordering process, it can get irritating. For example, they don’t offer wine by the glass, so when my husband switched to beer and me tea ($9 a person regardless of it you have it), our waiter tried to convince me that a bottle, the standard 750ml variety, was small and wouldn’t be too much for us to share. This is on top of a bowl of overly oily seaweed at the table, which is automatically included on the bill ($9).

Regardless, I can live with all the above as I know “sauce” and “tea” charges are common in Hong Kong. Even convincing us to order more soup than necessary can be forgiven. What I was most appalled with was the outright lying for gratuities. At Putien, the bill only arrives in Chinese (despite us requesting English menus). With all these miscellaneous charges, I wasn’t sure if gratuity was already added and didn’t want to risk not including anything. Therefore, I stopped one of the staff members to ask, and she said that their bills do not include tips. It wasn’t until I looked back later and used Google translate to find a 10% gratuity line item. For a restaurant who has such sweet Duo Tou clams, all the nickeling/diming and outright lying sure had me leaving with a bitter taste in my mouth.   

Overall mark - 6 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, 
 Address: 99 Percival St (Lee Theatre Plaza, 7th floor)

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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!

Coffee In (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, December 16, 2017 by

Perhaps I watched too much Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in my youthful years, but I love visiting little holes-in-the-wall restaurants that create delicious dishes and are little known to anyone but locals. Without a doubt, Coffee In fits this description. Firstly, it’s not even a coffeeshop - the name a relic of its earlier years – as the hot table and kitchen cooking Filipino food is what keeps people visiting. 

 Well known for their batchoy ($7.99), a bowl of salty soup that’s hearty and rich from all the roasted pork pieces melding with other offal, the thin egg noodles are too soft for my taste but does soak up all the broth’s flavours.


The pig is supreme at Coffee In and their grilled pork belly is tasty as well ($14.97). After ordering slices from the hot table, they’re returned to the kitchen where they’re re-heated and cut into bite sized pieces that’s great for munching on. The dish tastes a bit like Korean kalbi, except not as saucy since there isn’t a sweet soy glaze and it’s also more tender.


If you’re strapped for cash, you can get a lot of food for less than $10. Such as their combos where you select two “ulam” items from the hot table and receive a sizeable plate of steamed rice for only $6.99. Since I was dining with someone who couldn’t eat beef, we stuck with pork and there was plenty to choose from. Despite looking spicy, the stewed pork and curry pork hock were both neutral; while the stewed pork cooks in a tasty tomato sauce and could pass for a lighter stew, the pork hock lacked any curry aroma or taste and was way too bland.


The wonton soup ($4.99 for a large bowl) is another budget friendly choice. Contained in a sizeable bowl, each wonton has a hefty portion of pork filling with additional chicken thigh pieces strewn throughout the broth. While the soup has a nice flavour, especially with a sprinkling of fried garlic, the texture takes getting used to as the dumplings are left in the chicken broth so the wrapper gets mushy.


While not freshly fried, their spring rolls (2 for $1) are tasty. Despite being cold, it’s still crispy and the pork filling is juicy and nicely herbed. At the size of a cocktail wiener, the spring rolls are dangerously easy to just have one more. 


Just a warning, despite the colourful sign stating that halo halo is available, it’s a summer only treat… I couldn’t try their rendition of this famous Filipino dessert. While there were other pre-packaged dessert items along the counter, our table of four was stuffed so we were satisfied even without a sweet. If Coffee In were to be featured in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, it would fall in the dive category. Yet, if you don’t mind the dated décor and lack of service, you can get some decent Filipino food for under $10.

 Overall mark - 7 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 2181 Lawrence Avenue East
 Website: http://coffeein.ca/

 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:
 Coffee In Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


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