Dimsum at Health Gourmet

Before I start this post off, I'd like to wish 

everyone a Happy New Year! Hope all of you

have a healthy and safe year with your family and loved

ones and most importantly eat lots of food! 

~ Tiffany.  

Saturday Afternoon Dim Sum in my family can never be missed even when there is an hour long wait for a table. When we found out our go to Dim Sum spot was renovating for the week, we quickly thought of a new place we could try. My mom suggested Health Gourmet, located in a Strip Mall by Midland and Finch. Health Gourmet prides themselves for serving food with 'NO MSG'. I guess we had to see for ourselves!

I don't often talk about the decor of the restaurants I visit in my blog posts, but man I was really questioning whether or not I was in Restaurant when I walked in. I don't even know how to describe it...mint
green walls, white curtains, odd
paintings.....Maybe I was too used to the typical Chinese Restaurant look.

The Dim Sum menu here is quite confusing as there are two set prices for let's say, the Steamed Chicken Feet. Apparently one is the regular price while the other is the price for
'VIP Club Members'. Really?!?! I guess that's one way they could get customers coming back.

We ordered the Durian Custard Pastry (3.5/5) ,which was recommended to us by our server. The pastry was very flaky as you
can see from the picture. It was a tad too oily, but nonetheless the durian custard was nice and creamy. Thankfully the Durian flavour was strong and didn't taste artificial at all.


The Deep Fried Squid Tentacles (2.5/5), arrived piping hot. These looked like they were well seasoned, but boy was I wrong. Oh yeah these were well seasoned....with a whole ton of SALT! At least they had a nice bouncy texture which was a tiny bit enjoyable.


 
The Beef Rice Noodle Roll (Cheung Fun) (1.5/5), is an item that is a must for my family at any Dim Sum restaurant. To be honest, I've never had Beef Rice Noodle Roll that tasted like this...the taste was just unusual. The Rice Noodle Roll was too thick, while the beef had this very unpleasant beefy, somewhat gamey taste. Yes there was garlic and onions but oh man not even the soy sauce could hinder
 the strong gamey taste.

I was glad the Deep Fried Spring Rolls (3/5), made the appearance next as they were fried beautifully golden brown. As expected, these were very crispy and piping hot. The filling consisted of the typical ground
beef and taro which was a tad too salty,
but overall it was a dish I enjoyed.

Next up, the Steamed Beef Tendon with Garlic Sauce (2.5/5), arrived lukewarm to the touch. Ordering from a Dim Sum menu and not from Push Carts I expected everything to arrive HOT, not Warm. Sigh, at least these were nice and tender. The garlic sauce didn't really provide much flavour which was pretty disappointing.

As soon as these arrived, I was praying that they didn't use the same beef mixture to make these as they did for the Beef Rice Noodle Roll. Welp, these tasted exactly, if not worse than the ones in the Rice Noodle Roll. These Steamed Beef Balls (1/5), were massive, but I mean not matter what size you make them, the taste is all that really matters. These had the same gamey
taste except with no Rice Noodle
Roll to somewhat mask the flavour. They put bamboo shoots in the mixture for the crunch, but ultimately these were not enjoyable for me. I guess there are some people who enjoy the gamey taste, but I for one do not.

The Steamed Chiu Chow Style Dumplings (Fun Gor) (2.5/5), were a huge disappointment as well. The dumpling skin was very thick, as you can from the picture. Normally these are supposed to be transparent where you can see the filling inside.
The filling consisted of ground pork,
onions, bamboo shoots, and onions
 and once again was too salty.


The Steamed Chicken Feet (3/5),
was very flavourful and fall off the bone tender. There was no gamey taste at all, surprisingly... Thankfully these were enjoyable.

The Sui Mai (2.5/5), looked rather unappealing. I mean the tobiko on top could've been taken off if you were to use such a tiny amount. Anyways, these were quite substantial as the pork and shrimp were nice and tender and it wasn't too salty for my tastes. The Shrimp had a nice bouncy texture.

We were still quite hungry after so we ordered the Shredded Pork and Vegetable Chow Mein (2.5/5). I loved how they seperated the noodles from the sauce to ensure
that the noodles wouldn't get soogy
and would stay crispy. The sauce
was rather thin, which ended up to
be very watery at the end which we did not enjoy. The bean sprouts and carrots added a nice crunch while the pork was tender.



Claiming to have absolutely 'NO MSG' in their food, I really question
that as most of the items we tried were rather salty. Maybe their substitute for the MSG is a whole ton of salt!

Based on the items we tried, our
trip to Health Gourmet was pretty
disappointing and I definitely won't be coming back again. Not to mention, the small tea pot we had was dirty with food and sauce stains on it. The cups also had a funky dish wash/toilet smell to it as well. I know....YUCK! I really hope they step up their game ASAP as their food lacks in quality, especially if they are charging more than the average dim sum spot and charging
'VIP Club Members' a monthly amount.

The Good:

• Lots of Parking Spots

The Bad:

• Based on the items we tried, Food lacks Quality
• Pricey
• Dirty Tea Pot and Cups

Dim Sum at OMEI Restaurant!

