Ping Pang Pong

Here we are, trying Vegas Dim Sum for the very first time.  Yah, yah, I am from Vancouver and there aren't many places in North American, if not the world, that can top the Dim Sum I can get at home.  However, there are 2 reasons I seek out Dim Sum while I'm on holidays.  First, we just really want to have Dim Sum!  Being on the road for that long, we need some comfort food.  Second, how would I say things like "Vancouver has the best Chinese food in the world" if I don't actually compare with the rest of the world???  Hence, we made our way to Ping Pang Pong to do some "research".

Located in the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino, PPP has a higher end feel, yet the pricing seems fair in my opinion.  They still employ push carts where you can see steamers and dishes available for ordering.  Hence, we got our food pretty quickly starting with the Pork Sparerib Rice.  This was presented in an ol' skool manner in a metal hot pot.  I found the rice to be chewy and fairly nutty with the right amount of moisture.  On top, the meaty spareribs were light on the fat and cartilage.  Texturally, they had a good rebound while being tender.  There was enough seasoning as well.  Accompanying the rice was also chicken feet, which was also properly prepared.  It featured buttery skin and cartilage.

I also got the Rice Noodle Rolls with brisket and tendon.  With the amount of braising liquid from the brisket and tendon, the noodles were moist and tender.  Soaking up the sauce, the noodles also benefitted from the meaty flavors and seasoning (soy, sugar, ginger, oyster sauce etc...).  Also due to the sauce, the noodles didn't exhibit as much elasticity.  As for the brisket, it was meaty while still being tender.  Loved that there was some fattiness, but not too much.  Soft with still a slight chew, the tendon was braised properly.  My only wish for this was a bigger portion size.

That really didn't matter because we also picked up the Rice Noodle Roll with Shrimp.  Now this was a considerable amount of food on a plate.  The large rolls contained large meaty chunks of shrimp that had the desired rebound texture with a cold-water crunch.  They were seasoned with a good balance between savory and sweet.  With a medium-thickness, the rice noodles  had some elasticity and were appealingly soft.  As mentioned, the shrimp were flavorful, so we only used a small amount of sweetened soy.

Off to the most important dish of the meal - Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings).  All Dim Sum spots are judged on these little morsels and I would say PPP passed.  Featuring medium-thick dumpling skin, the texture was a touch floury, but still it ultimately had some elasticity.  Hidden inside, the shrimp filling had a decent rebound texture with a some softer portions.  It was seasoned enough so that I could taste the white pepper and touch of sesame oil.

The next most important item is the Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings).  Again, these weren't the best version of this dumpling I've ever had, but it was more than acceptable.  The texture of the pork filling was on point with a bounciness that was felt with each bite.  There was a good mix of fat blended in which kept things moist and also added flavor.  I liked how there were not big chunks of fat though.

So Viv really wanted to order the Lo Bak Goh (Pan Fried Daikon Pudding Cake) for some reason.  I like the dish, but it is so filling!  I want to eat more, not get full from one dish!  LOL... Anyways, it wasn't bad, but could've used much more searing, which would have made the exterior crispy.  So as you can tell, it wasn't.  However, the pudding cake itself was nicely textured being soft without falling apart.

Now for something that isn't photogenic no matter what I do with it.  I didn't even bother taking a scoop out of the Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee for a more creative pic!  It was pretty typical with medium thick viscosity and a relatively silky texture.  It was mildly seasoned and in fact, was more home style than restaurant style.  I thought there could've been more egg and pork in it though as it was quite plain.

Continuing on with white-colored food, we had the Steamed BBQ Pork Buns.  This was a slightly better picture (well not really, it was quite washed out) where we could see the colored filling.  About that filling, the slices of BBQ pork were fairly lean and tender.  It was coated in a sweet and sticky glaze which was didn't go overboard with the sweetness.  The bun itself was soft and fluffy except for the outer layer which had a slight chew.

Of course I had to get my obligatory offal dish in the Steamed Beef Tripe.  Now I generally have never met tripe I haven't liked, but this could be the one exception.  Instead of the usual buttery soft (with a chew) tripe, we found overly soft tripe with a unappealing exterior chew.  Furthermore, this was not rinsed enough where the gaminess was overwhelming.  Even with the seasoning, all I could taste was the gaminess of the tripe.

