Updated: 16th Jan 2011: This restaurant had been closed.
Polly and I had decided to change our cake meet to dim sum meet for the remaining of the meetings until the school holiday starts. The reason is we only have a few short hours to meet and there is no dessert places that we can think of in Richmond which we have not been to during the time frame we can meet.
Our first dim sum meet was at Gala Seafood Restaurant at 8300 Capstan Way. I remembered my neighbour recommended this place to me long time ago but I just dont have the opportunity to check it out.
The restaurant has a big banquet hall. The chairs were decorated with custom made covers with the name of the restaurant embroidered on it.
On weekdays, the restaurant served dim sum at $1.99 for small. medium and large dim sum from 9 am to 12 pm. This is really cheap. Click on the menu to have a larger view. The menu also served as order form.
Tea is charged a dollar per person which is quite normal for dim sum restaurant.
The first item we ordered was a special item which the server brought out and offer to customers. It’s not from the menu. The above is Wolfberry Lychee Osmanthus Jello. It is served cold and very bouncy. Wolfberry or also known as goji berry is supposed to be good for your eyesight.
The above was something unique. It’s called Deep Fried Rice Ball with Bitter Melon. They were filled with black sesame paste. I have never tried this before. It has a very slight hint of bitter melon flavour and the sweet black sesame paste gives it …a unique contrast. I enjoyed this dish.
The Steamed Beef Omasum with Ginger and Green Onion was more like steamed with garlic. The beef omasum was very chewy.
We ordered some Deep Fried Eggplant with Shrimp Paste as both of us love eggplant. The outer layer was deep fried to crispy and the shrimp filling is bouncy.
Since Polly and I do not like to deep fry at home, we ordered another deep fried item which was Deep Fried Tofu with Shrimp Paste. Again, this was crispy outside and springy inside. Polly loved this so much that she ordered extra to take out for her kids after school snack.
I ordered the above Steamed Sponge Roll with Cream Sauce as I remembered I had some good ones at Royal Dinner and Dance on Garden City and Blundell. They were tender but I preferred those at Royal Dinner and Dance which was more moist.
Last item was Durian Pastry. We liked it so much that we ordered one to go for a friend as we planned to visit a friend after the dim sum.
The pastry was thin and flaky and the filling was full and had a nice durian flavour to us. Other people might not have the same opinion on durian.
The total bill came to $30 with tips. Gala Seafood Restaurant accepts cash only.
Great dim sum choices! I haven’t been there for a few years now. I think it is time for me to revisit.
Wow rhe dimsum is really cheap at 1.99 each. Good post Suanne. I will definitely give it a try.
What is durian supposed to taste like?
Hi lilly, durian is a fruit that either you love or hate. For those who love it, it is creamy, sweet and sometimes with a hint of bitterness (which is supposed to be the better). But for those who hate it, I often heard them saying that it smells like cat poop as the king of fruit has a strong pungent smell.
taste of custard mixed with equal amounts of Mango and Skunk is my impression of Durian
The one time I tried durian it tasted like raw onions to me. I don’t mind the smell at all though.
Cool, another place to try durian pastry! I’ve only had it at Golden Ocean. Dad and I liked it very much but noted that the durian flavour became stronger as the pastry cooled. I must say, it is the only way I’ve found to eat durian that I liked :-).
Deep fried glutenous rice balls are so yummy! Whether filled with a sweet red bean paste, or, a salty pork and dried shrimp mixture, we always order a few of these on our dim sum outings. The many different contrasting factors within the dish is why I love it so much.
I was actually really surprised to read this review. I have been to this restaurant before to attend a wedding reception. The food was pretty much the opposite of your entire review, to put it lightly. Maybe the restaurant just does dim sum way better?
I agree with Angela. I came to this restaurant about a year ago, and the dim sum was just not very great at all. The most memorable dim sum was “zhaliang” — for those who don’t know what this is, it is made of rice noodle roll wrapped around the “youtiao” (fried dough) part. I can tell you, the “youtiao” was so hard that it was impossible for me (or anyone in my family) to bite into. I’ve never had such terrible “zhaliang” before! I will never go to this restaurant again!
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I went to Gala for dimsum yesterday morning (Friday). I took advantage of the 1.99 dimsum on weekdays before noon. I would say I had a good experience. The place looks really good and clean and looks like a high end Chinese restaurant. I love the covered seats. I feel like I was eating in an expensive Chinese restaurant although I was ordering 1.99 dimsums. Anyway for the dishes I ordered. (I was dining alone.) I had siomai, hargaw, steamed rice w/ spareribs, rice roll with beef, shrimp stuffed fried tofu, shrimp stuffed fried eggplant, sticky rice in lotus wrap and durian pastry for dessert. All of these including the 1.00 tea charge and tax came to just over 19.00. Cheap eh? As for the food, overall it is better than the low-end dim sum places. They were fresh. I won’t say its in the same class as Kirin or Sea Harbour, but it is still good for me. I’d say for those who had bad experience with the dimsum or dinner there, to give it another try. It may just be an off day when you dined there.
P.S. I didn’t finish all the dimsum. I took home half and had a good dinner at home later.
I think its because Gala changed chefs over the course of the months, so that’s why some of you who ate before around Feb. or March I think may have noticed the difference in food quality
Christine, I actually attended the wedding earlier this month (July 2010), that’s why I was really surprised to read this review D: For example, I was looking forward to the shark fin soup because it’s one of my favourite dishes but Gala’s tasted burnt. Lobster was overcooked, fried rice was bland and tasteless, etc.
For an important event like a wedding I don’t know if “off day” is a good enough explanation. I would consider trying the dim sum because of all the great reviews but I don’t think anybody in my family will book a wedding there again.
Do you know if the 1.99 per dish price is applicable on weekends?
Thanks.
Hi DQ, $1.99 is for Mon-Fri, 9am to 12noon.
很差的餐廳 Poor Service, Bad Food
食物衛生很差 服務態度又很不好
The service is very poor. We were served with uncook food and waiter does not care and even try to hide their mistake. I ended up with bad stomach for 2 days. Don’t go there! There are better restaurants in the same complex.