Ms. Piglet is going out for a catch up lunch with her fellow former sales associates and since it's an all lady affair, Mr. Piglet is left out (don't worry, I always return with other treats to make up for it). However, in return I have Ms. Teddy and a whole host of other critters to try out a place I haven't visited in years. Not only do I get to see some of the ladies I haven't seen in a billion years but with so many people coming this Piglet gets to try a wider variety of dishes! YAY!
I haven't been to Fortune House in more than 7 years - the last time I was here was for a work dinner function with the ladies and I remember it being a very unremarkable meal. When I walk in the door, the decor is nice and typically Chinese. I see that it has won several awards including Diner's Choice Award for Most Innovative Signature Dish of the Dining Festival in 2012 and their various chefs have earned several accolades from around the world. Does any Chinese restaurant NOT have an award these days? To the food!
Jumbo Ha Kau (Shrimp Dumpling) – $5.75
Very big dumplings with lots of shrimp but the taste is standard, equal to most other dim sum places . It is more expensive here but bigger in size so this dish isn't bad for the price. That is until I find a piece of shrimp that wasn't properly cleaned. I don't like eating poo, even from a tiny shrimp.
Deep Fried Squid – $7.50
Love those deep fried garlic pieces on top but that’s all the praise I can really give this dish. The batter is quite thick but not crispy enough, many pieces are oily and the lettuce bed moistened the squid laying on top of them, effectively making them soggy. For this price, I wouldn’t order this dish again.
Deep Fried Tofu - $7.50
Crispy and you gotta love those deep fried garlic pieces on top but again, the lettuce bed made some of pieces soggy and the price for this dish is outta wack – as expensive as the squid but it’s just tofu!
Sauteed Turnip Cake - $8.50
One of my favourites of the meal and a special request by Mama Squirrel. This is unlike any other turnip cake dish I’ve ordered elsewhere as it usually comes in a square, maybe two, pan fried and served as is but this one is elaborate. The cake is cut up into medium sized squares, mixed together with a veggie medley and has a hit of spicy that I thoroughly enjoyed. The veggies are a great addition as it cuts the density of the cake really well and provides a nice break from the spice. The turnip cake remained relatively crispy despite the addition of the veggies. I would order this again in a heartbeat.
Steamed Chicken Claws with Black Bean Sauce - $4.25
The majority of the table was disappointed with this dish, so much so that it remained unfinished. The chicken feet were not nearly as tender as they should be and we were thinking it wasn't cooked long enough resulting in a very unpleasant chewy texture. The taste was also an issue as the sauce was bland for this dish and there wasn't a black bean in sight. Skip!
Bean Curd Roll with Oyster Sauce - $4.25
It is what it is. Just as good as any other dim sum place - the roll is tender, the bamboo shoots are crunchy, lots of mushrooms, there are big pieces of shrimp and the sauce is flavorful.
Panfried Chicken Buns - $4.25
A bit disappointed in this dish as it arrived luke warm and there was nothing special to it. Lots of dough, not a lot of filling and the bottoms were not crunchy enough. I could leave this dish behind as well. 
Steamed BBQ Pork Bun - $4.25
A staple of any dim sum meal, these are fluffy white buns encasing sweet and savory BBQ pork. This one was not a revelation but not a disappointment either but I do wish these were a tad bigger.
Baked BBQ Pork Pastry - $4.25
The taste and texture is quite good for this dish. The pastry is denser than normal (but I like that it's different even though some may not) and the BBQ pork is good but I just wish there were more of it... Although the dim sum gods may want to smite me for this next statement, I need to say it: I honestly prefer this dish over the steamed version. There. I said it.
Steamed Beef Rice Roll - $5.25
Just your standard rice roll and its ok here but what I don't like is that it isn't cut up - the server plopped it on our table and left. We were left to split the rolls with our own chopsticks and although it's not a big deal, I just don't understand why they wouldn't cut it up like other restaurants. Also unlike other places, they don't give you the accompanying soy sauce - they pour it on themselves and leave which irks me as I like to control the amount of sauce/sodium going on my rolls.
Steamed Scallop Dumpling - $5.75
It’s basically a really big scallop with fish roe on top of a shrimp dumpling and it’s quite good! Since it’s the same price as a shrimp dumpling, I’d get this dish over the shrimp dumpling anytime.
Gai Lan with Oyster Sauce - $8.50
The gai lan was crunchy and it provided a nice break from the largely sodium-laden meal. The only gripe I have is that it cost so much for a small plate of steamed gai lan!
Steamed Chicken Rice Roll with Pea Shoots - $5.25
This dish sounded quite original so this Piglet was eager to try it. The pea shoots were crunchy and flavorful, the rice roll was steamed well but the chicken... well, the chicken was weird. They were these hard irregularly shaped off white tasteless slabs that just did not match well with the rest of the dish and was very difficult to eat. On top of that, they weren't cut very well so big chunks of chicken and pea shoots would come out everytime you tried taking a piece - what's with this place and not cutting up the rice rolls?? Great idea but terrible execution.
Unknown item - ???
“I wanna order this!” – Mink says and points to a picture on the menu. I ask her if she knows what it is and she insists that it’s eggplant. There’s no price but it’s dim sum so it can’t be that expensive… This dish arrives at our table a good 20 min after we were done eating and it’s an impressive spread and A LOT bigger than what we thought it would be. It's a deep fried item on a half of a giant tomato with sweet and sour sauce on the side. And is it eggplant? No, not even close. One half is shrimp paste and the other is this…
Sea cucumber. It tastes like it looks – slimy and chewy. I'm not even going to comment on what it resembles. Not cool. At least the shrimp paste side was good, so it wasn't a waste right? Then we get the bill – this thing cost $16.80! And we only finished 1.5 pieces!! Oh man….
There were very few standout dishes during this marathon dim sum meal and many more disappointments (damn you nameless dish!!!!) so this Piglet would probably not return of her own volition unless someone else makes the reservation. I'd just remember to stick to the standard fare they seem to execute pretty well and avoid everything else - sad no? This place benefits from the ample and ease of Metrotown mall parking and easy access by skytrain and if it's more convenient for others to get to this place than others, then so be it. But if you're looking for a really good dim sum meal, I can think of many more places that can offer a tastier and more satisfying experience. Au revoir!
Pros:
- Ample parking in the mall that connects to the restaurant
- Right on the skytrain line
- Reservations accepted
- Can accommodate large parties
Cons:
- Tea charge - $1.00 per person and make sure they count right because we only had a table of 9 but they charged us 12
- Pricey for the portion sizes and quality of food
- Somewhat rude and slow service
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