Dol Ho
808 Pacific Ave
San Francisco, CA

A lot of times, plans get shift around because things do not happens as we wished it would. In this trip to San Francisco, originally we were planning to go to Yank Sing on Monday before flying back to Vancouver for some dim sum comparison. However, on Sunday, plans ended up being shuffled because of weather: It was “raining”. So, Sherman and I were in the situation of wondering where to go for breakfast. After some brainstorming, we decided to switch that visit from Monday to Sunday. However, that wasn’t the only change: Given that Yank Sing, from the outside, had the looks of Sun Sui Wah or Kirin, we thought we could give it a try but… But.. Why not make it more “interesting”. That’s how we ended up going to Chinatown where we found Dol Ho.

(And, yes, old school Cantonese dim sum is served as early as 6:00 a.m. for breakfast, not brunch/lunch as done here in Vancouver! )

Did I say… Old!

Originally, we considered Y Ben House, which is literally across the street. However, we didn’t do it because I insisted in something dodgier which Dol Ho seems to fit quite nice. C’mon, frequent readers should already know my mantra: just because it is dodgy does not necessarily mean it is bad; instead, there is an aura of mystery (specially those that have been there for a long time). And, to paraphrase Anthony Bourdain “what’s mystery meat without the mystery”?

When we walked in, I can safely say we brought down the average age of the customers for at least 5 years. Not only this was a dive, it was also old school… EXTREMELY old school! How so? After we sat down, we were ignored for at almost 10 minutes, some of the attendants were yelling to some of the customers (though, in a Chinese way, not necessarily in the “bad” way) and so on. In the end, Sherman flagged one of waitresses in some “unconventional” ways and where we ended up making our first order (to test waters first):

Haa gao or shrimp dumpling. The “skin” was a bit doughy but, otherwise, it was good. The shrimps didn’t have much of that “snap” but they weren’t mushy or had some weird smells so, from that perspective, it is an old schools style haa gao.

After we finished the haa gao, they brought the cart out and we started ordering some of the “usual suspects”, starting with phoenix talons, aka, chicken feet. Nowadays, a lot of dim sum places fry these before they are steamed so they are cooked faster. However, the ones here still had a bit of that resistance in the skin, which lead us believe these might have been fried lightly. If you are used to the easily chewable soft version found here, you will experience something really different here. The sauce though had a bit too much starch but I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

Siu mai or your pork dumpling. Those who have had dim sum in Vancouver will notice something “interesting” (or lack of): There is no roe but something “yellow”. Old school uses some duck egg. Another old school detail? There was pronounced shiitake/Chinese mushroom taste. Finally, the pork wasn’t really mechanically grounded, rather, you could still taste some chunks, as if they were being pound by hand. Given this place is so old-school, for some reason I would believe this is true!

Beef balls. Again, old school style – these had a soft “bounce” when you “bite” into it; however, it didn’t have that heavy meatball consistency found in more modern type dim sum restaurants. And, in the picture above, Sherman was pouring some soy sauce Worcestershire sauce, somewhat necessary because, well, this one didn’t have that much salt in it.

Rice noodle rolls, in this case, with a shrimp filling. Similar to the shrimp in the haa gao, it lacked a bit of that shrimp bite but, otherwise, it worked fine. One thing that some people will certainly complain about is the thickness of the rice noodle: I would easily say these were at least 50% thicker than those found in more modern dim sum places. Now, that wasn’t much of a distraction so no complains. One thing that might not work for a lot of people is that the rice noodles didn’t really “soak” the soy sauce. Depending on how you like yours, that would be details, minor details…

In the second picture above, you should have noticed the steamers and, when they are placed outside the kitchen like that, it can mean only one thing: Steamed BBQ pork bun. Before I continue, a tale I used to tell about my grandfather: almost 30 years ago, when he took my cousins and me to dim sum, the first round was usually BBQ buns for everybody. Obviously, that was to fill us up. Not that I am complaining but something that brings memories… But back to Dol Ho, their version is a “airy”; however, when bitten, it gets a bit doughy. The pork was on the savoury side, not that sweet which works fine for me. Not the best pork bun but, to me, mostly memories!

Finally, some spare ribs. One good note is that they aren’t loaded with fat and eat piece had a decent amount of meat (for spareribs, that is). Otherwise, I would say it is about the same as most spare ribs you would find anywhere.

Overall, Dol Ho is what it is: an old school Cantonese dim sum place where it seems time stopped. Interestingly, this type of dim sum is the one I used to have in Panama, so in its odd ways, I really appreciated this visit and experience. Having said that, it might not be for everybody. There is no modern version of some of the dishes, specially if you are interested in those versions (like the siu mai with roe rather then duck egg). Also, if you are looking for service, there is none (unless you count DIY) and language might be an issue (or adventure if you are up for it!). In my case, I didn’t care for that so it was a nice change from that fancy type of dim sum.

