Yank Sing Revisited

Here's a fresh take on Yank Sing by Miriam Hosseini.   Net -- great food, costs a lot. But, golly, there's a reason this place is packed (still) after many, many years. Maybe next Father's Day.  After our little trip to Jan's Chinese (see prior post), my son suggested we make it a Father's Day staple and call it 'dad-sum'.  Now, that's a family tradition I can digest.

Jan's Coming of Age

Father's Day at Jan's Chinese in Cincinnati today with friends from DC.  Since my last visit in December, Jan's has expanded its decor and its menu, and has added wait staff that makes for a more pleasant experience. Today, it's the best choice for dim sum in the city. The variety is reasonable, food is well prepared and the staff is helpful in ordering from the cart or menu.  Give it a try!

Dim Summers

A colleague visited today from New York -- and praised the virtues of dinner the previous evening at a local Greek restaurant -- Andy's Mediterranean Grille -- in Clifton near the University of Cincinnati.  (You have to love any restaurant whose url is andyskabob.) In a city virtually vacant of dim sum options, good Greek restaurants are close behind. She seemed to think, however, that even the humus was so good that some may not get the entrees. I guess I'll have to go Greek. (Perhaps I could wrap a kabob in a dumpling.)

Trucking in LA

Finally, dim sum comes to you.  A new truck's rolling tomorrow morning in LA -- the dim sum truck. According to the post at Joshua Lurie's Food GPS:

“I want to make dim sum more accessible to everyone in LA.,” says Chu. “Distance has always been one thing that’s kept me from enjoying dim sum as often as I’d like, since I live by the Westside and really good dim sum is only in the San Gabriel Valley. If my truck can reach from the Valley to Silver Lake to Venice, everyone can enjoy my traditional and fusion style dim sum items whenever it’s near.”

Chu hired a team of cooks to make dim sum fresh each morning, including pork and shrimp shu mai, shrimp har gow, pan fried pork spare rib buns, baked BBQ pork buns, egg tarts and lotus sesame balls.

I'll be in LA next month -- and will hunt down the truck if it can't find me.  

Hungry in Honolulu

If you see four ladies from Ottoville, Ohio, wandering around Honolulu this week, point them in the direction of the Empress, which occupies space in Chinatown's Cultural Center. They may not know they want dim sum, but once they're there, they will head home happier and certainly more well-rounded than when they left. Master chef Titus Chan, here with lobster over yi mein, will see to it. (Photo by Nadine Kam/Star bulletin.)

I took a peek at Honolulu because my mom's in Hawaii for 10 days with three friends, escaping the Midwestern gray and cold for sun, surf and sum dim sum.  Sitting here in 14 inches of snow, it seems like they made a good decision. Not to mention Chinese New Year is upon us, it's time to dumpling up, ladies.  And, believe it or not, the more time you're there the more Tsing Tao tastes like Bud Light.

Ping Pong = Dim Sum DC

Great review on a new entry in the Washington DC area -- Ping Pong Dim Sum. This London-based chain has begun to acquire a strong following.  Will be in DC soon -- and am looking forward to giving it a try. Have you been?

Cleveland Cares for Dim Sum

Yes, dim sum lives in Cleveland and there are a few places serving it in the traditional style.  And, doing it quite well.  Check out this article in the Plain Dealer.  Top of the list is Li Wah (pictured here), which is located just east of downtown in a small block that caters to the Chinese community.  Have you been there?

Stranded in Sarasota

WANTED: Dim Sum in Sarasota.

Okay -- call me crazy. I thought it would be a wonderful treat to have dim sum on New Year's morning -- in Sarasota/Bradenton, Florida.  We love that area, even though the Cincinnati Reds have hightailed it for Arizona beginning this spring.

There were no listings for dim sum, so I started dialing Chinese restaurants in the area.  After speaking with 16 different establishments (I wanted it bad), no one served nor had heard of anyone serving dim sum.  Some weren't even familiar with dim sum!  Finally (and this is cool), one called me back and suggested we check in with Lucky Star in Bradenton.

The people at  Lucky Star  were great.  They didn't serve by cart -- but off a special dim sum menu on weekends and holidays.  This is a typical strip mall store front, but reasonably done with a comfortable, clean and nice seating area and friendly (if not prompt) service.



My family and I plowed through pretty standard offerings like wonton noodle soup (a specialty), golden bags of dumpling deep fried with a seafood filling, some of the best spring rolls we've had in a while, and the usual offerings of sui mai, shrimp dumplings, chive dumplings, shrimp balls and more.  We did a second round of some of our favorites and a few other combinations, including scallops and mushrooms.

Each dish is cooked individually and came out hot, fresh and ready to go.  This was a welcome change from a few cart houses, where dumplings can tend to get stale and cool.  Don't get me wrong, the ambiance of being served from a cart is one of the unique benefits of a traditional dim sum house.  But the folks at Lucky Star made up for it in food quality.

If you'd like to check, here's another review from a few days earlier.  It's not worth going significantly out of your way to visit, but if you're in the area and have a craving -- definitely stop by.