Rather than multiple little Lo Mei Gai (Steamed Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves), we found a big one instead.  Actually I didn't mind this as I find the bigger versions having a more consistent texture.  Smaller ones seem more "wet".  This one featured sticky rice that still had a drier chew, yet still moist throughout.  There was a lack of filling though as you can clearly see in the picture.  That made for less flavor and varied textures.

One of my Dim Sum favorites is the Seen Jook Guen (Bean Curd Skin Roll).  This was filled with a mixture of pork and shrimp which was on point.  Similar to the Siu Mai, this had a blended mix of tender pork and pork fat.  Hence it had a great rebound texture as well as plenty of juiciness.  It was seasoned well and balanced.  The bean curd skin was soft but still retained an al dente chewiness.  Also, there wasn't too much sauce, which kept the roll from being too wet.

Lastly, we had the Steamed Beef Meatballs which were a bit small-looking.  No matter though as they were fluffy and well-processed.  The lightness of the meatballs meant they ate really easy and with barely any chewing.  They were lightly seasoned where I could still taste some of the baking soda (used to help soften the meat).  I would've preferred they serve the Worcestershire on the side rather than on the plate itself.  The residual steaming liquid watered it down.  So after this experience at PPP, I could say that the Dim Sum was more than acceptable, but not as good as Vancouver (not many places are).  I would say that it more closely resembles Dim Sum you would find in San Francisco, which is a bit more ol' skool than the modernized versions you would see in Vancouver and Los Angeles (or in the suburbs of San Francisco).

The Good:

- Still got those push carts, the novelty of it all

- Decent Dim Sum

- Fairly nice dining space

The Bad:

- Not as good as some other cities, but good for what it is

- Service is very sparse, flagging down someone is next to impossible

Don Mee

Okay, before you bring out the pitchforks, let me explain why we attempted to do Dim Sum in Victoria (even though we hail from Vancouver where some of the best Dim Sum in the world can be found).  Despite the access to great Dim Sum in the GVRD, we miss having it while on vacation.  Furthermore, call it curiosity or the inexplicable need to validate how good we have it by trying Dim Sum everywhere else.  Whatever the case, we do what we do and I really don't give a rat's ass what others think.  It is Sherman's Food Adventures, not Everyone's Opinion Adventures.  

So we made our way to Don Mee Restaurant, which has been around for 80 years in Victoria.  Hence, when we spotted ol' skool push carts, it was no surprise.  We began with the BBQ Pork Pastries which were very sticky due to the aggressive honey glaze on the outside.  The pastry itself was a touch dense, but still buttery and acceptable.  There was a plethora of lean BBQ pork in the middle that sported a sweet and savoury glaze.  For some reason, we ended up with the Salted Egg Yolk Custard Buns early on in the meal.  Oh why not have something sweet right?  Who's to judge anyways?  Well, if you were expecting the modern runny "golden sand" centre, then you'd be disappointed.  Rather, this was the traditional firmer filling.  It was good though with bits of salted egg yolk and a semi-sweet and aromatic custard centre.

One dish that was pretty terrible was the Spring Rolls.  The exterior was crunchy, but directly underneath, the rest of the layers were dense and chewy.  Naturally, this made the spring roll rather tough to eat and it really didn't have a good mouth feel to it.  To top it off, there wasn't much of a filling other than a bit of cabbage and maybe a touch of pork.  We needed quite a bit of Worcestershire sauce as it was not seasoned enough either.  A really ol' skool Dim Sum offering came next in the form of Shrimp Toast.  This wasn't a typical version though as the darn thing had a massive ball of shrimp mousse on top of the usual oil-soaked white bread.  I thought this was pretty good since the shrimp was bouncy and well-seasoned.  The toast was crispy, but yes, it was essentially soaked in grease (like it should be).

It was also no surprise to find that the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice with chicken and cured sausage in lotus leaves) to be the classic large version.  I personally prefer this over 3 mini-ones as it seems that the rice is more uniformly textured.  This was the case here where it was sticky and moist with plenty of ingredients.  There was half a cured sausage and a large piece of chicken thigh mixed in with sliced pork.  Therefore, the the whole thing was pretty robust and filling.  Surprisingly, their Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll was on point with a thin elasticity.  Inside, the medium-sized shrimp were well-seasoned with a meaty snap.  As mentioned, the rice noodle was nicely textured being soft with a bite.

