Today we were starting off the morning with some dim sum in Vancouver. We made Sun Sui Wah our destination, given how long ago it has been since either of us visited.
The great thing about a causal dim sum meal is the ability to order exactly what we want and not have to worry about accommodating an entire party. Better still, when you have similar tastes to your dining mate and easily agree on what to order, which was the case today.
We started with the usual Steamed Crystal prawns dumplings, a dim sum classic. I often find them a little bland and in need of the Chinese-style creamy hot sauce, that they offer at such dim sum restaurants. This helped to add some interest to the dish. I like eating the shrimp loaf centre first and then enjoying the texture and taste of the wrapper as is.
I was puzzled to see the Sticky Rice with Dried Scallop, Dried Shrimp, and Minced Pork wrapped in wax paper. This was the first time I have had it served like this. I believe it was meant to save on costs, with only one sheet of banana leaf wrapping half the bundle of rice, and the white waxy paper taking care of the rest of it. Other than this exterior, everything else was as expected. Sticky starchy rice with bits of meat, for a tasty and filling base.
The Steamed rice rolls with Beef was fragrant with herbs. I like it for its soft skin, but could have used more soy sauce to flavour it.
Much like the shrimp dumplings above, Steamed Pork & Shrimp Shumai is another dim sum staple that is a common order. I know exactly what I am getting with it, yet I feel it needs some zip from hot sauce.
I have never had dim sum come out so slowly, it seemed to arrive in two sets. So by the time we got to this latter half I found myself full.
One of my favourite dim sum items is Pan Fried Daikon Cake with Dried Shrimp & Preserved Meat. I can never make this for myself and love it for its char, gummy texture with hard bits, and salty meets fishy taste.
The Bean Curd Wraps with Pork, Shrimp, and Enoki mushroom were saucy, with the wrap holding all its flavour. Although I didn’t make out much of the filling past it.
The Beef Tripe in Satay sauce was new and disappointing. We both expected it to be gelatinous. Instead, the organ meat was worn down and it felt chewed over with the grainy sauce only furthering this mushy texture. This was our least favourite dish.
In short, this was a tasty enough assembly, but not our favourite dim sum option, and therefore may be not one we would go to again next time.
Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant Vancouver
3888 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V 3N9
(604) 872-8822
sunsuiwahvancouver.ca
