Incredible Dim Sum at Restaurant Lotte Furama

We're back in Montreal for a little vacation and of course our first stop was our very favourite dim sum at Restaurant Lotte Furama. I've been having dim sum at this place since at least 1995 when I was a student, but today it was at its best yet. Everything we chose was incredibly fresh, well-cooked, and delicious. We may go again tomorrow. It was literally the best dim sum I've ever had.

Shrimp Rice Rolls
These are shrimp encased in a soft, rice-based wrapper. Today, the wrapping was insanely smooth and melted in your mouth. The shrimp was plump and fresh.



Har Gow
Har gow are classic dim sum offerings -- minced shrimp in a transculent skin. Like the rice rolls, the dumpling skins were especially tender today encasing a generous amount of lovely shrimp.



Shrimp and Cilantro Dumplings
These are very similar to har gow, but with chopped cilantro inside and a thicker skin. Again, today's were amazing.




Fried Tofu with Shrimp
Darcy doesn't like fried tofu, so these were all mine. They are blocks of medium firmness tofu topped with minced shrimp and diced green pepper in a black bean sauce. They were delicious and even the green pepper garnish was screaming fresh.



Black Bean Ribs
We've had these many times, but today's ribs were especially large, plump, and juicy with a delicious black bean and ginger sauce.



Eggplant and Shrimp
How much do I love eggplant. This eggplant is cut down the middle and stuffed with the same chopped shrimp that is on the tofu and in the dumplings. It's so easy to over or undercook eggplant and this was perfect.



Fried Taro Puffs
Taro is the greatest thing to ever touch a deep-fryer. The large group at the table ahead of us were demanding everything from the deep-fried cart except for these and I wanted to tell them what they were missing (and to quit hogging the deep-fried lady). They are soft, pillowy balls of starchy, mashed taro root deep-fried to create a lacy, crispy exterior. Incredible. And the oil used today must have been ridiculously hot and brand new -- next to no oil was absorbed by the crust.



Fast and Furious
If you ever need to have a quick lunch/brunch, dim sum is your best bet. As soon as you sit down, there is tea and within seconds you have delicious food. With a small gesture, the waiter will swoop in to add up your bill and make change in one smooth motion. The total amount of time we spent from entry to exit was about 20 minutes. I don't think this is traditionally how Chinese families do dim sum. We saw lots of groups leisurely eating and drinking tea, but if you're in a rush, there is no faster food.

Now we're back at my sister's place hanging with the cat, watching snowboarding on TV, and planning what we're going to do for dinner (we might try out classic steamed hotdogs and poutine at Frites Dorees on the corner -- yeah, we wanted something light). We've got a week ahead of us of nothing but eating, reading, blogging, napping, and the occasional workout to keep us honest. I don't think I've ever been happier.

Restaurant Lotte Furama
1115 rue Clark
Montreal, QC
514-393-3838
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