Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:
I love dim sum - the Chinese mini appetizers brunch - to put an American definition on it. One of my favorite places for dim sum (or yum cha, as it is also called) is East Ocean Restaurant in Sydney, Australia. However because I live in Florida, USA - it's not like I can just hop on down to Sydney whenever a dim sum craving hits. Or at least not until I win a very large lottery!
So when I was traveling in San Francisco, I knew I needed to take advantage of the plethora of Asian residents and the proximity of a quality Chinatown for some authentic dim sum. I researched all of the restaurants that were located in the city center. (I was without a car and didn't want to Lyft or Uber my way to the far suburbs where some very notable dim sum restaurants are located.)
I finally decided to try Great Eastern Restaurant.
When President Obama was in town, he had dim sum at Great Eastern.
And if a dim sum restaurant is good enough for President Obama, it is definitely good enough for me!
The restaurant is large with good, fast, efficient service. The dim sum is ordered via paper menus like you would order sushi. I like when restaurants have the carts of dim sum and you order off the cart, but as long as the dim sum tastes good I am OK with ordering off the menu.
I am a creature of habit when it comes to dim sum. I tend to order the same things over and over again. I choose to think of this as "Classic Lily" versus "Boring Lily."
I like to order hot tea, of course.
Barbecued pork buns - soft and fluffy with a sweet, zesty pork filling.
I ALWAYS order radish cakes - gelatinous slices, studded with radish or turnip or taro bits and tiny shrimp, which are pan-fried. I also usually order some kind of dumpling or shu mei. In this case, pork and chive panfried dumplings.
And I prefer soy sauce and red vinegar on my radish cakes.
In tribute to my Grandmother, I love steamed sticky rice wrapped in a leaf. It usually contains chicken or pork and egg.
On this particular occasion, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I ordered pineapple buns - which in 97% of all cases, do NOT contain any pineapple at all. Sometimes they are custard-filled and sometimes they are plain. The name "pineapple bun" refers to the crunchy coating on top of the bun which is supposed to resemble the outside of a pineapple. I know some places actually started serving these buns stuffed with pineapple jelly because they were probably sick of people complaining that the pineapple bun had no pineapple.
In dim sum, most orders contain 2-4 items - so I did not have the option to get just one pineapple bun. My stomach surrendered and I took these 3 little darlings to go. I ate them in my hotel room later that night when my stomach was in a happier state!
I very much enjoyed the dim sum at Great Eastern restaurant. I may not be the President, but the waitstaff treated me very well. It was affordable, tasty, authentic and delicious in a relaxed, lovely atmosphere. It was very much a "Chinatown experience."
If you're looking for quality dim sum in Chinatown, San Francisco - check out Great Eastern!
I love dim sum - the Chinese mini appetizers brunch - to put an American definition on it. One of my favorite places for dim sum (or yum cha, as it is also called) is East Ocean Restaurant in Sydney, Australia. However because I live in Florida, USA - it's not like I can just hop on down to Sydney whenever a dim sum craving hits. Or at least not until I win a very large lottery!
So when I was traveling in San Francisco, I knew I needed to take advantage of the plethora of Asian residents and the proximity of a quality Chinatown for some authentic dim sum. I researched all of the restaurants that were located in the city center. (I was without a car and didn't want to Lyft or Uber my way to the far suburbs where some very notable dim sum restaurants are located.)
I finally decided to try Great Eastern Restaurant.
When President Obama was in town, he had dim sum at Great Eastern.
And if a dim sum restaurant is good enough for President Obama, it is definitely good enough for me!
The restaurant is large with good, fast, efficient service. The dim sum is ordered via paper menus like you would order sushi. I like when restaurants have the carts of dim sum and you order off the cart, but as long as the dim sum tastes good I am OK with ordering off the menu.
I am a creature of habit when it comes to dim sum. I tend to order the same things over and over again. I choose to think of this as "Classic Lily" versus "Boring Lily."
I like to order hot tea, of course.
Barbecued pork buns - soft and fluffy with a sweet, zesty pork filling.
I ALWAYS order radish cakes - gelatinous slices, studded with radish or turnip or taro bits and tiny shrimp, which are pan-fried. I also usually order some kind of dumpling or shu mei. In this case, pork and chive panfried dumplings.
And I prefer soy sauce and red vinegar on my radish cakes.
In tribute to my Grandmother, I love steamed sticky rice wrapped in a leaf. It usually contains chicken or pork and egg.
On this particular occasion, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I ordered pineapple buns - which in 97% of all cases, do NOT contain any pineapple at all. Sometimes they are custard-filled and sometimes they are plain. The name "pineapple bun" refers to the crunchy coating on top of the bun which is supposed to resemble the outside of a pineapple. I know some places actually started serving these buns stuffed with pineapple jelly because they were probably sick of people complaining that the pineapple bun had no pineapple.
In dim sum, most orders contain 2-4 items - so I did not have the option to get just one pineapple bun. My stomach surrendered and I took these 3 little darlings to go. I ate them in my hotel room later that night when my stomach was in a happier state!
I very much enjoyed the dim sum at Great Eastern restaurant. I may not be the President, but the waitstaff treated me very well. It was affordable, tasty, authentic and delicious in a relaxed, lovely atmosphere. It was very much a "Chinatown experience."
If you're looking for quality dim sum in Chinatown, San Francisco - check out Great Eastern!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Lily On The Lam wants to hear from you ... Seriously, she does ...