Weekly Lunch Pick: dim sum for one at Cha Lau
Earlier this year, midtown dim sum staple Cha Liu relocated to a new teahouse-inspired room at Yonge north of College, and changed its name just slightly to Cha Lau. While it still serves all-day dim sum to hungry groups, it also offers an ever-changing prix fixe lunch special ($9) that’s friendlier to solo diners. The meal starts with a thick-skinned Vietnamese-style cold roll stuffed with lightly pickled vegetables and a bowl of smoky hot and sour soup full of wood-ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, firm tofu and, unexpectedly, tomato chunks. Next up, some steamed baby bok choy and a bowl of fried rice with crisp green beans and scattered threads of preserved olive leaves. Finally, to cap the prix fixe, a quartet of different dumplings in a bamboo steam basket (of the lot, the juicy beef and mushroom dumpling in a crystal wrapper is the easy favourite). For dessert: the trio of dainty baked rice flour pastries filled with a sweet pumpkin-stained custard ($3.65). Even sweeter: not needing to corral a group of friends to indulge in a weekday dim sum feast.
The cost: $18.30 including tax and tip and a pot of chrysanthemum tea ($1.15).
The time: 31 minutes.
- 177260
- Baked rice flour pastries filled with a sweet pumpkin custard
- (Image: Renée Suen)
- Weekly Lunch Pick: Cha Lau
- Weekly Lunch Pick: Cha Lau
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-3-96x96.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-3.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-3.jpg
- 624
- 416
- https://torontolife.com/food/cha-lau/slide/nov12-cha-lau-3/
- nov12-cha-lau-3
- 0
- 0
- 177261
- Steamed bok choy, fried rice with plenty of wok hei and an assortment of dumplings: beef and mushroom, pork shui mai, shrimp and scallop and Chinese celery
- (Image: Renée Suen)
- Weekly Lunch Pick: Cha Lau
- Weekly Lunch Pick: Cha Lau
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-intro-96x96.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-intro.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-intro.jpg
- 656
- 438
- https://torontolife.com/food/cha-lau/slide/nov12-cha-lau-intro/
- nov12-cha-lau-intro
- 0
- 0
- 177259
- Vietnamese-style cold roll and hot and sour soup
- (Image: Renée Suen)
- Weekly Lunch Pick: Cha Lau
- Weekly Lunch Pick: Cha Lau
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-2-96x96.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-2.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-2.jpg
- 624
- 416
- https://torontolife.com/food/cha-lau/slide/nov12-cha-lau-2/
- nov12-cha-lau-2
- 0
- 0
Cha Lau Dim Sum, 476 Yonge St., 647-344-6578, chalaudimsum.com
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/cha-lau/&title=Weekly Lunch Pick: dim sum for one at Cha Lau&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/nov12-cha-lau-intro-624x416.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_177261" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: Renée Suen)[/caption]
Earlier this year, midtown dim sum staple Cha Liu relocated to a new teahouse-inspired room at Yonge north of College, and changed its name just slightly to Cha Lau. While it still serves all-day dim sum to hungry groups, it also offers an ever-changing prix fixe lunch special ($9) that’s friendlier to solo diners. The meal starts with a thick-skinned Vietnamese-style cold roll stuffed with lightly pickled vegetables and a bowl of smoky hot and sour soup full of wood-ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, firm tofu and, unexpectedly, tomato chunks. Next up, some steamed baby bok choy and a bowl of fried rice with crisp green beans and scattered threads of preserved olive leaves. Finally, to cap the prix fixe, a quartet of different dumplings in a bamboo steam basket (of the lot, the juicy beef and mushroom dumpling in a crystal wrapper is the easy favourite). For dessert: the trio of dainty baked rice flour pastries filled with a sweet pumpkin-stained custard ($3.65). Even sweeter: not needing to corral a group of friends to indulge in a weekday dim sum feast.
The cost: $18.30 including tax and tip and a pot of chrysanthemum tea ($1.15).
The time: 31 minutes.
[gallery order="DESC" columns="6"]
Cha Lau Dim Sum, 476 Yonge St., 647-344-6578, chalaudimsum.com){kind=link}
Cha lau remains one of the most high quality dim sum shops in town. We miss them at Yonge and Eg but Jeff Kan and his team fill a welcome niche downtown. Always fresh and well made, often inventive, I am going there for my birthday lunch with good buddies Ray and Michael.