Dim Sum in Chinatown, Phoenix Restaurant
I met up with Justin and Stuart for breakfast/lunch – Dim Sum at Phoenix, in Chinatown. There was to be a larger group, but a lot of folks ended up not being able to make it, and so it was just the three of us. Which actually turned out in our favor, as we didn’t have reservations.
On our way up, here’s what the crowd looked like, downstairs. I’d definitely recommend calling ahead, if you want to try to avoid the 20-30 minute wait (which honestly isn’t too bad, given that it was a Sunday morning).
For those that haven’t had Dim Sum, it’s similar to something like tapas… where the meal consists of a series of smaller dishes, meant to be shared among all at the table. There’s a lot of dumpling-related items on the menu, along with some pastries/sweets. Hot tea is a must, and is pretty much a given.
There’s no official menu to speak of. Each table gets a card, and to get food you just call over any of the servers walking by with their carts. They show you what they have, and if you take anything… they denote it on your card.
While I recognized a lot of things, I had to keep asking “what’s that?” and “what’s inside there?” to try to determine whether something had meat, or was veggie friendly (Justin is a vegetarian). We had some good luck finding shrimp dumplings, but a lot of the items tended to have meat or some kind of pork. You’d think something like the seafood soup would be safe, but nope… it has meat in it. Go figure.
Here’s a quick snapshot of our table, midway through our meal.
It’s been a good while since I’ve been to Chinatown. I think the last time I was actally in Chinatown was with Howard, several years ago. And the last time I was in Phoenix may have been back in 2002, when my friend Melissa was visiting.
Today’s meal was pretty darn delicious. And makes me want to come back more often. I need another excuse to swing by down here – and Dim Sum is pretty much reason enough.
Unfortunately, after we paid our bill, we saw two or three really great veggie/seafood dishes roll by (insert the sound of Justin’s fist clenching here).
Related:
Chinese New Year – Chinatown Parade, Year of the Ram
Here There Be Dragons – Chinatown, 2003
Chinatown at Night
I haven’t had dim sum in gosh, over 10 years at least…ever since I gave up commercial wheat. But I do remember how heavenly it tastes.Finding exceptional dim sum is a treat and you are lucky if you’ve got such a place near by.
Sprocket (November 13, 2008 at 12:33 am)