Philadelphia Dim Sum

[lancastermike]

This really is sad news. When we were in town we loved Lakeside. Good food and they were always very friendly to us out of town non-Asians

[philadining]

Wow! Xiao Long Bao!

[Tim Dolan]

Word on the street was that there aren't really any good places around for soup dumplings. Where'd you score those???

[Capaneus]

Word on the street was that there aren't really any good places around for soup dumplings.  Where'd you score those???

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We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you. By wrapping you in a thin sheet of dough and then heating you until you melt.

Just kidding. The picture is from Sunday's outing to Dim Sum Garden. You can see more purdy pitchers, and a less-cryptic account from Philadining, by following the link in his sig. I will say that, while I have very limited experience with xiao long bao, if they get a whole lot better than these, I've got a new monkey for my back. Them's great dumplings.

[philadining]

As Capaneus posted, these are from Dim Sum Garden, on 11th street, between Filbert and Arch, just east of the Reading Terminal Market, under the overpass, behind a big idling bus, just to the right of that knot of people waiting to get on the bus, to the left of that clot of people just hanging around for no apparent reason... It's not an especially picturesque location.

But they have Xiao Long Bao, so all is forgiven!

They are indeed good examples, with nice thin tender skins that threaten to tear on their way out of the basket (OK, sometimes they do, if one doesn't break or leak now or then, the skin's obviously too thick.)

Dim Sum Garden is not really a good name for the place, it's not a typical dim sum place, not even like Lakeside was. Yes, they have dumplings, a few different kinds, but most of the smallish menu is noodles (with or without soup) or rice platters. Most importantly, so far, everything we've tried has been really good.

Shaou Mei (filled with pork and mushrooms, no soup)

Shanghai Steamed Vegetable Buns

Hand-Drawn Noodles with Duck

Hand-Drawn Noodles in Soup, with Chili Pork and Cabbage

Pork Chop on Rice

(this is WAY better than it looks, better than it has a right to be...)

Meatballs

I should have put something in there for scale, these are not the huge Lions Head meatballs, these are probably golf-ball sized. Really tasty regardless of their circumference!

Smoked Fish

Pretty intense: smoky, salty, a little sweet. I was surprised to like this as much as I did, but still, small doses works for me...

Seaweed Salad

Tricolor Salad (with pressed tofu and shredded vegetables.)

The restaurant itself is pretty tiny, and was doing a bustling business on Sunday, so I wouldn't be surprised if they started having waits on weekends. I'd stand in line for any of the food we had, not just the XLB.

Edited January 15, 2008 by philadining (log)

[Andrew Fenton]

I really liked those soup dumplings: tender, flavorful, nice broth. I wasn't quite as blown away by the other dishes I tried: the pork & chive dumplings were a little bland, and the noodle and brisket soup (made with hand-drawn noodles; all the noodles and dumplings there are hand-made) was good, but not up to the standards of Nan Xhou.

Still, I'm planning to head back; and looking over Phil's photos, I can see that there are a number of dishes that I'll just have to try, when I'm there with a group!

Oh, and while the restaurant itself has all the ambience of a bus station, the people there are super-nice. They asked how I'd heard of the soup dumplings, checked to make sure I knew how to eat them, watched to see that I didn't burn myself, pointed out which sauce went with each dish, etc. Sort of the best aspects of a family business.

[philadining]

I missed this interchange at our sunday excursion, but there's some linguistic subtlety that could lead to some confusion: apparently the folks at Dim Sum Garden don't call them "Soup Dumplings" so ask for Xiao Long Bao, or just the first thing on the menu: the Shanghai Steamed Buns. What gets confusing is that the Shanghai Steamed Vegetable Buns are the big fluffy ones, not soupy... But the Shanghai Steamed buns with pork, or pork and crab, are Xiao Long Bao.

There very well may be some other thing that they would call "Soup Dumplings" that they don't serve.

There is indeed a culinary distinction between "dumplings" and "buns" even though "buns" might be made with leavened dough, or not, and the ones made with unleavened dough can look dumpling-like.

Anyway, don't ask for soup dumplings.

[Andrew Fenton]

That's a good point-- I had to ask a couple of questions to make sure that what I ordered was what I wanted.

(For what it's worth, Pagoda's soup dumplings-- which aren't as good-- are also called something like "steamed juicy buns." So there's some sort of translation issue there.)

[MysticMilt]

I missed this interchange at our sunday excursion, but there's some linguistic subtlety that could lead to some confusion: apparently the folks at Dim Sum Garden don't call them "Soup Dumplings" so ask for Xiao Long Bao, or just the first thing on the menu: the Shanghai Steamed Buns.

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My Mandarin ain't what it used to be: what's the phonetic pronunciation of "Xiao Long Bao"? My first guess is "show long bow," where the first word is like the first syllable of "shower" and the last word is "bow" as in take a... -- is that kind of close?

