Crown Princess Fine Dining - dim sum
Dim sum is great comfort food always - it's suppose to be breakfast or brunch but really good anytime of the day. I love dim sum with a few friends on any good ol' winter morning: hearty Chinese deliciousness that's warm in the belly and heart. Today was no different, and there was also a very special treat during our meal. What was that? Guess you'd have to read on.
This place offers a menu with a carbon copy that you can choose what you feel like: and boy we did. Dinner menu is different, with fantastic peking duck and lobster dishes. Check them out here: http://crown-princess.ca/english/index.asp
In total we chose 12 things and let me tell you we ate it all. Dim Sum is really good sharing food - like tapas. It brings people together, because it's intimate and sharing is caring.
1) Curry squid tentacles: Ok don't get too worried about the name of this - it's much like calamari. Same animal, different body parts. These squid tentacles are served piping hot, charred, curried, and served on a clear rice noodle edible bowl. the presentation is just amazing and the smell is fantastic. These are not breaded and so tender. A must try!
2) Pumpkin and corn congee: congee is a standard breakfast item in many parts of asia. I know because my parents make me have congee for breakfast as a kid. The homemade versions always tend to be more bland because the basic ingredients are rice and water - and you can add whatever to it. I'm personally not a huge fan of the bland version myself. The restaurant versions are million times better: you can get it with fish, vegetables, chicken or eggs. If you prefer a sweeter version, try this version with corn and pumpkin. I enjoyed it a lot, it's a bit sweet, a bit creamy, and warm in mah belly.
3) Shrimp spring rolls, shrimp dumplings (har gow), chicken mushroom steam bun, shrimp/leek dumpling, and shrimp and some other vegetable dumpling: You see we went a bit crazy here and I can't remember all the names of these things. Also I like shrimp. So we see a trend here right? The har gow is always a must and a common standard order in any dim sum setting, usually they are gigantic shrimps wrapped in clear rice wrap and steamed to a glossy pink good-ness. mm-mm good! the other dumplings were not so much "standard items". Depending on the shop, there's often many different selections. One thing is good to know: steamed dumplings are either with clear rice wrap or with dough wraps - and always filled, did i say FILLED! with ingredients. If you want to try a bit of mushroom, a bit of chive, a bit of vegetable, a bit of lotus root - these come in all varieties.
4) Now let's talk about the weird black sheep items:Tripe, and chicken feet. These you don't have to try... I mean yes it's good to try but I feel like you need to know what you are getting yourself into. Tripe is cow stomach - sounds gross. It's an essential part of pho, so most people may have seen it. They have a slight rubbery chewy texture, and don't actually taste like anything except the sauce it comes with. Chicken feet... are chicken feet. I know it can't possibly have a worse name because actual Chinese people named it "phoenix claw" - still gross but at least then it's of a mythical animal so somehow a bit more palatable? These are stewed down, heavily flavored, and have way too many bones. These are actually very common dishes in a dim-sum shop. If you feel adventurous, or want to feel like you have been in an episode of fear factors, give these a go. Just go with an Chinese friend so you can maybe take a piece off of his/her order so you are not stuck with the entire dish.
5)Turnip cake: These are not very flashy items but delicious. I always thought these are daikon cakes but turnip works. I suppose they are all root vegetables so there's similarities there. These have pieces of the vegetable inside, and also pieces of bacon.
6) Oh my god would you look at these cute little fishy things! These are coconut milk jelly - in the shape of fish! Some places have them in a square, or maybe with a bit of red bean. But the fishy shapes are just too cute! Fresh and not too sweet, great way to finish off the meal with these little too-cute-to-eat things.
And now finally, we ate, we saw, we were ready to pay and leave... guess what happens! Drum rolls, cheers and music! What is happening, well I'm glad you asked! 3 colorful traditional decorated lion-dancers jumped out from the front door to do a lion dance show! In the middle of the restaurant! around the patrons! during brunch! on a random Saturday (ok not totally random it was recently Chinese new year so maybe something to do with that)!
There you have it, every day is a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get (Forrest Gump??). the dancers were wearing shirts which described where they came from: Chung's Arts Academy, you can check them out here: http://www.chungsmartialartsacademy.com/
This serendipitous event was really fun and just what we all needed on a winter gloomy morning. AsI am writing this article in the midst of a global health emergency that started in China - Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). There has been a lot of focus during this year's Chinese new year holiday season, and in a way, really put a dampen on the celebrations. For the Chinese community, there's unknown, fear, and some not-so-nice reminders of the SARS era. I am glad this little cheerful event happened today, in a roomful of people of all different skin colors, while we shared the common love for Chinese food, smiled and cheered as the lions jumped and danced. That's what we really need, especially in the time of need and crisis, the togetherness with our fellow human brothers and sisters.
