don mee

donmeeand i. we order the delicious meal set for two. the service was fast. the food tasty, every mouthful was filled with exquisite flavors, most importantly it was not greasy, so it didn't give you that nasty heavy nor bloated feeling after you eat and my fortune cookie says "good time ahead"

when compared to our previous yum cha experience, donmeedefinitely has the tastier food and a more varied selection of dim sums. the standout dish was the glutinous rice - the chinese sausage was thick and juicy. my aunt and uncle loved the steamed sponge cake and i could understand why. it was light, fluffy, and with just a hint of sweetness, it punctuate through all the savoury dishes.

the siu mai and har gao still have quite a bit more to go before they reach peak deliciousness; both just weren't moist enough. the chicken feet was somewhat dull, and lacking the pungent savoury taste associated with this dish.

but what made the deepest impression was the service, or should i say the lack of service. the servers did their best to ignore you, and when you do manage to get someone's attention, they either pass your request to another or make you feel like you're inconveniencing them. the service really bring down the whole experience.

i was initially quite skeptical about donmeebecause it didn’t have the highest ratings on popular sites such as yelp and zomato. my husband had tried the restaurant before with a few of his friends a few years back and he said he quite enjoyed it – enough to go back at least. as the restaurant had been in business for over 80 years, i was pretty curious to see how their dim sum was.
as we finally got seated, the table was clean and we were ready to order. because dim sum here is fully on carts, there is no menu. you just ask the servers for a plate of whatever you like that they have and they mark it down on the paper which later becomes your bill.

we tried a few things, but we ended up ordering a few plates more than we anticipated (that’s what happens when you’re hungry) so we had to take some home.

as a friend recently told me, donmeeisn’t for chinese, it is for caucasians who like western style chinese cuisine. perhaps there is a ring of truth. after ed and i had finished dining there for chinese new year, what we ate wasn’t close to authentic. he’s been to shanghai and sampled the cuisine around this region. back in victoria, however, i’ve heard there’s food you can order off the menu but perhaps if i had prior knowledge, it would’ve made for some wiser decisions.

dim sum yummm. haven't gone there in the evening. this review pertains specifically to dim sum. we have tried every single dim sum place in victoria, multiple times. donmeeis by far the best. the staff is friendly and the food is consistently great. we have a number of favorite dishes, but their leaf-wrapped sticky rice is a must-have each and every time!

if you've never been to victoria's old chinatown, i highly recommend you go at least once. it may not seem very big, but there are lots of places to eat, shop, and explore in what is north america's second oldest chinatown. once you have had a chance to walk down the narrow "fan tan alley", and maybe buy a few artsy souvenirs, hopefully you will have built up an appetite for a good authentic chinese meal. if you happen to be in chinatown around the lunch hour, a good spot to go for lunch is donmeechinese seafood restaurant . gates of victoria's old chinatown it's located right in the heart of chinatown and has been there for over eighty years. the big sign out in front makes it hard to miss. one big reason you will want to go for lunch at donmeeis to try their traditional "dim sum" which in my opinion, should be tried at least once in your lifetime. dim sum, in case you've never had it, is quite a filling lunch made up of various types of cantonese style

1st off i am chinese and i believe donmeeis the best dim sum for selection and quality in victoria!! i only eat here for dim sum, there dinner is average!!