While waiting for friends to show up, I  ordered a bunch of dim sum dishes at the Golden Rice Bowl, and then hurriedly took a picture before they arrived and polished off all the food.

Golden Rice Bowl dim sum

They’ve done a good job of spiffing the place up – general renovations in the restaurant and bathrooms, new tablecloths and cutlery, and chair covers. They’re trying to be a little more creative with the food too. One dish I had (sorry, no photo) was a dumpling in chicken soup. It was a nice attempt, but the dumpling was rather ordinary and dense. I would have preferred a true boon tong gao to go along with the soup, which had a strong chicken flavour. Every other thing I had was good (not too greasy, not dry).

One thing did raise my eyebrows though – the bill. They must have jacked up the prices a bit more to pay for all the renos or something. This was one of the more expensive dim sum lunches I’ve had in a while.

With a little more creativity and new ownership, GRB could be one of the better dim sum places if not the best in the city. It will be interesting to see where this restaurant will go. They’re making a huge marketing effort too (commercials, a twitter account, a new website).

Golden Rice Bowl
5365 Gateway Boulevard
Edmonton, Alberta
www.goldenricebowl.ca

*Disclaimer: My parents know the manager of the restaurant, but he never remembers who I am and this review is based purely on my own opinon. I didn’t get any freebies or discounts.