Toronto: Bright Pearl

346-348 Spadina Avenue, Toronto ON, CA
www.brightpearlseafood.com

The first time I ever went to dim sum was in Chinatown in New York with Brendan, several years ago. We ascended an escalator that, no doubt due to our pressing hunger, seemed as long as those in the Budapest metro. At the top, we entered into a garish pink, red and gold-bedecked room that seemed the size of an aircraft hangar. Imagine an obstetricians' conference with décor and exhibits designed by Vivienne Westwood, and you’re half-way there. We sat at a communal table for ten, where little old ladies pushed trolleys and shouted unintelligible Cantonese through toothless mouths. I was scared shitless, and convinced I wouldn’t get out of there without some hepatitis variant on board.

Amazing what a few years can do for you. One Saturday morning in 2005 after an Adventist service, Caroline took me to Bright Pearl on Spadina Avenue. Being with her, who though 100% Canadian is also a fluent Chinese speaker, probably made ordering easier; it certainly made eating more relaxed. Frequent dim sum lunches with Howie in Winnipeg throughout the second half of 2005 also opened my eyes to the wonders of this Chinese ritual tea.

So when Phil suggested dim sum for lunch today, we knew there was only one place to go: Bright Pearl on Spadina and St. Andrew’s (a block or two north of Dundas, as you enter Kensington Market). I’m not sure if there’s some connection between spiritual rejuvenation and dim sum, but yet again, I was coming from a service – this time at Metropolitan United on Queen Street, where Rev. Malcolm Sinclair always holds the attention of the congregation with his insight, his compassion, his showmanship and his rhetorical mastery of the English language. I took the streetcar over to Spadina, and arrived at the Bright Pearl at just after 12:45 to find Kavita and Amar sitting there, waiting for a table. We were finally seated at 13:15, although the wait was shorter for smaller parties. In the interim, I tried to control the detox tremors from the previous day’s SPD celebrations.

We were shown into the room – yes, reds and golds abounded – and were seated at a large round table, set for eight people. We started ordering straight away. I had been to Bright Pearl so many times that I knew exactly what was needed: cheong fun beef and chicken secreted in flat rice noodles and drowned in soy sauce; char siu bai barbecue pork buns; shrimp won tons; pai gu spare ribs; nuo mai gai sticky rice, wrapped in a cabbage leaf and containing marinated pork, mushrooms and scallops; and a big bowl of congee with mushrooms and scallions. Rabih arrived, and we ordered more of the same, and the best pork and vegetable guo tie pot-stickers ever. When Phil and Vicky finally made it, having been caught in the traffic diverted from the St. Patrick’s Day parade (held a day late, but hey, there’s Canada for you), we called our trolley ladies over again – doughballs in rice noodle envelopes being Vicky’s special exhortation to the team to try. And finally they came: what we had been waiting for all lunchtime … siu mai steamed pork dumplings; and har gow shrimp dumplings. In my opinion, no dim sum lunch is complete without these two essentials. We washed all this down with copious amounts of jasmine tea and chilled water.

The bill came to just under $96, which is reasonable for the amount of food we had, and the compendium of large, medium, small and special dishes we ordered. However, here’s an insider tip, and one of which I have taken advantage numerous times in the past: if you go to Bright Pearl on weekdays between 13:30 and 16:00, all dim sum – ALL – cost just $1.65 per plate. I have often come out of that place absolutely stuffed through gluttony for less than $15. Anyway, price notwithstanding, it was a good call on our part to sustain ourselves today with dim sum at the Bright Pearl.

Now, my next missions (and I choose to accept them) are:
1. find a dim sum palace in Dublin;
2. convince friends here to join me;
3. stop them freaking out on the first attempt like I did, and just sit back and enjoy it.

On a final note: I went back to that same NYC dim sum place with Brendan in December 2006 – and loved it. I’m a natural now. Might even learn some Cantonese so I know what I’m ordering next time.

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The Damage (CAD)

• 96.00 Dim Sum for 6
  

Drinks

• Water, Jasmine Tea (included above)
  

Service 14.00
Total 110.00
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The Score
4.0 Food and Drink
3.5 Service
3.0 Décor
4.0 Ambience
3.5 Value
4.0 Overall Rating