Casa Victoria

After seeing some pictures on her blog and craving hard because I hadn't been in over two years, Mary and I decided to meet up this afternoon for dim sum at Casa Victoria. The exterior of the restaurant is very nondescript (and is very easy to pass by completely), but when you walk inside, it's like being transported to a different world — one that can only be described as "fancypants." Massive crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, marble tiles deck the floor below, and pillars and dark mahogany walls with gold trim surround big round tables with swirly tablecloths and fine white china sitting neatly atop. Whether you see it as decadent or gaudy, nothing about this place really screams, "dim sum." And that's what you pay for. Casa Victoria is pricier than most other dim sum places, but the food is well worth it. Or, at least, that's what our simultaneous tastebud orgasms were telling us:

The requisite jasmine tea

Steamed BBQ pork buns

Steamed jumbo shrimp dumplings ("har gow")

Deep-fried taro dumplings with mushrooms and pork

Deep-fried spring rolls with mushrooms and pork

Pan-fried chives and shrimp dumplings

Steamed pork and mushroom dumplings with shrimp ("siu mai")

Pan-fried green onion pancake

Pan-fried turnip patties

Fancypants decor aside, the food was phenomenal. I thought maybe it was because I hadn't eaten dim sum in so long, but Mary said it was better than any other dim sum place she'd been to because the flavours were more vibrant and the different textures more apparent. And the shrimp dumplings (our favourite by default — so much so, that we ordered not one, but two steamers of them) seemed to be bigger than any I'd ever had. Usually, they're filled with minced shrimp, but these ones were full of plump, juicy, full shrimps. Phenomenal, I say! Likewise with the siu mai (which were probably the most gigantic ones I've ever had), which had the minced pork and mushrooms sitting atop a whole massive shrimp! I could go on and describe what I loved about every single dish, but that would take too many paragraphs, so I shall stop here and just say that they serve some of the most delicious, delightful, delectable dim sum I've ever had. My only tiff with their menu: Where are the egg custard tarts?

It must be noted, however, that, as good as the food is and as fancy as the decor is, the service is sub par, and that's really putting it nicely. Don't get me wrong, they're extremely efficient — our pot of tea got to the table within two minutes of sitting down, and our food came out fresh and piping hot from the kitchen within five minutes of ordering (no wheeling carts here). But they aren't particularly pleasant or nice or polite or attentive. Now, let's be honest, no one goes to Chinese restaurants for the service. You go for the food and the efficient delivery of said food. But the service really doesn't match the rest of the experience.

When the bill arrived, the woman who helped us (who was also the hostess, I believe) seemed to just want to get us out of there as fast as possible and was quite impatient with our deciding on how we wanted to pay. She just stood there, watching us take our wallets out. So uncomfortable. Considering that our bill came out to nearly $50 (note: none of the prices are listed on the ordering sheet!), you'd think they'd be a little more pleasant, but I digress. Perhaps it was because neither of us spoke a word of Chinese, but in this day and age, it's not nice being treated like an outsider, you know? Regardless, the food is what will bring me back there because, pleasant or not, they have some damn good dim sum that is served until quite late (4:00 PM). And lucky for me, I had some good company.