Sportful Garden Restaurant @ Hong Kong [Mei Foo]

Dim sum...I say yayyy!!!! Always heard about good dim sum in Hong Kong, and boy is it! Unique too.

Abalone Rice Noodles

fresh and not chewy at all!

Snow Pea's Leave's Shoots Dumplings

my fav veggie in a dumpling, who would have known! so sweet!

 Fried Turnip Roll

this was like o-m-g-delicious! like the crust was this buttery flakey thing, and inside was shreds of turnip that just melted!

Foie Gras Dumpling

i <3 foie gras..seriously. outer shell was like rice noodles that have been deep fried. 

Potstickers w. Crab Roe

comparable to the xiao long bao at Shanghai Joe's in NYC!!

 Abalone Siu Mai

not impressed. the siu mai wasn't good and they just slapped a piece of abalone on top. they didn't have reg siu mai and that's all i wanted. by the way this restaurant is known for its abalone in dishes. but siu mai was, happy garden in SF is wayyy better.

Steamed Pork Spareribs

Mango Cream w/ Sago & Grapefruit
nice and refreshing...and light. healthy after all the fried dumplings too!

Steamed Egg Yolk Bun w/ Designs

New Capital Seafood Restaurant @ Rolland Heights

Ready for another dim sum place? So if you're in so cal, and you're not near the typical Chinese area, i.e. Los Angeles Downtown or Monterey Park, there's really good dim sum in Rowland Heights (which is also asian infested - not in the bad way) at New Capital Seafood Restaurant. As you can see from this blog, I've eaten at many dim sum places, so I know my dim sum. The food at New Capital is pretty good, as for price I don't know because I never see the bill. New Capital has your typical dumpling variety and fried food variety. It is always PACKED here, so on weekends or holidays it is best to go either super early and get a table, or towards the end of the dim sum hours...or if you're willing to wait over an hour for a table, go at your own leisure :) Regardless the siu mai is really good and so are the rice noodle wraps. Panda's fav is always the sugar cane shrimp and the turnip cake where the Chinese lady pan fries it right there on a stove top that's on wheels. Enjoy!!

Chicken Feet
honestly you can't do dim sum without having some chicken feet, it completes the meal!

Siu Mai
very juicy, plump and succulent pork dumpling! it passed my taste test. it was the perfect balance between pork, shrimp and mushrooms.

Har Gow

Fried Salty Dumpling

Rice Noodles Wrapped Around Shrimp
delish! don't be scared of the soy sauce, it's not the salty type, but the type that they had to prepare to sweeten it. it totally makes the dish.

Sugar Cane Shrimp
ok this is REALLY amazing. it's deep fried shrimp that has been minced up, and wrapped around a sugar cane. you're to dip this into a honey-type-mayo. you can eat the sugar cane, i.e. bite and gnaw at it until all the juices are gone, but i usually prefer not to.

Pan Fried Turnip Cake
tres fresh considering the woman walking around the restaurant pan fries them right there on her cart!

Ja Lerng
panda's ultimate favorite, i.e. eleanor (there's a story why it's called eleanor, but more another time). it wasn't too good here. it wasn't that fresh, noodles were a lil soggy and the chinese donut wasn't cripsy enough. it also was missing chives on top which i like.

Koi Palace @ Daly City

Koi Palace...everyone RAVES about it, whether it be the asians or the caucasians, and getting a table on a weekend for dim sum is definitely difficult. So it is highly recommended that you either go for the first seating, or be prepared to wait over an hour. In my mind Koi Palace is a little overrated, there's a lot of fuss but over nothing, just fussing for fuss sakes. While the dim sum is good, it is hardly that good that it can justify the price. This eating establishment is known for its wide array of seafood, and while that is impressive, putting a piece of seafood in everything doesn't make you amazing.

Regardless the food is decent, and well I suppose it's worth the experience.

I didn't take pictures of everything we ate....I forgot to again. Ha!

Siu Mai
very juicy

Har Gow
not impressed...the skin was too thin. upong picking it up with a chopstick it just fell apart

Marinated Duck Tongue
not as bad as it sounds, seriously. if you eat chicken feet you'll like this.

Char Siu via Neck of Pig
this is the best part of the pig...i know surprising right? it's the juiciest and well very well marbelized if that can happen in pork

Stuffed Mushrooms

Xiao Long Bao
not very good

Dumpling in Sharkfin Soup
this is my favorite here. it's really good. the dumpling is fresh and soft, and the broth is very well made. yummo.