Oh, one final detail: The six dishes plus the two buns plus tax plus tips for Sherman and I were less than $20…

Dim Sum Express
200 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC

There are reasons why I do not often write (or even go!) to Chinese restaurants: I am way too biased. Why? First of all, check my mom’s cooking (here and here). Because of that, I am used to her particular cooking style so, anything else is, well, not there. Granted, my mother cooks mostly Cantonese style but I grew up eating it so any thoughts will be skewed towards a comparison with that. Sure, I have tried non-Cantonese but, but, but… Sure, “Vancouver has the best Chinese food outside of China” (not 100% true statement, if it is, then wouldn’t be then considered Vancouver-Chinese, rather than actual Chinese?) but, likewise, there are a lot of other cuisines to explore. If you are looking for a Chinese food post, I will write about it here and there. If you want special focus towards Chinese, let’s just say I won’t run into a certain situation Sherman ran into once: As mentioned by a commenter, “yet another blog post of a Chinese restaurant?!” Having said, for today’s post, my visit to Dim Sum Express, yet-another-food-cart, this time, located just outside of Canada Place. Given the popularity of dim sum, how would such dishes be suitable in this environment?

Similar to Kimono Koi Crepes‘ stand, this can also be considered a prime location, the main difference here is that pedestrian traffic is more of the leisure/tourist type. But, hey, with more food traffic, higher the chances for customers!

Of course, that brings the main question: How is the food? I will admit I am quite wary of they serving dim sum type dishes, namely, haa gao, siu mai and its brethren. See, one of the reasons why you don’t see push carts in dim sum restaurants nowadays is that, the longer it stays there, the greater are the chances the texture and taste of the dumplings will change – and not necessarily for good. Given the setup, I was wondering if they would be able to pull it off…

On the day I went, they also had what it becomes a staple in Cantonese dim sum places, despite it is not of Cantonese origin: Xiao Long Bao, aka, XLB. These small dumplings with broth in it has become so popular that Cantonese places have been serving them as well. So how were these? While I have had better, I was surprised I have had worst as well! The skin was thicker than what was expected; however, in retrospective, that might be intentional as, if it is thinner, it might tear a bit too easily (as they have to take it out of the steamer basket and put it in the container). As for the broth, it wasn’t that juicy when I bit into the piece above to take the picture. However, if I were to eat it whole, you can “feel” the broth there. As for the red strings, it was the vinegar added so don’t worry, eh?

Among the different options, I went for the dim sum combo which has two haa gao, two siu mai, two pan fried dumpling, a pork bun and some vegetable – which, that day, was bell peppers. Now, there might have been a lost in translation: I don’t recall correctly if I asked for soy sauce (I do remember asking for hot sauce). If I did, I was under the impression it would be in packages rather than added there. If it was my error, shame on me… >_<

The pan fried dumplings lacked some of that potsticker-like charring at the bottom. The dough was a bit thick but, otherwise, it was decent. Now, won’t compare it to a lot of restaurant places but… As for the siu mai, it will be among the worst I have had. Part of the problem was the texture, part was the lack of any flavour. If I bit into it without any visual guidance, I would have said anything but a siu mai.

As for the haa gao, it lacked that shrimp “bite” – in fact, it was down right mushy – and the skin was dough-y. Not necessarily a nice taste…

Finally, the pork bun. To put it bluntly, this is a runner in my list for the worst pork bun I ever had. The texture of the dough was basically wrong and, while I have had better pork filling, at least it was edible (not necessarily enticing).

I was wondering if my reaction is based on the fact “I have had better”. If that is the case, then it brings the question of Dim Sum Express’ target audience, as those familiar with this fare will be raising their eyebrows. But, for those not familiar, it might be a stepping stone (which, alas, barely representative of actual dim sum fare). If you happen to be part of this category, I just hope you grow out of it soon! As for myself, to quote somebody…. “No”.

Golden Swan Restaurant
5380 Victoria Drive
Vancouver, BC

As a sort of follow-up of yesterday’s post, after coming back from Panama, it was time to start calling people around and give them some goodies I brought from this trip. Among them, it was Elaine of Parker Pages. Let’s just say there are some wacky connections between the two of us aside from the (not necessarily) obvious ones. Originally, I was going to meet Elaine and Chris at their place; however, Elaine suggested we meet at Golden Swan instead. Hey, I am always good for food!

