Sending Him off with a Bang

Bangkok Joe's, in Georgetown (DC)'s riverfront district, has a nice selection of dumpling and noodle dishes. In fact, while it doesn't serve traditional dim sum, it's dumpling bar is nicely inventive.

Taking my son to college, we decided Bangkok Joe's would be a great place for dinner with a college friend and his family. So, we loaded up on dumplings, noodle soups, and rice bowls.

Take the dumpling dive -- Panang Chicken Buns, Pork 'n crab shu mai (top left); lobster 'n pine nut dumplings, pictured top right (with taragon, Asian fruit compote, balsamic soy sauce and chili oil) and winter squash potstickers (butternut, sweet potatoes, onions and egg with spicy-ginger soy dip) and shrimp and crab goyza (pickled giner, daikon, sweek sesame-soy dip) and steamed shring dumplings (with shrimp, chicken, shitaki mushromoms, carrot, and ginger lime cream) were some of the be-noodled treats.

We also sopped up nutty seafood noodles (wok-fried wonton noodled with sauteed shrimp, scallops, spinsih, onion, mushrooms, pine nuts and rost tomoatoes in a basic cream sauce) among other, more familiar dishes (Pad Thai, chicken with cashew nuts, peking duck spring rolls, and chicken with basil.

The atmosphere was bright, lively and fun -- a mix of residents, parents dropping students at school, and the Georgetown/DC professional crowd, enjoying a Friday night before clubbing or dropping from another week of pounding it out. We liked it all -- the more familiar soups, appetizers and rice bowls were universally loved.

I also loved the idea of the dumplings, even if we didn't savor the flavors. In fact, for as promising as they appeared on paper, and they looked in presentation (okay, the shrimp 'n crab gyoza at left looks like someone dropped a bottle of teriyaki on it), they lacked in flavor. They were fresh, served steaming hot and cooked perfectly, but lacked the snap you appreciate when dim sum is well spiced.

Would we go back? Certainly for the soups, noodles and rice bowls.

But, we'd suggest the dumpling bar be sent back to the kitchen for a makeover. The only other disappointment was that while the Obamas were not there having dinner, we did go see their house the next morning.

Sometimes, when you go to dinner with your family, the food is great, the conversation not so much. When my daughter and I visited Uncle Yip's in Evendale (just north of downtown Cincinnati), the conversation was great, the dim sum not so much. Left -- variety on dim sum on display, labeled for those of us who can't read Mandarin.

The restaurant itself is small and nondescript, hidden in a corner of a strip mall. We arrived about 11:30 on a Sunday, sat and ate immediately -- the restaurant had only about 10 diners at that point. Service throughout was great, friendly, fast and courteous, a real bright spot. And, by 12:15, the place was getting crowded, steam carts were rolling faster and the happy, Sunday dim sum dining crowd was more animated and tables were loaded with a great variety of dumplings and entrees ordered from the menu.

The variety was possibly Uncle Yip's best attribute. Three kinds of sui mai --

beef, pork and of course chicken -- salted shrimp, tripe, chicken feet and a host of other items that fit your fancy for something new and different. For example, the menu boasts: pan-fried turnip cake with Chinese sausage; stuffed chili peppers with shrimp and steamed shark fin dumpling. At least on the menu, there are a more diverse set of offerings than other dim sum choices in this area. Right, chicken sui mai).

Unfortunately, while the service and variety was great, and the restaurant packed with enthusiastic diners by the time we left, the food generally was not to temperature and the flavors were somehow left in the kitchen. They lacked the freshness and snap we have come to expect with great dim sum. In fact, the frozen pot stickers from Trader Joe's were more flavorful than those plated for us. Above, steamed shrimp dumpling.

Vietnamese spring rolls, while fresh from the fryer, lacked any appreciable filling that would have made us want to double back and ask for another order. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the crab claws, also fresh from the fryer, hot and steamy. However, the claw as a day or more past its prime and the careful cooking couldn't remove the tell tale taste of seafood that had seen its better day. Right -- the offending crab claw.

So what's a dim sum lover (stranded in Cincinnati) to do? If you haven't before, vist Grand Oriental and Casual Wok. Then, visit Uncle Yip's. And, when you go, appreciate the service, the friendliness and the roar of the dining room (but go after noon). And, hopefully, the food will be a bit fresher. There's no question Uncle Yip's has its share of fans. It's too bad our one experience wasn't better.

If you've been to any of these three, post your perspective by clicking on the 'Comments' link below. Happy dumpling hunting.

One Billion Chinese Can't Be Wrong

There is a great article from the Brooklyn Paper. that says, 'one billion Chinese can't be wrong.' I agree.

