Gold Diamond Chinese Restaurant

If I could give ⁰⁄₅ stars for this restaurant, I would certainly do so. Perhaps why this restaurant has the ratings it has is simply because it’s cheap and convenient.
As for the experience itself, there was not a single dim sum item that I had here that I would even call average. Their shrimp dumpling «har gow» was lukewarm and the shrimp itself was clearly not fresh. Anytime you go to a dim sum place and you find that classic dim sum items (har gow, siu mai, etc.) are not served steaming hot, it is a huge negative immediately. Their other items were equally pathetic as well. The BBQ pork pastry was one of the worst I’ve ever ate — cold BBQ pork, stale pastry. Absolutely revolting. The best item was steamed spareribs and even that was far below average and reeked of strong MSG.
I can’t say anything about their dinner items but my dim sum experience here has ensured me I will never step foot into this restaurant again.

Okay, Gold Diamond Chinese Restaurant is kind of disgusting. Disgusting in a delicious kind of way. It’s located on top of this building so you get this «semi» cool view of Toronto neighborhoods. That’s kind of cool, right? I came here with my friend David and Neil for Dim Sum and all the cart pushers cracked me up. They all reminded me of my mother in aprons. The best part, is that none of the cart pushers seem to know much English. I was using my very limited mandarin to navigate through meals. I know I’m visiting another country, but c’mon, it’s Canada — not China! Oh my gosh — that was such an American thing to say.
The service wasn’t really the best. It took us a while to get our waters. Also, my water glass was dirty. There was food floating in it — gross. The Dim Sum however was delicious. I really had no idea what I was eating because I had no idea what the cart pushers were saying, but the food was pretty dang good. I would come back here and the only reason why this place doesn’t get 5 stars is because of the dirt and grime, but hey, maybe that’s part of the charm?

Gold Diamond Chinese Restaurant (formerly Bright Pearl) has been my one-​stop-​shop for dim sum since I first came to Toronto. In the center of China Town/​Kensington Market it’s a great way to spend a Sunday morning after having one too many on a Saturday night. I L-​O-​V-​E the black pepper short ribs! The Bright Pearl push carts are gone – they take your order and bring it to the table. And yes there were a couple of mix ups – they gave our dish to the next table by mistake. I am sure they will smooth out the service glitches in time.

Oh gawd. Bad bad dim sum. I grew up eating dim sum, and this is a place to stay away! For two people, we ordered congee (thin with little ingredients), shrimp dumpling (bleh! tasted like fishy flavourless shrimp), sui mai (also bleh), beef rice rolls (double bleh! the noodle part was thick and sticky with little and poorly seasoned beef). The worst of it all was the tea (which tasted like warm tap water with brown dye) and the fried donut that goes with the congee. It was dark brown, tasted twice/​triple fried, and even without having to blot the oil with a tissue, it was literally oozing grease on the plate! The thought of it gives me shivers. The tofu dessert and tripe were the best of it all, but even those were mediocre! It was $ 40+ for two people after happy hour… it was a total waste of time and money! I’d rather spend the time and effort renting a car to have dim sum up in Markham, no question.

Clean setting, attentive service and decent food. Great for the whole family, kid friendly.

When Gold Diamond first opened they had a great mix of cart service & menu selections. That seems to have gone away and they are now only running carts. We were sat on the side of the restaurant, not in the middle, and could only watch as carts were taken through the middle and then to the other side before limping over to us. By the time they reached us they barely had anything in them. A few carts were brought down the row but pushed right past our table without offering us what was on the cart. Another cart had at least three items on it but we only were offered one. I wanted to ask for help having the carts pushed down our aisle but the person, who said she’d come back, never did. Terrible experience at a place that was Golden when it opened. I definitely will not be back.

My girlfriend and I were planning on hitting up Rol San for lunch but was sadly informed that they were undergoing renovations. We were redirected toward Gold Diamond Restaurant which is the new Bright Pearl.
I have very fond memories of Bright Pearl and all the delicious dim sum that I had eaten for over a decade, but over time I transitioned over to Rol San just because their service is faster than the carts when you’re in a rush. Whoops… this is supposed to be for Gold Diamond.
Anyhow, the room is basically the same except with new hardwood floors and gold seat covers for the chairs. But, the food is not the same. It was okay dim sum, nothing that was really great. The temperature of the food was hot, but they servers were so distracted that we had to help ourselves to condiments.
We didn’t even finish our dishes and didn’t want to take the leftovers.
We were full, but not the happy satisfied full that you would want to fell post-​dim sum.
I’ll probably not go back unless someone really wants to go.

