My friend Connie and I went to Get Sum Dim Sum tonight for dinner! I know what you’re thinking (if you’re Chinese/Asian), dim sum on a weeknight? Whaaaat??? I know it’s tradition to have dim sum on Saturday and Sunday for brunch but didn’t you ever want dim sum whenever you wanted it? And now you can, at that place!

I know they’re trying to be all contemporary and everything with the design but Connie and I both agreed that lime green and magenta do not go well together… The restaurant is still new so it looks clean… Anyway, the food: I give it a B. We ordered:

• 1 har gao $3 (three pieces)
• 1 veggie dumpling $2.50 (three pieces)
• 1 pork sui mai $2.50 (three pieces)
• 1 Chinese broccoli $3.95 (small serving)
• 1 turnip cake $2.50 (three pieces)
• 2 shrimp chang fen $3.95 each (three pieces each)
• 1 chicken with glutinous rice $3.95 (one wrapping)

The har gao (shrimp dumpling) was okay… it wasn’t the best.

Do not get the veggie dumpling – it was not made traditionally and it had cilantro in it, which was not mentioned in the ingredients!

The pork sui mai was very meaty but it tasted production-line bought.

There was not enough oyster sauce on the Chinese broccoli.

The turnip cake was average.

The shrimp chang fen was the best, I think. Our first order was cold so it didn’t taste that great but our second one was hot and it was smashingly good!

The chicken with glutinous rice was average.

The good thing about Get Sum Dim Sum is that it’s available seven days a week and you can get it to-go!

My favorite dim sum place in Austin is still Chinatown Restaurant (Saturday and Sundays only for dim sum).

We’ve been in the lookout for a dim sum place here in Joburg ever since I arrived last year. Coming from a country with century-old ties with the Chinese merchants and traders, we’ve got amazing Chinese cuisine easily available almost everywhere.

I’ve tried the many takeaways and several restaurants supposedly serving authentic Chinese food, whether Cantonese, Mandarin or Taiwanese, but I haven’t really found that one place where I’ve wanted to come back again and again, even for the dim sum alone if not for the regular fare.

In my country, when you go to a Chinese restaurant, especially those located in Chinatown, dim sum are served in a cart or trolley. The food attendant would deftly push around the cart-full of steaming dim sum and patrons would just pick and eat, absolutely no waiting time unless what you want is not in the cart.

One Sunday afternoon, my craving for dim sum became unbearable that we decided to drive to Cyrildene and hunt down the few dim sum places mentioned in some online food reviews. The one beside the Chinese bakery was our first stop.

Disappointing, as they only have two types of dumplings: one fried and one steamed. We decided to try both. Bad judgment as it was the same pork dumpling cooked fried and the other one steamed. Worse is that it’s the kind that you can easily buy ready-made. Now we have 12 pieces to finish between us. I think the heavens sympathised with our plight that day as the rain poured heavily while we lament our tasteless and oily fare.

Not easily beaten by such ill luck, we crossed the road and went inside Happy Man restaurant. I took one glance at the menu and confirmed what I’ve been dreading, they don’t serve dim sum. How can Chinese restaurants not serve decent dim sum? This is worse than global climate change.

We’ve taken a vow to continue searching for acceptable Chinese restaurants serving good dim sum and I’ve come across a review on Lai lai Garden. Now, we’ve been trying different dishes from this restaurant for some time now and couldn’t say e’re blown away by their fare. I’d normally have prawn har gau (steamed prawn dumpling) and on average, they’re decent. Sometimes they’d overcook them and would turn out soggy, but most of the time they get it right and we’re in har gau heaven.

We went there last Sunday to try out their yum cha menu. I’ve read from the review that they only serve this on weekends. Upon arrival at Thrupps center, we saw a bus-load of Chinese people trooping to, where else, Lai lai! Can’t bear to get turned away because the restaurant is full as my appetite is quite worked up, we ran a la amazing race only to find out that of course they have that two-seater table where we always sat.

