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Tin Tin Dim Sum – Calgary, Alberta

We went to Chinook Centre and went to one of my favourite little store when we stumbled by Tin Tin Dim Sum and it was packed!! We decided we were doing absolutely nothing so we’d join in the fun!

We were not that hungry to be honest but wanted to try LOTS of things… so, we ate lots! I found on the menu what they called Egg White Bunnies and I had no idea what that was so we ordered some. It’s like marshmallow meringue that’s super light and not sweet at all. It was weird using my chopsticks and ripping the bunnys head off, but it’s all good.

I also decided to have an order of their Black Peppered Short Ribs as I recently made some Korean short ribs and enjoyed them so I wanted to just have some. These weren’t as tender but the flavours were absolutely amazing!

I’ve taught myself to make traditional Radish Cake, but I like just just steamed. I’ve never been too successful pan frying my recipe as I don’t like it firm. The recipe here is still soft but it doesn’t fall apart pan fried. There was plenty of radish in the cake so it was delicious.

Something I don’t usually order is Steamed BBQ Pork Buns as buns are very filling I ordered them and ate them all anyway! The inside had a good amount of filling and the texture of the steamed bun was really silky and thin but it doesn’t fall apart at all. There’s still a nice sauce in bun and it was very tasty.

Alright, just when you think it wasn’t enough food, the Pork Shu Mai is always one of my go to dim sum menu items, so I had to get this as well!! The dumplings were pretty big in size and like everything else tasted really good.

Just when we were about to leave, we got a complimentary order of their Mango Pudding which was super awesome! I actually NEVER order this but it was so much fun because it brought me back to my childhood! What a fun and delicious surprise!!

Overall, I love this place. It’s great as there’s parking here, and then if you over eat you can walk around the mall to help you digest! At first I wondered what they do for the later hours but when I looked again, they had some Western Chinese dishes! Brilliant!

Tin Tin Dim Sum

6455 Macleod Trail SW,
Calgary, AB
403-253-7742

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M Palace – Calgary, Alberta

I like that there’s now more dim sum options in the South as we found M Palace on Macleod Trail while going for a random car ride. The place was quite busy when we got there, but we didn’t need a lot of space so they had a table for us.

We ordered some random things that are our typical standard dim sum for us to compare and contrast. I knew I wanted Beef tripe as it’s often one of my favourites because it’s something I wouldn’t make! It’s got great flavour here, but it was a bit chewy. Just a bit more time in the steamer would’ve made it amazing!

I know a lot of my co-workers think I’m absolutely disguising as I like eating Chicken Feet and they keep reminding me what chickens step in. Guess what, I don’t care! I actually like eating this so I will continue! I only live once, and I’ll fill my belly with what I want. This was pretty good here and I think I’ll take an order back to the office next time!

A dish that is so simple that I enjoy would be Rice Crepes and it’s something I’ve tried to recreate at home. It’s so different homemade, but not really worth all that effort. It’s fine getting it fresh from elsewhere like the restaurant! It was smooth and thin here and that’s almost the only requirement! Simple and perfect.

Something I make every year near Chinese New Years would be Shanghai steam buns and it’s a pork dumpling with actual soup in it made with bone marrow. It’s time consuming but I like that ones I make as it’s actual soup and not full of oil. It’s not bad here, but it’s a lot of hot dripping oil that leaks from the dumplings here.

The last thing we ordered is definitely something I make a lot during the winter months, also hugging Chinese New Years as it’s got great symbolism and tastes great. I love trying everyone’s own recipes and it’s not something we can compare, no matter how much you eat of it. Pretty darn good here!

Overall, it’s a decent place! Not bad for dim sum without going to Chinatown or up North. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for a quick fix for dim sum!

