At 10:40 on a Sunday morning, the lobby of a big Cantonese restaurant in Scarborough looks like a departure gate: three generations of one family on the bench, a young couple checking their phones, someone’s grandmother holding a numbered ticket like it’s a boarding pass. Upstairs, the room is a wall of noise, clattering steamers and teapots. Anyone who has done this before came at 9:30. Finding the best dim sum Toronto has to offer is partly about knowing which restaurants to go to, and partly about knowing when, because the same har gow tastes better when you haven’t queued an hour for it.
This guide covers the restaurants worth your weekend morning, grouped by area: downtown Chinatown, the waterfront and Yorkville, North York, East Chinatown and Scarborough. We also explain how dim sum works if you’ve never been, what to order, how to avoid the queues, and whether the trip out to the suburbs is worth it (short answer: yes, if you care about dim sum). Restaurant details were checked in September 2026, but Toronto’s restaurant scene moves quickly, so confirm a place is open before you travel across the city for it. We haven’t quoted per-dish prices, because they change often and differ a lot between old-school halls and upscale dining rooms. Check the menu on arrival.
The Best Dim Sum in Toronto at a Glance
| Restaurant | Area | Style | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rol San | Chinatown, Spadina | Busy, all-day dim sum | A reliable downtown classic |
| Dim Sum King | Chinatown, Spadina | Traditional carts | The old-school cart experience |
| Rosewood Asian Cuisine | Chinatown | À la carte or all-you-can-eat | Big appetites |
| Sue Fung’s Dim Sum Canteen | Chinatown | Casual, self-serve | A quick, modern lunch |
| Sky Dragon | Dragon City Mall, 5th floor | Photo menus | First-timers |
| Pearl Harbourfront | Waterfront | Upscale | Special occasions with a lake view |
| Dynasty Chinese Cuisine | Yorkville | Refined, central | A polished midtown lunch |
| Yu Seafood | Yorkdale | Upscale, photogenic | Showpiece dim sum |
| Perfect Chinese Restaurant | Scarborough | 24 hours | Dim sum at any hour |
| Grandeur Palace | Scarborough | Banquet hall | Big family gatherings |
| Casa Imperial | Scarborough | Heritage mansion, elevated | The best of the suburbs in style |
How Dim Sum Works
If you’ve never done dim sum, it can seem intimidating. It isn’t, and knowing a few basics makes the whole thing more relaxed.
What dim sum actually is
Dim sum is the Cantonese tradition of small plates — dumplings, buns, rice rolls, fried snacks, sweet tarts — eaten with tea, usually from mid-morning to early afternoon. The meal is often called yum cha, “drinking tea”, which tells you where the emphasis originally was. In Toronto, as in Hong Kong, it’s a weekend family ritual as much as a meal: large round tables, lazy Susans, grandparents ordering for everyone, and a lot of noise.
Carts or order sheets
There are two ways restaurants serve dim sum:
- Carts. Servers push trolleys of steamers and plates around the room, calling out what they have. You point at what you want, and they stamp a card on your table. It’s the traditional style, fun and a bit chaotic, and increasingly rare in Toronto. Dim Sum King in Chinatown is one of the places that still does it.
- Order sheets. Most Toronto restaurants now give you a paper checklist of dishes. You tick what you want and hand it over, and the food arrives as it’s ready. It’s less theatrical but fresher, because nothing has been circling the room on a cart. Many places add photo menus, which is a big help if you don’t read Chinese.
Tea etiquette
- Tea is usually charged per person, whether or not you drink much. It’s part of the meal.
- Pour for others before yourself.
- If someone pours for you, tapping two fingers on the table is a traditional way of saying thank you.
- When your teapot is empty, leave the lid tilted open or resting on the handle. Staff will refill it without you asking.
Pricing
Many traditional dim sum restaurants price dishes in tiers — small, medium, large and special — rather than individually, with the tier marked on the order sheet. Some offer lower prices early in the morning or on weekdays. Upscale restaurants usually price each dish individually and charge noticeably more. As a rule, dim sum is one of the better-value meals in the city, especially if you go with a group and share. Prices on menus don’t include the 13% HST, and tipping works as in any sit-down restaurant in Toronto. See our tipping guide for the norms.
