Burnaby Palace 口得福
I rarely go for dim sum outside of Richmond, so I'm glad I got the chance to visit Burnaby Palace. It's right on the corner of Boundary and Dominian across from the gas station.
We went for lunch on Sunday and the place was quite packed. There weren't a lot of dim sum options on the menu and most of the dishes were Shanghainese except for the typical har gow and siu mai. We figured it'd be safer to stick with Shanghainese since it seemed to dominate the menu. We ordered a small pot of hot and sour soup (酸辣湯) ($7.50) touted as "the best in town". It was definitely a nice soup — very savoury with the perfect consistency. It was thick without being too starchy and the ingredients were well seasoned.
The steamed sliced roll (蒸銀絲卷) ($3.75) was good, but the threads inside should have been a bit more obvious. The texture was soft and fluffy though, so I really enjoyed it.
The steamed pork juicy buns or xiao long bao (小籠包) ($7.50) was probably the worst I've had. The skin was crude and mushy like homemade flour skin. The filling was rather bland and the "soup" was just excess water in the bun. Another thing is that xiao long bao should be served with Chinese black vinegar and not the red vinegar from southern China.
The fried rice noodles with chicken and vegetables (菜遠雞河) ($9.75) was tasty and the flavour was just right. It wasn't too salty or too mild and I didn't find it overly oily. I think this restaurant is much stronger in its Cantonese dishes. But some people might find the flavour a bit too weak.
The red bean paste cakes (豆沙蟹殼黃) ($4.50), a Shanghainese dessert, were not authentic at all. The cake was unusually thick and doughy, so it tasted quite bland even with the sweet red bean paste.
Although the five spiced beef slices (五香牛肉) ($7.50) were not authentic either, they were very savoury and tender. This dish would be great as a cold cut appetizer or served with noodles.
Despite the mediocre Shanghainese dim sum (The hot and sour soup was an exception!), I was happy with the meal overall and service was not bad. I especially enjoyed the hot and sour soup, and I don't usually like that dish. I would consider coming back here for dim sum if I were in the area.
We went for lunch on Sunday and the place was quite packed. There weren't a lot of dim sum options on the menu and most of the dishes were Shanghainese except for the typical har gow and siu mai. We figured it'd be safer to stick with Shanghainese since it seemed to dominate the menu. We ordered a small pot of hot and sour soup (酸辣湯) ($7.50) touted as "the best in town". It was definitely a nice soup — very savoury with the perfect consistency. It was thick without being too starchy and the ingredients were well seasoned.
The steamed sliced roll (蒸銀絲卷) ($3.75) was good, but the threads inside should have been a bit more obvious. The texture was soft and fluffy though, so I really enjoyed it.
The steamed pork juicy buns or xiao long bao (小籠包) ($7.50) was probably the worst I've had. The skin was crude and mushy like homemade flour skin. The filling was rather bland and the "soup" was just excess water in the bun. Another thing is that xiao long bao should be served with Chinese black vinegar and not the red vinegar from southern China.
The fried rice noodles with chicken and vegetables (菜遠雞河) ($9.75) was tasty and the flavour was just right. It wasn't too salty or too mild and I didn't find it overly oily. I think this restaurant is much stronger in its Cantonese dishes. But some people might find the flavour a bit too weak.
The red bean paste cakes (豆沙蟹殼黃) ($4.50), a Shanghainese dessert, were not authentic at all. The cake was unusually thick and doughy, so it tasted quite bland even with the sweet red bean paste.
Although the five spiced beef slices (五香牛肉) ($7.50) were not authentic either, they were very savoury and tender. This dish would be great as a cold cut appetizer or served with noodles.
Despite the mediocre Shanghainese dim sum (The hot and sour soup was an exception!), I was happy with the meal overall and service was not bad. I especially enjoyed the hot and sour soup, and I don't usually like that dish. I would consider coming back here for dim sum if I were in the area.
Haha yea, the steam sliced roll doesn't look authentic at all!
ReplyDeleteNot to be snobbish (although there is GOOD reason to be so), but why dimsum outside of Richmond.....? =P
@pyaria: Why dim sum outside of Richmond? The answer is... deal vouchers :P
ReplyDeleteMethinks there may be a reason for those deal vouchers lol....
ReplyDelete