M Palace

10400 Macleod Trail SE,
Calgary, Alberta
(587) 333-3088

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Dynasty Century Palace – Edmonton, Alberta

Recently, we traveled for a day trip to Edmonton in search of a good dim sum place where we kind of stumbled upon Dynasty Century Palace which was located on the second floor of a large building right on 105th Avenue. In fact, it’s quite hard to miss! The location is large with lots of parking – which makes it quite an ideal location (although the parking lot it is attached to is a pay lot).

We got seated and the service here is really speedy! They definitely know turning tables means they’re making money – so they work hard and I’m sure they rewarded! They are the traditional style dim sum experience with the carts which is fantastic! We started by ordering everything, and everything was quite delicious and fresh. The prices were also very reasonable!

We got our standard orders which would consist of Chicken Feet which the flavours were really good, the texture was nice and the size of them was quite large and they were not tough or over cooked! They’ve mastered chicken feet for sure!

Usually we don’t order sweets or if we do, we wait until the end. But when the waitress comes by sayings she’s got fresh Egg Tart on her cart, we’re going to get it and eat it right away! These were really good, quite a buttery tart and the filling was good!

Everyone eats Ha Gaw or shrimp dumplings and this almost is the standard of this generation for dim sum. Since it’s a common dish, we ordered it. The shrimp inside was quite large, cleaned out properly and has an excellent shrimp texture. The skin was thin yet it did not break. Not a bad ha gow at all!

Then, something a little different, we got an order of steamed Beef Short Ribs which we don’t usually get as it’s often tough and full of fat, marinated in a black peppered sauce. Although this dish wasn’t as fatty as they normally come, it was just a tad on the tough side. The flavours was spot on – just like how I remembered it to taste! Overall, not bad as the flavour was just amazing.

I don’t often order rice for dim sum either as they’re really filling – then you don’t get to try as much options, especially when it’s just the 2 of us. However, the Lo Mei Fan or sticky rice was something I have been craving for awhile, so we ordered some. It didn’t come in the standard glass bowl, but it was just kind of dumped into a bamboo steam basket. The flavours and texture and taste was perfect! This really made me want to go home and make some – but I don’t as it’s pretty time consuming.

There’s nothing my husband likes more than Lo Bak Go or turnip cake, so when he saw that go by – guess what, we ordered it! It didn’t have much filling to it but instead it had more rice flour – so it didn’t taste as good as it could have. Still quite tasty and we all know I make this at home, and I must say, he likes mine the best!

Overall, we had a fantastic time here. It was fun, the service was great and the food was really tasty! We wouldn’t mind bringing people here or to come back ourselves as they have a huge selection of food/dim sum!

Dynasty Century Palace

200-9700 105 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
(780) 428-3388

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Kapok Seafood Restaurant – Alameda, California

We went out for lunch and decided to go for dim sum – somewhere more local with great rates for dim sum at Kapok Seafood Restaurant! All dim sum dishes here were only $2.00 and the place was quite busy for a weekday!

We just ordered a bunch of stuff and shared it at our table, which is the traditional way to having dim sum. They don’t give you any bowls here though, just a plate and chopsticks (which isn’t very traditional). We started with an order of Chive Dumplings that were steamed. It was really quite delicious and the skin was thin and delicate.

Then, we ordered some Fried Taro Dumpling which isn’t something we normally get. But, it looked really nice and light, and fresh here. And, it was! We hate it when it’s cold and hard, but it was delicately fried and the filling was hot and fresh. The pork was well seasoned, so we enjoyed this quite a bit!

We don’t normally go to dim sum without ordering my husbands favourite, lo bak goh and it wasn’t bad. Of course, nothing as good as homemade, but it was still really fresh with lo bak shreds thoughout! We love it when there are noticeable shreds so they are amazing that way!

Some more steamed dim sum for our table, we got an order of Spare ribs and it was really well seasoned here. The spare ribs were not too fatty at all and like everything else, it was really tasty and fresh. The meat was tender and it came off the bones without being over cooked!