What to Order
Every restaurant has its own specialities, but these are the classics to start with. Order a few to begin, see how hungry you are, then add more.
| Dish | What it is | Why order it |
|---|---|---|
| Har gow | Shrimp dumplings in a translucent wrapper | The benchmark: a thin, slightly chewy skin that doesn’t tear is the sign of a good kitchen |
| Siu mai | Open-topped pork and shrimp dumplings | Juicy, meaty and universally popular |
| Char siu bao | Fluffy steamed buns filled with barbecue pork | Sweet, savoury and easy for children |
| Cheung fun | Steamed rice noodle rolls, often with shrimp or beef | Silky, served with soy sauce |
| Lo mai gai | Sticky rice with chicken, wrapped in a lotus leaf | Filling and fragrant |
| Turnip cake | Pan-fried radish cake | Crisp outside, soft inside |
| Chicken feet | Braised in black bean sauce | Mostly texture and sauce; worth one try |
| Spareribs | Small steamed pork ribs with black bean or garlic | A savoury classic |
| Egg tarts | Custard in flaky pastry | The best way to finish |
| Congee | Rice porridge with toppings | Comforting, especially on a cold morning |
How much to order. A good rule of thumb is two or three dishes per person, and more for big eaters. It’s better to under-order and add another round than to be left with half a table of cold dumplings.
Downtown: Chinatown on Spadina
Toronto’s downtown Chinatown is centred on the intersection of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West, and it’s the easiest place for visitors to try dim sum. It’s walkable from much of downtown and served by the 510 Spadina streetcar, which runs from Union and Spadina stations, and the 505 Dundas streetcar. The dim sum here is generally less elaborate than in the suburbs, but it’s convenient, good value and full of atmosphere. Our Chinatown guide covers the rest of the neighbourhood.
Rol San
Rol San, at 323 Spadina Avenue, is the name that comes up most often when Torontonians talk about downtown dim sum. It serves dim sum all day rather than just in the morning, which makes it unusually flexible, and it’s reliably busy. Destination Toronto singles out the har gow, the squid tentacles and the Sichuan-style spicy eggplant. The room is simple and the service is brisk rather than warm, but the food is consistent.
Our take: the safest downtown recommendation. The all-day service means you can go at 3pm when the weekend crowd has gone home.
Dim Sum King
On the third floor of a commercial building in Chinatown, Dim Sum King is a local institution that still uses traditional push carts. The congee, steamed buns and siu mai get the most praise. It’s a big, busy room that feels like the dim sum halls of decades past.
Our take: go here if you want the cart experience. Go early at weekends.
Rosewood Asian Cuisine
Rosewood offers both à la carte dim sum and an all-you-can-eat option, which makes it popular with groups and big appetites. Pan-fried dumplings and rice noodle rolls are among the dishes recommended, with green tea and mango puddings to finish.
Our take: the all-you-can-eat format can be excellent value if you’re hungry. If you’re only going to eat a few dishes, order à la carte instead.
Sue Fung’s Dim Sum Canteen
Sue Fung’s brings Cantonese dim sum to downtown in a casual, self-serve format. It’s from the team behind Providential 9 in Markham, which gives it some serious suburban credentials. Try the steamed dumpling sampler, the spareribs with taro, and the pickled olives.
Our take: a good option for a quicker, more modern dim sum lunch without the banquet-hall ritual.
Sky Dragon Chinese Restaurant
On the fifth floor of Dragon City Mall at the corner of Spadina and Dundas, Sky Dragon serves congee, deep-fried seafood and dumplings, and has full-colour photo menus.
Our take: those photo menus make it one of the least intimidating places for a first dim sum, and the elevated room is a nice change from street level.
Wok Theory
Wok Theory is less a traditional dim sum hall and more a modern Hong Kong-style café, with deep-fried rice dumplings, noodle soups, and drinks like Hong Kong-style iced lemon tea and orange creamsicle floats.
Our take: fun if you want a lighter, more playful meal, but not the place for a classic yum cha.
Central Toronto: Waterfront and Yorkville
Pearl Harbourfront
Pearl Harbourfront is Toronto’s best-known upscale dim sum room on the waterfront, with views out towards the lake. It’s a special-occasion spot, known for thick soups like cream corn with chicken and seafood soup with fish maw, as well as classic dim sum.
Our take: you’re paying for the setting as well as the food, and that’s fine for a celebration or a visitor who wants a view. It combines well with a walk along Queens Quay; see our waterfront guide.
Dynasty Chinese Cuisine
In Yorkville, Dynasty is a polished, central option. The char siu bao, steamed scallop and bok choy dumplings, and egg tarts are highlights.
Our take: the best choice if you’re staying in midtown or shopping in Yorkville and don’t want to travel. Book ahead at weekends.
Moon Palace
Moon Palace focuses on elevated presentation and seafood, including lobster and shrimp and asparagus dumplings.
Our take: a good middle ground between old-school and fine dining.
Congee Queen
Congee Queen is a much-loved Cantonese chain with a location on downtown Yonge Street near the Eaton Centre. As the name suggests, congee is the speciality, along with chow mein and lo mein.
Our take: not a dedicated dim sum destination, but a dependable, convenient bowl of congee in the middle of downtown.