I visited with friends who are somewhat unadventurous eaters, so we stuck to things like dumplings and steamed greens. It was still quite tasty, but I’d like to make another trip for more of the meaty stuff I didn’t get to have this time around!
It took no time at all to get seated and the carts came around very frequently – excellent for a bunch of hungry people! I’ll definitely go back.

Today was more like a 2-​star experience given my high expectations from my first few visits here. We arrived at about 1pm on a Sunday. It was not very busy but there were still at least 50 patrons brunching about. Only 2 pushcarts circled on and off throughout and the food we got was cold and had been sitting. We were forced, after nothing new came out for over 30mins, to order from the menu (more costly, but still pretty reasonable). The congee we ordered took over 20 mins to arrive, and it only did so after we asked and they discovered they mixed our bill up with another able. Long story short the pushcart aspect sucked today, the service was bad, but at least the food from the license was served hot and tasty. Holding out hope for next visit.

–2 stars for bad service.
When we asked for the bill, we were handed our bill, which was stamped «10% off». When we tried to take a picture of the receipt, it was promptly taken away and we were handed a new «correct» version with the discount.
What? The cashiers knowingly gave us a dud receipt just to earn a few bucks? I’m not stingy, but I cannot accept the fact that I’m being lied to.
For the past several visits, we would ask for hot sauce or a condiment. After a nod and waiting 10 – 15 minutes, nobody comes. With barely anyone in the restaurant early in the morning and plenty of staff on site, you’d think service would be quick, no? Wrong.
Disappointed. Will not return, no matter how good the food is.
I hope your experience will be better than mine.
Now, I have to find a new dim sum spot :/

This isn’t Bright Pearl, sadly.
I read the reviews here and wanted to give the new owners the benefit of the doubt, so went off for lunch today (Saturday). The carpet is gone and replaced with a laminate (cleaner looking!) floor, and tables and chairs have new covers. That’s a plus.
Unfortunately, today’s lunch was a real disappointment based on the food and service we used to get at Bright Pearl (the former restaurant in the same location). Carts do come around frequently, but some keep the food out longer than they should and it’s no longer hot.
The positives:
— har gow was perfect — hot and very delicious
— fried noodles — not hot, but crispy and tasty
— fried shrimp rolls — same filling as the har gow, and consequently very nice. not hot, though.
The okays:
— shiu mai — mouth-​searing hot but not as good as what I had at Rol San 2 weeks ago
— pork and greens dumplings — nothing special, but tasty enough
— steamed bbq pork buns — my friend was pleased enough with these
The disappointments:
— fried squid tentacles — at Bright Pearl, these were a highlight every time. Crispy, thin and savoury. Now, they’re thick and chewy with breading that tastes like what goes on the KFC french fries
— sticky rice in leaf — barely lukewarm and fell apart upon opening. sausage slice inside was odd. the pork bits were tasty, though
We put out an order for boiled pea shoot greens and no one ever picked it up. Soy sauce and hot sauce were not on the table and had to be asked for. At one point, the manager came over and took ours away, and we weren’t done with it. The soy/​vinegar sauce for the squid tentacles was much too vinegary.
We look forward to trying different things when we do dim sum, but what came around was the same-​old, and ordering from the menu wasn’t working, so we gave up and as you can see, ate the safe stuff.
A very expensive $ 39 lukewarm disappointment lunch for two and I won’t go back unless I hear something has changed. So sad.
(Would I have been happy with the same meal at $ 1.88/dish? My wallet would have, but I still wouldn’t return.)

Played hookie today with my nieces and went to Gold Diamond Chinese Restaurant. There were other families there playing hookie too. I could hear them talking at the other tables. :)
We had a fabulous time. And yes, right now they have a $ 1.88/dish special Mon– Fri 9am to 4pm. This restaurant is all about their shrimp dumplings. They were the best. Don’t miss their pan fried shrimp and chive dumpling and their steamed version. Their deep fried taro dumpling was good too. And their deep fried pork dumpling looked good as well. I got the plain congee for myself and I didn’t think my neices would like it because it’s plain, but they loved it. I don’t know if they really loved it or they were eating it because I was. Another dish they probably would like is the stir fried noodles with bean sprouts. They also liked the coconut milk soft cake. They ate the other stuff too.
I would pass on their cheungs (rice rolls) and their BBQ pastry and bun next time I visit which will be soon b/​c I plan on treating my friends. Don’t bother with their bolied greens nor their big noodle dishes (if you have to have noodles they have a dim sum size one #70).
I rate it a 4 taking into consideration the great deal they have on right now. Get the deal while you can — it must be a promotion since they just opened this year. Everyone should experience dim sum. If you are totally lost, they also have a TV beside the stage showing each dish. The place is so spacious and airy that your dishes can get cold fast. So don’t hesitate to order two rounds, instead of all at once at the beginning. Go with friends. I am not sure if they accept credit card. I paid cash. These people work hard and deliver value so I made sure to leave a good tip. Don’t forget the hot sauce.