Philadining, thanks so much for the most excellent review. The only bad part was that I saw all those lovely pictures at work today, when I was miles and miles away from decent dim sum.

Until I can make it downtown to try Dim Sum Garden (which should be soon, I hope), I'm just going to have to satisfy my Xiao Long Bao craving with the most excellent ones at Margaret Kuo's.

[mrbigjas]

My Mandarin ain't what it used to be: what's the phonetic pronunciation of "Xiao Long Bao"? My first guess is "show long bow," where the first word is like the first syllable of "shower" and the last word is "bow" as in take a... -- is that kind of close?

i haven't taken mandarin since college, but assuming the pinyin is correct, basically yeah.

Edited January 16, 2008 by mrbigjas (log)

[philadining]

The bigger question is whether to use the Mandarin pronunciation, or the Shanghainese.

I know next to nothing about this, but I think it's closer to "Sho Lon Bo" in Shanghainese.

[shacke]

Just caught the Lakeside news .....

SonuvabiATCH. Honey - where's my Valium?

Edited January 17, 2008 by shacke (log)

[brescd01]

G-d bless you G-d bless you G-d bless you G-d bless you.

Took friends to Dim Sum Garden yesterday and I found religion.

PS: They will deliver in several weeks and their menu will be expanded.

Edited January 27, 2008 by brescd01 (log)

[Capaneus]

G-d bless you G-d bless you G-d bless you G-d bless you.

Took friends to Dim Sum Garden yesterday and I found religion.

PS: They will deliver in several weeks and their menu will be expanded.

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Did they say what's changing? Are they finally getting their gas lines?

[Andrew Fenton]

PS: They will deliver in several weeks and their menu will be expanded.

Yow! I imagine that the soup dumplings won't travel well, but if I'm wrong... WHOA NELLY! That'll be great.

[rlibkind]

PS: They will deliver in several weeks and their menu will be expanded.

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They said today the new menu probably will start next week.

I've been meaning to stop by since I first spotted the shop around the corner from the RTM a month or so ago, but finally got my chance today. Did the soup dumplings and they were yummy.

Phil, can you described the smoked fish for me? Obviously this ain't lox. But I'm intrigued. I've yet to meat a smoked fish I haven't liked, but that's admittedly only been smoked fish of either Northern European or PNW culinary heritage.

[philadining]

That smoked fish is actually a little hard to describe, because as I list details, it sounds worse than it is!

It's pretty dry. It's boney. Several of the chunks were pieces of fish head. It has an assertively fishy flavor, along with the smoke. So it's kind of a fish jerky.

Although that doesn't sound all that attractive, and it was not a favorite at the table, a few of our party did really like it, and I liked it much more than I thought I would. There's a slight sweet-salty overtone to it that melds with the smoke in an attractive way. It makes me think it would be a good snack with beer.

So, no, it ain't lox!

[Andrew Fenton]

I must have just missed you, Bob; I also had lunch at DSG yesterday. After four visits, I've come to the conclusion that, with the exception of the soup dumplings (which I truly love), nothing else there is all that exceptional. I've had plenty of pretty good stuff, but nothing that blew me away.

[percyn]

I must have just missed you, Bob; I also had lunch at DSG yesterday.  After four visits, I've come to the conclusion that, with the exception of the soup dumplings (which I truly love), nothing else there is all that exceptional.  I've had plenty of pretty good stuff, but nothing that blew me away.

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Some of the more seemingly pedestrian stuff like fried rice was really good and unlike the typical fried rice.

[philadining]

Did you have the pork chop on rice?

[Andrew Fenton]

No, but I had the soy chicken on rice. It was good (and actually, the rice was a cut above most rice), but didn't knock me out. Is the pork chop significantly better?

Percy, I'll give the fried rice a try.

[philadining]

Is the pork chop significantly better?

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Yes!

[brescd01]

I think that nothing was outstanding, but everything I had there was very good, and prepared Shanghainese style, with those unique flavours you cannot find anywhere else in Philly. Plus, their menu is stripped down to accomodate their lack of gas lines.

[lfabio2007]

We were there today for lunch. A multi-dumpling tasting revealed another egullet hit: we particularly liked the shangai dumplings (item 1 on the menu) and the pork+chives dumplings.

Something noone mentioned are the prices: I'd love to know how they make do, we spent $15 ...

[shacke]

Went today and the soup dumplings are a welcome addition to Philadelphia. Still no gas - the owner told me the gas company tells him "Tomorrow" pretty much every day.

I liked the hand made noodles in the otherwise average shanghai wonton noodle soup. The pork-napa dumplings were also average fare.

My little guy had to have chicken wings (curry fried and not my speed) and chicken on a stick - surprisingly tasty 5 spice flavored chicken thighs which I kinda liked.

Next time, for sure, we will go long on the soup dumplings and grab one of those nice looking "protein on noodle" plates.

Thanks for the tip!

Evan