Yum Yum Dim Sum

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people from New York talk about how things there are bigger, better, etc. than in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, dim sum is one instance where they are correct. Dim sum is far superior in New York -- Queens to be specific.

For those who don't know, dim sum is a Chinese meal comprised of many small plates. Typically, carts with various dishes are pushed around the restaurant. When you order, the server marks a card that is on your table. At the end of the meal, the cashier calculates your bill based on the number and size of dishes you ordered. It is a format that is much more enjoyable with a larger group of people, since you get to try a greater variety of dishes. It's also perfect for the true Phood Addict -- they push carts of food to you! You can try endless varieties of Chinese food! You want to have fried squid, shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, rice porridge, sticky rice, rice noodles, and more all in the same meal? No problem! And it's cheap (a recent dim sum outing for 9 people cost just $74 plus tip)!

Phood Addict recently visited East Ocean Palace in Forest Hills, NY. This restaurant was vastly superior to anything found in Philadelphia as far as quality, variety and service. The picture above is just a small portion of what was ordered. The standards were all there: shrimp dumplings (har gow), rice noodle rolls (cheong fun), sticky rice...but there were also numerous specials, including shrimp dumplings coated in sticky rice (talk about best of both worlds), clams in black bean sauce, and innumerable varieties of dumplings, plus some wackier fare like fried durian dumplings (I know, durian is stinky, and honestly I didn't enjoy this that much but I liked that it was available as an option), and pickled pigs feet (which were meaty and fantastic).

Now compared to East Ocean Palace, Philadelphia's Imperial Inn is just nothing special. Don't get me wrong, it'll do when you need a dim sum fix. But there's not much variety in the dishes and carts can be infrequent. Unfortunately, it's about the best out of the options available in Philly's Chinatown. I've been to Joy Tsin Lau, HK Golden Phoenix, Ocean Harbor, and a couple of places on Washington Ave, but still haven't found anything special. Any PhoodAddict readers out there know of a superior dim sum place in Philly?