SHINYI Handmade Dumplings | dumpling house of 416 – 641 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1Z9
Country: China    
Seating: Indoor seating only. 
Dinner guests: Dancing Queen and Fitness Freak 
Must-try dish: Stir-fried Lamb Slices with Cumin
The high: We went for the dumplings but ended up really enjoying the restaurant’s other Northern Chinese dishes. 
The low: The dumplings are pretty but not a culinary highlight. 

You go to SHINYI for the Rainbow Dumplings, but stay for the stir-fries. The colourful dumplings are what put this place on the map – they serve them all year around, not only during Pride Month in Toronto. They come in orders of seven, and are each stuffed with a unique filling of rice, vegetables, and meat. It’s a no-brainer to get them for the pleasure they provide alone, but a number of other dishes on the menu trump the dumplings when it comes to taste. 

SHINYI specializes in cuisine from the north of China – the dishes are packed with flavour and often very spicy. There’s also a heavy presence of dumplings with all types of fillings. To make things more fun, you can pick the colour of your choice and guess what the filling inside is. Otherwise there’s a list that gives the ingredients in each one according to the colour. These aren’t the best dumplings in the city, but they sure are something to look at. 

The Soup Dumplings(Xiaolong Bao) are worth ordering as they’re always a treat on any menu. If you’ve had them before then you know what we’re talking about, but if you haven’t, it should probably be the next thing you eat. Soup dumplings are fun to eat because there’s a technique in biting them without getting any of the soup filling trapped in the dumpling all over you. 

To accompany all the dumplings, the Signature Stir-fried Pork Slices was recommended by our server. As promised, it was spicy but delicious. The long, thin strips of pork are cooked with pieces of onion with Szechuan peppercorns. It was saucy but not so much that rice was required to go along with it. 

Our unsuspecting favourite of the meal was the Stir-fried Lamb Slices with Cumin, which was also recommended to us. Similar to the pork, it’s a sizzling plate of lamb slices cooked with onions and spices, with a prominent flavour of cumin. Despite being a last minute addition to our order, we couldn’t have been happier that we ordered it as it was the first plate to be wiped clean. 

To keep things green, the Sauteed Broccoli with Garlic is a mountain of large pieces of broccoli on a plate. For those who love garlic, this is the perfect dish for you as the vegetables are doused in a garlic marinade. 

The space itself is pristinely clean, especially the bathrooms. The staff were friendly, and helpful, which was appreciated as we didn’t know what to order from the extensive menu. In the end, we were impressed with SHINYI and would go back for a Chinese beer and a stir-fry next time we’re in the neighbourhood. We’re also fans of the colourful dumplings that celebrate the Queer community all year around. 

Happy Pride to everyone, and may you always follow your heart. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Gay Mat & Andrea)