International Dim Sum Directory

January 15, 2007 10:00 AM

International Dim Sum Directory from Journeywoman, the travel website, created by their readershop. My favourite Dim Sum are those steamed meatballs, although it's interesting to note that many popular dishes such as Crispy Aromatic Duck are in fact British inventions (mixing Peking duck with Sichuan style duck).
posted by feelinglistless (22 comments total)

I'm not sure if it would be possible to compile this list without your heart exploding.
posted by roll truck roll at 10:07 AM on January 15, 2007

I see there's no mention of Chinatown Café. Maybe it's not one of the greatest dim sum restaurants in the world, but it's the only freaking one in Baltimore!

Seriously, why is this city so lacking in dim sum?
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:11 AM on January 15, 2007

are exceptional dim sum places as rare as this list would indicate, or is this just a really short list?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 10:19 AM on January 15, 2007

Woo hoo, I love my Shanghai tiny buns from New Green Bo Restaurant on Bayard Street in Chinatown, NYC. It's a fun restaurant to meet people if one is alone.

Joe's Shanghai's on Pell Street have soup dumplings that are supposed to be the best but I don't think they compare with the fragrant, delectable bundles at New Green Bo.

The thing is that it's a real art to eat the damn delicious dumplings without having the front of one's clothing look like a Jackson Pollack. One has to nibble a little hole in the dumpling and slurp out the hot soup inside. I use three napkins as a bib and try not to be embarassed looking like a fool. It's worth it.

Nice images of the different kinds of Dim Sum.
posted by nickyskye at 10:23 AM on January 15, 2007

StrasbourgSecaucus : "are exceptional dim sum places as rare as this list would indicate, or is this just a really short list?"

It's just a really short list. There's some great dim sum in Houston, but none listed. Then again, it's user contributed, so it's just that nobody has contributed one yet.
posted by Bugbread at 10:31 AM on January 15, 2007

I thoroughly distrust any directory of dimsum that has not just one, but multiple recommendations for the abysmally bad Yank Sing. Better dimsum can be had at just about any other purveyor of such.
posted by majick at 10:38 AM on January 15, 2007

feelinglistless: "...many popular dishes such as Crispy Aromatic Duck are in fact British inventions..."

made with the highest british attention to the wrong detail
posted by koeselitz at 10:56 AM on January 15, 2007

There's this dimsum restaurant across the street from a friend of mine's place in Vancouver; it's hilarious seeing tourbusses filled with Chinese people troop out to that restaurant day in and day out.

Kind of like a North American going to McDonald's when visiting China.

(To be fair, the place is actually pretty decent.)
posted by porpoise at 11:01 AM on January 15, 2007

are exceptional dim sum places as rare as this list would indicate, or is this just a really short list?

i think it's really just the list of dim sum places that this person has been to. I notice some obvious omissions in the DC area.
posted by poppo at 11:20 AM on January 15, 2007

I agree with the "short list" conspiracy. There are a number of (in my admittedly non-expert opinion) good-to-exceptional dim sum places lining Buford Highway in Atlanta, Georgia (our own Southern variation on China/Korea/Thailand/Viet Nam Town).
posted by kjs3 at 12:14 PM on January 15, 2007

Yup, short list. For example, it's got one of the contenders for best dim sum in Boston (China Pearl), but not the champion (Hei La Moon) or a third, also popular place (Chau Chow City).
posted by rxrfrx at 12:55 PM on January 15, 2007

Jesus, it's also missing like 500 places in LA.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:55 PM on January 15, 2007

The blurb at the top says: "In a recent travel tip newsletter emailed to members of our Journeywoman Network we asked women readers around the world for their favorite dim sum restaurants -- places where women travellers would feel comfortable and where the food would be delicious. That simple question netted us over 100 responses all the way from Kowloon (Hong Kong), Carmel (USA), Montreal (Canada), Melbourne (Australia), Manchester (UK) and many, many more fabulous places."

It is a short list in the grand scheme of things but most of the entries have been put together because the contributors have loved the restaurant they've visited. It's the online equivalent of stopping someone in the street and asking them were you can buy the best cup of coffee or something.
posted by feelinglistless at 1:14 PM on January 15, 2007

The Vancouver list is horrible too. It is a good listing of places to avoid however.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:12 PM on January 15, 2007

Near St. Louis, MO I recommend Hunan Garden. Yum.
posted by Foosnark at 3:43 PM on January 15, 2007

Bah. Nothing in Maryland on the list. I can get all the dim sum i want back home in Boston, but I'm dim sum-less here at school in Baltimore.
posted by roomwithaview at 4:09 PM on January 15, 2007

but it's the only freaking one in Baltimore! ... Seriously, why is this city so lacking in dim sum?

but I'm dim sum-less here at school in Baltimore.

"Fuck you, Baltimore!" (nsfw)
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:43 PM on January 15, 2007

What I really want is printable cue-cards that list dim sum related items in chinese such as "chicken" "shrimp" etc.. so that the lady pushing the cart can point to it and I'll at least have a clue as to what I'm getting.
posted by furtive at 5:52 PM on January 15, 2007

This site says
There is no Dim Sum
In Illinois
I weep for a cart
Being pushed by an old woman
She opens a bamboo steamer
And yells
"You Want?"
posted by Bighappyfunhouse at 9:50 PM on January 15, 2007

I have only been fortunate enough to have real dim sum made by people who know what it is supposed to be like a few times. The most recent was wandering around Pikes Place Market thinking "I'll just walk around until I see something I can't resist for lunch". I was rewarded with a lotus root paste filled sesame ball.

Oh yes I can still imagine the sweet paste on my tongue....
posted by ilsa at 2:07 PM on January 16, 2007

furtive: you'll have a clue once you get it, and try it.
posted by rxrfrx at 4:17 AM on January 17, 2007

rxrfrx : "furtive: you'll have a clue once you get it, and try it."

Yes, but then you have to pay for it, even if the clue is "this is chicken, and I don't feel like having any chicken right now".
posted by Bugbread at 7:19 AM on January 17, 2007