This is wonderful, simple guide to enjoying dim sum -- with several recommended stops for 'dumplings plus' when you're in Brooklyn. Mentioned are dim sum houses like Pacificana, East Harbor Seafood Palace, King Star and World Tong.

Read on, pass on and enjoy.

Photos by Ben Muessig (left) and Mike Short (right).

Browsing Brooklyn

Ben Muessig of the Brooklyn Paper has saved us all a lot of legwork. His point is that, "Dim sum ain’t just dumplings." (See the photo of Ngau pak yip at right.)

He says that dishes like shumai and pork buns have become commonplace at Chinese eateries around the United States, but traditional Cantonese brunch spots around Brooklyn also boast a number of less-well-known treats.

Ben sampled some of what he considered the more unusual offerings at the borough’s finest parlors. Here’s four examples:

Woo Gok (taro croquettes)

This tiny treat might look like a deep-fried hairball, but it tastes like deep-fried mashed potatoes. The dish starts with a mushy mass of taro — a purplish root vegetable with a slightly sweet taste. Chefs drop that mash into bubbling deep fat, leaving the taro surrounded in a crunchy, greasy layer of fried goodness that almost looks furry. Bite through the crispy exterior and you’ll find a tiny pocket of savory meat nested in the middle of the taro, like a beefy Russian nesting doll.

Fèngzhu(chicken feet)

If you’re not a dim sum expert, eating a chicken foot isn’t easy — but the reward makes it worthwhile. Picking up the slippery four-toed appendage with chopsticks is struggle in itself, and actually nibbling between each digit is a long and arduous process. But each bit of lumpy flesh that falls free of the bone offers a delectable combination of chicken skin, cartilage and marrow! Start with the toes and work your way to the ball of the foot, spitting out any bones that are too hard to chew. Once you reach the ball — which takes some time, considering that each joint requires harder chomping than the previous knuckle — you’ll find a fatty lump of pure joy. Luckily for you first timers, many Brooklyn dim sum parlors remove the talons so you won’t have to worry about biting chicken toenails.

Lau Sah Bao (egg custard bun)

This fluffy bun looks so light it might float away, but it’s actually one of the heaviest dishes you’ll find on the dim sum cart. This dessert bun boasts a slightly solid, slightly runny — and cloyingly sweet — egg custard made from yolks. The filling in this bread-coated treat actually contains so much sugar that it takes on a grainy, sandy texture — a dessert desert, if you will.

Ngau pak yip (steamed beef tripe)

This chewy dish of thinly sliced cow stomach lining is one of the tastiest items. Each rubbery morsel gives off a rich flavor that’s meaty, but not gamey. It takes a while to gnaw through a single piece of these pungent offal, but each bite rewards the diner with a juicy burst of beefy perfection.

Oma-Gosh: Dim Sum in Warren Land

Signs that dim sum is creeping in the from coasts are apparent every day. The latest is at Golden Mountain in Omaha, Nebraska. Forget the area is better known for Omaha Steaks, big money as in Warren Buffet or for cornhusking, when you're in Omaha closing your next deal, climb the Mountain. There are a few concessions -- it's not served on a cart, the menu is limited and it's not particularly inventive.

But, in the land of rib-eyes, how choosy can you be. Have you been there?

Dazzling Dumpling Infusion

It had been five years since I had the chance to return to Yank Sing, the San Francisco financial district dim sum palace that completely, forever, sealed my passion for the cuisine. It was and is something really, really good.

And, it was made better when my friend and former colleague Dave Chapman joined me for lunch at the Rincon Center location. Okay, maybe the company was as good as the food, but that's really not a fair comparison.

Every dish, including snap peas stir fried and served in a sweet brown sause, hit the mark. And, in about 30 minutes, we commited to a table littered with dishes of crab claws, shrimp dumplings, siu mai, shimp wrapped in skins, scallops fresh from the Bay and about 40 other varieties to which we saw sail past in steam carts.

Maybe we got there at the right time (about 11:30 a.m.) or maybe we were in the right spot, but there were an amazing number of wait staff and a graduate course in dumplings -- we were never short of choices, chances and calories.

Visit the web site and you'll see. Better yet, grab your chopsticks and get yourself over there now. If you've been there, what's your favorite?

LA Means Lots A Dim Sum

In honor of a stint in Los Angeles for an extended work visit, here's a post from Victor Tang regarding what considers the best dim sum in the Southland -- he calls his work Tangtastic. Decide for yourself. He gives you a step-by-step instruction on how to enjoy dim sum -- and recommends Ocean Star Seafood Restaurant, 145 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park -- (626) 308-2128.

Or maybe just his myspace page is worth seeing.