I never did dim sum until last week.
At the behest of colleagues, I endeavored to discover the Chinese cuisine that, according to Wikepedia, encompasses, “a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch.” Those dishes often include dumplings and steamed buns.
Here’s a major takeaway from my first dim sum experience: You’d better like pork. And shrimp. (Full disclosure: I’m averse to shrimp.)
We didn’t do brunch. Instead, we had an early dinner at Ho Ho Choy in the USF area of Tampa and a somewhat later dinner at Ha Long Bay in St. Pete.
HO HO CHOY
The restaurant is located in a Chinese-centric shopping center near the junction of Fletcher Avenue and I-275. We stopped in at 4:45 on a Monday, and took seats at a four-top near the window. The place was comfortably quiet.
The plastic-covered, two-sided dim sum menu had numbered, postage-stamp-sized pictures of 63 items. A large range of dishes, indeed. Where to begin? We asked our server. She gave us some tips, and after some perusing we decided on: Vegetable Spring Rolls ($5.95), Pork Taro Dumpling ($5.95), Xiao Long Bao ($5.95, a steamed soup dumpling with pork), and Beef Chow Fun ($13.95, a larger noodle dish).
Appearance
An attractive, eclectic spread. We found the Pork Taro Dumpling the must curious looking. It appeared to be covered in a kind of fuzz. Nevertheless, we were game.
Texture and Taste
Our favorite was the Xiao Long Bao, four of which came in a tin. Bonnie and I had previously enjoyed soup dumplings in New York. These were far less soupy, with ground pork the dominant ingredient. A bit of broth added a flavor burst, and we appreciated the silky texture of the noodle. These were one-bite morsels, although you had to open wide.
We found the Pork Taro Dumpling rather perplexing. Three of them came in paper baking cups. They caved easily to bites and then formed a kind of paste in our mouths.
The Beef Chow Fun was tasty, with wide slippery noodles. The meat could’ve been more tender, though.
HA LONG BAY
Ha Long Bay — named after a body of water off the coast of Vietnam — is the largest restaurant in a Vietnam-centric shopping center on 34th Street North between 54th and 62nd avenues. We showed up at 6:45 on a Wednesday and found a seat at a four-top. Ha Long Bay has a Vietnamese menu and a Chinese dim sum menu.
The menu was vast, although not as vast as that of Ho Ho Choy. Our server, a young fellow named Hoi, made some recommendations, pointing us toward the steamed buns. We ordered (pork and vegetable) Chinese Egg Rolls ($4.99), Chicken and BBQ Pork Steamed Buns ($4.75 each), Pork & Shrimp Dumplings ($5.75) and Beef Chow Fun ($15.99).
Appearance
The steamed buns and dumplings came in round tins. The colorful dumplings caught our eye. The Beef Chow Fun was noticably fortified by generous slices of onion and bamboo shoots. (The full spread — sans the egg rolls, which were served first — is pictured at top).
Texture and Taste
The dumplings featured thin noodle casings filled with large portions of mixed pork and shrimp, which blended well. These were two-bite morsels.
We didn’t understand the steamed buns, sorry to say. Large balls of spongy dough contained small amounts of filling in the middle. The dough had the slightest hint of sweetness but was otherwise bereft of flavor. (For what it’s worth, the images of steamed buns I viewed online had much more filling.)
The bean sprouts and onions added welcome elements to the Beef Chow Fun, although — like the Ho Ho Choy’s — the meat was on the chewy side.
And the Winner of the Dim Sum Scuffle Is …
Ho Ho Choy.
Although it was a close call.
A final note: I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Because we traveled to visit family this week, we did our FFF field work the week prior. I understand that dim sum might seem an odd choice to feature during the week of a classic American holiday, but that’s how the schedule fell.