North York
Yu Seafood
At Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Yu Seafood is known for its striking presentation — most famously crispy eel puff pastries shaped like black swans. It’s one of the most photogenic dim sum experiences in the city, and the cooking backs it up.
Our take: worth the trip if you want dim sum as an occasion. Yorkdale is right by Yorkdale station on Line 1, so it’s easy to reach without a car.
Joyous Chinese Cuisine
Joyous does everyday dim sum staples well, along with specialities like durian puff pastry and steamed longevity peach buns.
Our take: a solid, less showy neighbourhood choice.
Delicacy Kitchen
Delicacy Kitchen isn’t a dedicated dim sum house, but it has a well-executed dim sum menu alongside Canadian Chinese favourites like General Tao chicken and black bean beef rice noodles. It’s cosy rather than grand.
Our take: handy for a mixed group where not everyone wants dim sum.
East Chinatown
East Chinatown, around Gerrard Street East and Broadview Avenue, is smaller and quieter than the Spadina Chinatown. It’s reached by the 506 Carlton streetcar or a walk from Broadview station on Line 2.
- Dine & Dim — a neighbourhood spot for turnip cake, chicken feet and beef tripe, plus seafood, lobster and noodle dishes.
- Lee’s Dumpling House — known for spring onion pancakes, mini soup-filled pork dumplings and halal chicken, with other locations including North York.
Our take: worth a stop if you’re exploring Leslieville or Riverdale, but not a destination in itself for dim sum.
Scarborough: Where the Serious Dim Sum Is
Ask Toronto’s Cantonese families where to go for the best dim sum and many will send you north-east, to Scarborough, or on further to Markham and Richmond Hill. Suburban Chinese communities there have supported large, ambitious restaurants for decades, and the scale, variety and quality often outstrip downtown. The area around Sheppard Avenue East and Midland Avenue is a hub.
Getting there. This is the part of the city where a car helps. Without one, take Line 4 Sheppard to its end at Don Mills, then an eastbound bus along Sheppard Avenue East, such as the 85 Sheppard East. Plan for 45 minutes to an hour from downtown each way. Check the TTC trip planner for the stop closest to your restaurant. Our TTC guide explains how the system works.
Perfect Chinese Restaurant
Perfect Chinese Restaurant is a Scarborough legend, open 24 hours and known for seafood feasts as well as dim sum. It has even done a merchandise collaboration with Uniqlo, which tells you something about its local status.
Our take: the place for dim sum at 2am, or for a big seafood dinner with a group.
Grandeur Palace
Grandeur Palace offers old-school dim sum in a huge banquet-hall setting with a big numbered menu covering all the traditional dishes.
Our take: the best choice for a large family gathering and the full weekend-yum-cha atmosphere.
Casa Imperial
Casa Imperial serves elevated Hong Kong-style dim sum in a red-brick heritage mansion. Highlights include rice noodle rolls in XO sauce and bitter melon with salted egg yolk, alongside traditional dishes plated with care.
Our take: if you’re only going to make one trip out to Scarborough, and you want both the food and the setting, make it this one.
Jiangnan Handmade Dim Sum and Ding Tai Fung
For a change from Cantonese dim sum, two Scarborough spots focus on other regional traditions. Jiangnan Handmade Dim Sum offers dishes from the Jiangnan region, like lotus root salad, smashed cucumber salad and crispy-bottomed dumplings. Ding Tai Fung — a no-frills local spot, not the Taiwanese chain with a similar name — serves Shanghai-style wontons in spicy sauce, pan-fried buns and xiao long bao (soup dumplings).
Our take: good choices if you’ve done Cantonese dim sum many times and want something different.
Is It Worth Going to Scarborough for Dim Sum?
If you’re a visitor with only a couple of days in Toronto, probably not. Rol San, Dim Sum King and the rest of Chinatown will give you a very good dim sum experience with no travel, and you can easily fit it around the CN Tower or the AGO.
If you’re staying longer, have a car, love dim sum, or are simply curious about Toronto beyond downtown, yes. The suburban restaurants show you a side of the city most visitors never see, and the dim sum is often a step up. Make a morning of it. For more on the city’s diverse food communities, see our guide to Toronto’s multicultural food scene.
How to Beat the Queues
- Go early. Weekend dim sum rush runs roughly from 11am to 1pm. Arrive before 10am and you’ll usually be seated quickly.
- Go on a weekday. Weekday dim sum is far calmer, and some restaurants offer lower prices early in the day.
- Go late. At all-day places like Rol San, mid-afternoon is quiet.
- Book if you can. Upscale restaurants like Pearl Harbourfront, Dynasty and Yu Seafood often take reservations. Most old-school halls don’t, and work on a ticket system at the door.
- Come in a group of four to six. You get more variety, and big round tables often turn over faster than small ones at busy places.
