Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant: Chinese dim sum in Richmond
Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant is quite a well-known dim sum spot in Richmond. Since their opening in 2014, it has become one of the more fancy dim sum restaurants. Make sure you make a reservation because it is unlikely you will get a spot at all without one.
This review is based on an in-dining experience with my parents during covid-19.
Interior
The interior of the restaurant is big so there’s a lot of space for them to space out the tables. They even added a divider to seat more people and there are inner rooms where they have even more tables. Staff were wearing masks the entire time.
It is a more fancy restaurant, so expect the white tablecloth and random chandeliers.
When I went, there were no aunties pushing carts of food, as some dim sum places do. I am not sure if this is because of covid or if they regularly do not have this type of service.
Food
We are here for dim sum! We order a variety of dim sum classics and some of Chef Tony’s signature dishes.
Marinated chicken trimmed with black truffle flakes ($28 for half a chicken)
They pretty much had me at the word “truffle chicken”. Usually, marinated chicken is not a dish I would order at dim sum but my parents told me it was one of their signature dishes so we decide to order it.
The chicken reeks of truffle and it’s really entrenched in the marinading sauce they use. The chicken they use here is the white Chinese chicken style, which means the skin is not battered or deep fried. It is actually served cold.
I taste a lot of truffle when I eat it. It’s so delicious and rich and it’s a very unique dish because I’ve never had truffle chicken before. The coldness of the sauce and chicken is quite refreshing and does not taste overwhelming.
Granted, they are probably not using real truffle and just scraps of truffle soaked in truffle oil.
This dish is good to share with 4 people. It does not come with rice.
Black truffle pork and shrimp dumplings ($6)
I’ve tried black truffle siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings) before at Fortune Terrace Dim Sum. In general, truffle siu mai is more expensive but it goes so well together! It really enhances the shrimp and pork flavour.
I find the truffle siu mai at Chef Tony’s tastes better than the one I had at Fortune Terrace. The reason being I could really taste more of that truffle.
Shrimp dumplings ($6)
This is just a normal ha gao (shrimp dumpling) so no truffle this time, haha. It’s a decent ha gao but it tastes just like all the other ones I’ve ever had at dim sum restaurants. For this price point, I think it’s overpriced. Still yummy, but nothing special about it.
Shrimp and yellow chives rice noodles ($6)
I usually order the beef chang fen (rice noodles) but this time we order shrimp. Similar to the ha gao, it tastes yummy but nothing too different from all the other chang fens I’ve had at different dim sum places over the years.
Deep fried dumplings with minced meat ($?)
So unforunately, I don’t actually know the name of this dish in English, but it is essentially a deep fried dumpling with minced meat filling inside. I also could not find this on their English menu so I am not sure of the price. Sorry! Just thought I would include it in here since I did eat it.
The inside filling is not jam packed, so don’t expect it to be fully loaded. The outside is crispy and the inside has an almost sticky texture that goes with the minced meat and the sauce inside. It is a small and savoury dish.
Salted egg yolk lava buns ($7)
This is another one of Chef Tony’s signature dishes. The black buns with the gold paint stroke is certainly very beautiful and unique. Normally, it does not look like this.
The inside filling is filled with salted egg yolk lava. For those who are salted egg yolk fans, this is delicious. In fact, I find that salted egg yolk is becoming quite trendy in Chinese snack foods lately. I really like the salted egg yolk biscuits from T&T.
Anyways, the inside filling is hot so be careful when you bite into it or rip it with your hands (it can squirt!). Even though it is salted egg yolk, the taste is actually sweet so it is considered a dessert item and you will find it in the dessert section of the menu.
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed dim sum at Chef Tony’s Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. It certainly is pricier than the regular dim sum restaurant, but it has quite a few specialty items that are unique.
Out of all the dishes, I think the truffle chicken is the biggest highlight. I am a sucker for truffle and I am happy to see dim sum restaurants incorporating truffle. That being said, it may not always be worth the price point because again, they use truffle trims soaked in truffle oil.
The salted egg yolk buns are very Instagram-worthy, but I don’t think I would order it again just because I’m more of a savoury person than a sweet person. Also, I find that the taste is relatively the same so it only looks really cool with the black and gold.
All other dim sum dishes are above average quality but I think I would come to eat at Chef Tony’s to specifically try the chef specials instead of ordering the signature dim sum dishes.
Sincerely, Loewe