It’s true what they say about Chinese restaurants and Christmas Day. They’re crazy busy! I think the only day worse than December 25 is the first day of the Lunar New Year. While most Chinese people in Canada actually DO celebrate Christmas, at least in some form, dim sum seems to be the preferred way of gathering with the family. At Regal Palace restaurant in Richmond Hill, my family and I were only able to get a table because we got there early – at around 11 am. If we had arrived just a half an hour later, we would have had to wait for a table (I’m not sure if the place takes reservations on Christmas Day).
The food wasn’t good, nor was it bad. In fact, I don’t even think it was all that special – just very typical of dim sum restaurants in the 905 – clean, carpeted, dim sum order slips (I really miss dim sum restaurants with push carts. There just aren’t many of them in the Toronto area anymore. I miss them.) and Cantonese-speaking. The menu didn’t have anything that was too out of the ordinary – ha gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), steamed beef balls, spring rolls and so forth. Dessert-wise, the selection wasn’t that big, though old favourites like sesame balls and ma lai go (steamed custard cakes) were available. One thing that is done differently is that rather than checking off one’s order on the yellow copied slips, they print them out and staple them onto the original order slips.
Service at Regal Palace on Christmas was nothing but hectic. Even though Chinese restaurants are known to be busy on December 25, it seemed that they weren”t fully prepared to handle the clientele. Some of the food took a while to get there, and the staff had to be reminded a few times before they were able to bring it to the table. However, most other Chinese restaurants will be like this, whether they are higher end or medium-range. It’s quite common for Chinese Canadian families to gather outside of the home during the holidays, especially for lunch. However, if you want to avoid the madhouse, it’s best to get there early.
Regal Palace is located at 350 Highway 7 East, #101. Phone number is 905-707-0988.
