EMERALD CHINESE DIM SUM

Emerald  has been my family’s go to dim sum place for the past decade despite the long lines (even longer on Holiday weekends) because of the authenticity and consistent quality of their dishes. The trick is to get a table before 10am, 10:30am at the latest if you don’t want to take a number and wait for up to an hour. The only drawback with arriving early is that a few times, we’ve had to wait for the classic dishes to be prepared (chicken feet, tripe, steamed buns).

Atmosphere: I usually visit the restaurant in the morning on weekends for brunch and it is always packed. The restaurant isn’t fine-dining , you don’t have the plastic table covers but there are cliche Chinese Restaurant decorations (ie. paper lanterns, lots of red brocade) and the settings are worn. The restaurant is spacious with many large tables and it is a great venue for family brunch.

Service: Some people prefer dim sum places where you order from a menu/list but I love the cart style ordering. You don’t know what dishes you could be missing out on until it goes by you and for me, who’s not comfortable reading Chinese, often I can’t tell what a dish is by the English menu description. My family always order the same dishes at dim sum, but I like to try a new dish each time and with the dishes in carts being walked around the restaurant, I have the opportunity to see if anything appeals.

Food: I quite like the food at Emerald and it fills my dim sum cravings nicely. The meat dishes are always tender and flavourful; we always order the short ribs and chicken feet. I like the congee and rice roll as well, the roll isn’t too doughy or thick. The shrimp dumplings are filled quite full and again, the wrapping is thin and a good texture. Pictured below, that morning we also ordered the steamed scallops, pork stomach, calamari (a little oily), tofu skin rolls, steamed cha siu buns and a few sticky rice buns. My brother’s favourite are the steam cha siu buns and we always order a few extra to take away. I had to snap these pictures quickly before my family emptied the plates.

Overall, Emerald has a large variety of dim sum offerings (and a menu of larger entree size dishes) in a casual setting that’s at a good price point. In Mississauga, it’s one of my best recommendations for Chinese food.