((y)) Big thumbs up to rkkwan for organizing a great trip for dim sum.

Thanks for getting us organized.

It was a pleasure to see some locals again and to meet Sarge56 and Raymond's parents today. :)

Great to see everybody. I'll have pictures up shortly.

Pictures are up!

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p206653565/

Hi, Rkkwan!

Great pictures! Looks like you all had a good lunch! Thanks so much for sharing the good times!

I like Mel's dragon T-shirt! :)

Thanks for sharing the pics, rkkwan. It looks like another fun gtg. And I really enjoyed your food pics and commentary. You are our "Anthony Bourdain" of Houston!

Of oourse you had a great time.. 'cause you Hloustonians are such lovely people! :) i still remember how kind you were to me when I was practically falling asleep at the table after my travel when I came out in November! LOL!!

Looks like you guys had a great time! We might end up moving back to Houston this summer (still don't know) - so I'll be on the lookout for the next GTG!!

It was great to have Ray and his parents as our "cultural attaches"! Ray not only ordered everything for us, but explained what each item was and how it was made! We could not have asked for a better dim sum guide!!

And it was fun meeting everyone- Don, Mel, Sandi, Stacey, and Ray's lovely parents, Sik and Sau. Ray, your parents were the most delightful people!!! Thank you, again!!

Now that my "virgin" GTG is out of the way, I'm looking forward to the San Antonio GTG in June!

Sarge - Did you make it to brunch today? Rave reviews or warnings?

I'm hungry looking at those pics!

yk - You actually feel hungry looking at those pics? I felt the lighting really isn't that great upstairs at the Ocean Palace (color temperature a bit too "cold"). The pictures certainly don't look as appealing as you'll find in magazines.

rkkwan -- I like every one of your choices you ordered, so yummy! The pix are excellent, those in magazines are all "dolled up" by specialists, not as real as yours!!

I was disappointed that they didn't have regular chicken feet (凤爪) that day. The type that's lightly fried, and then marinated in black bean sauce. That's a stable of dim sum.

Also, after I thought more about it, I've never seen couple of other typical dim sum dishes in Houston. The dried-steam beef dumplings (干蒸牛肉), or the beef meatballs (山竹牛肉). Strange that two beef dishes have disappeared from Texas.

maybe no one eats chicken feet anymore?

Mom actually ordered chicken feet. A big bowl of them in a medicinal soup. Forgot to take pictures of them (as well as the egg custard tarts).

And I thought I saw them in a cart far away. But it was going in an opposite direction and I never saw them again.

It's still a very popular dish and plenty of people eat it.

Stacey- we didn't go. My MIL stated she really doesn't like breakfast. So instead we did Pappadeaux for dinner on Saturday night. And I must say, their $10.95 "shrimp cocktail" was the most delicious I've ever had. They would not give me the recipe for it, but WOW! It is enough for two, for sure. The sauce was like a salsa (avocado, tomato, red onion), but a little thicker, with the perfect amount of heat. Yum! (Glad we have a Pappadeaux here in Arlington, 'cause I'm going to be heading there more often now!) :)

Cheung Fun is my favorite! Oh, I'm sorry I missed this. We were actually around on Sunday and could've gone. Plans got cancelled and I forgot it was happening! Shucks. I'd like to go to the next dim sum gtg if there's a follow up one....you guys looked like you had a blast!

don't forget art car parade and it's festivities coming up this weekend for my fellow houstonians and those visiting this weekend! It's a hoot! We're planning a whole luch at the house and walk over shin dig...!

http://www.orangeshow.org/artcar.html

Maria- I'll be at the Art Car Parade too! It is my favorite event in Houston!! We always get there early so that we can get a reasonable parking space and wander around the cars that are parked. Do you have any restaurant suggestions in walking distance of the art car staging area?

And yes, I'm already looking forward to another dim sum gathering. My best friend was supposed to join us and had a conflict. She would definitely like to make dim sum gtg #2.

Paula - Is Pappadeaux's a new restaurant for you? If so, let me know... I can give you a few more recs. I put myself through one semester of college waiting tables working at one of the Houston locations.

Hey, Maria - You should have just swung by. You know it's totally informal, and these restaurants don't care if you more people show up as we can just pull in more chairs around the table. :)