Takeout from Perfect Chinese Restaurant at 4386 Sheppard Ave E in Scarborough

After we finally caved in and ordered takeout two weeks ago, the seal was broken and we kind of let loose on ordering takeout a little bit.  It had been a few months since our last proper dim sum outing at a restaurant and because dim sum is difficult and tedious to make at home, we sought out a popular Chinese restaurant in Scarborough to satisfy this craving.

Perfect Chinese Restaurant is one that has been around for well over 20 years (most of us young ones can remember dining there with our parents or grandparents for traditional Chinese dim sum or dinner).  Since then, they have stayed strong and continued to serve affordable dim sum and Chinese traditional fare.  They even open for 24 hours which makes satisfying your craving for cheap Chinese food so easy (especially if you live in the area).

At the time of “dim sum” research during this pandemic, we noticed that they also serve very affordable dim sum.  We were on their website at 10 p.m. at night and noticed that most of their dim sum dishes were mostly only $3.30 apiece!  It was such a great deal.  We decided to order from them the next morning.

Alas, good deals don’t last.  Once the morning hit around 10 a.m. and we were getting ready to place our order from the easy-to-browse website, we noticed that their prices had increased and no longer just $3.30.  It’s smart on Perfect Chinese Restaurant’s part to increase their morning dim sum prices as consistent with their regular dine-in dim sum prices as that’s when most patrons will want to dine on these small morsels (it’s why dim sum restaurants are so packed on weekend mornings).  We placed our order right away before the prices kept skyrocketing.  Within a few minutes, the restaurant called us and told us that our order would be ready within 30 minutes.

I didn’t pick up the takeout items myself; Ken did.  He recalled that he got there early and waited for the order.  It took a little bit time for the order to be ready and apparently there were a lot of people waiting inside the restaurant for their orders (where is the physical distancing?).  Their restaurant also seemed short-staffed.

In any case, he brought our three plastic bags’ worth of dim sum home and we were ready to dig in.  We removed all of the warm dishes from their Styrofoam containers and onto our own plates.  Presentation is not my forte when it comes to styling food photos and I don’t care for it anyway.  I only care that the food is made well and tastes good.  We prepared a pot of hot black tea as well to stimulate the dim sum experience. 😀

Dim sum takeout from Perfect Chinese Restaurant

Everything we ordered was SO good.  It had definitely been a minute since the last dim sum meal and Perfect Chinese Restaurant prepared the dishes so deliciously.  The Siu Mai, Ha Gow (shrimp dumplings), Steamed Chicken Feet, Steamed Spare Ribs (always my favourite), Beef Back Ribs with Garlic were especially comforting to eat.  The Beef Tripe was nice and soft too whereas the Stomach with Satay Sauce was chewier than I liked.  (Other items we ordered include:  Bean Curd Roll with Oyster Sauce (so good as well), Deep Fried Sticky Rice Dumpling, Fried Stuffed Eggplant, Sticky Rice).  We ordered just enough for us to have a plate left over.  I honestly could have ordered more dim sum just for the sake of it, but it was perfect number of dishes for us after all.

Delicious dim sum

Why is Steamed Spare Ribs always so delicious at dim sum?

If you are craving dim sum and want something cheap and delicious, Perfect Chinese Restaurant has it for you.  Make sure you order early and arrive early to avoid the lines.  Better yet if you live in the area, you could even order during the late night hour to benefit from the lower prices and then heat up the dim sum again in the morning.  I’m sure it’ll taste just as good and you can save the difference in costs too.

The last time I visited Perfect Chinese Restaurant was five years ago for dinner with some friends.  Previous to that, I hadn’t been there since I was a child!