Dim Sum in Madison? Detroit?

[jskang47]

I moved to the midwest from LA and am still suffering from severe asian-food withdrawal. Are there any good dim sum places in either of these two cities?

[cafemonamie]

As for Windsor dim sum - be sure to try Jade. Wah Court also serves dim sum but it's actually worse than in Ann Arbor. Shangri La is probably one of the better places in the Detroit area. Good luck!

[Summerfield]

Great Lake and Lai Lai in Ann Arbor are highly regarded by my Chinese friends.

[jskang47]

Cool--thanks for the tips!

[houndgirl]

I agree with Great Lakes Seafood if you want to take a drive out Ann Arbor way!.

[bellmont]

Went to Great Lake, Ann Arbor today for dim sum. It was excellent. We go there every couple of months. We've had our ups and downs there. Today was exceptionally good. Shrimp rice rolls, Shrimp garlic chives kau, steamed tripe, pan fried dumplings, pan fried sticky rice, barbecue pork rolls, etc. etc. Go!

[hoi polloi]

there's golden harvest in warren (6880 12 Mile Rd. west of Van Dyke) or east lake chinese restaurant in troy. im sure it's not as good as LA's but unfortunately it's slim pickens around here for dim sum. you might wanna try across the river in windsor. it's definitely authentic and there's more variety.

[jskang47]

I'm in Madison right now, where the pickins are even slimmer! :) so, it sounds like there are a handful of good places to try when I get to Detroit! Thanks for the Windsor tip, too!

[boagman]

In the Detroit area (specifically West Bloomfield), Shangri La is supposed to be one of the best dim sum places around. Now, I can't attest to how good it is *compared to* LA, since I've never eaten in LA...but it's well regarded around here.

If you like Thai, I can make some good recommendations as well. LMK.

[jskang47]

Thanks, Boagman! Someone else mentioned Shangrila on another post, I think. :) I'll have to check it out. Also--if you have thai restaurant recommendations, I'd be happy to have those too! I don't know much at all about the Detroit area.

[boagman]

Not a problem. Actually, Thai has become rather ubiquitous in this area now, where it once was nowhere to be found. There's an obvious upside, but an even-more-noticeable downside: when lots of places offer the same thing, there's bound to be some crap, and there is. You honestly can't find a strip mall around here anymore that doesn't have a Thai place in it.

However, my preference for really good Thai goes to Pi's Thai Cuisine in Hazel Park. They just do very, very good Thai, and if you're knowledgable enough, you absolutely may order off of the menu. It's a small, small little place (it's housed in a former corner hamburger stand, so most of their business is carry-out), but it's very charming, and the folks who own/work there are very friendly. It's all about the food, though, and their food is of *great* quality. Very fresh, and spiced to give you an education...do *not* assume that you can handle a lot of spice from Pi's. Start mild, and climb from there.

My personal favorite thing there is there tom yum soup with chicken (shrimp is also available), and they make a mean noodle dish. Their whole menu is decently extensive, but not overly so. Prices are what I'd call average, since a lot of Thai places around here seem to be jerking their prices a good bit higher. Why, I honestly can't tell, but when a lunch price for a rice-based Thai dish is $12, I'm pretty turned off. Most prices here are about $10, and that's all day.

I'd recommend making the trip to the restaurant to eat there at least once, to take it in, meet the crew, and see the operation. It's all right out in front of you to see, and they keep it *clean*. No "mystery operation behind the wall" here.

Hope you enjoy it. There are some other places I could recommend for specific dishes (such as pad thai), but generally speaking, Pi's Thai Cuisine gets my vote for best Thai that I've had around here.