The service was a different story. There were probably 60-70 people at that time including the Chinese tourists. There was also a couple sitting nearby our table and they were already eating by the time we sat down. We waited for 20 minutes to be given the menu and asked for drinks. I immediately asked for the yum cha menu. I think we’ve ticked off most of the dim sum listed, we’ve ordered: 2 prawn har gau, pork siu mai, pork won ton soup, egg tart, lo hon vegetable, two steamed chicken feet in spicy black bean sauce, and fried rice. Waited for another 15-20 minutes for the first batch of dim sum to arrive. Meanwhile the other couple seems to be getting listless as it turned out that their main meal hasn’t arrived. Two food attendants apologised for their food being late (they ordered seat meals) while the tourists who certainly arrived later than the couple, were already eating. They waited for another 10 minutes until they decided to get up and pay at the counter. We both think they were very polite compared to us who were quite pushy from the time we arrived. We surmised that perhaps it was their first date and both wanted to put their best foot forward. First date on a Chinese restaurant? On a Sunday? Definitely a no-no. Especially if you plan to eat chicken feet

Am I not glad that I’m already married to the man sitting across me while I enjoy my chicken feet? Sure!
Poor guy, it takes some skill to eat this fare really and guts of course. But once you get over the initial squeamishness, it’s really delicious. Well, the fetal duck embryo which is a delicacy in my country is another story of course. Happy eating!

Sorry for not uploading any new content recently, but we’ve been super busy at Tapenade.  Lots of Christmas parties and tis the season to be busy.  “Sales Mix” has been cracking the proverbial whip and the boys in the kitchen and I have been “sweating to the oldies” all week-long.   December is a non-stop onslaught and it’s go-go-go time, all the time.

There’s a Chinese restaurant about 8.5 minutes from my house called Yan’s Garden[ 9948 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby, (604) 421-8823].  We stumbled upon this restaurant a couple of years ago when one of “Monk’s” sisters, who lives in the hood, took us there for lunch.  Last Monday, “Jazzy”, “Monk” and I were in the hybrid(with its new gangster winter wheels) on our way to find some vittles, when I had this urge to have some dim sum.  We rarely go out for Chinese food, but on occasion I have a deep hankering for dim sum.  So instead of jumping on the highway, I called an audible, made a right turn and off to lunch we went. 

Some assorted dumplings!

Yan’s Garden is a standard looking Chinese restaurant, stuck in an L-shaped strip mall.  Tucked in beside a seedy looking tanning salon, it reminds me of the adage of not to judge a book by its cover.   In the past, we’ve eaten there a few times and we even threw ”Jazzy’s” coming out banquet at this restaurant.  When we arrived, we were sat quickly, hot jasmine tea was served and the food started arriving like wildfire.  Over lunch, we sampled quite a few different items.  If memory serves me, 4 kinds of dumplings, braised duck feet, dry fried glutinous rice, fried salt water pastry, a warm tofu dessert and a baked tapioca pudding.  The food was good, everything was tasty, fresh, reasonably priced and it satisfied my dim sum cravings.   My only complaint is dim sum is more enjoyable with 4 people, that way you get to try more dishes.  I must admit I’m rather spoiled, I’ve tasted some high-end, “fancy schmancy” dim sum in my day, thus I find myself continually searching for those perfect textures, tastes and techniques only found with dim sum crafted by true master chefs. 

Sticky Rice.. One of my favorites.

While we were eating, we were recognized by the manager and he greeted us warmly.  It’s always nice to be greeted personally and addressed by name at a restaurant you patronize often and as a guest it makes you feel welcome and special.  At Tapenade, it’s one of our core service ideals and “Sales Mix” pushes the front of the house staff to make those connections with our guests on a daily basis.    When I occasionally leave the kitchen dungeon and wander into the dining room, I try my best to greet and thank our regular guests personally.

Baked Tapioca Pudding

It was a nice leisurely lunch; a good opportunity for “Monk” and I to catch up on simpler times.  Overall the food at Yan’s Garden is very satisfactory, but unfortunately the food lacks wow factor.   In their defense, I will say that at “Jazzy’s” banquet, the roasted squab and lobster courses were delicious and they wowed me and “Godfather” considerably.  Issues and concerns; the servers are too pushy with the food, continually asking if we want dishes that we’ve already declined or already ordered on numerous occasion and the decor of the restaurant is definitely a little worn and dated.  Overall the service is very attentive and congenial and we look forward to visiting again sometime in the new year.

On my chef’s night out scale, Yan’s Garden receives 3/5  SOB (slices of bacon).

Having decided on Dim Sum for the weekly Friday lunch, it was just a matter of where in Burnaby to go. One place we hadn’t yet tried is Po King on Kingsway. I’ve been a tad reticent due to numerous negative reviews on Dinehere and from fellow bloggers. From what I’ve seen, the place is packed every day…how bad could it be? Tales of pushy cart ladies, chaotic service and indifferent management only added to the intrigue.