I always prefer the version of Dim Sum where they have carts of stuff rolling around as opposed to the version where you order off a menu and the Gold Diamond (formerly the bright pearl) are a very good example. Everything we had was tasty and the service was excellent. (some of the cart ladies were really good salespeople, lol). There was a steady stream of carts rolling around with all sorts of weird and wonderful dishes to try, it makes Dim Sum so awesome. The Cart ladies also recommended which things went well together, including one dumpling that went really well with the tea.
The place is on the second floor and has a big, bright, banquet hall kind of feel, I imagine they do a lot of weddings (especially as they have tables on a stage). The tables are mostly very big, seating 6 or 8 people so an ideal place for a large group. We had 5 people with us and it cost us about $ 16.00 per person, which is more than reasonable for the amount of food and the quality of the food we got. So far this was the best Dim Sum place I had been to in Toronto.

Yesterday after braving the cool, crisp, clear morning we met friends for dim sum at the old Bright Pearl. The place closed for awhile and has reopened as Gold Diamond with the same basic décor and I am guessing the same people. It is a big open space on the second floor that is accessed from the side of the building and a set of interior stairs. The tables and chairs are all slipcovered, I guess to make the place feel more posh, than all the plastic table clothed places along Spadina. It consists of lots of round tables with seats of six, eight and ten with a large gilded dragon and phoenix on the back wall and double happiness for weddings. These sit behind a set of two tables that are on raised podiums. There are windows that look out unto St. Andrew Street. There is a dim sum menu on the tables and dim sum carts that make their way around the tables allowing everyone to choose what looks yummy. We had an assortment of dim dishes and while the food was OK we were not that impressed with the quality. The dim sum at Rol San and the Pearl is still better, but it was nice to catch up and to try a new place.

Went for dim sum with the bf one Sunday afternoon. We decided to go to gold diamond since a friend recommended it to us. When we first walked in, the first thing we noticed was how big this place was!
We were seated promptly and given a menu to order from with a plastic covered menu with pictures of each dim sum item on the menu, very nice touch.
The bbq pork pastry and pan fried shrimp chives were awesome. We also ordered the crab claw with shrimp paste thinking it was just going to be ‘ok’, but it was amazing! The crab claw and meat tasted very fresh and the consistency of the shrimp paste was light and flavorful.
I ordered the coconut milk soft cake for dessert, since I have a love affair with coconut, and it was good but not what I was expecting. It was more like a denser jello, but it tasted like coconut, so I still enjoyed it.
I’ll definitely be going back in the near future, and it beats traveling to Markham or Richmond Hill for good dim sum.

Gold Diamond opened up where the Bright Pearl use to be. We decided to check it out for a mid-​week dim sum craving. Arriving around 10am-​ish, we were one of the only few occupied tables. Service was quick to come with tea and a very polite waitress picked up our dim sum check list order.
Food arrived almost immediately after ordering. It was sizzling hot — fresh from the steamers/​deep fryers onto our table. Quality wise, the food was decent. Nothing out of the ordinary but the hotness made it seem fresher and therefore better.
Since it was before 11:30am, we got the special pricing of $ 1.88 which made our meal for 5 people only $ 30 — amazing! Definitely would go again on a weekday or weekend!
3.5 stars for good food, nice service and no need to travel to the bowels of Markham for decent dim sum.

Friday before the long weekend (Sept 1, 2012), I decide to go out for dim sum in Chinatown and happen to notice that the lion head restaurant is open again. Now called Gold Diamond, opportunity knocks as the food is usually good especially when a restaurant opens. We had 4 large 2 small cost me $ 25 L is $ 3.50 M is 2.99 and S is 2.20 but on M-​F from 9am-11:30am (I just missed this) everything is $ 1.88! This is worth going back for. 10% on weekends and holidays until 11am I think it was.
There was me and my 5 year old so I didn’t order a lot. 2 har gow (nice size and nice wrappers and good), 1 shrimp cheung fun (nice rolls not mushy, firm texture but still soft like it should be), 1 lo bak go (turnip cake) 3 pieces thick, I’ve had better as I think but they were heavier, more flour than turnip, 1 shrimp and chive dumpling. Other small was boiled dumplings (like soup ones) shrimp with some green, maybe chives again?) anyhow, better deal with 6 or 8 soup dumplings but I do love the wheat starch wrappers of har gow and they are harder to make.
you ordered from their menu and some carts were also going around. I’d be curious to see what they do on the weekends or if they plan on going to carts later. I don’t know when they opened but the congratulation and good luck flowers were in the front. So go now while they don’t cheap out. cause most places eventually do!