The youngest bamboo girl is flying off soon and requested another round of dim sum as good dim sum is hard to come by where she will be going.  Since Bamboo Girl #2 had a dental appointment nearby, it was decided to dim sum at Very Fair Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Scarborough.

Again, it's Scarborough, don't expect fancy decor or furniture.  But, it's decent food and fair prices and everyone comes away with a full tummy and very satisfied.  About 6 - 7 dishes were ordered and that came out to about $25.00.  Not bad for feeding a family of fiveI  While many of the more up-to-date restaurants have moved towards the cook-to-order system (you mark what dishes you want on an order sheet); this place has retained old-school charm where 'aunties' pushed food carts up and down the aisles.  It's fun seeing what's being offered and then you can just pick off the carts.  I enjoy this more though granted, the food may get cold by the time the cart makes it to my table.

A couple of dishes that stood out: the deep fried sesame balls...Huge hollow crispy balls rolled in sesame which the waitress punctures and snips into manageable bite-size pieces.  Surprisingly, none of the usual dishes such as shrimp dumbling, pork sui mai or steamed rice rolls were ordered.  But, we were all full on the BBQ pork steam buns, the mini sparerib claypot rice and others.

Please excuse the poorer photos as my camera mal-functioned...Need a new one :(

Dim Sum.  One of my all time favourites...Sipping tea and slowly enjoying a variety of small dishes ranging from crispy or soft, steamed or fried, buns to cakes, meats to veggies...You really can have it all!  In Hong Kong, seniors are a common sighting in the early mornings enjoying earlybird discounts.  Families tend to crowd in for weekend lunches and the leisure ones enjoy the afternoon tea discounts. 

If you picked up anything about my character from reading this blog; you'd probably be able to guess my preferred dining times...That's right!  Afternoon tea from 2:30pm - 5pm...Ahh, it signals a life of leisure.

Since returning to Toronto, the parents have taken to Milliken Bar & Restaurant (the name is kind of mis-leading...No way you would think of this as a bar) near Kennedy and Finch.  The prices are good and the selection and quality reasonable...But, the Scarborough area has many nice dim sum places around.  It may not be the fanciest of locations but good food at good prices score high on my priority. 

A few of our favourites from this particular dim sum place: steamed spareribs and rice rolls, egg custard sesame balls and preserved egg pastry.  The usual standard of pork siu mai, shrimp dumpling 'ha-gow' and beef balls are tasty but similar to other locations.