King Tin Dim Sum

King Tin Seafood Restaurant
258 King Street N, Waterloo
Open daily 11:30 a.m.
Lunch for two: $25-$35
519-885-4716

Amuse-bouche: A popular spot near Wilfrid Laurier University serving a lunch buffet during the week, but the highlight during the weekend is riding the trolley service for dim sum.

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For Cantonese and Szechuan cooking, King Tin offers the usual immense range of dozens and dozens of dishes, from hot and sour soup and pot stickers to Ha-moon style vermicelli, beef brisket casseroles and Peking duck. It is distressing to see shark fin soup on the menu—and at upwards of $70 for a bowl it probably is the real thing. Let’s hope that is about to change with the recent media attention—including Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming’s censure.

Head into the restaurant on any week day, and battle to find a place to park in the tight space virtually on the sidewalk along King Street, and you will witness the activity centering on the popular lunch buffet.

That feeding frenzy, however, does not appeal to me no matter what the restaurant. I save my visits to King Tin for the weekend and the dim sum. I think that is where their strength lies.

There are other spots in Waterloo Region that have their own stake to the claim of top dim sum, but King Tin does have its moments when it comes to what is loosely translated as “a heart’s delight,” the simple (and many) small morsels that you nibble in this random style of dining.

Taking a meal in this way is best, as far as I am concerned. Why load up on one 10-ounce strip loin and heavy baked potato when you can graze your way through a multiplicity of tastes and flavour? That is a heart’s delight indeed.

Clang clang clang goes the King Tin dim sum trolley.

What I like most about King Tin dim sum is the mobility factor: it must be the only place this side of Toronto that has a wheeled delivery system. And what the trolleys wheel around the large dining room can generally be very, very good. There are a few clunkers here and there—sometimes there are a few too many greasy deep-fried dishes, for instance—but for the most part King Tin’s dim sum sparkles.

Pork meatballs.

It’s a highway of taste as cartloads of dishes are steered in and around your table by a small army of staff: dishes, platters, saucers, bowls, and bamboo steamer-baskets piled six high and chock full of goodies. Select what you want, and the staff mark it on your order sheet. You eat until you can bear to see no more traffic. And it’s relatively inexpensive eating too.

Sticky rice in lotus leaf is always a dim sum favourite.

Stuffed eggplant is as good as any in the area, as is sticky rice, fried tofu, and enjoyable dumplings packed with shredded pork. A radish cake tastes good, as does the taro, a purplish starchy root vegetable with nutty flavour. It’s mixed with pork bits and deep-fried giving it a fuzzy appearance—with great taste.

Yam balls are too sweet for me.

Both yam balls and sesame balls are too sweet for me, however. But both the tripe and the “Phoenix paws” (boiled, “ballooned” and then deep-fried chicken feet, replete with toe nails) are quite good but the latter will prove to be a lot of tiny-bony work to eat.

Chicken feet rising ...

The choices a la cartload never seem to end, and it’s difficult to know what to pick: shrimp and coriander potstickers (there are actually four or five different shrimp potsticker choices including spinach or leek), biting hot-curry phyllo triangles, rice noodle with shrimp and sweet soy sauce, and those warm and sweet sesame balls that combine a crispy exterior with a soft interior.

Sesame ball--again, too sweet for me.

A suggested strategy is to bide your time patiently for the right trolley car to pass by: sometimes a string of deep-fried carts come by which can be a batter-overwhelming experience. Make sure you wait for the pork in rice noodle, the sticky rice in lotus leaf, and the shrimp dumplings.

Shrimp dumplings.

A final note in the King Tin-quest for heart’s delight: you might have to share a table as well as a trolley: the place can be packed with dim sum’ers by noon, so you might end up sitting at one of the larger tables with other customers, but the communal experience can be quite fun. I bumped into a truck driver who has travelled extensively and regaled us with his food stories and tales from around the world. I doubt the stories were all true but I trusted the dim sum tale and not the teller and that proved delightful.

Pork in rice noodle.

Restaurant reviews are based on anonymous and unannounced visits to the establishments. Restaurants do not pay for any portion of the reviewer’s meal. Listen to “The Food Show” Sundays at noon on 570 All News Radio. Andrew Coppolino can be reached at andrew@waterlooregioneats.com.

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Been there? Try these:

Spring Rolls
Conestoga Mall, 550 King Street N, Waterloo
519-888-0077
www.springrolls.ca
Dozens of dishes from many Asian countries will provide lots of visual interest, flavour and texture contrasts via Thailand, Laos, China, Singapore, Vietnam and their wonderful cuisines. Hip urban décor and music have you easily forgetting the busy shopping mall just outside its doors.

China Garden
31 University Avenue E, Waterloo
519-888-0088
A simple setting inside and out with a huge menu of both standard and less familiar dishes. Check out the “white board” of specials near the cash desk to find a few more unusual selections. This is a venue where regulars visit for the value-laden specials but real treasures are likely there if you explore.

Crystal Palace Chinese Restaurant
10 King Street S, Waterloo
519-888-6828
A heart’s delight of bites served in a basic and dog-eared restaurant that really packs them in for both the all-you-can-eat weekday lunch buffet and the delicious dim sum selections.