Dim Sum

[Looking for Dim Sum]

My favourite Dim Sum restaurant has closed down. Any recommendations as to where they have have Dim Sum?  Thanks.

[Mr Singers]

Ummm. You can't beat Hong Kong for dim sum.

[To: China Club]

Was the club nice?

(I was recently forwarded for corporate membership.  Seems a lot of money for the membership of a restaurant as they have no other facililities.  I accepted to become a member as it was free to me and the company pays the fees.  Not visited as yet.)

[China Club]

The food was very good and the service was outstanding. There wern't many people dining as such there were two waiters to each table. Maybe this is their protocol. The decor was amazing, like what I guess Shanghi in the 1930s would be like. The club is on the 60th floor (I think). Glass all round and a good view of the working docks to one side and the city on the other.   

If someone paid my membership I would be very happy - lucky you. I imagine it would be a good place to entertain guests and business associates, as I was.

[How can you tell]

Dim Sums are delicious but I have various dietary restrictions.
How can I tell what filling is in each packet?  (I tried asking the waitresses with the trolley but communication in English is not easy!)

[fritjes]

Dim Sums are delicious but I have various dietary restrictions.
How can I tell what filling is in each packet?  (I tried asking the waitresses with the trolley but communication in English is not easy!)

90% of dimsum items contain pork or prawns or a combination of the two! Might be easier to tell them what you can't eat? Or if you can share here and we'll tell you what to avoid.

[fritjes]

Even the porkless items are probably made with some lard...

If it's really an issue, tell the service manager/captain that you don't want anything with pork in it - they should be able to take care of you then. Or you can always bring a picture of a pig with a cross/X-mark over it!

[jalanperak]

Even the porkless items are probably made with some lard...

If it's really an issue, tell the service manager/captain that you don't want anything with pork in it - they should be able to take care of you then. Or you can always bring a picture of a pig with a cross/X-mark over it!

Maybe. But realistically if pork is a real dietary no no for someone, trying to find a halal (or kosher) dim sum place might not be practical.

Lots of other stuff to eat here :-)

[fritjes]

The poster didn't say why s/he doesn't want to eat pork items - even if keeping kosher/halal I know of folks who simply avoid pork containing items, but don't have a problem eating in the same restaurant/table.

Some non-porc items I can think of:

1. Boat congee (ting zhai chok) - porridge with fish slices/seafood
2. Cheong fun with scallops/prawns
3. mince beef balls
4. Phoenix claws (chicken feet!)
5. Lor mai gai (glutinous rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf)
6. Lobster/prawn fried dumpling - usually served with a mayo dip
7. Deep fried whitebait
8. Prawn-paste chicken wings
9. Dessert items - egg tarts, custard buns, red-bean pancakes

Many of the vegetable dumplings contain small amounts of mince pork for flavour - so you might want to check on that. Dishes like radish cake is usually flavoured with chinese ham as well - so depending on your restrictions, something you'll have to avoid too.

You can also order dishes like beef (gan chao niu hor) or seafood hor fun (hua dan chao hor), stir fried tofu/vegetable (vegetarian) or

Not impossible! As long as the poster is ok with potential "contaminants"!

Great. now I'm hungry.

[Ask b4 ordering]

The poster didn't say why s/he doesn't want to eat pork items - even if keeping kosher/halal I know of folks who simply avoid pork containing items, but don't have a problem eating in the same restaurant/table.

Some non-porc items I can think of:

1. Boat congee (ting zhai chok) - porridge with fish slices/seafood
2. Cheong fun with scallops/prawns
3. mince beef balls
4. Phoenix claws (chicken feet!)
5. Lor mai gai (glutinous rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf)
6. Lobster/prawn fried dumpling - usually served with a mayo dip
7. Deep fried whitebait
8. Prawn-paste chicken wings
9. Dessert items - egg tarts, custard buns, red-bean pancakes

Many of the vegetable dumplings contain small amounts of mince pork for flavour - so you might want to check on that. Dishes like radish cake is usually flavoured with chinese ham as well - so depending on your restrictions, something you'll have to avoid too.

You can also order dishes like beef (gan chao niu hor) or seafood hor fun (hua dan chao hor), stir fried tofu/vegetable (vegetarian) or

Not impossible! As long as the poster is ok with potential "contaminants"!

Great. now I'm hungry.

Most chinese restaurants used either minced pork or lard for cooking. Even dishes are hai kau (the white steamed prawn thingy) contains traces of pork.

Always ask before you order, if you cannot take pork at all.

[chitown]

Here are a few places I like:

1. Red Star Restaurant - Blk Chin Swee Road, #07-23  (pretty authentic for Singapore)
2. Noble House - 5 Shenton Way, #06-13 UIC Building (good; but a bit on the pricey side)
3. I like the Dim Sum items on the Crystal Jade menu (the outlet on 4th FL of Takashimaya near the dept store entrance)

Also type 'Dim Sum' into the Search field on hungrygowhere.com and try your luck.

[Thank you]

Thank you all for your tips about avoiding pork.  Are there vegetarian dumplings?  I guess that might be a way to avoid pork?

[Do NOT understand]

why my recommendation was deleted while others' were not? Din Tai Fung is a restaurant name posted by me, as are Red Star and Noble House - posted by others. The question was WHERE to go...? Are we banned from recommending restaurants when asked now? 

[fritjes]

Thank you all for your tips about avoiding pork.  Are there vegetarian dumplings?  I guess that might be a way to avoid pork?

What do you mean by avoid pork? You haven't made it clear to folks at all. Some pp just don't want to eat the meat, but have no issue with pork elements in the preparation process. Some have zero tolerance - can't have dishes prepared with the same utensils/pots/crockery that have touched pork.

There are likely no true vegetarian dishes in all the dim sum restaurants listed so far. Dishes/items is almost always made with lard or stock containing pork.

If you cannot take any pork at all for religious reasons, and want to try dim sum, perhaps you can look into LingZhi Restaurant. I think it's still around... it's a chinese vegetarian restaurant by the Tung Lok group. Not sure if they have dim sum items.

[solutions]

If you want to avoid pork then the best thing to do is eat at a restaurant that isn't Chinese.  Chinese restaurants love using pork!

and if you really want dim sum then you could try making it at home - it's not that hard to do, just get a decent cookbook or look for recipes on the internet and put your own ingredients in.