Five Loaves

Its been a while since I had dim sum.  After hearing about Bing Sheng from Jeremy, I went there to have dim sum this weekend. Seating and service are usually not an issue for us because we typically have dim sum at 9AM-10AM.  Why do I have dim sum so early?  Its because I hate crowds and I like to do my weekly grocery shopping early in the morning!  I was a little hesitant about Bing Sheng from the outside appearance.

The outside of the restaurant was very misleading.  I felt much better upon walking in.  The restaurant was nicely decorated with chandeliers, Chinese paintings and antiques, and a LCD TV.  I was able to choose a table by the window because I wanted the natural light for my photos. The waitress used our Pu-erh tea to make the pot of tea. They offer a Chinese and English dim sum menu, but there no pictures and you have request for the English menu. We quickly checked off the dishes we wanted to eat and placed our order.

We felt like having rice.  So we ordered steamed rice with spareribs and chicken feet.  The spareribs were tender and flavorful.  Typically, the rice is steamed in the pot, but it is very clear that the rice was scooped into the pot because it was not stuck to the pot.  Also, the rice was quite mushy.  I would not recommend ordering this dish.

The steamed beef balls consisted of beef, water chestnuts, parsley, and dried orange peels.  I was able to taste and distinguish all the different ingredients.  The beef balls had a beautiful soft and airy texture.  Next, I like dipping my beef balls into Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce to enhance the beef taste.  This dish was prepared well.

The deep fried spring rolls were full of shrimp and presented nicely.  I liked the waxy shrimp and crunchy textures.  Surprisingly, the spring rolls were not oily.  I was impressed with this dish.  Almost every table in the restaurant has an order of deep fried spring rolls.

I’m pretty bored with the shrimp dumpling.  So I ordered the steamed scallop dumplings.  It has the shrimp dumpling wrapper, shrimp, snow pea shoot, scallop and topped with Tobiko. All the flavors complimented each other very well and tasted good.  I would order this dish again just to change it up with the shrimp dumpling.

Lastly, the steamed rice roll with shrimp.  I did not realize that we ordered so many shrimp dishes.  Better make a conscious note the next time.  The steamed rice roll was delicate, chewy and loaded with shrimp.  Just the way I like it.  It was garnished with gai lan on the side.  The gai lan was quite fresh.  I really liked the texture of the rice roll.  Another thumbs up!

Five Loaves Rating:
Value: 8/10
Quality: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10

Verdict: Good selection of dim sum and inexpensive prices.

Bing Sheng
1800 Renfrew Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 215-1800