Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Don't wanna be a dim sum dummy

"Once more to the breach, my friends..." or, in my case, once more to the table, the dim sum table.

I've had so much dim sum these past two weeks, it's coming out of my ears!

Three more reports, all on Jackson Street in Chinatown:

1)KAY CHEUNG - If you want to experience a dim sum house the way it is for locals and the way Cantonese dim sum was originally supposed to be - before the feeding frenzy period - this is it.

There are no menus, at least not for dim sum. The regular, non-dim sum dishes are written in Chinese on pieces of paper and stuck on whatever wall space is available. Utilitarian tables, minimum decoration. The white chandeliers are now yellow with age. It's small, so no carts. A couple of women servers bring out an assortment of dim sum on trays and you select what you want. If the table in front of you got the dish you wanted you're out of luck. No English, no Mandarin Chinese, no other language, except Cantonese. If a twosome of you arrive and there are no small tables available, you share a round table with one or two other parties. The clientele is older, mostly retired elderly people who bring their newspapers to read over a leisurely brunch. Or maybe their shift is over, but older people. Didn't see a single kid. This is definitely a working class hole in the wall. Thus, the size of the dim sum is HUGE, absolutely the largest I've seen in Chinatown.

Quality of Food: 2.5 - 3*

Cleanliness: 2*

Cost: $6.80 for three plates (11 pieces of dim sum) plus tea. A bargain!

The two of us ordered 3 dishes (for sampling) - the HAR GOW had whole shrimp and was very tasty; the SEW MY were huge and were OK; the JEAN DU-YI (sesame balls) again were large and were filled with only red bean paste, not some yellow filler, good.

No frills hole-in-the-wall for a glimpse of "the way it used to be". Caters to a set clientele of locals.

2) GREAT EASTERN - this one has a Zagat/Gayot sign posted outside (can't remember which). Caters to a much younger and wealthier crowd. Cloth tablecloth, paper napkins, waiters with bow ties and green shorty jackets. Also small, also tray service and no carts. The system is different. There's a sheet on the table with all 70 varieties of dim written in English and Chinese. You mark off what you want, then you wait and wait and wait. Guess everything has to be cooked or heated up only upon order. I almost fell asleep waiting for the same three dishes to appear, partially because I was already stuffed with the giant shrimp goodies from Kay Cheung.

Cleanliness: 3*

Quality of Food: Umm, what to say? Very bland, not my style. Even the soy sauce didn't perk up the dishes. OK, maybe a 2.5-3*.

Cost: $10.25 for three plates (same 11 pieces) plus tea (tea is $1 a person!)

The small dishes here are $2.30, the medium are $2.90, and the large are $3.30. About half of the dishes are mediums. There are also some specials at over $5 and $6 a plate. Crunchy whole shrimp, just wish there were more flavor.

By the end of the dim sum sampler at Great Eastern, I'm really stuffed, but my friend wants to go up the hill to yet another dim sum place to get some "to go". We waddle up the hill and end up at:

3) DELICIOUS DIM SUM - this is strictly a takeout place. Prices are really low; about $1.20 - $1.60 per threesome. For $11.60 she got 22 pieces!

You'll have to ask my friend on the quality of the food. Being stuffed I had just one sesame ball. WOW! Yumm-o! :) Very, very good sesame balls! This is the way sesame balls are supposed to taste!

So, for a price comparison:

Kay Cheung : - 55 cents per piece

Great Eastern:- 75 cents per piece

Delicious: - 50 cents per piece

City View - $1.40 per piece

Hope this helps! :)