Restaurant Review: Dinesty
DINESTY DUMPLING HOUSE
160 – 8111 Ackroyd Road ~ dinesty.ca Twitter: @DinestyGroup Co-Diner: Tim Golem
Dumplings. Delicious little handmade pockets of goodness. You need them in your life and you need good ones. In Vancouver, Dinesty is the place. While they do have one location in Vancouver, they have another in Burnaby and two in Richmond, including their original restaurant. They also have a retail store in Richmond where you can buy their products to take home. In the interest of keeping things authentic, we visited the original Richmond restaurant on a Saturday evening. I'd heard about them in Vancouver Magazine when they were voted Best Casual Chinese 2016, Westender chose them as #1 Best Dumplings 2017, and The Georgia Straight named them #1 Best Richmond 2018.
What's the deal with soup dumplings, anyway? Known as xiaolongbao in Chinese, "xiaolong" refers to the bamboo steaming basket which they are prepared in, while "bao" means bun and refers to the dumpling itself. I was excited to learn a lot more about them by trying them myself. Arriving at the restaurant, they weren't too busy, but by the time that we left they were packed and people were waiting for tables. We were seated right away, right next to the kitchen with a clear view inside. The dumpling-making process is on full display, with many cooks hurrying around. A complimentary pot of tea awaited us, and I helped myself to many cups of the mild and pleasant brew. Of course we were planning to order dumplings, however we ordered some other items as well. Starting with the Stewed Duck Leg in Brown Sauce ($7.50) from the appetizer section. Our server was efficient and our food began to arrive in no time at all.
The server explained that this duck has bones in it and we were alright with that. While the duck tasted nice, I have to admit that I did find it a little bit too boney. There didn't seem to be very much meat and the skin could have had a nicer crisp to it. Otherwise, I did enjoy the few meaty bites that I did get and the brown sauce packed a nice strong punch.
Next, our Pineapple Shrimp with Mayonnaise ($17.95) from the seafood section arrived.
This was a case of something sounding a little bit strange and our curiosity getting the better of us! It worked out in this case because this dish was pretty delicious! Yes, everything was bathed in mayo. But the pineapple and peppers were plump and juicy. And the shrimp were perfectly breaded, adding a pleasing texture. Probably not the most healthy dish, but certainly a tasty one! We had to get some noodles in there as well and chose the Fried Noodles with Satay Beef ($10.95).
These were good noodles but a little bit plain. The beef was tender and the vegetables were fresh. The noodles themselves tasted housemade. But overall there wasn't anything especially interesting or noteworthy about this dish. It was time for what we had come for; the soup dumplings. These traditional Chinese broth-filled dumplings are skillfully handcrafted at Dinesty and are steamed in small bamboo baskets to ensure an authentic flavour. I learned a lot about how they are supposed to be eaten. For example, you are supposed to lift the dumpling from its top with chopsticks, being careful not to break through. You then place your dumpling into a spoon, and poke a hole into the bottom to release the hot broth. There is soup inside each dumpling! First you drink the hot broth out of the spoon and then you enjoy the rest of the dumpling with ginger and sauce. I was delighted to learn the intricacies involved in consuming soup dumplings properly! First to arrive was the Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings ($7.95). Our server removed the bamboo lid and with a flourish of steam, there they were.
Eight perfect little pouches. I followed the instructions of how to eat them carefully and it was truly a beautiful dining experience. Not all of my dumplings had much soup inside of them but the ones that did were excellent. The pork within was flavourful and well-seasoned. Dipping each pocket into the soy-ginger sauce was sublime. We also ordered the Steamed Shrimp, Scallop & Pork Soup Dumplings ($8.50).
These were excellent as well and provided a different flavour that was a lot more seafood-packed. I can totally see the addictive quality of these dumplings. They're like a comforting warm hug and they reminded me of something that a grandma would make. So delicious. We couldn't leave without dessert! Especially with all of the adorable items to choose from. We settled on the Steamed Mashed Taro Buns ($4.25).
Buns for dessert, too! These three orbs were pillowy-soft, warm, and wonderful. The taro inside was lightly sweet. The perfect way to end the meal.
I really appreciated how clearly their menu shows (with graphics) exactly what type of proteins are used in each dish. There is no guessing game involved. (Not that it matters much to me, I would eat it all. However the clarity is nice.) The restaurant's strength is in their bao, without question. I would like to return and to focus more heavily on sampling their different varieties of dumplings and worrying far less about the rest of the menu. They also serve breakfast, which I think would be a ton of fun to try!