Casa-Imperial

I went for dim sum with some family relatives and lucked out cause we were able to get reservations. They are VIP so we definitely lucked out and skipped the long lines.

We ordered around 15 items but 3 of them did not come so we cancelled them. The kitchen seemed to be overwhelmed with orders.

I'll only speak about the dishes that were memorable and with ordering again. The abalone and chicken pie is worth ordering. The surface of the tart is the crust of a pineapple bun and the inside had half an abalone!

The crispy taro dumpling was also done well. The taro was so fragrant and did not taste doughy at all.

The spare ribs with taro was also a good value. The spare ribs were full of meat and not overly fatty. The taro again soaked up all of the flavour of the spare ribs and preserved black bean.

Dim sum in a mansion, turned western restaurant and now an upscale chinese restaruant. Prices are at a upper mid tier and food is onpar with the price. Ambiance is nice since its rather quiet for a dimsum place and the clientel is rather respectful. No line for dimsum sunday around 11 am.

The food was delicious although on the pricier side for dim sum in Scarborough/Markham. The quality of the food & dining environment was worth the price. The menu doesn't specify what the price of the dishes were, so we ordered blindly for Small, Medium, Large & special dimsum dishes. They took reservations for 6 people at 10AM on a Saturday which surprised us but was very useful as it is usually hard to find dimsum table at that time.

Came here to eat dinner with relatives and I loved the exterior vibe. It has a very old school feel to the place.

Ordered a set dinner menu for 10 and there was SO MUCH food. Relatives ended up taking 80% of the food home as leftovers.

In terms of the food itself, besides the portion, there was nothing to wow about. Service was pretty good especially for a packed dinner service. It looks like people come here for a lot of special events as there was at least 2 birthday parties being held while we were there.

Casa imperial is hidden away in what looks to be a historical house on warden and steeles. From the outside, it's easily missable but perhaps that's part of the charm.

Inside beyond the historical entrance is a restaurant decked out in gold and white from carpet to tables to ceiling, laces abound and giant european paintings abound.

The service is professional and efficient. All of our requests (ex tea refills) were completed within acceptable time.

Food:
The appetizer has sweet and sour pork, fried pork chops, black fungus, green beans, and deep fried vegetable bean curd roll. All items were delicious and cooked well.

Chicken and broccoli - this seems plain but they definitely cooked the chicken well with a nice seasoning that has some sweetness. Chicken is thin but still moist, broccoli cooked well but still has its firmness.

Beef and cashews - the cashews and beef are plentiful and well cooked. The vegetables below are a nice balance of freshness.

Abalone and pea sprouts - the abalone has its distinct seafood flavor though I felt it was a bit rubbery - not sure if it's due to where they sourced it or how they cooked it. Tough to cut and chew but has a great seafood flavor. Pea sprouts cooked well.

Soup was served hot and was savory with bits of chicken.

The lobster was done as I would have expected for Chinese restaurants but they work hard to prep pieces by making cuts advance so it's easier for customers to get out the meat.

The fish was good - the batter was crispy yet substantial on both flavor and crunch. The fish was a bit of a firmer white flesh fish which worked well.

The e fu noodles were done very well as was the fried rice. Quite aromatic and good way
To end the meal.

Price: Expensive! Definitely come for a special occasion but that's on par for most Chinese banquets now.

We came here for lunch with a new mission - getting out of our comfort zone and trying new things, as we have a confidence in their food handling skills after many years of visiting here (mostly for their popular dim sum items).

As we were taken to the table, the server gave us dim sum menu only. I asked her if there is other "dine-in" menu. She said no.

We looked for fried rice items in the dim sum menu, but there was no "fried rice" on it. The last time, we were given a "dine-in" menu alongside the dim sum menu. So, we asked another server for it. She immediately brought us the "dine-in" menu. I wondered why the first server did not give it to us.

Anyways, I remembered we loved their "Seafood fried rice" last time we came here and we were very confident that other fried rice menu would also be great - so we tried "Pineapple and Chicken Fried rice": I liked the texture of the fried rice, as the last time. I also enjoyed the new flavor. I never had pineapple in rice and I liked it.

