Dim Sum in North AMERICA

[masuerte]

(yes this includes canada)

Whenever I travel to a city with a Chinatown in it I like to have breakfast there: a dim sum or two with TONS of green tea. Now that I live in L.A. I go to this place Won Kok all the time because it's cheap (like around 50cents a bun), the service is no frills and they hand out my tea continously.

Do any of you in the big cities do this? How do you like your dim sum: fancy or quick? On a cart or behind glass displayed like donuts? Where are your favorite places? If you are reccomending a place, please put the city it is located in on the subject of your message.

[poly800rock]

i can't imagine dim sum w/o carts. in providence, you just order it off the menu w/o seeing it....it's a disgusting idea.

[masuerte]

I like to order them like donuts, behind a glass display and amongst a crowd of people making signals to random buns/bakedgoods/steamedgoods/etc.

You could usually see the steamers working like crazy in the background. You goto a fancy smancy dim-sum place... don't have time for this stuff! I need my dim sum quick yet freshly made, from the steamer to my mouth within minutes!

[fndmybetterhalf]

man...dim sum...i ate dim sum every weekend til i got tired of it but when i did go, i used to either goto House of Hong or New Kowloon here in Seattle. I like my dimsum quick and easy on a cart!

[Tarmac]

Yes, this is the real secret of SF chinatown. There are a couple of places with great shrimp dumplings or pork buns, usually only 2-3 kinds per day. Costs something like $1-1.50 for 3. They are huge and better than any dim sum I have had in a nice restaurant. The shops are set up like you said, a donut shop.

[djrajio]

Two words: Monterey Park

[ayn]

I hate dim sum with carts, most of the best places are made-to-order in HK and it's so much better that way... but places in north america use cart so ppl can see how the shit look like...

[Liberation1945]

i love the little stands that are set up on the street where they sell pork buns(among many other things) for $1...definetly not the most sanitary food you're going to eat, but you can't beat the price.

on the flip side, getting those carts pushed out, taking out a bun, and getting all the juices is an awesome experience.

[masuerte]

Yes, this is the real secret of SF chinatown. There are a couple of places with great shrimp dumplings or pork buns, usually only 2-3 kinds per day. Costs something like $1-1.50 for 3. They are huge and better than any dim sum I have had in a nice restaurant. The shops are set up like you said, a donut shop.

Yep, that's where I goto when all my friends go spend ridiculous amounts of money on total absolute tourist crap when they visit SF chinatown. I discovered how much better and fresher they were (if you order at the right time) due to my cheapness. I never know which store is which though, I just make sure to go to the ones where I can't understand anything on the menu as those are the ones catering to people who live there and don't give a fuck about tourists.

[Analyst]

Hmm. China Garden in Rosslyn, VA was good. Right across the Key Bridge from Georgetown, DC.

[DaBestSpoona]

Yep, that's where I goto when all my friends go spend ridiculous amounts of money on total absolute tourist crap when they visit SF chinatown. I discovered how much better and fresher they were (if you order at the right time) due to my cheapness. I never know which store is which though, I just make sure to go to the ones where I can't understand anything on the menu as those are the ones catering to people who live there and don't give a fuck about tourists.

They have a lot of these places in the garmet district in nyc, catering to the factory workers

[kauflust]

In the early mornings I just go to the bakeries and order the bun with scallion and "ham."

For dim sum, I've gotten fairly used to ordering by checking off the card rather than the cart. There are pros and cons for both methods.

A la Card

Pros:

- If you typically order the same things, it doesn't matter if you see it or not anyway

- Slightly higher chance of being fresher

- You order what you want right away and relax instead of watching like a hawk for it to come by on the cart

Cons:

- How long was it sitting in the kitchen?

- More business-like, less relaxing

A la Cart

Pros:

- Old school nostalgia

- You can choose what looks like the best of the bunch

- Visually appealing for the clueless/entertaining clueless friends

Cons:

- How long has it been in there?

- Dirty glass on carts

Again, if you're in Chicago DO NOT go to Phoenix for dim sum. I like Happy Chef and Shui Wah - they're right next to each other - although seating is sometimes cramped. But that's a good thing.

[englandmj7]

Ton Kiang is an excellent and very popular dim sum place here in SF (Outer Richmond). For those of you in town, I suggest you check it out.

