Dim Sum Overload - Oct. 8th

One of my cousins from Toronto had been working in Ottawa for about a year. She was moving back to Toronto that weekend for a new opportunity and wanted to treat everyone to lunch. There were 12 of us there.

Round 1:

We had ordered quite a bit at the beginning - or so I thought.

Rice noodle rolls with youtiao. The youtiao wasn't soggy this time. They served it with some Hoisin sauce and sweet soy sauce. There wasn't any peanut/sesame sauce in sight, unfortunately.

Squid tentacles that were dipped in a batter, instead of the traditional dry coating.

Shrimp ha gow. They were a bit over steamed. The skins fell apart when you tried to grab one.

Seafood chow mein. By the time I took this picture, most of it was gone. 

My cousin also ordered a plate of my noodles (aka rice noodles with beef and chinese greens), but I forgot to take a picture of it. The sauce was very bland. The only thing saving it was a hint of smokiness and lots of soy sauce that was on the table.

Fried turnip cakes.

Rice noodle rolls with shrimp. As you can see, they were stingy with the sweet soy sauce. Does anyone know how they make it? I've read that all they do is add sugar to regular soy sauce, but I don't think that's the case.

Deep fried shrimp balls. They were alright. I still think Yangtze makes it the best, but I haven't been there in ages, so I'm not so sure if it's still good.

Deep fried taro dumplings with minced pork filling.

Pork and shrimp siu mai, along with some deep fried glutinous rice dumplings filled with minced meat.

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Round 2:

My cousin ordered some more items, as everyone inhaled the first round rather quickly. More of the usual: siu mai, cheun fan (steamed rice noodle rolls), etc.

Lo mai gai (lotus leaf wraps).

Scallop ha gow. The scallop had been pureed and mixed with shrimp. I wish there had been more scallops, maybe even chunks of scallops.

Some desserts were ordered at this point, as everyone started slowing down.

Egg tarts.

Steamed buns filled with "custard", and red bean paste filled glutinous rice balls. The "custard" wasn't a proper custard, but rather a moist eggy cake. Disappointing.

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Round 3:
One of my uncles dropped by from work. Since we didn't have many savory dishes on the table, my cousin ordered even more! Everyone was full at this point. Just keep this in mind.

Steamed squid.

Chicken feet in black bean sauce, siu mai and another plate of my noodles was ordered, among other dishes. This time, the sauce was flavourful and a lot more smoky. Unfortunately, I had no more space in my stomach. With a few more bites, everything was finished.

And that was lunch. Everyone left with full stomachs and a bit of a waddle.

I'm going to miss my cousin, but she's only down Highway 401. Thanks for an awesome lunch!

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