This seems to be one of Elaine’s favourite dim sum place so there were some expectations behind it. Among its “high” notes is the fact this is a push-cart dim sum restaurant, what seems to be a dying breed here in Vancouver. Now, there are both pros and cons for this approach. On one side, it is more accessible to people who might not write/read Chinese. Sure, a lot of dim sum restaurants might include both English and Chinese slips for your order but, a lot of times, there seems to be something lost in translation and you might end up ordering the “wrong” thing. On the flip side, in the case of carts, the dishes might not be at its optimum by the time you pick it (as it might be doing rounds for a while), not to mention, if you are in one of the tables on the far side, the dish you might have been taken away by then. Anyway, I was going to find out how things are here.

Taro dumpling

Siu mai, pork dumpling

Spare ribs

Stuffed eggplants

Tripe

Youtiao stuffed rice roll

Since it was only three of us, we only ordered that much. Furthermore, we (actually, it was mostly Chris and me) engaged into some wacky discussion that kept us quite busy. However, during this time, we noticed one thing that might be annoying in the case of push carts: they *really* push you to order a dish, even if you have told them you are not interested.

As for the food itself, I will have to say they are quite good (but, then again, the fact I had subpar to Vancouver standard a week prior might have something to do). In some cases, some of the dishes were gone by the time it got to our table and had to wait for the next cart. As for price, well, I can’t say. Because of the souvenirs I brought (including something I hope Elaine and Chris will use), Elaine just grabbed the bill and paid for it (in a quasi Chinese way). So, Elaine, Chris, thanks! As for the restaurant itself, I think it is a good option and see no reason why I shouldn’t come back. Now, if I can have a larger party to sample more dishes…

Po King
5665 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

All of us are always looking for a good deal and, in the case of us food bloggers, nothing beats a cheap good meal. Be it ridiculous portions or ridiculous price, we have to try it once. But, given there is always balance in things, have those criteria mean *something* will take a hit. According to Sherman, Po King, a Cantonese in Kingsway, is one of those places, where the food is decent, portions are big, the room looks nice but there is something that makes him not recommend it. Since going to a dim sum place by yourself is the equivalent of going to a gunfight with a sword, I checked with Elaine (of Parker Pages) if she and Chris would be game to visit it (in a way, also to test their luck on getting a table in such places!).

By just sheer coincidence, we were both driving along Kingsway when I noticed Elaine (Chris was driving) and, eventually, we both pulled into the parking lot behind the restaurant, though, due to some “interesting” maneuvers, they first and I got there about a minute or so after them. And, guess what? They were almost the first in the line in the restaurants by the time I walked in! It is at this point where that *one* thing that stops Sherman from recommending Po King hits us: The “Dragon Lady”. I know this sounds a bit strange that a Chinese will make reference to this phrase but, truth is, everybody agrees (specially Chinese) with this description. So what is the issue here? As soon as they see Chris as the first person in the line, she shouts (in a really quick pace) “do you want to share (a table)“. At first, Chris look bewildered. WTH she said?! But, me knowing better I told Chris the Dragon Lady was asking if we wanted to share a table. Since none of us cared, we were guided (actually, hurried along with another party) to a table in the back. Did I say she was yelling at another customer not to sit on a specific spot and almost yanked him from that sit? I will admit that I haven’t seen this type of behaviour in a restaurant in a long time and, of course, there is no way I condone it. Regardless, after the tea pot was left on our table, we still had to ask for a couple of times for chopsticks, plates, tea cup and so on. While we could have ordered the food at that point, we were still looking at each other as if trying to tell each other “WTH happened???”. In a way, that set the pace of the rest of the meal… (On that note, pictures are sub-par because I was afraid the Dragon Lady would notice I was taking pictures and would then cut of my head for doing that!).

Yes, I chose to overall skip commentaries of the food, even the description, because, well, given that state of “shock”, I am not sure how that would have worked. However, I can confirm some of the characteristics of the dim sum served: in some cases, (ab)use of baking soda to give some texture to some meats, each morsel seemed to be abnormally large and so on. Taste-wise, it was OK, it wasn’t the best in the world but… Did I mention we ran out of tea several times and we were conveniently ignored? When asked for napkins, we were given a bunch and, rather than hoard them, we pass it to the other customers in the same table?

In the end, while I have a really thick skin and can usually handle issues like this, I will have to agree with Sherman that, sure, it can be cheap (total meal was ~$30) but I would rather pay a bit more to have a more quite meal. It is possible that at Po King you will get that if you end up getting the whole table for your party but what are the chances? Now, given what happened, I am not sure if I am willing to give it a second chance to prove me wrong.

Palacio Lung Fung
Via Simón Bolívar and Calle 62 C. Oeste
Panama City, Panama

It is said that you can find Chinese people in almost everywhere in the world. In the case of Panama, it is said that Chinese born and/or first generation accounts for at least 5 percent (150,000 of over 3,000,000) of the Panamanian population. However, Chinese people have been in Panama goes way back to the time of the Panama Canal construction (if not further back) and have intermingled with the local population. A lot of times you will find people with a Chinese surname, yet, physically, they look like any other Panamanian born. Regardless, Chinese people has made its mark in the Panamanian culture. For example, the neighbourhood grocery store, it is usually referred to as the “Chinito de la esquina” – literally, “The Chinese of the corner”. (However, this is not unique to Panama, other countries in Latin America will also use the Chinese for this expression).