In total we chose 12 things and let me tell you we ate it all. Dim Sum is really good sharing food - like tapas. It brings people together, because it's intimate and sharing is caring.
1) Curry squid tentacles: Ok don't get too worried about the name of this - it's much like calamari. Same animal, different body parts. These squid tentacles are served piping hot, charred, curried, and served on a clear rice noodle edible bowl. the presentation is just amazing and the smell is fantastic. These are not breaded and so tender. A must try!
2) Pumpkin and corn congee: congee is a standard breakfast item in many parts of asia. I know because my parents make me have congee for breakfast as a kid. The homemade versions always tend to be more bland because the basic ingredients are rice and water - and you can add whatever to it. I'm personally not a huge fan of the bland version myself. The restaurant versions are million times better: you can get it with fish, vegetables, chicken or eggs. If you prefer a sweeter version, try this version with corn and pumpkin. I enjoyed it a lot, it's a bit sweet, a bit creamy, and warm in mah belly.
3) Shrimp spring rolls, shrimp dumplings (har gow), chicken mushroom steam bun, shrimp/leek dumpling, and shrimp and some other vegetable dumpling: You see we went a bit crazy here and I can't remember all the names of these things. Also I like shrimp. So we see a trend here right? The har gow is always a must and a common standard order in any dim sum setting, usually they are gigantic shrimps wrapped in clear rice wrap and steamed to a glossy pink good-ness. mm-mm good! the other dumplings were not so much "standard items". Depending on the shop, there's often many different selections. One thing is good to know: steamed dumplings are either with clear rice wrap or with dough wraps - and always filled, did i say FILLED! with ingredients. If you want to try a bit of mushroom, a bit of chive, a bit of vegetable, a bit of lotus root - these come in all varieties.
4) Now let's talk about the weird black sheep items:Tripe, and chicken feet. These you don't have to try... I mean yes it's good to try but I feel like you need to know what you are getting yourself into. Tripe is cow stomach - sounds gross. It's an essential part of pho, so most people may have seen it. They have a slight rubbery chewy texture, and don't actually taste like anything except the sauce it comes with. Chicken feet... are chicken feet. I know it can't possibly have a worse name because actual Chinese people named it "phoenix claw" - still gross but at least then it's of a mythical animal so somehow a bit more palatable? These are stewed down, heavily flavored, and have way too many bones. These are actually very common dishes in a dim-sum shop. If you feel adventurous, or want to feel like you have been in an episode of fear factors, give these a go. Just go with an Chinese friend so you can maybe take a piece off of his/her order so you are not stuck with the entire dish.
6) Oh my god would you look at these cute little fishy things! These are coconut milk jelly - in the shape of fish! Some places have them in a square, or maybe with a bit of red bean. But the fishy shapes are just too cute! Fresh and not too sweet, great way to finish off the meal with these little too-cute-to-eat things.
And now finally, we ate, we saw, we were ready to pay and leave... guess what happens! Drum rolls, cheers and music! What is happening, well I'm glad you asked! 3 colorful traditional decorated lion-dancers jumped out from the front door to do a lion dance show! In the middle of the restaurant! around the patrons! during brunch! on a random Saturday (ok not totally random it was recently Chinese new year so maybe something to do with that)!
There you have it, every day is a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get (Forrest Gump??). the dancers were wearing shirts which described where they came from: Chung's Arts Academy, you can check them out here: http://www.chungsmartialartsacademy.com/
This serendipitous event was really fun and just what we all needed on a winter gloomy morning. AsI am writing this article in the midst of a global health emergency that started in China - Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). There has been a lot of focus during this year's Chinese new year holiday season, and in a way, really put a dampen on the celebrations. For the Chinese community, there's unknown, fear, and some not-so-nice reminders of the SARS era. I am glad this little cheerful event happened today, in a roomful of people of all different skin colors, while we shared the common love for Chinese food, smiled and cheered as the lions jumped and danced. That's what we really need, especially in the time of need and crisis, the togetherness with our fellow human brothers and sisters.
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