Onto some steamed items, we got the Steamed Pork Spareribs with garlic black bean sauce.  This was also well-executed with meaty pieces of pork that were mostly rib portions with little fat and cartilage.  The rib pieces were tender enough that it wasn't tough to chew while retaining the natural meat texture.  In terms of seasoning, they were pretty heavy handed with the garlic (and garlic powder) where it was the dominant flavour.  We didn't mind as it was impactful.  The table beside us didn't want to try the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet), but we were more than up for the task.  However, they didn't fry/steam them enough as the cartilage underneath was still crunchy.  The skin was fine though being tender and completely seasoned with garlic and plenty of spice.

We didn't end up with the 2 most important items until the end (because of push carts).  The Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) featured a fairly thick dumpling skin which was a bit doughy and chewy.  This should've been much thinner.  Inside, the shrimp filling was good though with a delicate bounciness accented by bits of whole meaty shrimp.  It was also well-seasoned being balanced between salty and sweet.  As for the Siu Mai (Pork Dumplings), they were not very good.  They were not visually appealing being too dark and texturally, they were far too meaty without the classic rebound.  Moreover, there was no shiitake nor shrimp to be found inside.  I found that they tasted too porky as well.  Okay, let me have it, I know what you are going to say, "told you so, you shouldn't have even tried!".  Yes, that is true, but some dishes were actually good.  But overall, yah, not comparable to Vancity.

The Good:
- Surprisingly some dishes were good
- Fairly good service
- Decent variety

The Bad:
- When there was a miss, it really missed
- Not that cheap
- Hard to get what you want since they use push carts

Golden Swan

As much as we have a multitude of choices when it comes to Dim Sum in the Lower Mainland, they are generally the same ones over and over again.  Most of us have our standbys and rarely venture beyond them.  Furthermore, not everyone lives in Richmond, so the trek out there and subsequent driving obstacle course may not be practical.  Interestingly, we rarely see new Chinese restaurants popping up with Dim Sum service.  That also encourages us to stay with the existing ones.  Hence, when Guy Smiley wanted to meet up for Dim Sum, we went to the good ol' Golden Swan.

One of the last places left with push carts, it is pretty easy to get all of your food quickly.  That we did with everything hitting the table at once.  We started with the BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Roll.  Now we usually get the shrimp, but they didn't have any.  Although one could technically order it, this is one of the negatives of push carts as you are privy to only what is available.  Or you can do the Hong Kong thing and run up to each cart and hog all the food...  Anyways, the noodle roll was good though as it was stuffed with a bevy of lean BBQ pork.  I found the rice noodle to be soft and thin with an appealing elasticity.  For no good reason, my Mother-in-Law ordered the Osmanthus Jelly right off the bat.  First of all, we didn't need dessert at that moment.  Second of all, she is diabetic...  Nothing she does makes sense!  Well, it was good though with a light sear being semi-sweet and not overly dense.

Since the deep fried cart was the next to arrive, we got everything off of it including the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings and its cousin, the Deep Fried Glutinous Dumpling.  One common thing among them, that I personally dislike, was the addition of both cilantro and green onion.  I'm okay with the green onion as it adds flavour, but the cilantro is just too strong for both items.  With that being said, I thought the taro dumpling was good nevertheless.  There was a fluffy taro exterior surrounding tender morsels of pork.  As for the glutinous dumpling, the layer of mashed sticky rice was a little thick, but not dense.  Both were a touch greasy, but not to the point where it wasn't appealing.  Back to the negatives of push carts, these were not cold, but hardly hot either.

Also from the same cart, we got the Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Rolls.  It came with a plate of 4 smaller rolls.  As such, they were wrapped more tightly and had more layers.  This meant the roll itself had a considerably more firmer crunch.  This is completely subjective, but I personally prefer a bigger spring roll with more shrimp filling and a lighter crunch.  Despite this, the spring roll was still good and the shrimp inside was buttery and meaty.  Due to the fact we probably caught the cart early, the Fried Eggplant stuffed with shrimp mousse was served hot.  The eggplant itself was tender while not too mushy.  It had a crispy exterior and was blessed with a good amount of buttery and bouncy shrimp mousse.  Luckily it had enough inherent seasoning as the black bean sauce was pretty bland.

