Dining Out: Dim Sum at Destiny Asian Fusion

Had a phenomenal dim sum lunch with my mom today — at Destiny, of all places. This came as quite a surprise because Destiny used to be my go-to bubble tea place about a decade ago. They've always had decent food, but it was the usual bubble tea restaurant foods, you know, like popcorn chicken and thick condensed milk toast. Basically, Taiwanese and HK cafe food. I guess they were really hurting during the pandemic because they closed their original location in Scarborough, and they really needed to re-vamp their lunch menu to bring in more traffic. Dim sum is not a bad idea in an area that has a majority of Chinese people. But what is surprising is how truly good the dim sum is — better than some other restaurants that having been serving dim sum for years. And weirdly enough, it was my parents that recommended it. (I say weird because this place has been open for so long and my parents have never once set foot in there... until this year. Apparently a huge number of their friends had recommended the dim sum here.)

Steamed mushroom and veggie dumplings
Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow)
Deep-fried chicken and taro dumplings 
The food here is fresh, fresh, fresh. Many dim sum restaurants have a lot of their food prepared in advance and you can tell. Stiff dumpling wrappers, rubbery shrimp, stale pastry dough, less than optimal temperatures, etc. But here, every single dish came piping hot. The dumplings have soft, chewy wrappers — the har gow was filled with huge plump shrimp and the veggie dumplings were filled to the brim with crisp mushrooms, leafy greens, and carrots. The pan-fried turnip patties and deep-fried taro dumplings were super crispy on the outside but creamy on the inside, unlike so many restaurants that serve frozen versions or let them sit out for too long so they turn rubbery.

Singapore-style pan-fried turnip patties
Pan-fried scallion pancake
Baked Portuguese-style egg tarts
The egg tarts came out delightfully warm, with smooth, silky custard and buttery, flaky pastry. (I think these were the biggest surprise, because so rarely does a dim sum restaurant get egg tarts right. These ones were Chinese bakery quality.) The only slight disappointment was the scallion pancake, which was thicker, breadier, and less flavourful than they should be. Still, this might be my new favourite place for dim sum. Who would've thought that the bubble tea place I used to go to so often in my mid-20s would become my go-to dim sum place in my mid-30s?

(Oh, and bonus points because not only did they play "Left and Right" by Charlie Puth and Jungkook right as we were walking in, but they also played "Magic Shop" and "Permission to Dance." I suspect whoever put this playlist together is an ARMY. Only an ARMY would play "Magic Shop.")

Destiny Asian Fusion

165 York Blvd.

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4A7

(905) 889-7899