2012-09-08 Dim Sum @ Dynasty Seafood Restaurant 皇朝海鮮酒家

#108 - 777 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC

604-876-8388

In support of Buddha Girl's month of Buddhist/Taoist vegetarian eating, we chose a dim sum restaurant that has a vegetarian menu...I know, I'm quite the considerate husband.  Buddha Girl had The Jade Seafood Restaurant 玉庭軒魚翅海鮮酒家 in mind, but, for some reasons, MomJ is anti-Jade (the restaurant, that is), so we ended up here.

The Steamed Shrimp Dumpling 皇朝水晶蝦餃皇 (left) and Steamed Pork Dumpling 傳統蒸切肉燒賣 (right) were both good, not great, but good.  The shrimp dumplings weren't big, but the skin-to-shrimp ratio was perfect.  The shrimp had a nice crunch and the skin wrap was neither too thick nor too thin.  The well-flavored siu-mai had chunky meat and didn't have much noticeable chunks of fat.

While MomJ enjoyed the Pan Fried Rice Roll w/BBQ Pork in Soya Sauce 美極叉燒煎腸粉 (left), to me, it lacked crispness.  The Deep Fried Taro w/BBQ Duck Meat 雪菜火鴨蜂巢芋角 (right) was a major miss.  Other than the thick layer of taro and limited meat, the strong presence of ammonium bicarbonate 碳酸氫銨 was unbearable.  Not recommended.

The Deep Fried Crispy Shrimp w/Shredded Pasty 酥炸千絲鳳尾蝦 (left) was simply shrimp balls coated with crispy noodle.  I love anything deep-fried, but this texture was awkward.  The Steamed Black Truffle Dumpling 黑松露香菇餃 (right) had a nice translucent wrap showing that the skin wasn't thick.  Unfortunately, the truffle accent was not strong enough to showcase its presence.  I still prefer the ones at The Jade Seafood Restaurant 玉庭軒魚翅海鮮酒家 in Richmond.

Buddha Girl started with an order of Imitate Pork w/Glutens 脆皮素燒肉拼素鵝 (left), or vegetarian pork belly slices with vegetarian goose.  The under-seasoned tofu wrap had a mix of shredded vegetables.  The wrap was too "loose" and ingredients fell apart easily.  The "pork" had layers of steamed bean curds acting as the meat with some type of gelatin texture that played the fat.  And guess what play the role of crispy skin?  Bread...yes, bread.  The "pork" was deep-fried to give it a nice crisp texture.  This vegetarian pork "wow'd" all of us and it's something I'd definitely order again.  The Sauteed Eggplant w/Preserved Cabbage 雪菜毛豆燒茄子 (right) was a fail.  The egg plant was bland, old and hard to chew.

Continuing on Buddha Girl's vegetarian dishes.  Next was the Vegetarian Congee 鮮淮山五彩素粥 (left).  The congee had a mix of corn, gai-lan (Chinese kale), mushrooms, carrots and common yam rhizome 山藥 (also known as Chinese yam).  Buddha Girl, who loves both fresh and dried Chinese yam, thought the fresh root was not ideal for congee because it has a very distinctive taste and smell, which, in this case, was quite nasty when overused.  The Deep-Fried Custard Bun 脆皮奶皇包 had a crispy coat, but the overly sweet filling killed the package.

 

In general, our experience was good enough for us to return.  The food quality was acceptable with a few exceptions.  The service was a hit and miss with some servers seemed quite useless while a few others were on the ball.  Ah...we'll never be 100% satisfied...