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lunch
Lin Chinese Cuisine
and Tea House 1537 W. Broadway,
604-7339696
by
GARY BARCLAY
At
last month’s first annual Chinese Restaurant Awards the
Shanghai-style Juicy Dumplings ($4.99) at Lin Chinese Cuisine and
Tea House won the Critics’ Choice Award in the
Northern/Shanghai-style Dim Sum category. To try these celebrated
delicacies ourselves, we arrived at what was formerly Galing-Galing
on Broadway near Granville, next door to Mayfair News, where we
were welcomed warmly, seated promptly, and served a pot of hot
Jasmine tea.
The
room is attractive and clean, in dark wood and pastel colours
of peachy hues. The ambience, congenial and harmonious, is filled
with cheerful chatter from families and friends of all ages at
booths, small tables for two, and large round tables draped in
white linen.
Manager and Dim Sum
Chef Yu Miao guards her secret recipe, but she told us she boils
meat, chicken, pork skin, green onions, wine and seasonings to make
a “very good soup” and puts it in the fridge where it turns to
gelatin. She then adds a small amount of the jelly to the meat
filling before wrapping, which melts when steamed in the bamboo
baskets in which they are served. There are easier ways, she says,
but for her, it’s a complicated procedure.
We
dip each mouth-watering morsel, hot but not scalding, in a sauce of
shredded ginger and vinegar. Take care – as we learned the hard way
– to envelop the entire dumpling in one mouthful and suck out a bit
of the broth to avoid excessive squirting as it bursts into myriad
flavours. Pan-fried Pork Buns ($4.99) and Chives Cakes ($4.99), a
big potsticker stuffed with Chinese chives and eggs, were
noteworthy complements and hot Sweet Sesame Cakes ($4.99) served as
a nice finish.
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