[Blanc0]

Ton Kiang is good, but definitely more catered to caucasians. Yank Sing is really good, too. But the best Dim Sum in the SF Area is Koi Palace out by Serramonte. Closest to HK that you're gonna find in the bay area. ALSO, Green Tea and Dim Sum? Japanese and Chinese? Never heard of green tea at a dim sum joint.

[minya]

Dude, I went to Yank Sing for lunch once. Not only was I relatively unimpressed (I mean, it was good, but GREAT? didn't really strike me as great), the lunch bill was $100 for 3 people. And we didn't really pig out, although we ordered a fair bit of food. Never doing that again.

[ayn]

yeah, Yank Sing is nothing special, like I said in coldrice's HK food thread, Koi Palace is the place to go in the bay area...

[minya]

yeah, Yank Sing is nothing special, like I said in coldrice's HK food thread, Koi Palace is the place to go in the bay area...

yeah, but who wants to go to Daly City? Nobody, that's who.

[Tarmac]

The funny thing about SF chinatown is that almost all of the other restaurants there are terrible tourist traps. At best they are only middling quality. The only things worth buying in SF chinatown is groceries and the cheap dim sum. I think most SF chinese shop on Clement anyway.

The best chinese food variety that I know of in the bay is either cupertino village or barber lane (milpitas). I could be wrong though

[gamma888]

yeah, but who wants to go to Daly City? Nobody, that's who.

i do occasionally! koi palace's one of the best dim sums spots... tom kiang's only a few blocks away from our home though we don't go there too often. we just went to great eastern in sf's chinatown over the weekend and i'm impressed with its fresh ingredients. (menu paper on the table though.. no carts)

we've eaten at yang sing a couple of times, and the only thing that came great at this spot is its tea... dim sum there tastes like crappy which translates excellent for those business peepos.

good luck dim sum on clement st. isn't so bad... it has that 'donut' window thing.. so you just point and point whatever you want... cheap!

[xcoldricex]

this thread needs more pictures. poly if you're out there....

dim sum in philly? i could never find a decent place...didn't like any of the offerings in Chinatown (HK Golden Phoenix and Jade Harbor).

and i prefer my dim sum on carts with the option of ordering.

[LanceP]

Grand Chau Chow down in Chinatown here in Boston. That's what's up...

[gamma888]

i dare any of you to take a pic of yourself and your mad props in a dim sum spot...

perhaps take a picture along with dim sum cart lady?? ;-)

[masuerte]

Oh it is on!

That shit is gonna be so hard for me though Places I frequent are filled with very busy and easily annoyed people, which I find one of the essential factors of a fine dim-sum establishment.

[poly800rock]

this thread needs more pictures. poly if you're out there....

dim sum in philly? i could never find a decent place...didn't like any of the offerings in Chinatown (HK Golden Phoenix and Jade Harbor).

and i prefer my dim sum on carts with the option of ordering.

really? joy tsing lau is really good for dim sum. the place across from joy tsing lau is really good too, dont remember the name off the top of my head. Imperial inn is even good...Surprised you couldn't find a good place rice

[poly800rock]

Dude, I went to Yank Sing for lunch once. Not only was I relatively unimpressed (I mean, it was good, but GREAT? didn't really strike me as great), the lunch bill was $100 for 3 people. And we didn't really pig out, although we ordered a fair bit of food. Never doing that again.

$100 for 3 people? man you got ripped off! didn't know 2 tier pricing carried over to the western world too!

[masuerte]

Were they charging 8 bucks a bun or something?

[gamma888]

they usually have special dishes on the cart for over $15 a dish...

they even have peking duck as part of dim sum.. insane if you ask me...

[nettiemoore]

Vancouver has quite a few of these restaurants, and they can get pretty crowded I find, especially on the weekends. One of my favourites is Dai Tung which can be found at 108-1050 Kingsway.

[Selegna]

we got a few Sam Woo's shits whatever.. but yea in the LA area monterey park is the place to be for dim sum

[neme216]

for any you who are in the cleveland area, yes cleveland, and are having a dim sum craving stopping over at li wah restaurant is your best bet for a good meal. it's located in "asia plaza" and would be very easy to find driving down payne ave. it is a "cart" dim sum place, so don't expect any bakery shop type deals there. my personal favorites are the shu-mai and the ta zhou bou.

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