Victoria Seafood, Cheap and Average Dim Sum

And here I thought I had completed the sweep of Winnipeg's dim sum core ... comes Victoria Seafood to the fore. Dim sum is the exemplification for me of family, food and culture; all wrapped up in delectable little bites of steamed goodness. I discovered Victoria Seafood upon patrolling the new Zomato Winnipeg site realizing that I had indeed missed it on my initial go around the dim sum spots in town. Needing to quickly correct that I made the long trek down to Victoria Seafood Restaurant on a shockingly cold summer day for a quick bite of dim sum.

Victoria Seafood lies on the corner of St. Mary's road and Dunkirk Street. A busy intersection close to St. Vital mall, its owners did a great job with the large block lettering inviting hungry traveler's forward. The interiors are simplistic but functional with comfortable wooden tables, extremely efficient wait staff. My initial excitement came to a fever pitch upon seeing the entire restaurant filled to the brim, a rarity for a weekday lunch.

Dim sum here works on the pen and paper ordering system. An initially seemingly skeletal number of wait staff work efficiently and effectively bussing the busy restaurant. My target was dim sum, although Victoria Seafood does offer a sit down ala carte dining option. Part of the draw I realized was the "happy hour" special running through the day with the majority of dim sum items coming down to ~$3/item. Thankfully along with the seemingly positive price point, the variety of items available do not disappoint. A large laundry list of the classic dim sum items adorn the menu and while nothing seems extraordinary, there is enough here to keep the novice and the adventurous dim sum diner happy.

The classic Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) here were simply average with a nice soft exterior and tender shrimp filling. My biggest complaint is in the portion size with each dumpling significantly smaller than the majority of Winnipeg dim sum spots.

A somewhat rarer item, Scallop with Shrimp Dumplings, takes the delicate filling of shrimp dumplings, marries it with bits of scallop and is steamed to perfection. I liked the dichotomy of the slightly chewy egg wrapper with the tender filling and the slight crunch of the egg roe on top.

A usual for me, the Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf is a block of sticky rice housing a collection of meats and mushrooms and steamed with a lotus leaf wrapper.

I was slightly disappointed at the version here as the rice was tough and not as moist as expected. While the filling generous, the taste did not permeate the entirety of the sticky rice and left the dish with two distinct dichotomous flavours as opposed to an unified one that the dish is supposed to convey.

Victoria Pork Dumpling is in actuality the "shark's fin" dumpling with a pork, mushroom and vegetable filling wrapped in an egg wrapper. Although nice in concept and presentation, the filling was altogether bland, greasy and tough. Missing was a sense of crispness or tenderness which would have helped these dumplings climb out of mediocrity.

You can probably judge from the picture of these Deluxe Seafood Dumplings (Sui Mai) that they were average. While Victoria Seafood offers large portions for these sui mai, I cannot help but wonder if they are of the frozen variety with tough filling that was unfortunately represented a congealed glob of fat.

These Chinese White Turnip Cake were a nice surprise from the overly greasy dumpling options. Lightly pan fried, the cakes had a delicate tenderness to the interior while maintaining a crisp exterior. Diving headfirst into a wash of the accompanied Hoison Sauce adds in well needed saltiness and a sense of umami. Well done!

These steamed Beef Balls were also surprisingly nice. The balls were infused with a hint of cilantro which added a nice aromatic indulgence that cuts through the fattiness of the underlying meat. Missing was the crunch of taro root that is usually accompanying said dish, but nevertheless the overall flavour was positive and spot on.

Victoria Seafood offers solid dim sum at a extremely affordable and reasonable rate. While there were clearly some misses on the dishes, there is enough here to satisfy most dim sum diners - a perfect spot for those wanting to delve into it for the first time as one can order a large variety without breaking the wallet. Definitely a consideration for those in the area.