Po King is a huge room. It fills up extremely fast so it’s best to get there by at least 11:30 for the lunch service. I was fortunate enough to grab a table by the windows. It makes for some really good photos.

Cha Shao Su (BBQ Pork in puff pastry). Sweet and savory pork in hoisin and oyster sauce encased in an extremely flaky pastry.

Gau Choi Gau (Shrimp and chive dumplings). These were my personal favorite of the day. Large shrimp and garlic chives in a thin wrap, a crunchy sear on one side, soft on the other. Really well made.

Wu Gok (Deep-fried taro balls). These are a must have on any Dim Sum table. A savory pork and mushroom filling wrapped in a taro pastry shell. When served piping hot, these are amazing. Unfortunately, after being rolled around on a cart, they lost their crunch.

Sui Mai (Pork and Mushroom dumplings). Ground pork, black mushroom and bamboo shoots, mixed, seasoned with sesame oil, rice wine and white pepper, wrapped and steamed. These had just enough pork fat to keep them moist and juicy. Well-made.

Cheong Fun (Rice rolls with beef). Wide, flat rice noodles wrapped around tender beef bits slathered in sweet soy.

Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns).

Rice Rolls in Soy Sauce. A simple and tasty dish of rice noodles smothered in sweet soy, garlic, scallions and sprouts.

Dessert consisted of Lai Wong Bao (Steamed Custard Buns) and Ma Tei Gow (Water Chestnut Cake). The custard buns were fairly standard…a nice, creamy filling but a little too doughy for my taste. The Water Chestnut Cake, on the other hand, was quite unique. I’m not big on gelatinous food of any nature. After a bit of hesitation I took a bite and was surprised by the delicious combination of firm gelatin and crunchy chestnuts. Like most Chinese desserts, not too sweet. A perfect ending to a fine meal.

Actually, I am a little bummed out…I never got to experience surliness of any kind. Aside from some food cart gridlock everything went quite smoothly considering how busy it was. In fact, the servers and management were exceptionally helpful and polite. Po King is definitely going on the Friday Lunch roster.

Sadly, my dim sum days are over. If we were living a Monty Python skit, the waiter would offer the day’s menu:

“We have gluten dumplings, gluten balls, gluten pancakes, glutinous gluten, wheat gluten, gluten hash, gluten sauce…”

“Have you got anything besides gluten?”

“Well, we have gluten buns, gluten blobs, gluten on gluten, soft tofu, gluten soup…”

What was that!? Soft tofu? Shyeaaah! This, peops, is the only dish remaining on the dim sum raster that we can eat. But it’s so damn good, it’s almost worth watching friends mow their glutenfest while you wait for the giant vat of tofu goodness to make its rounds. Here’s my take on the recipe so you can enjoy it at home, at will, glutenfest-free.

Naturally Gluten-Free: Warm Silken Tofu in Sweet Ginger Water

Silken Tofu in a Sweet Ginger Syrup

• 1 package silken tofu
• 2 c water
• 2-4 T honey
• 1 T fresh grated ginger

Pour water and honey into a small pan and heat over medium heat until honey dissolves. Empty contents of one silken tofu package into the pan. Grate ginger* and simmer on medium-low for 15ish minutes. When tofu is heated through, spoon out some tofu and pour enough syrup (like most Chinese desserts, this is no where near as sweet as what we think of as dessert, so it’s less syrupy, more watery) over the tofu to almost cover it. Serve warm. Have a little joygasm.

Now if I could only find a recipe for making homemade silken tofu, this would be insan-yah-good.

*do you know this trick? Wash your ginger root well (peel if you like, but I don’t bother) and stick it in a ziploc baggie in the freezer. When you need fresh ginger for a recipe, just pull it out of the freezer and grate it with a Microplane grater  – no need to defrost. You have fresh ginger at your fingertips whenever you want it, rather than letting it wilt and die in the fridge between gingery recipes… Niiiize.