Dim Sum With Children and Dietary Needs
Dim sum is one of the best meals in the city for families. Children can try tiny portions of lots of things, the food arrives fast, and the noise level means nobody will notice a toddler. Char siu bao, egg tarts, fried spring rolls and plain rice noodle rolls are safe bets for fussy eaters. Our family restaurants guide has more ideas.
Vegetarians can manage, but it takes care: many dishes that look vegetable-based include pork, shrimp or meat stock. Look for steamed vegetable dumplings, tofu skin rolls, vegetable rice noodle rolls, turnip cake (check whether it contains dried shrimp or sausage) and egg tarts, and ask staff. For serious allergies, especially shellfish, dim sum is a difficult cuisine, since shrimp is in a large share of the dishes.
Beyond Scarborough: Markham and Richmond Hill
North of the city limits, Markham and Richmond Hill have some of the largest Chinese-Canadian communities in the country, and the malls and plazas along Highway 7 are lined with Cantonese restaurants that many local families consider the best in the region. Providential 9 in Markham, the restaurant behind Sue Fung’s downtown, is one example of the kind of kitchen you’ll find out there.
For visitors, the honest verdict is that this is a car trip. Transit from downtown is possible but slow, and the payoff over Scarborough is small unless you’re already heading north, for example to Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan or to visit friends. If you do go, pair a dim sum lunch with a wander through one of the large Asian shopping malls in the area, which are an experience in themselves.
A Dim Sum Morning Downtown
If you only have one weekend morning in Toronto, here’s a simple way to build it around dim sum without leaving the core.
- 9:45am: Arrive at Rol San or Dim Sum King on Spadina, ahead of the rush. Order a first round of har gow, siu mai, char siu bao and cheung fun, then add what looks good.
- 11am: Walk it off through Chinatown and into Kensington Market, a few minutes west. Browse the vintage shops and spice stores while the market wakes up.
- Noon: Pick up an egg tart or a coffee from a bakery on the way back, then walk south down Spadina, or take the 510 streetcar, towards the waterfront.
- Afternoon: Carry on to the Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street, a ten-minute walk east of Spadina, or keep going to the lake.
It’s an easy, cheap and very Toronto half-day, and it shows you two of the city’s most interesting neighbourhoods on the way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the best dim sum in Toronto?
For convenience, Chinatown on Spadina Avenue, with Rol San and Dim Sum King the standouts. For the most serious dim sum, Scarborough, especially Casa Imperial and Grandeur Palace. For an upscale experience, Pearl Harbourfront, Dynasty in Yorkville or Yu Seafood at Yorkdale.
What time is dim sum served in Toronto?
Traditionally from mid-morning to early afternoon, with the busiest time between 11am and 1pm at weekends. Some restaurants, including Rol San, serve dim sum all day, and Perfect Chinese Restaurant in Scarborough is open 24 hours.
Is dim sum expensive in Toronto?
Traditional dim sum is one of the better-value sit-down meals in the city, especially when shared by a group. Upscale restaurants charge considerably more. Prices vary widely, so check the menu, and remember that 13% HST and a tip are added.
Do Toronto restaurants still use dim sum carts?
A few do, including Dim Sum King in Chinatown, but most now use paper order sheets, which means the food is cooked to order and arrives fresher.
Do I need a reservation for dim sum?
At upscale places, it’s a good idea at weekends. Most traditional dim sum halls don’t take reservations for small groups; you take a ticket at the door and wait. Arriving before 10am avoids most queues.
What should I order at dim sum for the first time?
Start with har gow (shrimp dumplings), siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings), char siu bao (barbecue pork buns), cheung fun (rice noodle rolls) and egg tarts. Add turnip cake and lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf) if you’re hungry.
Can I get to Scarborough dim sum restaurants by transit?
Yes, but it takes time. Take Line 4 Sheppard to Don Mills, then an eastbound bus along Sheppard Avenue East. Allow 45 minutes to an hour from downtown.
Related Toronto Guides
- Chinatown Toronto Guide — the neighbourhood around Spadina and Dundas.
- Toronto Food Guide — the city’s food scene, from markets to fine dining.
- Best Brunch in Toronto — the other weekend morning ritual.
- Toronto Food Tours — guided walks through Kensington and Chinatown.
- Cheap Eats in Toronto — eating well on a budget.
- Best Restaurants in Toronto — our pick of the city’s dining rooms.
Photo Credits
Rol San on Spadina Avenue at night: I unfortunately missed the unlit Dim Sum sign below the lighted sign (27899795905) by shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Shopfronts on Spadina Avenue: Chinatown, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario (29969266506) by Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Siu mai at a Yonge Street restaurant: Pork and Shrimp Dim Sum @ Regal Palace on Yonge (5611726617) by andrewarchy from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Har gow and siu mai: Chinese DimSum (9023590541) by LeonardKong, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
