Secretly Unstable

I have been told I am crazy, funny, a good cook, and a decent blogger. These are the expectations I am trying to live up to. Thank you.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Dim Sum = Genius

I love a food experience. Not just food. I mean sometimes I love just food, but it is much more about the whole food experience. The people you dine with, the atmosphere, the character, etc, all have as much to do with enjoying food as the taste does. And a food experience doesn't have to be at a 4-star restaurant or something that you only do on a special occasion, a truely terrific food experience can happen on a Sunday morning in White Plains with your parents and friends and cost $15 a person.

This superior and down to earth food experience is Dim Sum. And this is going to be the first restaurant focused food blog that is not going to include the name of the restauarant because...well..... I don't know the name.... I also don't know the names of 90% of the things we ate. So bear with me because just like Dim Sum is not an ordinary dining experience, this is not going to be an ordinary food blog.

Let's start with this simple fact. Who doesn't love a dumpling? I am pretty sure the term of endearment, ("my little dumpling" for example) started because everyone loves dumplings. Dumplings exists in many, if not all food cultures. Jews have matzoh balls, puerto ricans have empanadas, southerners have hush puppies... some are fried, some are steamed, some are baked. A dumpling by any other name is still just as damn good. Given that, Dim Sum is a meal that focuses pretty much on dumplings.

On Sunday we have steamed pork buns, baked pork buns, fried pork buns, shark fin shumai, chicken dumplings, a dumpling stuffed with leeks, seafood dumplings, beef shumai, and probably three or four others dumpling like objects. It was so damn good. Who the hell knew what you were eating half of the time, but who cares? If it's good, it's good.

How do you end up eating all of these varieties of dumplings, you might be wondering? Simple, they bring them all to you. Dim Sum works like this: You sit. They push various carts over to your table. You choice want you want. Then you eat. Instant gratification. You are hungry. You sit. You eat. Such a simple concept. Friendly staff offers you a variety of yummy goodness to choose from and you get to eat it. You are charged by the plate. Plates run from $2.50 to $4.00. That's it.

While dumpling varieties are a Dim Sum staple, you have many other choices. You can try some chicken feet, bokchoy,chinese broccoli, clams, fancy scallops, egg custards, fried calamari, tempura, fried rice, fried taro, shrimp, pork spareribs, and many other items. It really is the best place to try new things and get over ridiculous food phobias. Plus there is something for everyone. Vegetarian? Have some vegetable dumplings, steamed rice, Chinese eggplant, and some sesame rice balls filled with mushrooms. Only eat fish? Sharkfin dumpkins, seafood salad, and fried taro with shrimp is the way to go. Never eat fish? Well, you can eat your weight in chicken dumplings and pork buns. Eat everything? Smart person you are, enjoy everything.

Dim Sum rocks the house. There is something about the chaos that is great. Pushy waiters wanting you the try what they have to offer. If you are indecisive you will end up trying it. Any hestitation to a "Leek dumpling?" question will leave you with leek dumplings. (Thank goodness, cause they were good.) Its freaking fun. You feel like a Roman emperor selecting this and that, rejecting, accepting, passing, eating. Its wonderful.

At the end of the meal, we were all stuffed. Dumplings are no joke. I felt like a dumpling. And not in the cute sense. $15 bucks a person. It was awesome. We went to a place on Central avenue in White Plains, next to the Trader Joes and behind the Best Buy. We got there at 11:30 and enjoyed ourselves for about an hour, and it was well worth it. I highly suggest you go out and try Dim Sum.

.....and don't forget to invite us.