whenever i go to london, i find myself eating a lot of asian food (hakkasan, bar shu, pathara thai, chachamoon, four seasons). it’s been my working hypothesis that asian food is prepared with a lot more care and dignity in london than new york city.  most recently, my mom visited london with me, and to test out my hypothesis, i dragged her to some of my favorite asian restaurants in london.  she concurred with my general hypothesis. in particular, she absolutely raved about yauatcha.  being someone who generally esteems “value” above all other things, i was rather surprised that she loved yauatcha.  at around £4-£10 for a small plate of dim sum, my mom remarked that the prices at yauatcha were on average 5x the typical chinatown dim sum menu item.  there is, however, no comparison between the two in terms of quality, creativity and ambiance — and even she walked away from lunch thinking that the dim sum was something really special and well worth the price.

we ordered a smattering from the extensive dim sum menu. from those,  our favorites were the winter melon dumplings shaped into carrots  and the shrimp toast (top 2 pictures).

as a side note, yauatcha used to feature a pastry counter filled with amazing petit fours and exotic macaron flavors.  during my latest visit, the pastry counter seems to have been converted into a tea utensil and chocolate shoppe.  i asked the hostess about this and she didn’t really provide a reason for the conversion.  she did say that the desserts are still available to be ordered from the menu.  assuming that the quality of the desserts is still consistent, the dessert menu is worth a gander as well.  there’s a mango pudding i tasted on a prior visit, which is really quite well executed.

Yauatcha
15-17 Broadwick Street
Soho, London, W1F 0DL
Tel: 020 7494 8888
email: reservations@yauatcha.com
Mon – Sat: 12pm – 11.45pm
Sun: 12pm – 10.30pm

November 24th, 2009

We didn’t have any date night last week because Prisci had to go for a business trip that week. Since we’re going to go to LA this Wednesday (the 25th), we had to move our date to Tuesday and this time we had it during lunch time. For today’s date, we chose Grand Palace Restaurant in South San Francisco because of the close proximity to Prisci’s workplace.

Grand Palace was not new to us since we ate there several times before, but I still wanted to write about it because it was one of our date so we can remember about it, and it had some good food that we would like to share. This was a Chinese restaurant that served Dim Sum during lunch time. We ordered some Dim Sum plates and an extra order of E-fu noodle with dried scallop.

The E-fu noodle (or also called Yi-mien 伊麵) was a flat egg noodle made with wheat flour. It was cooked with mushroom and dried scallop. There were several other choices for the E-fu noodle. One of the choices that we liked was the one with lobster cooked in ginger and onion style. Since we’ve tried it several times, we opted for a different variety, which was the combination with dried scallop and mushroom. As we’ve experienced before, they gave us lots of noodle so that we had to bring some left over home. The noodle was soft and tasty, just as we expected, however the dried scallop taste was a little bit over powered by the mushroom. Maybe it needed a lot more dried scallop to really satisfy my taste buds. I personally liked the lobster version better because the ginger and onion had a stronger taste.

Besides the noodle, we also ordered several dishes of Dim Sum plates. The usual plates that we ordered were 燒賣 (Siu Mai), 蝦餃 (Har Gau), 腸粉 (Cheong Fun), 鳳爪 (Fung Zao), 鮮竹捲 (Sin Jyut Gyun), and close with a 豆腐花 (Dou Fu Fa). The marinated chicken feet (Fung Zao) was one of the best ones in Bay Area in my opinion (the other one was from Dynasty Seafood). We ordered a special rice noodle rolls (Cheong Fun) which came with variety ingredients, including enoki mushroom and BBQ pork (not just a typical shrimp or beef Cheong Fun). One special dessert that I liked which you can not find anywhere else was the Durian Puff cake. The skin was crispy with real durian fruit inside. When you bite it, you can taste the durian meat while smell its aroma.

Even though this was not a new place for us, but it certainly was a nice date. We came out satisfied with our stomach full of good and tasty food.

Stefanus

 Why does a resturant change nothing but its name? Singapore Sam’s on the NE was a well known dim sum resturant. It’s now called Pearl Garden. Same location, sign, staff and decor. When we asked about why the name change. We were told that it’s because there’s a Singpore Sam’s downtown. This fact hasn’t bothered them for over 10 years so why now? This place does the basics well. You know… Hai Gow, Sui Mai, Scallop shrimp dumplings, Cha Siu Cheung. The sticky rice … 2 little ones… is not too bad… a little skimpy but I’ve seen worse. We never see the real fancy dim sum. The dishes are priced around $4 to $4.60. It’s been pretty good so far. Don’t expect friendly service. A waiter yelled at me to get out of way when I was trying to get a spoon for my child.

