Dinesty

I had a craving for some Shanghai food and wanted to eat some shanghai buns (xiao long bao) and some beef and green onion pancake. I remember the beef and green onion pancake being really good at Dinesty and wanted to go eat it.

We ventured out to Richmond and made our way to the restaurant. There are a couple of things that I like about this restaurant: 1) The decor and 2) Open kitchen. The decor is modern and well placed. You don't feel crowded when sitting at your table like in most Asian restaurants. With the open kitchen, you can see all the food being made and you know what's coming out of the kitchen.

The restaurant was surprisingly busy for a Monday night! But we were seated quickly and the menus were handed to us. I noticed that the menus were English friendly, being that all items were translated in English. I've been to Shanghai places before where the menus were partially translated. On the Dinesty menus, there are pictures and also a letter/numbering system for each dish which makes ordering easy if you do not speak the language. After debating on which dishes to order, we decided to order 7 small dishes: xiao long bao, vegetable dumplings, shiitake mushrooms wrapped in bean curd, beef and green onion pancake, radish cakes, wine chicken (or drunken chicken), and cucumber with garlic. About 5 minutes after placing our order, the first dish came out which was the xiao long baos.

Xiao Long Bao

The xiao long bao came out hot and exactly like how the dumplings are supposed to be: thin skinned and soupy. The one thing that I didn't quite like was that it tasted a bit greasy.

On the left: Vegetable Dumplings

On the right: Shiitake Mushrooms Wrapped in Bean Curd - This is the first time I've had this dish deep fried. I think I prefer the non-fried version of this dish as it is less greasy and more refreshing when it's cold.

Beef and Green Onion Pancake - This is the dish that I came here to eat! The outside is crispy and chewy and I love the green onion, beef and hoisin sauce combination.

 Radish Cakes - Daikon radish shredded and deep fried with a savory inside. These are another one of my favourite Shanghai dim sum dishes. But this dish was a disappointment here. It was dry and the filling was really peppery. Not the greatest I've had.

Wine Chicken (Drunken Chicken) - When this dish came out, I was surprised that there were no bones! This dish was still tasty, but the chicken reminded me of chicken nuggets.

Cucumber with Garlic - This is another cold appetizer dish. Cucumber with vinegar and garlic.

Overall Impressions: I would come back to Dinesty, but only for a few of their dishes. The xiao long bao, vegetable dumplings and beef and green onion pancake. The rest of the food there was average and the service is typically what one would expect from a Chinese restaurant. All these dishes cost about $40. Average cost is about $20 - $40 dollars for 2 people depending on what is ordered.

Dinesty

8111 Ackroyd Road, #160
Richmond, BC

Phone: 604.303.7772