Dinesty (yes, spelled that way) is a Shanghai cafe located in Richmond (8111 Ackroyd Road). The restaurant is well spaced out, clean and is decorated very well. What I love about Shanghai places is that there is a window into the kitchen, so you get to watch your food being made (and see how clean the kitchen is!).
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
When we arrived it, the place was packed and rightfully so – it was just after the holidays. We had to wait but it didn’t seem too long as we went into Chapters in the same plaza to kill some time. My friends and I were supposed to go for dim sum but the original restaurant was way too busy, so we decided to have a dim sum-ish lunch here.
We had steamed dumplings – made a bit differently than normal dumplings. You can’t bite or eat the whole entire thing because its very juicy inside, so you nibble a bit off and let the juice run and enjoy it that way (so it wont be all messy!).
Next up was noodles in spicy peanut/seasame sauce. This dish was very rich, with the peanut sauce. Make sure if you order this dish, you stir it up so you get all the flavours.
I was asking my friend what the difference between Shanghai food and other Chinese cuisine was and she said that Shanghai food focused more on sauces and is more on the heavier (as in fried and doughy) side.
Our next order was sauteed mushrooms in bean curd served with spicy sauce on the side. It was crispy on the outside while the mushrooms were a perfect balance of chewy and flavourful.
Okay, this next dish is a secret favourite of mine…I don’t get to have it very often but its deep fried bread served with sweet condensed milk for dipping. Oh my god, HEAVEN! Eat it right away while it’s still warm.
I also love this dish as well: beef pancake. Unlike traditional pancakes, this is less bready and more like a wrap. It’s made with rice flour and the filling is sliced beef, green onions and this one had cucumbers in it with a tangy sweet sauce.
Our final dish was a sticky rice roll with chinese donut and pork fluff in the middle. It’s an interesting texture, soft and sticky on the outside, crispy when you get to the donut and this fluffy, melting texture when you taste the pork fluff. I normally like this dish with meat or something else in the middle, but it was a definitely interesting change from the normal variety.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the experience here and I would definitely recommend it if you’d like to try out some Shanghai food.
Food – 4 FORKS
The food here is so delicious, rich and practically melts in your mouth. It’s a bit on the heavy side, so come hungry.
Service – 3 FORKS
The service is something you would expect from any asian establishment. However when we came, it was busy but they did the best they could to accommodate our requests.
Value – 3.5 FORKS
This is a little bit more pricier than those hole-in-the-wall dives, but its well worth it. The quality and flavour is worth the price.
Ambiance – 4 FORKS
Very clean, love how you can see into the kitchen. The colour scheme of the place is very earthy, simple and clean.
Presently, it doesn’t seem like they have a website.