I will admit that I have been giving pretty bad reviews on restaurants in Miami. Hakkasan (4441 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL) completely changed my mind. To top off the last comment, the restaurant is fusionesque Chinese food.

The original Michelin starred Hakkasan is located on the other side of pond in the West End of London. This Hakkasan was recently opened in June of 2009. Located in the infamous Fountainbleau, one must take an elevator up to the fourth floor, where they are greeted by an amazing, seductively lighted ambient dining area.

Our dinner started off with 3 amazing appetizers; the Dim Sum platter ($24), the Crispy Duck salad ($22), and the Roasted mango duck with lemon sauce ($18). The Dim Sum platter came with four duos of shumai; scallop dumpling, shrimp with minced vegetables, shrimp with chives, and a vegetable shumai. The platter was superbly cooked, not too dry or undercooked. The Crispy Duck salad came on a bed of frisee accompanied with a crab cake like amount of pulled duck. The combination of the two needed no sort of dressing and tasted perfectly when eaten together. The Roasted mango duck with lemon sauce came in alternating slices of mango and duck surrounded by a light lemon sauce. The duck was seasoned well, the mango was fresh, and the lemon sauce ‘hit the spot’ and brought out the richness of the duck.

Our main entrees came soon after; the Stir Fry XO prawn with pineapple ($30), stir fry scallop with lilly bulb and yellow chive ($36) and black pepper rib-eye beef ($38). The Stir Fry XO prawn with pineapple came with a hollowed out slice pineapple and the prawns were inserted within the hollowed area. The presentation was spectacular as was the flavor. The stir fry scallop with lilly bulb and yellow chives came with a similar sauce to the prawns, however instead of the prawns, it came with scallops the size of an Olympic medal. The black pepper rib-eye beef came with a succulent sauce placed in the ‘bird’s nest’. The beef was superbly tender and complemented well with the wine we ordered.

The food was excellent and I was highly surprised when my friend invited me to go to the restaurant. Although most likely not Michelin starred, it will probably be one of the closest things to a Michelin-starred restaurant.

as usual, we headed to las vegas for thanksgiving with the family. aunty and uncle couldn’t join us this year since they are saving their time for what i understand is for their trip to europe next year. i hope they along with rie’s parents can join us next year!

drew, mom, dad, rie and i met up on wednesday and spent time together until sunday. the weekend was of course filled with turkey, dim sum, craps, blackjack and wine. oh and a lot of sleep too!

rie, drew and dad in full wide capture!

neither dad or i fared well in the gambling category. two NFL bets for losses. the first having the giants lose to denver. the second where matt ryan’s toe pulls him out of the game to break our four parlay teaser bet. at both blackjack and craps, the cards and dice fell unkindly. on the flip side, rie and mom did well on the blackjack tables. especially with rie’s ‘beginner luck’ status, she made around $75. not to shabby for only learning how to play a few days ago!

but of course the weekend never falls short for the pleasure of feeding our stomachs. dim sum and wine. turkey and wine. sushi and beer. pizza and wine. we live to eat…no eating to live in this family!

turkey, rice, stuffing, potato/mac salad, caesar salad, tri-tip, etc.

rie, mom and dad

and so here i am laying in bed writing this entry putting the weekend to a close. mom, dad and rie are still in las vegas enjoying the sights, the thrill of gambling and planning to visit just yet another restaurant to fill their stomachs. mom and dad will leave on tuesday and rie will be there for the rest of the week for a work conference.

i hope you all enjoyed the thanksgiving weekend as much as we did!

On Friday I went for lunch with several co-workers, and decided to go to a place nearby the office that we hadn’t been to for awhile – Azia – in the Scotiabank Theatre building in downtown Vancouver. I have been a few times now, for both lunches and dinners, and have found that the food is fairly good, but it does depend on what type of dishes you’re ordering.  So today, I’ll run through a variety of what there is to offer so you can decide for yourself if you choose to go there to dine before a movie, or just check it out for a random meal.

At lunchtime, there is a lunch specials menu available which has quite a large selection of items that you can pick, all of which are served with a couple of sides (I believe it was spring rolls and / or perhaps a soup of some type). Unfortunately, I can’t find this anywhere in the lunch section of the current website, and I can’t quite recall the exact options since none of us ordered from this part of the menu (sorry, I may have lost a few brain cells after my company holiday party on Friday night).

