Perfect Chinese Restaurant in Scarborough offers the best dim sum in Toronto for your money.

History

Dim sum is a classic, long-established, time-honored Chinese dish and snack served with tea. Guangzhou in the 10th century saw a huge increase in economic travel. To meet the needs of these commercial travelers, many teahouses sprung up offering yum cha or ‘drink tea’ meals. Yum cha has two notions attached to it.  The first is Yat jung leung gin which means to serve two pieces with tea. The second is Dim sum which means to touch someone’s heart and to give small items of food with tea.

The Communal Aspect of Dim Sum

Taking part in eating appetizers, small dishes, and nibbles is a time-honored communal eating tradition all over the globe. North Africa and the Middle East have meze, Spain has tapas, Italy has mozzarella finger food, Mexico has antojitos and Greece has Kalamata olives in Greece.

Dim sum is a traditional communal way of eating a meal around a table. It is an array of meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes baked, steamed, or fried.

The Decorum and Protocol

I have been to Perfect a dozen times to try their dim sum, various Chinese dishes, BBQ duck, lobster, and fish dishes. This review is all about their dim sum offerings.

Perfect is as authentic as can be. You are seated at a table with a plate, bowl, and a pair of chopsticks. You have to request a spoon and fork. At Perfect, you are automatically given green tea, as it is an essential part of the meal. The person closest to the teapot should pour tea for everyone before their own cup.

If the pot is low on water, take the lid off and put it on the side. The server knows that you want a refill.

Perfect has a menu whereby you tick what you want and the server brings it for you. There are no pushcarts here.

Here are My Recommendations

Start with the Har Cow or shrimp dumplings. A huge shrimp wrapped in a semi-transparent dumpling wrapper and served in a bamboo steamer. I like mine with soya sauce.

The Cheung Fun is delicious. Rice noodles steamed and rolled around shrimps. Ask for it to be lavished in soya sauce.

I have given you my two favorites shrimp dim sum. Now try the squid steamed with ginger. The meat is not chewy. It has a lovely texture that is delicious and tender.  The ginger gives it the right flavor and it is also healthy for you. I like to add some hot sauce to this.

Think outside the box and go with steamed beef ribs. This is a tamer dish. Go ahead and add mustard.

Dim sum smoked seriously? Yes go ahead and order the smoked meats. A variety of smoked meats. Lavish with mustard and hot sauce and enjoy rice with it.

The Perfect restaurant is located at 4386 Sheppard Avenue East in Scarborough and is open 24 hours. There is no fuss or snobbery here. It is like going into a tea house in China and experiencing their hospitality. It has the best dim sum in Toronto for the money you pay.

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