Dim Sum Garden
245 King Street
204-942-8297
https://www.dimsumgardendt.com/
Facebook: @dimsumgardenrestaurantdt
January, 2023
When I was young, 50 years ago, there were Chinese restaurants sprinkled throughout the city, but for the true foodie, the best Chinese food came from Chinatown. About 40 years ago, a Chinese boom exploded in the area, bringing multiple restaurants, residences and retail to the area.
Then about 20 years ago, a serious influx of Chinese students brought a new Chinese population to South Pembina. Whereas the Chinese food of Chinatown was still good/very good, the immigrants along Pembina demanded a new quality of food, reminiscent to what they had back in the homeland. Soon, the quality of the food in Fort Garry matched and eventually exceeded that of downtown.
Now, the Chinese population continues to boom in Fort Garry but the downtown Chinatown dies a slow death. All the retail stores closed except for one; there are a few restaurants hanging on, and the residences are seniors' complexes seeing their population age and disappear quickly.
The Marigold flagship restaurant was a staple here for decades, but it eventually died too. After several changes of hands, Dim Sum Garden took over the site; it’s not an injection of new blood, it's simply a move from their former location across the street—and then there were four.
Traditionally, restaurants serve dim sum on rolling carts. Servers push carts through the dining room and patrons order what they want as the carts roll by. This was an excellent way of dining because you only order as much as you want, and you quickly get more if you need. It’s always hot and fresh and it’s a continuous stream of food as long as you want it.
Sadly, that tradition is also long gone and now, ordering comes with a checkbox form. It’s a cost/labour saving measure, which is fine. One labour-saving measure that’s not fine is the absolute absence of cleaning here.
The tables are cleared and wiped, but not cleaned. Liquid stains remain from the previous diners. The carpet is in disgusting condition. It looks like it hasn’t been swept in a week, covered in food everywhere, including the walkways. It’s probably been years since they’ve been washed, and it’s unravelling in places that’s certain to be a tripping hazard.
The service is little better. They bring the menus and the fill-out forms right away but then no one returns. A while after we filled out the form, we had to bring it to the reception desk. Waving someone down? Don’t bother—no one comes.
As a Chinese
protocol, most people have tea with the lunch or dinner. The restaurant brings the pot and you pour your
own. When you run low, you tip the lid
and they come and replenish the tea. Our
pot lid has been tipped for almost a half hour—no one’s coming for this either. We eventually bring the pot to the kitchen for a
refill on our own.
The servers bring the food when our order is up, but then we do not see them again. The service is horrendous. Seriously, this is shameful.
To the
food: for a while, the dumpling sizes in Winnipeg's dim sum houses grew to immense proportions. Although dim
sum is not sushi, and you’re not meant to eat all the morsels in one bite,
neither is it supposed to be a one-and-done main course. The beef dumplings are not beef roasts and they’re
not supposed to be carved to serve many.
Dim sum is somewhat like tapas where you order a variety of samplings
because the portions are small. That’s a
poor example because the tapas in Winnipeg are insanely big (and expensive)
too. In Spain, tapa dishes are small and
inexpensive, but I’m waaaaayyyyyy off topic.
The point is, the portions shrank since the last time I was here, which
is good, but alas, the prices have not dropped commensurately.
Many people don’t like the beef dumplings because the texture tastes mushier than what people expect out of a meatball. They also taste quite acidic, which is also unexpected for many people. Much of that flavour comes from Worcestershire, which is a bit lacking today.
The pork
dumplings tastes flavourful but a lot of that comes from MSG. It doesn’t take many bites before I realise I’m
very thirsty. The thirst comes from the sodium in MSG and it hits almost instantly—and that’s a problem because the tea doesn’t get replenished
here. The dumplings taste bland at the
same time, and some salt would help it greatly.
This says a lot because it means that the sodium comes from the
MSG and not salt. The bean curd wrapping
is a bit loose and falls off easily. That’s
a shame because some of the flavouring sits on the wrapper. The meat itself needs some salt and seasoning
desperately when not with the wrapper.
These pork balls are quite lean, which is against the norm of having a high
blend of pork fat in the pork dumplings.
The rice noodle dish comes with broad, soft, rice noodles, wrapping a stuffing, usually beef, barbecued pork
or shrimps. The beef in the rice noodles
also needs some seasoning and flavour.
Usually, this dish bursts with flavour because of the fragrant soy and
oil covering the noodles, in addition to the seasoning on the beef. Even with the abundance of soy and oil, the dish needs flavouring.
The pork spring rolls taste very dense, which is why you do not often see pure pork rolls. Spring rolls are often combined with some sort of vegetable to ease up the density of the dish and provide some texture and variety in the stuffing. From a cooking standpoint, I would rather deep fry a pure pork roll, than one with vegetables. Unless the wrapping seal is perfect, inevitably some liquid seeps out from the vegetable roll and causes oil splatters. Could this be the reason they opted for pure pork? I can’t be sure but I can be sure that it needs more ingredients in the stuffing. The stuffing itself could use some more seasoning and spices and the wrapping is not as crunchy as it could be—usually a result of the oil being too cool.
The Chinese pierogis also lack in crispiness. The dough tastes soft and chewy, and stick to your teeth like taffy. As you can see in the photo, the pierogis are voluminous but they have little substance. The hollow holds a lot of air and not very much of the ground pork and chive stuffing. The stuffing itself tastes bland-bland-bland.
Blandness seems to be a common theme in this restaurant: everything needs more flavour. The eggplant stuffed with shrimp also needs a boost. The small wad of shrimp mash tastes all right but the eggplant wrapping tastes like a sponge that needs to soak up some seasoning.
The pan-fried
chives pork dumplings is the best dish to cross our table. Thanks to the strong flavouring of the
chives, this dish has very good flavour. The
red rice vinegar dips provides a nice contrast to the fattiness of the
dumpling. Pan-frying adds a great
texture and crunch to the outside of these dumplings.
Ironically, the best dish in this Dim Sum restaurant is not a dim sum dish at all. The chicken ho fan (chow fun) tastes wonderfully rich, flavourful and (YES!) well-seasoned. The big chunks of onions lend a crispy contrast to the velvety noodles. The pieces of chicken come well cooked, done by not dry.
Next time, I know to order mains off the menu and just skip the dim sum all together. Based on the complete lack of service here, come expecting a self-serve kitchen, than a full-service dining room. Be prepared to get your own beverages, cheques, and just pile the dirty dishes at the corner of your table. No one comes to take them away. Yes, pick a lable with two more settings that your party; that's where your dirty dishes will pile.
Based on the quality of the food and the absolute lack of service, I can see why Chinatown free-falls to doom, if this restaurant is any indication. Just go to Fort Garry; it's not worth coming here.
Previous review: http://foodwinnipeg.blogspot.com/2011/01/restaurant-review-dim-sum-garden.html
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As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!
Certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judge – Badge #97736
Certified Steak Cook-off Association Judge – Badge #7788
Canadian Barbecue Society Member
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