The new location of Dinesty has been opened for a few months now, and I was delighted to give it a try with some friends last month. I have been to the Richmond location several times, and hoped that the food would be just as good. We started off with the Xiao Long Baos (obviously), since it's a tradition at most Shanghainese places, sometimes for dinner but always for lunch! As with the Richmond locations, these are deliciously soupy, and the skin is just chewy enough to hold all the delicious pork and soup inside. Another steamer basket arrived filled with Shrimp and Pork Siu Mai. The pork layer is on the bottom with the shrimp on top. I found the pork a bit dry but the shrimp was nice and juicy. I tend to deconstruct my food when I am eating, so it might have been just fine if I ate it as it was served. This dish is new to me, it's Deep Fried Chicken With Asparagus And Ham. The coating on this was nice and light, and the chicken was really juicy. I didn't find the mayonnaise sauce necessary as the chicken had enough seasoning. I did, however, use some hot sauce to give this dish a bit more punch. It's a fairly large portion, but the beauty is that it can be packed as leftovers quite easily. Our final savoury dish was the Pork Potstickers. I loved the presentation, love how they fry all the potstickers together and serve it as one gigantic dish. And lots of extra crispiness, which I always appreciate. The potstickers are larger than normal, about 3-4 inches long, The filling to wrapper ratio is good, although I could used a bit of more of ginger in the filling. For dessert, we got the Black Sesame Buns. These were really good, with lots of black sesame on the inside. The bun is soft and the whole package is a warm handful. It's probably too filling after a full lunch, but it's still a good treat. Eat half and share with a friend.
Take Note:
Go before noon to avoid long lines
Avoid the lunch "Specials" menu, it's reminiscent of mall food court dishes
Service is quick and it's a good option for a quick lunch
One weekend this part winter, I went to Dinesty for the very first time. I was really looking forward to having some Sticky Rice Roll (Salty, of course), but they were sold out. So let that be a lesson to you...go early!
This is one of my favourite go-to dishes at Shanghainese dim sum places. It's simply Marinated Beef wrapped in a fried pancake. Yeah, meat rolled up in a pancake...it's like a fajita, but what gives it the Asian touch is the addition of green onions with hoisin sauce to make the beef and pancake lighter than you would expect.
We also got their Noodles topped with Home-made Meat Sauce. I don't think there was enough of the meat sauce, but that might just be a personal preference. I do like the shredded cucumber and egg on top...adds great texture to the noodles buried underneath. While I liked this dish, I found the addition of the cool cucumber and the room temperature egg hastened the cooling of this noodle bowl, and I like my food hot!
These are the Xiao Long Baos, filled with just the right amount of soup, and served piping hot. I like the slight chewiness of the skin, which were thin enough to balance the meatiness inside. I think these are one of the best in Vancouver, well, Richmond. There were four of us and we ordered two of these. Yes, they are that good.
Stewed pork in brown sauce...with a bit of Bok Choy. The brown sauce isn't spice, but rather a thick gooey sauce that slightly sweet and does a great job of permeating throughout the pork. Shred this up a bit and add a bit of the vegetable. Then, grab the steamed buns that accompany it and make yourself a sweet chinese sandwich!
These buns are so good...at a glance, these reminded me of madeleines! Soft and doughy, these are great for absorbing the sauce from the pork. Their sponginess is what I really cherish. You might find the pork a little bit fatty (I did) but the buns make up for it. Trust me.
We started off with the Xiao Long Baos (obviously), since it's a tradition at most Shanghainese places, sometimes for dinner but always for lunch! As with the Richmond locations, these are deliciously soupy, and the skin is just chewy enough to hold all the delicious pork and soup inside. 
Another steamer basket arrived filled with Shrimp and Pork Siu Mai. The pork layer is on the bottom with the shrimp on top. I found the pork a bit dry but the shrimp was nice and juicy. I tend to deconstruct my food when I am eating, so it might have been just fine if I ate it as it was served. 
This dish is new to me, it's Deep Fried Chicken With Asparagus And Ham. The coating on this was nice and light, and the chicken was really juicy. I didn't find the mayonnaise sauce necessary as the chicken had enough seasoning. I did, however, use some hot sauce to give this dish a bit more punch. It's a fairly large portion, but the beauty is that it can be packed as leftovers quite easily. 
Our final savoury dish was the Pork Potstickers. I loved the presentation, love how they fry all the potstickers together and serve it as one gigantic dish. And lots of extra crispiness, which I always appreciate. The potstickers are larger than normal, about 3-4 inches long, The filling to wrapper ratio is good, although I could used a bit of more of ginger in the filling. 
For dessert, we got the Black Sesame Buns. These were really good, with lots of black sesame on the inside. The bun is soft and the whole package is a warm handful. It's probably too filling after a full lunch, but it's still a good treat. Eat half and share with a friend.
