Shirley L.
Yelp
I came here twice recently - once for dinner, and once for lunch. This is like expensive, elevated Chinese dining, but the food is good quality. There is definitely some stuff (especially with regards to the dim sum) that is just bougie and kind of necessary, but cool to try anyway.
Food highlights:
Soup - we ordered soup to start our dinner with, and it was just a simple, traditional kind with these like long, green, stringy vegetables. I've had this soup at many different places, but I found the flavour particularly good here... the vegetables had less of a bitter flavour and more of a softer/slightly-sweet flavour. Also the soup was very smooth and had almost a velvety texture.
Dessert - chilled pear glazed with light osmanthus syrup. This was a lovely and unique way to end off our meal! The pear was very refreshing, and the syrup was a little bit sweet, but not overly so. When you cut open the pear, there are some chunks of aloe inside, which was a pleasant surprise. It's pretty pricey ($6 for one pear), but I guess it doesn't seem so bad if you share it between a few people.
The mains we ordered that night were pretty traditional Chinese fare. Nothing stood out to me in particular, but everything was tasty and unlike some other cheaper Chinese food places, you can tell they don't put MSG in their food as it's not as salty.
For dim sum, my dad and I ordered the following which was plenty of food for two people, but at around $60+ definitely the priciest dim sum I've ever had.
Steamed dumpling of fresh lobster, scallops & shrimp in garlic butter ($5) - this is probably the single most gimmicky thing on the menu. Yeah, it tastes pretty good, but the main hype is that the dumpling is shaped like a lobster, so like... you gotta do it for the 'gram. I found that none of the three main ingredients particularly stood out, so I guess they just blended together into some indistinguishable (albeit tasty) seafood-y lump.
Crispy fried pastry of foie gras and minced pork ($5) - again, $5 for one tart, which I thought was good to try (I love foie gras) but ultimately a one-in-a-lifetime experience for me. It was a good tart, the pastry had just the right amount of flakiness, the texture of the filling was smooth and creamy and the meat was tasty although the sauce was a bit overpowering.
Open-purse dumpling of minced scallop, shrimp & bok choy, topped with caviar ($5) - this was my favourite bougie dumpling because the scallop flavour really shone through. Honestly though, the rest of the ingredients are simple and basic, so you are mostly just paying for the caviar (which you can't really taste anyway.)
Har gow (shrimp dumplings) ($7.50/4) - these are some damn expensive har gow, BUT they are also the best shrimp dumplings I've had in my life. Quality on these is next level, with the dumpling skin that is not too sticky and the huge ball of shrimp inside that is bursting with juice and flavours. If anything, come just for these.
Siu mai ($7.50/4) - again, Lai Wah Heen's take on a traditional dim sum dish was just another level above. What makes their siu mai unique (and justifies the price) is the fact that they put a scallop on the top of each chunk of pork. The scallop flavour actually blends wonderfully with the pork and shrimp and adds a lovely extra dimension of flavour.
Tapioca, lychee & mango dessert ($5.50) - this comes served chill to you in a glass with a straw, so more like a drink than a soup. I really did not think this was worth $5.50 given the size and the fact that it's just like a typical dessert/drink.
Steamed soft bun filled with custard lava ($8.00/3) - this is typically one of my favourite dim sum dishes/dessert, and we ordered this as an add-on mostly because I was still a little peckish after all of the other food. It wasn't significantly different from the buns you get at other dim sum places (except 4x the price.)
I enjoyed both of my experiences, but thought the dim sum experience was definitely more fun, unique and memorable. Many of the things I got were just cool to try, but I would not feel the need to order them again unless I just really felt like treating myself. However, I would highly recommend trying some of the more traditional dim sum items (specifically har gow and siu mai) because Lai Wah Heen's take on them really impressed me.