Cameron Seafood for Dim Sum

Cameron Chinese Seafood Restaurant
Address: 21 Cameron Street S, Kitchener
Open: Daily
Cost: A heaping helping of dim sum selections for two is quite inexpensive
Contact: 519-576-3030; cameronrestaurant.ca

Amuse-bouche: When it comes to dim sum in Waterloo Region (and granted there aren’t many options), loyal patrons of Cameron Seafood see it as unparalleled. The crowds that flock there are the proof in the (mango) pudding to that claim.

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In its original sense, the phrase dim sum refers to small, virtually one-bite morsels packed with seafood and meat; it translates to something like “nibbles of food that delight or touch your heart.” For as long as I can recall, Cameron Chinese Seafood Restaurant has been a first-choice heart-delight destination for diners who love dim sum in a Region where only a small handful of restaurants offer the cuisine.

The renovations from the last couple of years have given Cameron a new and more sleek and chic look inside, but there was something I really liked about the chop suey house, slightly down-trodden feel of the old decor (if you could call it that). The food remains pretty much the same–and I mean that in a good way. What I generally say is that while the traditional menu is decent enough, and as good as you are going to get in Waterloo Region, Cameron’s dim sum can be superlative. When it’s good, it’s very good.

Not much to look at from the outside, but who cares?

Yes, sometimes the service can be distracted to a degree and a tad sloppy: water service forgotten, orders missed, tea refills tardy, and a general lackadaisical demeanour; not on this visit however.

The soups, hot and sour soup or won ton, were delivered promptly and at the usual Chinese restaurant standard. Ditto the spring rolls. Singapore noodles usually arrive in good shape and are fresh and hot. Ditto an order of curry chicken. The clay pot of oysters and eggplant is one of the more unusual dishes prepared, and it requited itself admirably when I last tasted it.

I believe that Chinese broccoli–in a nicely salty oyster sauce–is only available on the dim sum menu, but it’s worth a try to see if you get them to serve it to you on non-dim sum hours. It is I believe an essence of Chinese cookery in its crunch, balance of sweet and salt, and the great umami that unfolds by way of the oyster sauce.

The menu is an expansive one, indeed, and it’s hard to cover all the terrain: I think there must be nearly two dozen seafood dishes alone. The dim sum, however, is the real game changer that is sectioned into groups A to E, with a Special group and a Dessert group (mango pudding).

Chicken feet with black bean sauce make an appearance (I do like those Phoenix paws) as does tangy, barnyardy tripe (ruminant stomach), octopus, and deep-fried squid–which on this visit was excellent. Har gaw shrimp dumplings are divine today–and have avoided a watery quality if they have been sitting too long and are not shipped out to you quickly.

Phoenix paws

I have found that you might hit a clunker every now and then with the succulent morsels being not perfectly fresh and delicious. That goes with the geography of the masses of food they move through to serve the busy restaurant. No matter, but the usually superb sticky rice in lotus leaf can be a bit tired at times.

Otherwise, over the course of several courses, I’m afraid to admit that I do absolutely love the pan-fried turnip cake, the steamed BBQ pork bun–in all its slightly tangy, slightly salty character within that fluffiness.

Stuffed eggplant with black bean sauce, for me, is a defining dim sum and I get it every visit and have found it consistently good. Yet, steamed ribs with black bean sauce can be another clunker–too often tough and gristly and overly garlicky.

Sticky rice in lotus leaf

There is no discounting Cameron’s dominance in the albeit small dim sum pantheon in Waterloo Region, according to its hoards of fans. Indeed, there are likely few restaurants in the Region who can boast such solid weekly numbers and such a generally positive reputation among its patrons: hell; I’m one of them.  The business at the corner of Charles and Cameron has continued to build and the food, especially the dim sum, has continued to sparkle and delight.