Another dish we always order is the Steamed Beef Balls which is another of my husbands favourite, especially with Worcestershire sauce! The balls were excellent here and not made with overwhelming amounts of parsley so it was nice to actually be able to taste the meat balls here!

Just as you would think we’re done, we ordered something quite amazing! It’s their Lobster Noodles for only $8.88! It doesn’t get better than that! It was an awesome little lobster that sat on a bed of yee mein which is one of our favourites and never really order as it’s costly here. With this price, sure it’s little, but it was definitely enough as we’re having it WITH our dim sum!

Everything was amazing here and the price of the experience seems to have made us extra happy! So, if you’re looking for fresh dim sum at a great price, then you should come try here! It’s not clean, service is average, but you get good food and a great rate!

Kapok Seafood on Urbanspoon

Kapok Seafood Restaurant

1511 Webster St
Alameda, CA
(510) 865-5405

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Silver Dragon Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

I have a few coworkers that really like dim sum at Silver Dragon in Chinatown. I have been here once for dinner many years ago, so I thought it was about time I gave them another shot – but for dim sum instead of dinner. Located on the 2nd floor, this huge restaurant seats a lot of people and it actually fills up!

I love this place as it’s a good traditional place. They give you a stamp card and they stamp the price range of the dish you order, and they actually come around in carts. My modern places give you a menu and you select what you want to eat, and it’s not traditional at all. So, once the first few carts came by, our table was filled. We started with their Fried Pork Dumplings which had a nice texture and skin, but the filling was lacking a bit. It was fried really nicely and tasted good – so I won’t complain!

We then ordered an old time favorite of ours, the BBQ Pork Rice Crepes which was really nice. The soy sauce was good, the rice crepe was awesome and the bbq pork tasted great. Overall, we loved this dish!

Buns are something we like to order, but we try to limit the amount we get as they are pretty filling. We ordered BBQ Pork Bun, but they ended up giving us Chicken Steamed Bun which was alright and something I like, and I even like to make at home. The chicken filling was delicious and I’ve always loved the ginger taste and scent in the buns, so it worked well that we got this little mistake!

Perhaps I’m a little more traditional, but I really enjoy Chicken Feet and I order it everywhere I go – almost! I did from here and I got to say the flavours was a little dull and over cooked. it didn’t stop me from eating the entire dish, but it was just my personal preference for it to have a stronger flavour and it not being so mushy.

It’s also quite traditional of us to order some Steamed Beef Balls and this one they said it was “dry steamed” which looked more like a shao mi, but it did taste different. We loved it as it is a dish that isn’t too common in dim sum restaurants.

Because of the steamed beef balls looking like shao mi, we decided we needed an order of Shao Mi which is a steamed pork dumpling. It was pretty tasty and it does look quite different.

I know, we ordered a lot of food for 2 people, and no we were not done! We can’t go anywhere without some tasty Steamed Spare Ribs and they did an amazing job here. It wasn’t too greasy, the pieces weren’t too fatty and the flavours was exciting!

Then, I have been wanting some Sticky Rice also known as Lo Mai Fan (not in Lotus leaves) as it’s something I don’t really make – if ever! I find I under cook my glutenous rice then I don’t like it. But, they steamed their rice really well here and it tasted pretty good, but perhaps needs a little more soy sauce or salt. We did have some sauces on the table and so I just added a little – then it was perfect! It satisfied my craving!

We were now ready to go. We were completely stuffed… and then one special cart came by with some Pot Stickers or Pan fried dumplings which is something I just love and adore. We ordered a plate… and ate it all up! The skin was really nice and although on the thicker side, it was delicate. Perfectly pan fried and the pork filling was amazing! The perfect way to end our dim sum adventure here.

Overall, it was nice sitting down having a nice traditional dim sum experience in Calgary. The owners were Chinese (Cantonese) and apparently has been around for many years. The food was decent, and the prices was quite good! It was a better than expected dim sum!

Silver Dragon Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Silver Dragon Restaurant

106 3 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 264-5326