If you've never had dim sum, think tapas. Servers are weaving through the restaurant with carts piled high with stacklable steamers that has little plates of food in them that they serve to you inside the bamboo steamer cause the small plates are so hot. These are all one or two biters, so you end up ordering a lot. But unlike tapas, each dim sum dish will run you around $3 as opposed to $10 or more. Dim Sum literally means "pieces of the heart". the bites are smaller, and usually takes more care (from the heart) to make than your standard stirfry. Going here makes me miss Hong Kong, I really need to visit again soon.
Foods tasted - Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gau), Steamed Shu Mai, short ribs, chicken feet, Tripe and brisket, Pan fried chive dumplings, deep fried pork dumplings (ham sui gok), Turnip cake, Congee with "thousand year old" eggs and shredded pork, beef stirfry with broad rice noodles/scallions/bean sprouts.
Thoughts -
Steamed shrimp dumplings - Very good. The shrimp was not rubbery or overcooked.
Steamed Shu Mai - I don't have an English translation for it. But it's another form of dumplings that uses a different type of skin that are openfaced stuffed with pork. Pork is always the main ingredient in shu mai. I've seen other places adding other stuff to it, but the pork is a must. This one was also not overcooked.
Short ribs - Seasoned well. Not too tough.
Chicken feet - I thought they were quite good. Not too salty and not too bland. It's usually cooked in some sort of a red/orange colored concoction because I'm pretty sure no chicken out there have orange feet.
Tripe/Brisket - Tripe is cow stomach. It sounds grosser than it is. If prepared wrong it could be gross, but these were great. It was no Texas brisket but still excellent.
Pan fried chive dumplings - I don't know why I didn't like them when I was little, it's veggies and dough. Maybe it looked gross to me when I was little, but I think it's one of my favorites now along with Shu Mai (my all time favorite).
Deep fried pork dumplings - The skin on these are usually thicker because they get dropped in a deep fryer. They're like the shape of footballs. What you're looking for is the initial crunch when you first bite into one and compare to the more gooey middle. They mke good Ham Sui Gok at the Cantonese House.
Turnip cake - These are just ok. A little on the cold side. Most dim sum spots will have separate carts dedicated to Turnip cakes so they can cook them up in front of you fresh. It's a pan fry dish, so you're really looking for your turnip cake to be a bit caramelized on each size.
Congee with thousand year old eggs and shredded pork - The eggs are NOT a thousand years old. They are, however, treated with some sort of chemical so the whites turn into a black color and slightly jello-y, and the yolk into a blue/green color. I assure you these are perfectly safe to eat. I do not know why these were invented to begin with, but it does add a little something extra to what would be other a plain bowl of overcooked rice drowing in water. This dish (with the eggs and pork and all) is often served when someone's sick, similar to the chicken noodle soup idea. It puts some nutrients in you but doesn't shock the stomach.
Beef stirfry with scallions, sprouts, and broad rice noodles - My dad's favorite. We always get that when we go to dim sum. This dish is purposely made with less sauce so it's drier and slightly easier to eat. The alternate version of the exact same dish has more sauce in it and that's the one my mom likes better. I don't care, I just want good food.
Final thoughts - Yummy In My Tummy? Yes. Will I be back? If I'm ever back to Rochester, maybe. It was good but I'll want to see if there are better ones out there. But it seems like they're doing very well for themselves, that is great to see.
