Dim Sum Newbie Seeking Advice

[hawkwild]

I realize that the *best* way to introduce yourself to Dim Sum is to bring an actual Cantonese speaker with you, but I was hoping that someone here could give me advice on where to take my non-Cantonese self and parents for a Dim Sum adventure on a *Saturday* lunchtime in May. Suggestions on where we should go and what / how we should order would all be appreciated. We might even be up for a trip to the outer boroughs, but are primarily interested in Manhattan. Any advice?

[hawkwild]

Thank you all for your great suggestions!

[UES Mayor]

just go to pings on mott-most of staff speak some english and most of food identifiable and very good-also can order full dishes off menu. its a very clean hospitable place

[abud]

I second Ping's. This is the place that my half chinese boyfriend loves best. He grew up eating dim sum in some LA suburb so he's picky. We have also recently tried 9 chatham sq, which my chinese friend recommended. Ping's is still his favorite.

[kathryn]

There is an awesome post in this thread from Al about "how to do" dim sum, for a newbie.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/388609

[biondanonima]

Thanks for that link, Kathryn - it's a very informative thread!

[Miss Needle]

Yeah, Kathryn is the queen of great links. She must have an awesome set of bookmarks or a terrific cataloging system in her head. Sigh -- wish I had that. I always keep forgetting things.

[kathryn]

Bookmarks, I basically "favorite" topics all day long...just click on the checkbox under Manhattan.

[Miss Needle]

Yeah, I've done that too at times but forget most of the time. I'm thinking of trying out use del.icio.us (probably spelled it wrong) so I can bookmark these threads in a more usable fashion.