It's Sunday morning, which naturally means Dim Sum time for the typical Chinese person living in Richmond. Vic and I venture off to the nearest dim sum hang out, Royal Seafood Restaurant 粤海山庄 in Blundell Plaza in Richmond. We've been here once in the past but the experience was utterly unmemorable, so we decided to refresh our memories.
This second experience was unforgettable.
(Pictured top to bottom: Chinese donut in rice roll (炸两），chrysanthemum and goji berry jello (杞子桂花糕），golden seafood shrimp dumpling with "con" (corn?) (富贵黄金果）, shrimp and pea tip dumpling (鲜虾痘苗饺）, and egg tofu with enoki mushrooms and sliced carrots (双菇玉子豆腐）.)
Everything looks fine right? WRONG.
Fried egg tofu, as we know it, should be gently fried on the outside but silky smooth on the inside, a gift from the heavens. This egg tofu was scorched from the fires of Mordor. The texture of the outside layer is so rough that you'd think you're eating fried chicken.
As for the Chinese donut in rice roll, the pictures say it all. After eating away the end pieces, we revealed the hollow rock-hard inner pieces that were literally inedible. They were also fried to a crisp brittle colour of brown, which alludes to the level of chaffing that the top of my mouth suffered as I chomped down. It still hurts as f.
At this point, we waved down a waitress, who promptly responded curtly in Cantonese "What do you want?" We explained that the Chinese donut rice roll was inedible and she proceeded to explain that "this is how it is meant to be". We insisted that this is an unacceptable standard of service and after some grumbling, the waitress gave us a 10% off our bill.
As for the others:
Chrysanthemum and goji berry jello: very low on the flavour. It tasted like slightly sweetened gelatinous goo.
Golden seafood shrimp dumpling with "con" (corn?): Not good.. The taste of green onion in the dumplings were over powering. Generally you would not find green onion in steamed shrimp dumplings.
Shrimp and pea tip dumpling: This was the only saving grace of the meal. The dumpling skin was the right elasticity and the shrimp tasted fresh and bouncy. At $2 a piece, I would've expected as much.
The damage was done and our lesson is learned. We wouldn't be coming back.
On a side note, "Royal Dance Club"? Is that the actual business name?
Vic was trying to wave hi from the other side of the hollow steel crusts of the donut roll.
Food Quality: 1/5 - Inedible
Service: 1/5 - Dismissive and at times rude
Ambience: 3/5 - Festive.. in the Chinese sense if you could call it that.