Onto some steamed items, we had the Beef Meatballs and the Bean Curd Skin Roll.  Although a bit small in size and pale in appearance, the beef meatballs were pretty textbook.  Beyond the initial bounce and resistance, the meatball was soft while retaining some meatiness.  There was a balanced amount of greens and the seasoning was mild.  Great for dunking into the side of Worcestershire sauce.  Usually, the bean curd skin roll is doused in an obscene amount of watered-down and thickened oyster sauce.  This was lacking that and as such, ate rather dry.  Inside, the filling was dominated by wood-ear mushroom which gave a nice crunch.  There was only a smattering of tender pork which was a bit fatty.

My favourite items were next in the Steamed Honeycomb Beef Tripe and the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet).  Presented as a fairly large portion, the beef tripe was not bad.  I thought the texture was on point riding the fine line between soft and chewy.  There was a good amount of garlickiness mixed with a touch of spice and sweetness.  There was a tinge of gaminess that I didn't mind, but for some, could be a turn-off.  As for the chicken feet, they were equally bathed in a sweet, garlicky and slightly spicy sauce.  I though they were cooked enough so that the cartilage and fat underneath were soft while not melted away.  The skin itself was tender and plump.

For some odd reason, the lady with the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) on her cart nearly whizzed right past us if we hadn't stopped her.  There was no Siu Mai, so we didn't end up ordering it because it would've been a 15 to 20 minute wait.   Served as a steamer of 5 dumplings, they were a bit smaller, but great for sharing.  The dumpling skin was chewy and on point.  Inside, the whole shrimp filling was buttery and moist with a sweet snap.  This was a solid rendition of this classic Dim Sum dish.  For the kiddies, we got the obligatory Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice).  Again, this was textbook with soft chewy glutinous rice that was not too wet.  There was a balanced amount of ground pork filling that was mildly seasoned.

To carb up even more, we ordered the Pork Spareribs on Rice served in a clay pot.  This was a special order and took about 25 minutes to arrive.  Loved the plethora of tender spareribs on top as they maintained a meatiness while having that classic bounce.  There was a bit of spice to go with the ample garlickiness.  Unfortunately, the rice underneath was pretty mushy and wet.  This was exacerbated by adding the sweetened soy to it.  Yet another form of carb, we had the Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee.  Normally, I find the Dim Sum version of this usually watered-down and lacking in ingredients (especially from a push cart).  However, this was full of egg and pork.  Hence, it ate robust and was full of flavour.  Furthermore, it was fairly thick and consistent throughout.  So despite so inconsistencies, the Dim Sum at Golden Swan is still pretty solid.  If you like push carts, this is is a place to reminisce, but prepare to wait for your favourites.

The Good:
- Still good Dim Sum
- Push carts if you like them
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Push carts, food can get cold and also run out
- Service can be hit and miss 

Eastern Pearl Chinese

Catching the early morning flight at 6:30am from San Diego into SeaTac, we were both tired and famished.  Luckily, I had booked a towncar to pick us up and drive us to Goose's house in Bellevue.  We had ditched our car there prior to our Mexican cruise and also had some packages to pick up on the way back.  After loading the car in the freezing cold (we didn't have winter wear), we made our way over to Redmond for some early morning Dim Sum at Eastern Pearl.

Since we were a bit short on time, we were happy to see a push cart full of our favorites.  I ordered everything at once including the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings).  As much as the Ha Gau looked legit, the dumpling skin was too thick.  Inside, the filling was a combination of mousse and little bits of shrimp.  It had a somewhat rebound texture and did taste shrimpy.  We thought the Siu Mai were better with chunks of fatty pork that were tender, moist and bouncy.  The pieces of shrimp had a nice rebound while the dumpling was mildly seasoned with the natural taste of pork.

Of course I had to get some offal (since I didn't have any in Mexico! doh!) in the form of Steamed Bible Tripe with ginger and green onion.  We thought the flavors were on point with the sharpness of ginger married with the brightness of the green onion.  They didn't over-salt the dish while the tripe itself was not gamy.  However, we felt they over-tenderized the tripe as it was too soft and lacked bite.  Onto the Bean Curd Skin Rolls, the exterior was appealing with a firm chewiness that was moist.  Interestingly, the filling consisted of pork and cabbage which lightened things up from the usual meat dominated type.

