Today was week xx of our near weekly tradition of Dim Sum for Sunday lunch. Always a treat! If you have never had dim sum before you really have to try it. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_sum
Basically you sit at a table with chopsticks in hand, plate with soy sauce in front of you, and several carts come by with small dishes of various types of dumplings and other chinese treats. You pick some things out and they put them on your table. One “order” is usually enough for 2-4 people to sample. I have gone myself and eaten 4 “orders” of different things before and was super full to give you an idea of the size of each portion. The more people the better because you can try a variety of different dishes without filling up quickly. (It is a “for the table to share” type dining experience)
Some of my favorites are Pork Shaomai, Sticky Rice, and mmmmm Custard Buns! (Sweet, like dessert).
I have eaten at about 5 or 6 Dim Sum restaurants in the Atlanta area and we have a few favorites. Canton House on Buford Drive in Chamblee is really good, they have the best custard buns. Canton house is really authentic but has a good bit of american customers. If you want true blue “I am the only non asian person in here” place I suggest Royal China, also in Chamblee. It borders on being the type of place you only go if you are with someone that has been, or you yourself are chinese – and even then you still may want to go with someone that has been, especially if you have never had dim sum before. There are plenty of others around, probably hundreds, but these two are my favorites for a bunch of reasons including speed of cart service (how much time between each cart coming by).
Dim Sum is a great example of how you can take foods you have eat all your life and prepare them in a new and different way for a new and different experience. Thanks to our friends Glen and Sandy for first introducing us to Dim Sum all those years ago!