I’m lucky to have a lot of co-workers and friends who also enjoy trying a variety of dishes (and are also super patient with my newfound picture taking before eating), so I managed to try quite a few different things.  Our order included the Peking Duck Spring Rolls, the Singapore Laksa, and the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, none of which I’ve had before at this place.

Peking Duck Rolls – These spring rolls were served with hoi sin sauce on the side, and were a bit on the greasy side (a bit of a hazard of eating deep fried fare, but I’ve definitely had other spring rolls that didn’t seem to soak up quite so much oil in the cooking process). I’m also not a big fan of hoi sin sauce, since I find that it can be quite overpowering to the food you’re eating it with, and would’ve been happier with a lighter sweet chilli or plum-type sauce. As a result, I opted out of dipping this at all after the first bite, but still thought they were nothing special (my mother makes the meanest spring rolls you would probably ever taste, so I do feel kind of sorry for any others that I’ve tried).

Singapore Laksa – This spicy curry-based soup was filled with vermicelli noodles, cucumber (a bit soggy), a variety of seafood (some type of white fish and shrimp), tofu, and a hard-boiled egg (always tasty). Compared to others I have had, I found that the broth was not quite thick and rich enough (maybe some coconut milk would help it out?), and had a slightly different taste than I was used to – although I still can’t quite put my finger on why.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps – I found these to be my favourite dish of the day.  Again, these were served with hoi sin sauce on the side to put into the wraps, but after trying it in one, I opted out for the rest.  The chicken and veggie mixture already had enough flavour in it to skip the sauce (I’m not a huge fan of ‘over-saucing’ any food). Besides the fact that the chicken actually looked and tasted a bit like pork (which I still enjoy), the wraps were nice and light and fresh.

There were a variety of other dishes on our table, and the other one I tried was the Beef and Black Bean Sauce Chow Mein.  What I enjoyed about this was there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of black bean sauce over the dish, so you got to enjoy a bit of a different texture as there was still some crunch to some of the chow mein noodles.

Others ordered the Wonton Soup (he gets it every time he goes, so there must be something to it), the Beef Fried Rice Noodles in X.O. Sauce (she ate the whole thing and said she enjoyed it), and the Singapore Noodles (no comment on that one). Although I didn’t try these three items, I thought I’d include the extra pics for your viewing pleasure anyway.

Beef Fried Rice Noodles in X.O. Sauce

Wonton Soup

Singapore Noodles

In the past, other dishes that I’ve tried and enjoyed were the Roti Canai, which is Malaysian bread that comes with a curry sauce to dip it in, and a variety of Japanese and sushi dishes (namely the Ebi Chili Mayo).  I would have to say the Japanese food at Azia is what I’ve liked the most, although I’ve tried other better options in town (see my recent post about Juno).

All in all, this restaurant will provide a wide range of variety in terms of Asian food if you’re feeling indecisive or just want to try many things at once.  The prices of the food seem a bit high overall for the quality that you’re getting, but it gives you a chance to try something a bit different if you’re in the area.

Azia Restaurant & Sushi Bar
990 Smithe Street
Vancouver, BC
604.682.8622

View Map

Have you been dying to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant but feel that it’s out of your price range? Worry no more. A small “hole-in-the-wall” named Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong has been awarded it’s first Michelin star. They serve rice, noodles, dim sum, steamed dumplings, pork buns and other typical Southern Chinese cuisine.

The restaurant was opened by Mak Pui Gor, who was previously the dim sum chef at the three Michelin-starred restaurant Lung King Heen in the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.

The most expensive dish on the menu, a noodle dish, will run you about $5. An entire meal for two can be had for under $10. Because of it’s accolades and the fact that the dim sum is made-to-order, the wait can be upwards of an hour so be prepared to wait (one person decided to eat his ticket rather than wait).

Now the only problem is getting there. Tack on $1000 (which isn’t too bad) for your flight from JFK International to Hong Kong International and you’re still in the price range of some dinners at a few other Michelin rated restaurants.

Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Expert (添好運點心專門店)
Address: G/F, Phase 2, Tsui Yuen Mansion, 2-20 Kwong Wa St, Mong Kok
(take exit A2 of Yau Ma Tei MRT station, its directly opposite Paradise Parade)
Phone: 2332 2896
Hours: Daily 10am-11pm

Tim Ho Wan (via Chikawatanabe)

Dim Sum (via Chikawantanbe)

Golden House is a pleasant surprise. It is a restaurant so completely under the radar that I couldn’t find a single review anywhere on the net. Luckily, it’s a favorite of a friend. He gathered together a bunch of good folk for a dim sum feast this past weekend.

