The Disappearance of Dim Sum Carts in Toronto
I recently saw a video (scroll down a bit) on Instagram where a toddler was pushing a toy dim sum cart. To me, it’s pure nostalgia. Restaurants with cart service dim sum (like the one seen in the stock photo below) has been a rarity long before the pandemic. I haven’t been to one in years, and even THAT restaurant, which has been part of the city for 40+ years, now uses dim sum slips (in this case, it was due to the pandemic. They just didn’t bother bringing it back). Cart service restaurants were littered ALL OVER THE CITY when I was a child.
Since toy dim sum carts didn’t exist/hard to find when I was a kid, I made do using a toy shopping cart. Creativity, right? And there shouldn’t be any shame in that. It’s something I don’t understand. Why do we need to be THAT realistic? This teaches kids how to use their imaginations. I remember selling (to myself! I played both the cart lady and the diner!) ha gow, cheung fun (beef only, because I didn’t like other types of filling) and steamed beef balls (and beef siu mai, which has ALSO disappeared from dim sum menus!). And only those items because I was a picky eater and those were the only dim sums I’d eat. I was two or three at the time and didn’t even eat egg custard tarts (I slowly warmed up to that, along with spring rolls).
The early 80s was also the time when more and more “proper” Chinese restaurants opened in the suburbs, especially in Scarborough. These were large restaurants that doubled as banquet halls, so there was ample space for cart service. And yes, cart service existed in more cramped up restaurants in Chinatown (downtown) as well. This further increased later in the 80s when an even larger contingent of immigrants from Hong Kong came. The mid-80s was also when Chinese-speaking media expanded. My family subscribed to a channel that carried imported programming from Hong Kong (serials and such) daily as well as locally produced shows (e.g. the news). Prior to that, they relied on a multilingual channel which serviced all immigrant communities.
As we hit the 90s, things began to change. Even more upscale restaurants began to show up in other suburbs, such as Richmond Hill and Markham. This was when cart service began to disappear. The restaurants were smaller scale and used ordering slips. My parents complained that people tend to over-order. But order slips were also appearing in Hong Kong, and I suppose they were just doing whatever was trending over there. Plus food would be fresher and hotter coming directly from the kitchen (yes, I know, some carts DID keep things warm). It was a way to save money - who knows how much food was wasted via cart service?).
The 90s wore on and many cart service restaurants closed/transitioned to slips until it became a rarity. And that’s where we stand today, some 30+ years later. This is something I DO miss, but I completely understand WHY they’re so rare now. People want warm, fresh food, especially if they’re paying A LOT more than they used to. And slips make things SEEM upscale, even if the restaurant is mid-range when it comes to pricing.
I’m kind of sad that many kids here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area, if you must know) don’t get to experience restaurants with cart service too often. It was a weekly thing for me back in the day. Those loud restaurants, ladies (and some gentlemen) pushing carts, yelling out what the were selling, along with plastic tablecloths servers just wrapping everything up when they cleared the table are definitely a thing of the past. They used to even practically THROW table settings at you. It was a sight to see, hear and experience. They don’t do that anymore, not even at places with cart service. And single use tablecloths, not being environmentally friendly, disappeared some 35 years ago too. Restaurants today, even the most hole-in-the-wall places (which never serve dim sum anyway) would never DREAM of throwing place settings at patrons. That would just end them up on social, and not in a good way. The whole experience of 1980s dim sum is long gone around here.
Just wondering, readers: What’s your preference, order slips or cart service? And for those from places where cart service is a rarity, do you miss it? What’s your favourite dim sum item?
Photo credit: elbud/ShutterStock