Other items that we ordered were;

"Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce": Disappointed as I expected stir-fly. The Chinese Broccoli was just plainly boiled, and came with a plate with oyster sauce. The texture was not great, waterly. Flavor was gone. Bland.

"Scallop & Spinach dumpling (dim sum menu # 11)": "Good, not excellent.

"Braised Vegetable Chicken with Squash (dim sum menu # 21)": The flavor was too strong, one dimensional. Not impressed.

"Crispy Taro Dumpling (dim sum menu # 41): Highly recommended! We tried this food at different dim sum places, but here is the best so far. Not too sweet, hitting the great "saltiness and sweetness" ratio! The coating was light and crispy, LOVED this.

"Pan fried Short Ribs with Sesame in Honey Sauce (dim sum menu #32): Our all time favorite. Not oily, not too much seasoning. The coating was light and crispy, perfect taste balance and texture!

"Steamed Rice Noodle with Scallop and XO Sauce (dim sum menu# 47)":
Our favorite item, must order. Plumpy and generously large scallops are wrapped in the tender rice noodles, goes perfectly well with XO sauce flavor and crunchy texture of the chili in the chili sauce.

Our biggest adventure of the day was "Curry Vancouver Crab". In the picture, crab was coated with dry seasonings. So we were puzzled to see our crab covered in heavy creamy curry gravy. We were told to wear plastic gloves, and use utensils to break the shells, and there was no serving assistance offered from the server. We asked for instruction but the server did not respond to it, just left us with this large gravy-drenched crab and the tools. That was a huge let down.

Also, never order Xiao Long Bao (dim sum menu #6) here. Over steamed, soup was not kept in the wrapper, running out onto the table. Disappointed! Their crispy spring rolls were just ok.

Food may have hit and miss, which was OK as we were prepared, and that it has a lot to do with our personal preferences. However, the service was quite unkind and disappointing this time. :( Hope for a better service next time.

It's A pet peeve of mine when you make reservations but still need to wait 30-45 min but that's not just at this restaurant. The main reason I don't think the food lives up to the hype of this upscale restaurant is that most of the dim sum items like har how, BBQ pork buns and Cheung fun are extra sticky and the texture and taste is a bit wet.
FYI, I don't think they have outdoor seating anymore, as of June 25, my last visit.

Nice place for Chinese dim sum and meals. The building is turning from a old classic house and pretty stylish. Service ok but not great. Food is ok but no surprise. I ordered abalone tart, it tastes ok, pretty balanced. Bbq tart taste ok but a bit too soft. Cháozhōu style oyster soup rice is the best one, hot and tasty. Shrimp dumplings are ok. Octopus 魷魚鬚 only so so. The 2 dishes I really don't like are the scallops taro cake and Steamed Vermicelli Roll, pretty boring texture and tasteless. Overall is not back. They gave me the bill with a total, including tax and tips $100 in cash only. I am tired to ask if I can pay with credit card. Anyways I don't mind to go but not my first choice. The good thing is they has table during busy hour and overall food are ok. Cannot stand for long lineup just for dimsum lol

Dim sum in a mansion? Why not! The interior of this spot was definitely upscale. The dim sum menu included some unique items. We ordered the har gow, shrimp rice roll, beef and coriander rice roll, fried taro dumpling, chicken feet, clams congee, and the birds nest milk tart. I found most dishes tasted decent, nothing unordinary. A bit on the pricier side but an okay spot if you're looking for somewhere fancier to grab dim sum with someone special or people visiting out of town!

I gotta say, this dim sum place is hands down my favorite in Canada. It's not your typical dim sum spot - the restaurant itself looks like a grand mansion from both the inside and out, which really adds to the dining experience. But let's talk about the food. It's incredibly fresh and delicious, and the unique twist on traditional dim sum dishes is truly impressive. I highly recommend trying the bird nest milk tart, xo sauce rice roll with scallop, and rice roll with fried dough and conpoy. These are some of the best dim sum dishes I've ever tasted! Sure, the prices are a bit higher than your average dim sum place, but trust me, the quality and uniqueness of the dishes make it well worth it. This place is truly special and I can't recommend it enough for anyone looking for a delicious and memorable dining experience.