In many dim sum restaurants, especially the larger ones, servers roll carts of various steamed items around and the guests select preferred items. Smaller venues, such as Golden House, offer a checklist where you can pick from many different items as well as quantity. Before I arrived, buddy was kind enough to order what seemed like two of everything! It wasn’t quite everything but it was quite an array of deliciousness.

First to hit the table was the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves. Savory glutinous rice with pork and mushroom.

The Deep Fried Squid Feelers had the requisite crunch but were a tad overdone. It’s damn tricky getting the crispness along with the tenderness. It can be especially difficult when you’re dealing with the narrow tentacles.

At Golden House these are called Phoenix Claws…a very unique euphemism for chicken feet. Now, understand…I like me some chicken. I love damn near any version of wing, thigh, rib, leg and breast you’ve got. I see no reason to eat the feet…especially ones this big. These were like size 11. Big, floppy NBA-sized feet.  There’s nothing there but fat, skin and gelatinous goo. Nevertheless, I had to give it a go.  I got me a mouthful of garlicky fat, skin and gelatinous goo. I discreetly wrapped the remaining foot in a napkin for a hopefully prompt disposal.

Oxtail Hot Pot with Rice Rolls. The big, tender chunks of meat were quickly swooped upon leaving some exceptionally tasty rice rolls.

Sui Mai (pork dumpling), Har Gow (shrimp dumpling), Xiǎolóngbāo (soup dumpling) and Pork Knuckles.

All told, a pretty good feast. A touch heavy for Sunday brunch (may require extended couch time) but nonetheless, good dim sum.

What a Thanksgiving day! Dim sum, Ninja Assassin, throwing up (the not so fun part…), raspberry cheesecake and being with the person I’m in absolute love with.

This is the first time I’ve spend Thanksgiving away from my family, but I’m glad it turned out the way it did. I was supposed to spend Thanksgiving with Chris and his extended family. But since his parents suffered from H1N1 and Chris had H1N1 last week, they decided not to go. I was supposed to go with Veronica, but it turns out, Chris was feeling well enough to come here instead. (His parents told him not to go to the family party, because if someone got sick, they’d be the one to blame…). So what did we do? We stuffed our faces with yummy food, watched an awesome movie, and lounged around in bed. (I think for the first time I ate myself to sick or I got mild food poisoning…Whatever I ate was not sitting well in my stomach…)

So my first time away from my family? I feel a little guilty about it, especially because my dad is away on business in Taiwan and China. But since I worked the day before and I have to work tomorrow and Saturday, my mom and I decided that I should just stay here.

Oh, and I have the best boyfriend in the world. He got my Christmas gift early – a digital camera! And we also went to eat some Dim Sum, watch Ninja Assassin (which was an awesome action movie, by the way), and we drank Icees. But that’s not the part that makes him so amazing. He thinks that I’m beautiful and sexy, and that he’s not afraid to tell me that he loves me. He kisses me and doesn’t think it’s weird that I need to throw up when I’m feeling sick (that…is another story. My ex-boyfriend thought it was unnatural and disgusting when I threw up when I was sick. He said it must be because I have an eating-disorder…but that’s not the point.), and he loves to spend all day lounging in bed and kissing me. He makes me feel alive and beautiful and vibrant. The best part is, I love how I can be myself around him, and he loves every bit of me. He loves me. He is my world. I thought I knew what love was, but I was wrong. I am so fortunate to have found him. He has taught me what love is, and if this is what it is, boy I could get used to it.

It’s only been a little over two months, but I felt like I’ve known him for a very long time. Normally, my gut instinct would tell me to run, but there’s something about him that makes me stay, and to let go of all of my inhibitions. This time, my gut instinct telling me stay was the right thing to do. I’ve tumbled into love and everything feels so right. I’m finally to a point in my life where everything is falling into place nicely. And all of this, being in love, being with the person I’m meant to be, has made all the heartbreaks and tears worth it.

There are so many things I am so thankful for in my life. My family, my friends, an incredibly sexy boyfriend, my kitty, my job, my boss.

My boss is an amazing woman. I am so lucky to be working a job that I love and, what’s even rarer, with a boss that I adore. Especially at this time when the economy is in the shits and especially, at my age – not very many people my age, who have just graduated college, have a job they love. She is an incredibly strong, artistic, talented woman and she treats everyone with the same respect she would want for herself.