Special Custard Bun
this isn't the ordinary custard bun because there's a thousand year old egg inside, and when you bite into it, the custard runs. so you have to be very careful! don't burn! not very many dim sum places make this, the chinese word for it is "lau sa bao"

Yank Sing @ San Francisco

Can we say over priced? Yes!!! Yank Sing is definitely a tourist trap. While the dim sum is good, $10 for a plate that would normally cost no more than $5 is insane. Oh yea for a peking duck sandwich, one piece of bread and one slice of ducl, it will cost you $5...and it's not a huge portion, it's the same size you would get if you ordered it at a restaurant. I do have to say that I was absolutely amazed at the manners there! I've never been to a dim sum restaurant where the servers (the one's pushing the little carts of food) are so well mannered, so well spoken, and softly spoken! They come up to you, telling you what's there (they tell you in English first, because the default is that you don't speak Chinese, but once you start talking to them, they realize that you do speak Chinese, and that's the choice of language for the rest of the stay), and if they don't have what you want, they speak into their walkie-talkie, but it's like a headset, and communicate with whoever! In a manner of seconds it VOLIA here's the siu mai you wanted! Also, they give you a fresh plate whenever they realize that your plate is dirty, which is a plus and minus. The plus is when you're eating chicken feet, the bones don't have to stay on your plate for the rest of your meal, the minus is that well I have to keep adding hot sauce to my plate! When they realize that you've stopped eating, they polietly come over and ask if there's anything else they can get you. What service!! Ok so between my mother, panda and I we ate about $100, and this is everything we ate. So you can imagine how much things cost. Good thing my mom has tons of gift certifcates, who wants to visit me in SF to eat! YAY!

Chrysanthmum Tea
every time you go "yum cha" you gotta get some "cha" - tea. but look at how beautiful the tea pot is. they place the actual tea leaves in the middle, and so when you drink tea, you don't get any leaves. very good tea.

voila!

Siu Mai
very juicy...nom nom nom. this is my fav at dim sum

Scallop Dumpling
fresh scallops!

Fun Gor
[mixutre of pork, mushroom, veggies]
this was really good! it doesn't look good, but my favorite part was the skin, it was so chewy! loves it!

Steamed Pork Spare Ribs
panda loved it!

Fried Shrimp & Crab Claw
yummmooo!!! can you see how delish this is? can you imagine the amazingness? and then you dip it into sweet and sour sauce...and after you get through the shrimp that's around the crab claw, you get the meat of the crab claw. oh yea this was $10 - $5 per claw


Steamed Chicken Feet
ok so this is one of the things where you've either grown up eating it, like me, or if you haven't, then you ate it. But it's not really as gross as it sounds...it's tasty! and yes salami they don't have the nails attached. this is a fancy dim sum place!

Xiao Long Bao
this was my mom's fav, so much that she ate 3 and i one, panda had 2. so what makes this so good? besides it being cooked to perfection? well....the skin was the perfect thickness, and well there was a pocket ouf soup inside! no drippage! no breakage! only yummy goodness in your mouth! this was $11

Foil Wrapped Chicken
Yank Sing is very famous for this dish...and honestly they do make the best! hence why i'm not allowed to order it at any other restaurant haha...wait for it...

juicy! and all that juicyness cost $8

Pan Fried Turnip Cake

Fried Sweet Dumpling

the skin is sweet...but inside it's savory! a mixture of pork and shitake mushrooms

Rice Noodle wrapped around Beef
ok so this was $10....yes can you believe it? crazyy!! and honestly i didn't like it too much. the beef inside had too much scallions and cilantro...and i'm not a fan of cilantro

Mango Pudding
could have been better...if they added fresh mangos inside before they made it into a pudding

S & T Hong Kong Seafood @ San Francisco

So many dim sum places in SF...where to go...where to go! Well if you ask any good asian, you'll know that all the BEST dim sum places are outside of the city, like in Burlingame, Milbrae and San Bruno. When I say "best" I mean best considering the food and the price you pay. However, if you're in the city already and you don't want to travel outside of it S&T Hong Kong Seafood does the job as well. The dim sum plates are pretty tasty and the prices are a little higher than the other places, probably around 30 cents to 50 cents more. This place is always busy though...and be aggressive when you go! Don't let the asians push you around. hehehehe. we ate more than there are pictures...I was just consumed with eating and forgot to take more pics!

Beef wrapped around Rice Noodles
nomnomnom

Fried Taro Dumpling
yummmo! loves taro

Portuguese Egg Tart
think egg tart...but like creme brulee!

Crispy Noodles topped w. chicken, mushrooms, baby bok choy, squid, shrimp and pork
crispy noodles are the best part!

Pan Fried Turnip Cake
panda's favorite

Fried Shrimp Balls
penguin's favorite! hmmmmm delicious!

New Canton @ Sacramento

What a surprise! New Canton, dim sum right near school! Seriously only 3 minute drive away, and it's served everyday!! That's right, not just on the weekend. It wasn't too shabby either...taste and price. For three people during lunch it was $10 each, quite good. Taste wise, it is not San Francisco, and nothing will ever be San Francisco, but pretty good for Sacramento. I've definitely had worse. I will come back the next time I have a craving while studying. Yay!

Fu Pay Gurn
[pork wrapped in bean curd, then steamed]
loves it

Char Siu Bao
[bbq pork buns]

Siu Mai
[pork dumplings]
it honestly does the job. not the greatest kind out there...but good

Har Gow
[shrimp dumpling]

Xiao Long Bao
[shanghai dumplings]

Egg Custard

Cha Siu Cherng Fun
[BBQ Pork Wrapped in Rice Noodles]
ducky's favorite!

Ja Lerng
[chinese donut wrapped in rice noodles w. dried shrimp and chives]
ok this was really good, and i was really impressed. this dish is difficult to make, and not every where does a good or even descent job with it. this is also known as panda's eleanor, named after the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds," because he can never get it...