Noshwellmenu

[rating:3]

Red Star Seafood is a Chinese Seafood restaurant located on Granville Street’s Marpole area. It’s a pleasant looking establishment with a formal atmosphere and comparatively upscale decor, but how do their dim sum dishes stack up?

(Above: Deep Fried Yam Balls sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.)

Red Star’s decor is nice, outfitted with crisp, white linens and meticulously placed cutlery and dishes. Servers are uniformed in vests over white collar shirts.

There were four of us this quiet morning. We selected a number of dishes: deep fried pork sweet dumplings, steamed pork shui mai dumplings, steamed crystal prawn dumplings, rice rolls with three kinds of mushrooms, steamed mushrooms with fish tofu puffs, and fried bean curds purse with bean leaves and prawns. And for dessert — deep fried yam balls.

(Above: Steamed mushroom rice rolls.)

While the dishes presented nicely, the flavours felt tame, with many dishes verging on boring. The exceptions were the fried bean curd purse: crispy, paper thin wrapping bean leaves and generous portions of prawns. And the yam balls, covered with sesame seeds, and delicately fried to a honey coloured crisp with just the right amount of sweetness.

(Above: Fried Bean Curd Purses stuffed with prawns and bean leaves.)

Our bill including taxes and tips for four people came to just under $60 — not the cheapest, and not the most memorable meal either. The service was efficient, but robotic. I was hoping for more from Red Star. However, if you’re in the area, you might want to give it a try and experience it for yourself.

Perfect for: well behaved dim sum.

The Details

8298 Granville Street
604.261.8389

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