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I can't find (or, really, effectively search for) a topic for this place, so I'm starting my own. I'd like to thank everyone who's recommended this place, including the late Bux, who often spoke of his appreciation for the place, and the folks on Chowhound who've been touting Go Go's dim sum as being in the modern Hong Kong style, which they explain is lower fat compared to the 1980s Hong Kong style that is featured by the big dim sum eating halls in Chinatown. Now that I've tried the place out, I wonder why I waited so long. I went there for lunch yesterday (Wednesday) with a friend, arriving around 11:50. I think one other table was occupied, but by the time we left around 1:10, the place was busy. We had the following: Turnip cakes (fine rendition, with finely minced strips of ham) Roast pork bun (thin dough, very tasty filling) Baked egg custard (another very good rendition - the crust was firm and not excessively flaky, and the filling was a lot better than one gets used to in Manhattan) Rice rolls with shrimp (the long, thick noodle stuffed with shrimp - I found this rendition rather uninteresting, and the sauce tasted like straight soy sauce) Chicken bun (too doughy, but the filling was tasty) Chives and shrimp dumplings (very good and clean-tasting) Duck dumplings (also good) Jade dumplings (a vegetarian item which included some kind of green bean [edamame?] and I'm forgetting what else [carrot?], but it was nice) As you can see, we had a substantial meal. The cost was something like $22 and change plus tip. In general, I would characterize the items we had as well-made from good ingredients and relatively light, especially for dim sum. This is good Cantonese food, and I will surely return to try other items.

(Parenthetically, that great shop on Grand St. is called DiPalo's [note spelling].)

yunnermeier, I'm glad you brought up roti canai, because if you hadn't, I would have! That's a nice spicy AND starchy way to start your day! Do you or your parents ever have lempeng or jemput for breakfast? (Those are sweet Malaysian pancakes; lempeng has some featured ingredient like jackfruit, coconut, or banana in the flour and jemput has it for filling.)

Rancho, squash is native to the Americas, correct? Doesn't that profit greatly from pollination by bees?

Hiroyuki, I ate at a local soba-ya called Soba Koh tonight in your honor. (Well, truth be told, it's about the 5th time I've been there and I've liked it every time, but I do think you inspired me to go back.) One of the things I love about Japanese food is that it doesn't shrink from the fishy taste, either of fish (as in delicious dashi broth) or seaweed. It's just part of the flavor profile. Of course, I speak from considerable ignorance as a mere casual consumer of some Japanese food. Do I speak the truth?

I'm lurking on this thread and enjoying the photos as usual! Klary, what kind of flowers were on the cake? Edible, I presume? Meredith, a speedy recovery to you and your family!

Hiroyuki, I'm impressed that you can buy really pretty cutlery at your local 100-yen store!

I didn't know, Hiroyuki; I just guessed. Susan suggested that the photo could be misleading ("I'd imagine you can guess where the blogger is from, but not who it is!"), so I thought that perhaps she would think it would surprise us if the blogger were a man. I figured that (1) You have a daughter, so the female figure in the photo could have something to do with her, and (2) You hadn't yet done a foodblog, and I've long considered you a good candidate to do one. And here you are! I'm very sorry to hear about your wife's health troubles, and I can't imagine doing a foodblog under such circumstances. That being the case, your blog, which would be excellent under normal conditions, is truly exceptional. I also want to say that your kids are adorable and you are indeed very photogenic, if the photo you posted is a representative sample. Furthermore, your English is so good that you know when NOT to put a comma before "which" and "who," a rule that a generation of Microsoft Word grammar-checker-reliant students are constantly flouting. And finally, a question, and probably a rather naive one at that: How do you manage to remove the sour milk smell completely from your artfully recycled milk cartons?

Yep. I'd go further than you, though: Mott St. between Canal and Grand is no longer merely an extension of Chinatown, but part of CENTRAL Chinatown now, one of the most important shopping streets in the neighborhood (along with Grand St. between Bowery and Chrystie and East Broadway between Chatham Square and Pike St.).

Hiroyuki?

What a great read! Will there be other installments?

Peanuts? Yet another great report! I look forward to the next one!

Salmon is a fatty fish. It doesn't meet the definition of "fishy" in this thread? I ate a lot of mackeral (ikan selayang and ikan kembung) in Malaysia, and it was a lot leaner. I guess I still don't understand.

Great story, Oyster Guy!

Please post a report on the New York forum. That's in my neighborhood, and I haven't been there yet but heard another good report from a neighbor.

What is an "air check signal"? ← A wave of the hand to indicate to the waiter that you want your check, and I can't see a single thing wrong with it!

Please explain "massively hooked up."

Are we talking about really fresh fish that has a fishy taste, or fish that isn't fresh-tasting enough? Because my experience is that really fresh fish doesn't taste "fishy," whether in America, Italy, France, Malaysia, or any other place I've been to.

Oh, that sounds really, really good. ← Yeah, it does! I was wondering whether you'd consider that a fusion dish, Nishla.

Any possibility of the visitor going to Spicy & Tasty in Flushing? That blew away the ~50th St. Grand Sichuan. I don't know what the visitor would consider "top-notch," but to me, the Chelsea and St. Marks branches are reliably very good (if only the right menus are ordered, of course - and none of the "Mini Menu" at the St. Marks location) but Spicy & Tasty is truly great!

I can't believe so many of you consider El Faralito your favorite taqueria in SF! Amazing. And I thought it was just one of the very good taquerias in the Mission District. I've been there a bunch of times but not recently (the last time I was in SF was probably 3 summers ago). I've never been inside Bi-Rite, but there's a hilarious sign on the garage next door about what awaits people shopping in Bi-Rite who have the gall to block the driveway. I don't remember the exact wording. Any help from you all? That Vietnamese place looked really good!

Chengdu looks awesome! I love those markets you're showing us! And thanks for showing us something about Chengdu Opera. I've seen Beijing Opera and excerpts of Cantonese Opera but have yet to see any part of any Chengdu Opera. Peter, I think you're spoiling your children. What great stories they'll have to tell!

A good friend of mine is 'Bigfoot" from the book "Kitchen Confidential". I spoke with him about this many years ago. He said that he has his waitstaff pay the credit card fees, and that it is absolutley legal. He is a self proclaimed labor law guru. This was about 8 years ago. ← Depending on what percentage of their tips he was collecting for this purpose, it might be legal and still manifestly unfair. I have no knowledge of what types of actions in this situation are legal under labor law; however, in any case, I'm commenting not on legal issues but on questions of fairness. I've noticed that other types of establishments, such as gas stations, charge less to people who pay cash. Why is it that in a restaurant, it would be fair to charge an employee instead of a customer for a fee that is solely the result of the choice of mode of payment by the customer and the management's agreement to accept that mode of payment?

Those look like upside-down muffins. How are they different from muffins?

I tried Cinnamon Dulce de Leche ice cream tonight. It's awesome! If you like their Dulce de Leche flavor and also like cinnamon, you really should try this flavor.