Normally, it is very hard to find a really good version of Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet), even in Vancouver (lots of good Dim Sum choices), but the one here was actually very good.  Visually, the chicken feet were large and plump prepared in a rich dark hue.  Texturally, the skin was nicely fried while the rest of the cartilage and fat were buttery with some bite.  The dish didn't eat greasy (despite being skin) and the garlicky flavor was apparent.  On the other hand, the Deep Fried Dumpling was texturally off.  It was large and full of pork filling, but the exterior glutinous layer was too thick and soaked up far too much oil. Hence it wasn't crispy nor appealing to eat.

Despite its pale colour, the Beef Meatballs were decent though with just the right amount of green onion where it didn't overwhelm.  The meat itself was well-processed where it was tender, bouncy and airy.  I would've liked to see a bit more seasoning as the meatballs were quite bland, but I guess that is what the side of Worcestershire sauce was for.  Lastly, the Steamed Black Bean Spareribs were not bad considering I could actually taste the black bean.  As for the ribs, they were meaty with minimal fat and cartilage.  There was the classic rebound texture as the meat was not over-tenderized. Clearly, this wasn't the best Dim Sum we've ever had, but given the circumstances, it did the job in a serviceable manner.  It was also easy on the wallet too.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Serviceable
- Okay service

The Bad:
- There is better
- Place needs some renos

Restaurant La Maison Kam Fung

There we were, fresh off our Holland America cruise and arriving in Montreal.  What is the first thing we did beside checking into our hotel?  Head for the closest Dim Sum joint!  Yah, we realized it was pretty pathetic, much like my Dim Sum for dinner in Boston prior to the cruise, but we just needed some comfort food.  Hence, our expectations were pretty low (especially since we have been spoiled by Vancouver Dim Sum).  With that in mind, we settled on La Maison Kam Fung a few blocks from our hotel.

Since they still employed push carts, we got almost all of our eats all at once.  I guess the enthusiastic (maybe a bit pushy?) Dim Sum ladies ensured we would fill our entire table.  I decided to try the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) first and I wasn't a huge fan of the thick and dough dumpling skin.  Inside, the meaty shrimp were aggressively seasoned while completely overwhelmed by the bamboo shoots.  As for the Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling), it was pretty stiff and dense.  Therefore, the texture was more meaty than the classic tender bounciness.  It was mildly seasoned where I could taste the bits of shiitake.

On the same note, the pork filling in the Bean Curd Skin Roll was very similar being dense and somewhat dry.  I found that it tasted rather porky with only a tad of seasoning.  Since the bean curd skin itself was also dry and mostly chewy, it further exacerbated the textural issues.  Compounding it all was the lack of sauce as well.  Arriving in a very dark red hue, the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet) were not bad.  Although a tad overdone, where the tendons underneath were on the verge of melting, the rest of it was tender, buttery and well-seasoned (being on the sweeter side).

One dish that was mostly a fail was the Steamed Bible Tripe.  There was nothing wrong with the seasoning as it was the classic ginger and onion.  Furthermore, there was no gaminess since the tripe had been properly rinsed.  The real problem was the texture.  It had not been properly tenderized and hence, the tripe was chewy and not in an appealing manner.  At the request of Costanza's son, we got the Steamed Spareribs on Rice.  The ribs were decent being a chewy tender while adequately seasoned especially with garlic.  However, the rice was too soft bordering on mushy.  Also, it didn't benefit enough from the flavours of the ribs on top.

My son really wanted the Donut Rice Noodle Roll which was also prepared to his preference without any greens nor dried shrimp.  Although the donut was a little on the denser side while not being crispy at all, the rice noodle itself was quite good.  It was thin and soft while retaining an elasticity.  That texture continued with the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll as well, but the addition of green onion and cilantro didn't make much sense as it totally overwhelmed the shrimp.  With that being said, the shrimp was the beneficiary of a meaty snap though.

One of the larger dishes was the Deep Fried Smelt where some of them were filled with roe.  We were fortunate enough to score some freshly fried ones and they were pretty good.  Soft and moist on the inside while crispy on the outside, they were wok-tossed in a good amount of salt, garlic and chili. We were actually finished our meal when the kids noticed we had not ordered any Spring Rolls.  Since it was a push-cart operation, we had to wait until they were available.  It was worth it as they were hot, crunchy and filled with well-seasoned and tender chicken.  Yes, no shrimp here, but good nonetheless.  Considering that this was our first Chinese meal since Boston, we thought it was serviceable with all things considered.

The Good:
- Most items available within the roaming carts
- Serviceable
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Tight seating arrangements
- Pushy cart ladies