Houston Dim Sum

[brucesw (Bruce)]

Thanks. I figured getting a table near the kitchen would be a good strategy and I appreciate the other tips.

[Lambowner]

@brucesw

He takes clients and people he just wants to impress to Fung’s and they love the restaurant but he takes friends he wants to share good Chinese food with to Golden.

Fung’s is a zoo on weekends! I was actually there last night having some of their spectacular Peking Duck! It too went fast and I barely got one picture.

[brucesw (Bruce)]

I found this list from Kaitlin Steinberg who had a very short tenure as critic at the Press. She mentions Golden Dim Sum and says the chef came over from Golden Palace and brought his recipes and the crowds with him. Doesn’t give a time-frame for the move, though.

[brucesw (Bruce)]

Attended another dim sum get together today. A few different people in the mix this time, a few different dishes. Same place - Golden Dim Sum. Packed, people standing in the entryway waiting for a table at 11:25. Thankfully some of our group had arrived early and secured a large table. I had every intention of snapping some quick pics with my phone but it was impossible. Food flew off the lazy susan. I never scored any xiu mai. $15 a person this time.

I’m still up for a dim sum Hodown, although not for a couple of weeks, please! I’d like to have the chance to try the offerings at some other places.

Any takers? I think we need a minimum of 4 people.

[PhilD]

Very true, very few dim sum placed use carts in HK it’s now very much the exception and definitely no good places will use a cart.

Interested in the comment about the temperature difference between carts and off the menu ordering. For me it’s a sign of a bad restaurants if the dishes are not freshly cooked to order and served very very quickly…they should be scalding hot when the arrive at the table…too hot to eat.

I do agree baked can be served slightly cooler but pastry should still be crisp but I would have thought good fried dishes need to be served quickly as well as there is nothing worse than a soggy batter.

[DoobieWah (Doo B. Wah)]

I cannot disagree with your conclusions. All too often our trips to Ocean Palace, Golden Palace, Kim Son or Fung’s have been marred by the lack of some dish to which I was particularly looking forward. Generally it was something fried or something pork!

Additionally, all too often we have selected some dish, (fried, pork or otherwise) that suffered from having been trundled around a bit too long. Can’t say I’ve often found the batter soggy, but room temperature is definitely not uncommon. Placing an order and having it delivered fresh from chef resolves those issues, BUT…

That said “for me”, the carts, the anticipation, the straining glances at that which is heading our way is an undeniable prime ingredient for the dim sum experience. In this case, it is NOT just about the food. And without the carts, it’s just another dumpling place.

My $0.02.

让我们吃

[sck]

@sck

Walk straight up to the carts that just come out of the kitchen with your ticket and get your steamers instead of letting them come to you.

@sck

Btw, all of these are culturally acceptable (and normal) so it is not being pushy.

And the way I described walking up to the cart to get dimsum- I think I will get shoved to the side by grannies and grandpas. See here.

[Hong Kong] Dim sum at Lin Heung Teahouse, Wellington Street.

Lin Heung Teahouse is one of those old-school dim sum places where trolley-carts still rule the roost. 90 years old this year, and still outrageously popular. Try to avoid peak breakfast hours (7am-9am) when folks jostle for their food - trolley-carts emerging from the kitchen will be assailed from all sides by seemingly starving and very aggressive diners. [image] Dai bao (“big bun”, with the requisite pork, chicken, scallions, Chinese waxed sausage, hard-boiled egg & other goodies in the fi…

[PhilD]

Although to be fair Lin Heung has pretty average Dim Sum. On my visits I went for the history rather than the food.

[brucesw (Bruce)]

Alice Levitt visited Golden Dim Sum for the Press and filed a positive review.

My group has had one other meeting there but I passed on it.

Levitt also recently reported on another of my favorite places for take-out, the Buddhist grocery store and steam table restaurant San San Tofu on Wilcrest and had good things to say about the vegetarian dim sum.

[DoobieWah (Doo B. Wah)]

As I recall, our own fabulous #Jaymes promised to line up a dim sum expert for a HODown sometime after the second weekend in April. We are now there.

Is this to be the weekend?

[Jaymes]

Unfortunately, my son broke up with his Chinese girlfriend. Drat. She belongs to a big Chinese family and they go to dim sum often. She and my son had said they would be happy to go with us, but now, not so much. She did say that Fung’s Kitchen is their favorite but they usually go to Ocean Palace because it’s a lot cheaper.

[DoobieWah (Doo B. Wah)]

Send her MY number - I’m available!

Oh well, we can still go anyway, right?

And Fung’s is my favorite, but I love Ocean Palace also. My son and I went there at least once a month for years.

And you know…We could do a Dim Sum Crawl and hit a few spots. Straight down Bellaire…

[DoobieWah (Doo B. Wah)]

Also, has anyone else ever done the Kim Son hot pot buffet on the weekends? The one we went to is upstairs just a block east of Ocean Palace,. They have two big rooms - dim sum on one side and hot pot on t’other.

Pretty cool setup.

[Jaymes]

Doobs - set it up. I’m there. Just not 1st two weeks of May. I’m going to SFO Bay area to see my son & his family.