Rol San Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

For people who live downtown, Rol San is considered a gem for dim sum lovers. It’s not as good as the dim sum places you find in the suburbs like Markham or Scarborough but it’s passable.

Some of the food here are quite good, the only drawbacks are the service and the price. It seems every 2 or 3 months they hike up the price. Good service is also nonexistent here so don’t be disappointed when you don’t feel welcome the moment you walked in, or when you feel ignored by servers, or you’ve been overcharged, etc. This is how they are and they’ve been in business for more than 20 years because people come here for the food and not for their lousy service.

I have tried all their dim sum dishes and IMO these are the best tasting dim sum to order in Rolsan:

Shiu Mai (Pork Dumplings with Shrimp): Shiu Mai is my all time favorites and the first thing I grab whenever I go to dim sum restaurants. If you’ve never had this, it’s kind of like a juicy meatball, held together by a soft dumpling wrapper.

Rol San’s Shiu Mai is one the best I’ve ever tried. The texture is toothsome but juicy and tender at the same time. The filling is bursting with rich and meaty savoriness. One order comes with 4 pcs of delicious Shiu Mai and I bet you will eat more than one.

Har Gow (Shrimp Dumplings): Har Gow is one of those dish that you will either love or hate depending on how it was made. I have tasted Har Gows where the dumpling wrappers are perfect but had a terrible filling. And then there are some that have flavourful filling but the wrappers are either dry and breaks apart when you grab with a chopstick.

Not the case with Rol San’s Har Gow. The dumpling is translucent and flavourful. It has a smooth texture and able to hold the dumpling shape well.

Fried Eggplant with Stuffed Shrimp Paste in Soy Sauce What I like about this dish is that it’s not oily even though it’s fried. The eggplant plus the shrimp filling makes this dim sum dish even better. Combined it with the flavourful sauce and this is one dish that is very satisfying.

Deep Fried Seaweed Roll with Chicken & Shrimp: I was surprised on how good this dish was! If you’re not a dim sum aficionados, you won’t even know about this dish as this is one of the lesser known dim sum.

I know people always order the Shiu Mai or Har Gow but trust me on this, try to order this dish and you will be hooked.

Shaped in a form of cigar, it’s crunchy on the outside, chewy bouncy inside and bursting with umami flavour. The smokey seaweed hugging the shrimp/chicken mixture and served with mayo sauce is one delectable dish you will surely enjoy.

Char Siu Bao (Steamed BBQ Pork Bun): I love Rol San’s BBQ Pork Buns! They make this perfect snowy white bun which is so delicious. Cracked open on top, you can get a glimpse of the barbecued pork filling. You cannot go to a dim sum restaurant and leave without trying their soft, fluffy buns with chunks of BBQ pork in a sweet savory sauce.

Honorable Mentions: Fried Bean Curd with Stuffed Shrimp Paste in Soy Sauce - the taste is similar to the stuffed fried eggplant but with fried bean curd.

Pan Fried Beef Short Ribs - delicious and tender, this is one dish you should try.

Steamed Bean Stick Rolls with Mince Pork & Shrimp Paste in Oyster Sauce - another umami flavoured dish. The beancurd wrapper, sauce, coupled with a combination filling of pork, shrimp, mushrooms and veggies is packed with flavour and is absolutely yummy.

Meh and not worth it: Deep Fried Squid Tentacle - rubbery and tough, enough said.

Pan Fried Turnips Cake with Pork Dry Shrimp & Chinese Bacon - they definitely skimp on the filling ingredients here (especially the turnips) since all I can taste is rice flour and starch. Not good compared to other dim sum places.

Steamed Custard Buns - I find Rol San’s Custard Bun dry and not soft. The custard filling also doesn’t have the creamy texture compared to other Custard Buns I’ve tried so I didn’t...

This review is based on the new location for the restaurant. The old location used to be probably my favourite dim sum spot downtown and one of the better quality spots. Sadly since they moved it has definitely gone downhill.

The first thing I’ll say is that the decor on the walls of the new location is much nicer than previously. It looks more upscale than before and less like a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. But that’s basically where the improvements end. The chairs are actually cheaper and made of plastic as opposed to their old metal chairs. Sadly it also seems that the food quality has definitely gone down. Are used to really enjoy the location and it was slightly more expensive than most other dim sum places but the food was way better so it was worth it. Now it seems the prices have gone up and most of their dim sum dishes cost between seven and eight dollars. But their quality has gone down and the size and cautions up their food have also gone down. The food is pretty bland without much flavor. The portion sizes are quite small. I’ve posted two pictures, one of their deep fried squid tentacles and one of their baby beef. Both dishes were eight dollars and you can see pretty tiny portions compared to most dim sum places. The hot sauce taste more sweet and spicy and you can tell they are definitely not using the typical hot sauce. The service was slow and not great.

Worst of all even though they don’t tell you at the start they charge you an automatic 15% gratuity on every bill no matter how many people. Whether it’s two or eight people there is an automatic gratuity on the bill. All in all it is definitely worse than it used to be and I likely won’t be returning. Ironically the gratuity they charge is 15% which is less than most restaurants and probably less than I would’ve normally tipped but I don’t like being forced to tip automatically on the bill. Also if you are not paying attention you will likely double tip even though it is written on the bill that they do charge gratuity automatically but it is not written on the menu or anywhere else. They also only take cash and Visa but no MasterCard which is a little unusual. There are definitely better dim sum restaurants in Toronto especially if you go into suburbs but now even downtown in Chinatown like...

Update Review as of August 5, 2025

Quality has seriously gone down. Service is even worse. Staff has all changed. Had to wait 20 minutes for a table when there were empty seats everywhere. The food tastes mediocre now. Such a shame.

Food: 3 Stars Service: 2 Stars Ambience: 4 Stars Value: 2 Stars Overall: 2.75 Stars

Food: 5 Stars Service: 5 Stars Ambience: 5 Stars Value: 5 Stars Overall: 5 Stars

Rol San has been one of my favourite dim sum spots in the city for as long as I can remember. I’ve been coming here since I was a baby, and my family has known the owner for such a long time. This long-standing relationship has led to the staff members knowing us by name, always providing an optimal experience with a personal touch.

The dim sum at Rol San is always flavourful and delicious. My absolute favourite is the deep-fried squid tentacles paired with their unbeatable in-house hot sauce. Every bite is a delightful burst of flavour that keeps me coming back. The quality of the food here is consistently top-notch, and you can tell that the chefs put a lot of care into each dish.

Since Rol San moved to their new location, I’ve noticed a few changes. The dim sum menu has gotten smaller, which was a bit disappointing at first since I loved the variety they used to offer. However, the quality remains excellent, and I’m hopeful that they will expand the menu again in the future. The new location has a modern feel, but I do miss the charm of the old place.

Love the new expansions, fixed the seating issues and brought back a lot of the menu items we missed in the past.

The combination of fantastic food, familiar faces, and a welcoming atmosphere keeps me coming back time and time again. The staff's attention to detail and the personalized service we receive make every visit special. If you’re looking for a great dim sum experience with consistently delicious food, Rol San is definitely worth a visit.

xx...