Asian Queen located at 8750 Bayview Ave, unit 18 & 19 in Richmond Hill

We visited Asian Queen (星點心), a relatively newly opened Chinese restaurant which specializes in all day dim sum (open every day 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) on Bayview Avenue near Highway 7 in Richmond Hill (it’s in the plaza where the Loblaws supermarket is).  We dined here on Labour Day Monday at around 1 p.m.

Tight dining quarters

My in-laws arrived first to get a table for the eight of us and said they waited around 10 minutes.  Asian Queen isn’t a large restaurant and most of the tables can be pulled apart to make two-person or four-person tables.  There were a lot of people when we arrived and people were waiting for a table still at this time.

We placed our order using the QR code on the table, and the freshly steamed food started arriving on the table in a quick manner.  I was surprised with how fresh and hot everything was.  The portions were great too and the plates were new and trendy-looking.

Cute place mat. Nice plates and cups

Prices range from S: $5.25, M: $6.25, L: $7.25, XL: $8.50, SP: $12.50.  The hard copy dim sum order sheet:

Dim sum order sheet 1

Dim sum order sheet 2

You can also see their full menu online at this link.

Baked BBQ Pork Buns $7.25
Fresh Egg Tarts $6.25

The first dim sum to arrive were the Baked BBQ Pork Buns and Fresh Egg Tarts.  The BBQ pork buns were very tasty, plump, and big.  The exterior of the bun was uniquely chewy.

The egg tarts were indeed very fresh.  The centre of the tart was still gooey and very hot (my child almost burned herself when scooping out the middle), so leave it to cool off first before enjoying.  This might be one of the best egg tarts I’ve had at a dim sum restaurant to date — but only the centre.  I personally prefer butter crust tarts.

The Steamed Shrimp Rice Roll with Chives was very smooth and had large prawns.

Steamed Shrimp Rice Roll with Chives $7.25

Steamed Green Tea Egg Yolk Bun $7.25
Steamed Chives and Shrimp Dumplings $7.25
Shrimp Dumplings $7.25

Both the Steamed Chives and Shrimp Dumplings and Shrimp Dumplings (ha gow) contained very generous fillings!  I shared a ha gow with my husband and even half of it had a lot of shrimp and was steaming hot and fresh.

I didn’t try the Steamed Green Tea Egg Yolk Bun but it looked really good with the egg yolk oozing out when you cut the bun in half.

This was the Steamed Preserved Meat Rice.  I didn’t try this dish either.  The picture shows the clay pot as bigger than what it actually looked like in person.

Steamed Preserved Meat Rice $7.50

Deep Fried Fish Balls with Clam Sauce $7.25

Mmm, I haven’t had this dish in a while!  These are Deep Fried Fish Balls with Clam Sauce.  The clam sauce is honestly always the best part and I wish they gave more of it in the accompanying sauce container.  The fish balls were nicely fried too and my mom said the colour was really nice.

Pork Tripes with Pepper & Preserved Vegetables $7.25
Beef Tripe with Ginger and Green Onion $7.25
Steamed Chicken Feet $6.25

The Pork Tripes with Pepper & Preserved Vegetables had larger pieces than I expected.  The preserved vegetables at the bottom were sweet and sour, a nice appetite-opener.  The Beef Tripe with Ginger and Green Onion was quite standard but in a good way because there were a lot of big intact pieces and not just loose ones.  The Steamed Chicken Feet was typical.

Vegetarian Bean Curd Sheet Roll $6.25

This was a standout dish and I definitely recommend ordering this one!  This is their Vegetarian Bean Curd Sheet Roll.  They have a TV screen showing rotating mouthwatering photos of their dim sum offerings and this dish arrived exactly as what was seen in their slideshow.  This dish was so delicious.  I know it doesn’t look like it, but the bean curd sheets were so silky soft.  I would order this item again.

Watercress and Fish Ball Congee $7.50

The Watercress and Fish Ball Congee was a giant bowl of piping hot congee.  I loved that there was a lot of crunchy watercress in it.  The fish balls were the boiled types and tasted all right.  The congee in general was solid.

Crispy Fried Durian Puff Pastries $8.50

The Crispy Fried Durian Puff Pastries were made well and had a strong durian flavour to it.  This is one of the pricier dim sum items on their menu.

Steamed Beef Ball $6.25

These Steamed Beef Balls were big!  Meaty and moist with a layer of greens on the bottom.

Steamed Pork Dumplings $7.25

Always my favourite.  Compared to the shrimp dumplings, these Steamed Pork Dumplings (ha gow) weren’t as large as I thought they were going to be.  They were solid but not a standout because of its smaller size.

Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce $6.25

Last but not least, another one of my favourite dim sum is the Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce.  I found these spareribs to be a bit on the fatter side for me (not a lot of meat and mostly fat).

Unlike most Chinese dim sum restaurants where you have a pot of tea and/or hot water at your table and each person is charged a tea fee (usually $2), Asian Queen does it differently here where there is a Self-Serve Area for tea, hot water, and lemon water as well as a condiment station for all your hot sauce, vinegar, mustard, spicy oil, etc.  Because of this, they don’t seem to charge a tea fee per person.  This is great because it contributes to a lower total cost when it comes to paying for the bill.  You just have to get up from your table to retrieve tea or water every so often though.  Update:  If you want a pot of tea for your table, it is possible but the charge is $5.99 per pot.

We ordered 17 dishes for $135

An inconvenient part is that there is only two individual washrooms at the restaurant — one for female and one for male.  I could see people forming a queue for the washroom.

I really enjoyed this meal and the fresh and tasty dim sum.  The orders came quickly and the staff working there were pleasant and cleared our tables of empty dishes efficiently.

I also love that they are an all-day dim sum restaurant.  This means that I can get dim sum likely without waiting for a table at 3 p.m. in the afternoon or even for dinner!  There aren’t a lot of these in the GTA area (or if there are, please enlighten me!).

We noticed they also have a barbecued meats section with barbecued goose hanging on racks.  I’m definitely interested to return again to try more of their dishes and dim sum.