Family tradition

Ah, my all time favorite family tradition- Dim Sum on Sundays! It has been a long standing tradition with my family that every Sunday we go out and have some Dim Sum and do a little shopping in the markets nearby. Living in Pittsburgh for the past 5 years of my life, I have truly missed out on this great tradition and am so glad to be back in the city! Granted there is Dim Sum in Pittsburgh, I have yet to find a place that is as tasty (and authentic) as the places you find in New York!- the Dim Sum places in Pittsburgh are awful by the way.

What's dim sum you ask? You can think of it as a Chinese take on Spanish tapas- small appetizer-like dishes perfect for sharing and sampling a number of different types of things!

I took this picture while out with Risa for some dimsum (she has rarely ever had it!) and her favorite by far was the chicken buns (white buns on the top right)

I was a bit surprised when I found out that a number of my friends (asians included) didn't even know what dimsum was!! What a shame- they have truly been missing out on something truly unique. Little asian ladies pushing carts of food around persistently trying to sell you their dishes is a special experience that everyone must at least experience once! Not only is it a fun environment, the food is so tasty (and perfect for a hangover, might I add)!

My family and I usually go to Jade Asian restaurant located in Flushing right on 39th avenue. We've been to other restaurants such as Gala Manor located on 37th avenue but we find that (although a bit more pricey) Jade Asian is a lot more tasty!

I didn't get to take too many pictures as it was very busy and my camera is slowly dying but the dishes at dim sum places are usually the same in all restaurants and they rarely ever vary.

My favorite dim sum dishes are:

Turnip cakes- rectangular white doughy "cakes" that have shredded turnips mixed in, fried and served with some tangy hoisin sauce.

Shrimp Chee Cheong Fun- I remember a few friends in the past describing this dish as 'slippery noodle' which is pretty funny but also pretty accurate. Shrimp wrapped in a long, flat white noodle drenched in soy sauce is my absolute favorite dish- they also have it in beef which is good as well.

Har Gow - The traditional shrimp dumpling- is just shrimp (with a bit of bamboo) wrapped in a clear dough is steamed and so yummy!

Shu Mai- The traditional pork dumpling- is a good amount of pork and mushroom wrapped in a yellow dough steamed and served (usually) with a bit of caviar on top- yum!

Those are just a few of my favorite- but i'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with any dish. There are so many dishes and I haven't tried them all but I am always trying something new every week!

If you don't know Chinese- don't worry, many of them know a bit of English and really all you need to do is look at the dish and point to what you want- pretty simple.

Dim sum is served usually as a brunch meal (10:30am-2pm)and doesn't usually go into the night- so make sure to drag your hungover butt out of bed for this great meal! Starting from $2.00 a dish and up, dim sum is also a cheap brunch!

If you are worried about not knowing what to get and not having the motivation to get up out of bed- just set up a date with me and I will for sure be happy to help you out ;)

Price: $

Ambiance: B-

Service: B

Food: A-