I feel a lot better than when I did earlier this evening. And I looked around and my room is a mess. I think a little cleaning is in order here. If not tonight, then at least tomorrow.

So tomorrow’s agenda?

Doctor’s (just to be safe, I’m going to see if I have H1N1. I’m saying I’m NOT sick, but my body could be telling me otherwise…), working out, work, and a girls’ night in with just me, my kitty and Taylor Swift.

Oh, and did I tell you that one of my voice students wants to sing Miley Cyrus’ Party in the U.S.A.? I think I’ll pass but I have to listen to it.

Picture of the day:

♥ Thanksgiving Dim Sum – 11.26.09 ♥

P.S. It’s the season for Pumpkin Scones, Peppermint Mochas, fireplaces and cuddling! ♥ I’m excited!!!!

Of all of the great food I love eating in Taiwan, dim sum is definitely at the top of my list. We have a favorite restaurant that takes reservations, which is a must considering that our group can be as large as 16. This time, we only had 6, but we still had a great time. My mom is an expert at ordering dim sum — she knows exactly how to maximize diversity of dishes without being excessive. If I inherit anything from her (besides great skin), I hope it’s this useful talent.

Here’s the gallery of our dim sum meal. As today is Thanksgiving, I dedicate this post to my family. Not only are they really supportive and fun (see above), but they were also super enthusiastic at helping me with my food blog. They were ever so patient with letting me take photos of everything before eating, and even going the extra step as my food stylists and models. Thanks family! xoxo

Wat me al na een paar dagen opviel in Beijing, was het feit dat er maar heel weinig dikke Chinezen rondlopen. Zowel man als vrouw heeft een rank, slank postuur. Het klinkt misschien niet erg aannemelijk, maar waarschijnlijk zit dat ‘m in het feit dat deze mensen drie keer per dag warm eten…

 Met verbazing keek ik elke morgen tijdens het ontbijtbuffet naar hun bordjes, vol geschept met rijst, kip met nootjes en Dim Sum. Ik begreep pas het effect van deze levensstijl op het moment dat ik het zelf probeerde. Met stokjes uiteraard. Voor de verandering ontbeet ik –om zeven uur ’s morgens- met noodles, rijst en kip. Hoewel we ’s middags pas om een uur of twee weer wat te eten kregen, heb ik de hele dag geen honger gehad. En dat terwijl we de hele dag liepen. Omdat mijn ontbijt in Chinese stijl zo ontzettend voedzaam en licht verteerbaar was, had mijn lichaam genoeg energie om de hele dag door te kunnen gaan. Er is geen Sultana of ander tussendoortje aan te pas gekomen.

Goederenlift…
Na zoveel vitaal ogende Chinezen te hebben gezien, werden mijn ogen groot van verbazing bij het zien van de Chinese kinderen. ’S Avonds arriveerde een groep Chinezen, families met kinderen. De jongste jongens, allemaal rond een jaar of tien, konden bijna met de bagage mee de goederenlift in. Tonnetje rond. Kleine Keizers worden ze genoemd, deze jongens uit een gezin met maar één kind.

Dim Sum

Verwend
Het krijgen van een jongen is in China nog steeds waardevoller dan het krijgen van een meisje. Het staat nog steeds in de wet dat een Chinees echtpaar maar één kind mag krijgen. Wanneer dit dan een jongen is, voelen pap en mam zich extra gelukkig geprezen. Het resultaat hiervan is dat de kleine jongetjes uit deze ‘eenkindpolitiek’ tot op het bot worden verwend. Ze worden volgestopt met zoveel lekkers als ze maar op kunnen. Het liefst zo veel en zo zoet mogelijk.

Fat Camp
Een school in Beijing organiseert tegenwoordige zomerkampen, de zogenaamde Fat Camps. Hier krijgen de volgevreten suikerhartjes dagelijks een stevige work-out en leren over hoe je gezond kunt leven. In dit filmpje is direct te zien dat de kinderen met overgewicht in dit kamp voornamelijk jongens zijn.

Ik ben heel benieuwd wat ik aantref als ik over een jaar of twintig terugkeer naar Beijing, als de kleine keizers volwassen mannen zijn geworden. Wordt het straatbeeld dan overheerst door sumoworstelaars in plaats van de ranke, slanke Chinees van nu?