And, of course, food. It is said that wherever you can find Chinese people, you will find Chinese restaurants. In this case, I took my parents for dim sum to one of the best known Chinese restaurants in the city: Palacio Lung Fung.

Way back then, this place used to be the main location for Chinese events: Meetings, wedding receptions, banquets, et al, they all usually took place here. They could do it because this place is big: Not really noticeable in the picture above but this restaurant is a three storey building, with parkade in the ground floor (with a small lunch room/take out outlet), the regular restaurant in the second level and the main banquet hall in the third level. For dim sum, specially if they know in advance it will be busy, they will open all floors for business.

Please, don’t ask, it is just there…

Despite the size of the restaurant, there were a lot of people queued, waiting for tables. We were able to jump ahead because the parties ahead of us where too large for a table that just opened. Feel free to call it luck… (On that note, our party was made up of my parents, my sister, a friend – who was a bit late – and myself). And here is one of the most important topics of discussion for dim sum places: carts or slips/forms? There are pros and cons of each: in the case of the carts, there is no guessing game (this is specially true for people who do not speak Chinese); however, it creates the problem of “freshness” of the items, as they might been sitting there for a while. This can be address if they are cooked to order, something done if slips/forms are used. (Of course, it won’t be a problem at all if the turnaround is really fast). But, then, for those who do not read Chinese and even if they are in English (or Spanish in the case of Panama), things might be lost in translation… Anyway, Lung Fung uses carts.

Not sure if it is really noticeable from the picture above but there were a lot of non-Chinese people in this dining room!

It is fortunate that people here are more “civilized” when it comes to getting the food from the carts. At least, they will wait until the cart arrives, not like some places I have observed where people might go even to the kitchen to procure the goodies! And, on the topic of goodies, here are some of the items we ordered:

Siu mai or pork and mushroom dumpling. For people here in Canada (or, should I say, outside of Panama…), notice fish roe is not added on top.

Haa gao (or whichever spelling you prefer) or shrimp dumplings. If you call it small, I won’t blame you…

Tripe. The slices at the top are slices of ginger. They were not as tender as I wished they were.

Fish balls. I think we ordered this by mistake, thinking they were beef balls. Oh, well… Still, they were not as good as they could have been.

Cheong fun or rice noodle rolls. For some odd reason, my family usually does not share this dish, so everybody got one (the pork version seen above). We also ordered an additional one of shrimp, though.

Pork steamed buns. I did not have any; rather, my friend finished them all (though gravity “helped”…)

Egg tarts. Not much to say…

Another bun, this one had a coconut filling. The order has two pieces; however, my sister nabbed one before I could take a picture of it.

While we had more dishes (like the infamous phoenix talons, aka, chicken feet), reality was, I did not really want to take more pictures. This is really unlike me but there was one reason: I was NOT enjoying the food. While conversation with my family and friend helped, the food was not doing so. Either, the quality was not there or I have been used to the dim sum offered here in Vancouver (unlikely, you will find out why in Sunday’s post) or it was a bad day (again, unlikely because it was a busy day). I have other thoughts but won’t elaborate. In the end, it seems Lung Fung rested in their laurels and let the food slip. Total of the meal (close to 20 dishes, if not a couple more) was just under US $50. Sure, it was cheap but it was not worth it…

Kirin
1166 Alberni St
Vancouver, BC V6E

I am not sure what to think about Kirin (Dowtown location). There is a lot of positive reviews yet, in the couple of times I have been there, it did not “wow” me. How (Or how it does not)? Well, it is just that it does not have anything that stands out over othe dim sum places. Sure, there might have some more fancy version of some dishes but that is about it, nothing spectacular.

Some work colleagues wanted to go there for lunch and that gave me the opportunity to check if it has changed since the last time I have been there (a couple of years ago already)…

This ain’t your traditional “old-style” dim sum place. Given it is located in Downtown Vancouver, it shouldn’t surprise anybody…

One of my colleagues did the ordering after he checked if any of us had any particular request. I did not, as I can eat almost anything. So the among the dishes ordered were (I only took a couple of pictures, sorry about that…).

Dishes ordered but I did not take pictures include haa gao, siu mai and fung zao.

The total bill was just under $50 (for 6, pre-tips), which in a way is inexpensive, considering it is Downtown; however, we did not order that many dishes anyway. Overall, the impressions I had in the past have not change. Nothing spectacular, not much to comment about…