lauren25

I am heading to Seattle for my honeymoon in October. My fiance really wants to try dim sum. I have been reading a lot of threads, but many of them are several years old. Any suggestions for good, reasonably priced places would be much appreciated!
Thank you!

Gardyloo

We stick with the trusty old House of Hong for dim sum, but there are several good places; perhaps others could comment. You might also post on the Pacific NW board at Chowhound.com to get up-to-the-minute feedback.

suze

House of Hong is also my favorite choice because I really like the set up there and it's popular with loads of asian families. But I do believe some of the smaller places may have better food quality. House of Hong is a very ordinary selection.

fritzrl

House of Hong is ordinary on a good day. When they're having a bad day....

The International District ("ID") is full of good places for Dim Sum. China Gate has always been quite good. Or Ocean City or Honey Court will be fine. The trick is to go early, as the good spots fill up quickly.

There is, however, an as-yet undiscovered gem of a place that is *not* in the ID: Joy Palace in the Rainier Valley serves the best dim sum I've ever had. Everything is quite fresh, and they have several things in their selection I've never seen elsewhere -- a light tofu 'soup' delicacy, served at room temperature, with just a hint of sweetness. Very much worth the extra drive.

fritzrl

Re Joy Palace: I neglected to add that 4 of us enjoyed a Dim Sum brunch there yesterday. $40 for 4 people, and that included 2 takeout portions of the tofu 'soup' speciality.

One of our group was a Canadian friend, emigrated from southwest China to Vancouver. He raved about the food, as well.

Gardyloo

Right! Joy Palace! Forgot about that - went there some months ago and agree that it was great.

Not centrally located, however. Accessible by bus, but really more convenient if you have a car.

We've been to Ocean City a couple of times for dim sum and have yet to be knocked out.

artlover

My Chinese GF takes me to House of Hong. She orders in Chinese and it's always been really good.

Travel_Gato

I was in Seattle 2 weeks ago. We ate at Jade Garden in Chinatown, based on some recommendations (admittedly they were old) on Chowhound. We were not there for dim sum (lunch only) but for dinner. I thought the place was a dump, the service only fair, and there was a glaring light bulb hanging right in your face. The food was adequate at best. I would never go back, even if assured that the dim sum is still tasty. Also, as Asian restaurants go, stay away from Wild Ginger. This restaurant often appears in articles about Seattle, and the bellhop at the hotel mentioned it as a possibility. As of Dec. 2007, it was one of the top health code violators in the city, per the Seattle Post-Intelligencer http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/3...badfood17.html

fritzrl

Completely agree about Jade Garden. Used to be above-average, but standards have apparently slipped in recent years.

And don't get me started with Wild Ginger. That place personifies DDT (Dumbed-Down Thai) to me -- bland flavors assembled indifferently. Even with that, it pops up in almost every local 'best of' list I've seen. Baffling, because there are dozens of really *good* Thai restaurants in town -- much better food without the attitude.

Turning back to Dim Sum: If it still existed, I'd send everybody to the Atlas Cafe. It was dismantled recently when its building in the ID was remodeled. Now *there* was a dump, complete with sticky tables and grease-stained carpet. But the Dim Sum! Incredible.

lauren25

Thank you all so much. We are driving out in the middle of October. I think we are leaning towards House of Hong or Joy Palace. Thank you all for your advice!