The Food Experience no. 1

Ever considered making an entire meal out of appetizers?

Today, my neighbors and I ventured into Chinatown to lunch at Dim Sum Go Go. The interior has a nice young vibe, good variety, and great for groups.

Dim sum is best described as small bites, and a Cantonese term for snack. This custom came to be in the traditional teahouses accommodating weary travelers along the ancient Silk Road and eventually makes its way to the U.S. Yes it is a wonderful feast of fried and steamed dumplings, spring rolls, sticky buns, and rice concoctions all with delightful dipping sauces. What makes it unique can be the different way in which it may be served, and this is what makes it fun.

In some dim sum restaurants there is no written menu, Chinese women push carts of ready-to-serve delicacies around the room. Continuously during the meal, the cart passes, always tempting you with more, and in the good-ole’ American way one just ogles and points as if in stupor all the while bamboo steamer baskets collect on the table. Today we were offered menus and when our waiter realized we were having a difficult time deciding he handed us a laminated collection of pages with photographs of each item.

At Dim Sum Go Go, we write the order using the form on the table. Of course, we ordered and shared the pork filled Spring Rolls but really mixed it up with the dumplings. Well that was after we discussed shellfish allergies, we ordered Jade Dumplings, they were vegetable filled, one with asparagus and another with soybeans. The rice rolls are not rolls at all, but stuffed, translucent rice noodles. We stayed away from the shark fin and the chicken’s feet but ordered the Chicken & Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf.

Using chopsticks for most of the meal I was doing all right for myself; however, I must have put the waiter on guard when I asked for a fork. It helped with the thing wrapped in the leaf because I was unsure how to eat it. I took my fork and started hacking into it, but before I could do any damage the waiter leaned over and discretely, with his heavy Chinese accent, said, “You unfold the leaf and eat the rice inside.” Good to know!

It may be obvious that I am no ‘foodie,’ but every once in a while I like to step out of my comfort zone, and by the way while in New York with the incredible number of choices you just can’t leave without trying something new -- dim sum is fun…