Silver Pond Dim Sum in Fort Lee

[dknyc1]

After reading about it here many times I finally tried the Sunday Dim Sum at Silver Pond.

I live just one town away & have passed the place many times.

My wife, daughter almost 5, & I have been twice in the last 3 weeks.

I was a little aprehensive at first - there were hardly any other caucasian people there but they treated us very nicely & we felt very comfortable.

We love it but have a few questions:

- is it only on Sundays?

- what hours?

- we have been going around noon on Sunday & it is a zoo - do they take reservations?

- I find it a little hard to question the servers due to the language barrier - is there anything special there I should be looking for - what are the best dishes - dimsum?

Any other advise appreciated

[M.X.Hassett]

Heres some info via Jason and some photos

Silver Pond really excells at its dim sum during lunchtime on weekends, although it is a fairly serious Hong Kong seafood restaurant. It does NOT do dim sum during the evening! Should you go Silver Pond for lunchtime on a Saturday or Sunday, be sure to get there between 12 and 1. Typically there isnt more than a 10 minute wait to get in.

[Rachel Perlow]

About the best time to arrive is 11:45-11:55. By noon the place is filling up, by 12:15 there's usually a wait.

[Peter Conway]

About the best time to arrive is 11:45-11:55. By noon the place is filling up, by 12:15 there's usually a wait.

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Sounds good, have not had good dim sum since we moved from NYC to NJ.

[dumpling]

I have been going here for over ten years(at least).

dknyc, in answer to your questions:

- it serves dim sum everyday from 11:30 to about 2:30, the circuit of choices should be underway by 11:45 or so. The dim sum during the week is fine, just not as big a selection as on the weekends.

-you've been going at the busiest possible time. And no, they don't take reservations for dim sum. So go a little earlier or try going around 1:30. Or on Saturday.

-yes most of the people have limited English at best. If you need to speak to a server who knows English try to grab the nice looking man in the glasses in the black uniform. His name is Kit and his English is excellent, tell him you're a friend of Ling's(that's me) and he can help you out.

- All the dim sum is good but I would recommend my faves - the ha gow(shrimp dumpling), pai gwot(steamed little bits of sparerib served on the bone), yu chi gao(shark's fin dumpling), gai choi gao(the chive cake dumpling), seen jook gooen(bean curd skin wrapped roll), lao yook(beef ball). Additionally a Cantonese chow mein(pan fried noodle) is good. Salt and Pepper Shrimp(served in shell with heads on). Chinese broccoli(gai lan). I don't generally get(too many carbs for me) but for a five year old you could also try the steamed cha siu bao(roast pork bun); most kids like it.

[Anonymouze]

From Ling: but for a five year old you could also try the steamed cha siu bao(roast pork bun); most kids like it.

I'm a BIG kid and I love cha siu bao - in fact I was so hungry I ate 4 steamed with a tsp of hoisin on each with some soy/rice crackers for lunch today after skipping breakfast. I was recovering from ordering the "godfather" the day before from picnic and was still full in the AM so by lunch around 1pm, I finally got hungry! It was not TOO high carb eh? By suppertime I was almost full so I settled down for 2 cups of elbow macaroni with butter and garlic... my "home based" menu runs a very strange gamut of choices.

[dumpling]

Don't get me wrong I like cha siu bao(big kid that I am). Just that I used to go in there all the time on Saturday after teaching my martial arts class and it seemed counterproductive to eat the bao right after that. Although I could make the argument that it was necessary replenishment. But it's considered good kids' food because the dough is nice and fluffy and easy for kids to eat.