Shortly after it opened some 20 years ago, no less an authority than the New York Times said Lai Wah Heen (108 Chestnut, at Dundas, 416-977-9899, laiwahheen.com, rating: NNN) was home to “the best dim sum in Toronto, maybe the best in North America.”
We were sufficiently wowed back in 2005 to give the beige-on-beige hotel dining room a 5N-review, but each subsequent visit to its daily noontime spread impressed in exponentially decreasing amounts, so much so that after a particularly appalling and expensive lunch two years ago, we gave up on the joint. A recent return trip suggests the Heen is back on track.
The room’s just as yawn-inducing as we remember, the music piped in from the elevators, and the servers as formal and unsmiling as ever. Here’s that same lobster-shaped dumpling ($5) complete with feelers ‘n’ claws that knocked us out back in the day. And har gow – listed as “crystal shrimp dumpling” on the menu – and sui mai of minced pork, shrimp and scallops (both $6.50 for four pieces) are several notches above what they line up for at Spadina’s Rol San. At these prices, they should be.
But lotus-leaf bundles thick with mushy sticky rice and unidentified seafood ($6.50 for two) are overly fishy, and extremely short pork spare ribs ($5) are mostly gristle and bone. Deep-frying does no favour to cubes of turnip cake studded with shrimp and Chinese sausage ($6.50), “premium” soy sauce or not. Leave it to a puff pastry tart piled with sweetly minced pork and foie gras ($5) to save the day.