Growing up in a Chinese family, going out for Dim Sum on the weekends were the usual. Aside from frequenting places such as Ginger & Onion Restaurant ( Beside Market Village), one place we would often visit would be OMEI Seafood Restaurant. Is it just me or are push-cart dimsum spots becoming a rare sight? 

Tucked inside a small Chinese Plaza in Richmond Hill, OMEI is known for it's quality 5-course lobster dinner and it's seafood. This time around we were here for their Dim Sum, another specialty of theirs.
OMEI does not use the push-carts to serve their dimsum, instead you get their dimsum menu and check off what you want to order, which ensures that it's fresh and not roaming on the push-carts for a certain amount of time.
PICTURES WERE TAKEN FROM TWO VISITS


Up first were the Deep Fried Squid Tentacles (5/5). Arriving Piping hot and fresh, these were a delight. Unlike the battered fried ones you find at other dim sum spots, these were tender and bouncy and the squid had a nice snap and was well seasoned. These were quite addicting as well, couldn't stop eating them!



Up next were the Shrimp Sui Mai. (5/5) These were enormous.Looking around, we could see that almost every table had an order, so we knew these were a must. Topped with Masago (Fish Eggs) and Dried Scallop Shavings, these were a hit. One bit into one of these goodies, we immediately realized why these were so popular here at OMEI. Filled with Shrimp Mousse, dried mushroom and large pieces of shrimp, these offered a nice crunchy snap and were very well seasoned. It was like eating a giant wonton from all the shrimp it had! The Masago added a hint of saltiness while the Dried Mushroom and Dried Scallop shavings added a smoky flavour. These are an absolute must when you come to OMEI!







Add a little Soy Sauce and Chili Oil.....Oh man.

Enough of the drooling from the Sui Mai. Arriving piping hot next was the Stuffed Eggplant with Black Bean Sauce. (3.5/5). This was a generous portion once again.
The eggplant was fried up nicely, not being too mushy and retaining it's flavour. The fish paste offered a nice meaty texture to the eggplant but was rather salty and with the addition of the black bean sauce the whole dish sort of fell apart. Have you ever eaten something so salty, it made your tongue itch? This was how salty it was. Maybe the chef added a tad too much salt? Usually when I come to OMEI and order this, it's normally not as salty as it was this recent visit! The black bean sauce was relatively thick but did not lack it's black bean flavour. Overall maybe if this dish wasn't this salty, it would've been pretty decent in my books. Maybe it was an unlucky visit? Ha.

Coming steaming hot to the table was the Beef Rice Noodle Roll aka Cheung-Fun. (4.5/5). I'm a huge fan
of Cheung-Fun and it's a staple at every dim sum spot I go to. OMEI I would say has one of the best Cheung-Fun because of the soft texture of the Rice Noodle Roll. The Rice noodle roll at many dim sum places I've been to, are often very thick and unpleasantly chewy and hard. Overall any type of Cheung-Fun is not good served cold, and the one at OMEI is always served piping Hot. Drenched in a lightly sweet soy sauce, the texture of the rice noodle roll had a slight chew but was relatively soft and toothsome.Unlike some dimsum spots where the beef tastes soft and mushy, the beef had a nice meaty texture and complimented the rice noodle roll very well. Along with Green Onion the  beef also had hints of Orange Peel, which added a nice flavour to the overall dish.




Another dimsum favourite of ours is the Deep Fried Stuffed Bean Curd Roll. (4.5/5). I prefer the fried version over the steamed, because the bean curd offers a nice crispy texture and keeps in the flavours of the filling inside. The version at OMEI has Wood Ear Mushrooms, Carrots, Dried Mushroom and baby corn in it's filling, which I find tasty because all of them add a nice crunch. The flavours in this dish were on point and all the ingredients were fresh. With a splash of Worchestershire Sauce and Hot Sauce ... Mmmmm!






Have you ever had a craving for something out of blue? Like just randomly, thinking and the thought of that food just entered your mind? Well recently I've been craving 
Turnip Cake. Steamed or Pan-Fried....It didn't matter.      

 I couldn't get my mind off them! I finally got a chance to get an order of Pan-Fried Turnip Cake.(3.5/5) What makes a good turnip cake? Well fresh turnips and a nice balance of ingredients of course! Loaded with an ample amount of Chinese sausage and Dried Mushroom and Dried Shrimp these were okay. The turnip cake was kind of dry, so the ingredients didn't mesh as well together. I would've like to see more turnip, which would've brought more moisture to the dish. Well at least it was good enough to fulfill my craving!

Lastly we got an order of Deep Fried Glutinous Dumplings aka Ham Sui Gok (3.5/4) These were fried up nicely and arrived piping hot. The filling consisted of the average being , Ground Pork, Onions, Chives and Dried mushroom. I would've liked if they had a little more filling as the flour on the outside was a bit thick. Overall this was an average dish, nothing special. Don't forget your complimentary dessert of Red Bean Soup!

OMEI offers a variety of Dimsum as well as some specialty dishes such as their Braised Beef and Turnip, and Braised Tripe and Tendon. Although quite pricey, the generous portions make up for that. The service here is also great as well, and the wait for food isn't that long.

The Good: 

• Generous Portions
• Fresh Ingredients
• Food is always served HOT
• Good Service

The Bad:

• Quite Pricey
• Food is a tad too salty