Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Crown Princess: Dim Sum on Bay Street

Crown Princess Fine Dining opened down the road (1033 Bay Street, Toronto) earlier this week, and my colleagues and I decided to check out the place for dim sum today. I had seen contractors working on the place for the past 2 months and was really curious to find out if the place would be any good. Well, today I tried it and I now share with you my review of this fine, new restaurant.

The first thing that strikes you when you step into the place is just how luxurious they’ve made it. It’s either like walking into a truly swanky night club or into a seriously fancy French restaurant – entirely depending on which way your own lifestyle (or imagination) swings more towards, of course. The walls and columns are marbled, there are nice chandeliers lighting the place, the tablecloths are very fancy gold in colour and pattern, and the staff are all dressed in black – except for some of the women who are dressed in French maid uniforms. The table settings are uber fancy and would be entirely fitting at high tea, with gold-gilded tableware, marble-patterned chopsticks (but which really are still just plastic) and proper spoon & chopstick rests. That last point right there about the spoon and chopstick rest already puts this restaurant up in the leagues of Lai Wah Heen and Ambassador, at least in terms of appearance and presentation.

In terms of the environment and decor, it truly is fine dining. It’s very much geared towards Western sensibilities, with very English teacups and teapots and the French feel to the place. No, the Euro-imitation is not culturally consistent, but it is very elegant and luxurious all the same. My colleagues and I were primarily wearing jeans and t-shirts, but the other tables were typically wearing business casual with a few patrons wearing suits. Plus, like any proper fine dining establishment, the place had a nice, pleasant ambient sound level – no clinging and clanging of dishware, no shouting, just the quiet hum of conversation.

Service was also top-notch. Service was attentive all the way through, with waitstaff refilling our water glasses and even refilling our teacups, too. Finished dim sum plates and steamers were promptly taken off the table, and when one of my colleagues had finished his Coca-Cola the lady who came to take away the empty can & glass asked if he’d like a glass of ice water. That is considerate service that I consider over and above my expectations for a Chinese restaurant. I know, that speaks poorly of many Chinese restaurants but that’s because honestly many Chinese restaurant waitstaff (and therefore ultimately their management as well) apparently have no idea what good service means.

As an aside, waitstaff who have never dined in a nice establishment themselves – because dining in nice places is definitely not cheap or economical – really might be ignorant of what truly good service entails. In such cases, it behooves the restaurant managers to properly train their staff and to maintain good service processes and standards.

In any case, all the elements beyond the food were in place. The only question that now remains is, “How was the food?”

Some of it was very good, and some of it was a little lacking.

• The deep-fried octopus was a fantastic way to start the meal, with a crispy crust and well-marinated flavor.
• The har gow (shrimp dumplings) were succulent and tasty. Though some may like the fact that they used very big, whole shrimp in the dumplings, I think they were a little too big. They were larger than a comfortable mouthful, but otherwise well done.
• The BBQ pork buns and BBQ pork rice rolls (cheung fun) were well done, and were a big hit with one of my colleagues who had never had dim sum before.
• The spare ribs in black bean sauce, however, was bland. I expected better and have had better in much plainer establishments. Truly disappointing.
• The taro & mushroom (Buddha’s delight something something) roll was nicely presented but, once again, bland on the palate.
• The pan-fried turnip cake was tasty and enjoyable, though a little lacking in texture. A crispier crust would have been nice (and the browning would have lent a deeper flavor), and shreds of turnip in the cake would have lent a nice contrast to the creaminess of the rest of the cake. Nice and enjoyable, but could have been better.
• The glutinous rice in lotus leaves was, by all accounts, very tasty. There weren’t enough for everyone at the table, so I didn’t get to try it myself. They were very nicely presented, though, wrapped in wax paper so that handling them would not mean having to directly handle the wet lotus leaves.
• The chicken buns were good, neither impressive nor disappointing.
• The taro-, almond- and pumpkin-filled sesame dumplings were absolutely delectable and expertly done.
• The sweet potato spring rolls were an inventive and tasty creation. I normally don’t enjoy spring rolls, but these were a very nice take on the spring roll concept taken as dessert.
• The scallop dumplings were absolutely beautifully presented – truly works of art as they arrived at the table – yet the taste was primarily that of a har gow (shrimp dumpling) without much scallop either in terms of taste or texture.
• The chicken dumplings were artfully done in a spinach dough wrapper, and were quite tasty and enjoyable.

All in all, I like the inventiveness of the menu. If I were to go again with others more experienced with dim sum, I would try the goose-liver siu mai, beef tendon in thai sauce, and beef tripe.

The meal was not cheap – dim sum seemingly never is – coming out at $20 per person, but overall it was an enjoyable experience. I think the menu is well-conceived, and the environment truly is relaxing. I loved the deep-fried octopus and the sesame dumplings. I just wish the execution of basics like the spare ribs and turnip cake was better.

I would not specially go out of my way to dine at Crown Princess. It is, however, an excellent addition to the downtown area – particularly as it’s just off the edge of the Yorkville-Bay&Bloor part of town. With the reported closing of Dynasty (at Avenue & Bloor), Crown Princess fills a gap in the Bloor street dining repertoire and does so quite respectably. Is it a direct contender to Lai Wah Heen? In terms of pure excellence of execution, no, but Crown Princess isn’t quite as expensive as Lai Wah Heen either.

If you are in the Yorkville area or even if you’re down at City Hall, Crown Princess is an excellent choice for refined Cantonese dining. It isn’t cheap, it isn’t perfect, but you will have a nice and enjoyable dining experience. However, I just can’t recommend it to those who are not in the area – it’s not good enough to warrant making a special trip. That, unfortunately, may be a serious problem for the restaurant as it is blazingly obvious the owners have invested a lot of money to set up the place.

I hope the restaurant pulls in enough business to last for a long while, though. Crown Princess is but one of a very small handful of Chinese fine dining establishments in the downtown area. I am nitpicking about some of the food, as is my right as a paying customer, but I also acknowledge that much hard work, creativity, and honest-to-goodness desire to create a pleasant, refined dining experience has gone into the enterprise.

I seriously hope to see the execution of the basics improve. I hope to see the kitchen get into the groove of things and produce dim sum whose impact on the palate across the board will be on par with their visual impact. Until then, please do yourself a favor and try out the place if you’re downtown, but don’t make a special trip if you live far away.