Dim Sum in the burbs?

[brenda02452]

Any decent dim sum outside Chinatown?Newton/ Watertown/ Waltham./Lexington.Belmont ?

[mwk]

I have to say I find the Dim Sum at China Pearl in Quincy to be quite good. They have a large selection and it's fresh. I find that it's so much easier to go there and have the free parking, than to try and head into Chinatown.

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China Pearl
237 Quincy Ave, Quincy, MA

[barleywino]

three more places to add to the list are Jumbo in Newton, Bernards in Chestnut hill and (more Northern style) CK Shanghai in Wellesley. None of these has the broad selection that New CHina Pearl in Woburn has, although, being in the burbs, the setting tends to be a bit less chaotic than Chinatown. I don't recall Mulan in Cambridge having dimsum although perhaps the one in Waltham will, which would be nice.

[lipoff]

Definitely --- more than decent, in fact. First, for Taiwanese style weekend brunch, Shangri-la in Belmont and Chung Shin Yuan in Newton are two of the very best around. Formosa Taipei in Lexington is also excellent for Taiwanese brunch, although there's little space to sit there (mostly for take-out. If Mulan has opened in the old Beijing Star location in Waltham yet, that'll also be a terrific place for Taiwanese brunch. Green Tea 2 in Newton has both Cantonese Dim Sum and Northern style brunch menus --- I've been impressed by both. If you want to go a little further west, there's Uncle Cheung's in Framingham for Cantonese Dim Sum. If you are just trying to avoid the parking and traffic in Chinatown, but really want the experience of Dim Sum rolling around in carts, you can go to China Pearl in Quincy or Woburn. Taking the Mass Turnpike into Boston, parking on the roof of the South Station bus terminal ($8 a day on weekends) and taking a short walk to Hei La Moon or Winsor Dim Sum Cafe in Chinatown might be just as easy depending on exactly where you'll be coming from.

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Hei La Moon
88 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

Beijing Star Restaurant
835 Main St, Waltham, MA 02451

Chung Shin Yuan
183 California St, Newtonville, MA 02458

China Pearl Restaurant
9 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe
10 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Green Tea Restaurant
2 Beacon St, Framingham, MA 01701

Uncle Cheung's Restaurant
266 Worcester Rd, Framingham, MA 01702

Formosa Taipei
315 Marrett Rd, Lexington, MA 02421

[hargau]

One correction, Uncle Cheungs is not Cantonese dim sum but Shanghai cuisine.

There are some other ones that have mixed reviews.
Yangtzee River in Lexington has a buffet/carts-im not a big fan of most of the items there but its certainly a good value.

Oriental Pearl in framingham has a buffet/1cart - i have not been in years...

Indian Meadows Country Club in Framingham has dim sum, oddly enough. I went once.. It was a bit unorganized but most of the items we got were not bad.

I think for the Closest to the China Town cart experience though, China Pearl in quincy/woburn is going to be the best pick

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Uncle Cheung's Restaurant
266 Worcester Rd, Framingham, MA 01702

China Pearl Restaurant
288 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801

Indian Meadows
275 Turnpike Rd, Westborough, MA 01581

[Dave MP]

Does anyone have a sense of whether China Pearl in Woburn would be more crowded or less crowded than the Chinatown branch on Christmas day? Is the Woburn location any bigger?

Dave MP

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China Pearl Restaurant
288 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801

[lipoff]

The Woburn location is quite large, but can get crowded even on a normal weekend. Every Chinese restaurant in a Jewish area will be crowded on Christmas Day! If I were a betting man, I'd say it'll feel a little less crowded in Woburn than in Chinatown though.

[Dave MP]

Wanted to report back that I ended up at the Chinatown branch of China Pearl on Christmas. It was relatively crowded, and I thought the food was mixed - some was quite good, some was less good. Best were the bean curd skins with pork and bamboo shoot, and also the rice noodle rolls filled w/ donut. The har gau and baked char siu bao were the worst items we tried - the har gau were way over-steamed and the shrimp had a mealy texture, and the char siu bao were dried out and tasted like they were baked the day before.

To be honest, I didn't think this was much better or worse than Windsor across the street (although I guess Windsor would be much less likely to serve overcooked dumplings, since there are no carts). Haven't been to CCC or HLM in a while, so i'd be curious to see if I like any of these any better.

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China Pearl Restaurant
288 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801

[KWagle]

I've been to Winsor several times since it opened, and have never had anything I'd rate below "very good" though I've only eaten their small plates, not their dinner food. It's certainly my first choice for dim sum in Chinatown, though I have to admit I haven't tried Great Taste or Hei La Moon yet.

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Hei La Moon
88 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

Great Taste
201 Main St, Milford, MA 01757

[lipoff]

I agree completely with Kiran. Winsor is my favorite for Dim Sum as well, by a large margin. Hei La Moon is my second choice (becomes the first choice when there's a large party or people insist on going to a place with carts). I haven't been back to Chau Chow City in a long time though. Nothing wrong with China Pearl, although I've found Hei La Moon to better overall. Emperor's Garden is best avoided, although the interior is beautiful.

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Hei La Moon
88 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

Chau Chow City
81 Essex St, Boston, MA 02111

China Pearl Restaurant
288 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801

[galangatron]

mulan serves taiwanese brunch?

[tatsu]

Hei La Moon has a complicated refund system with the garage right on top of them. I believe the way it works, last time I tried it, is you pay $11 bucks to park. When you grab one of the maitre'd you tell them to stamp the ticket. When you leave the garage, they give you 5 bucks back.

The garage is kind of sketchy tho. Sometimes you are blocked in. The last time I was there it took forever to get out because these two Chinese hussies were SCREAMING endlessly at the top of their lungs at the attendant about something. If the garage on top of S.S. is nice and automated, it's definitely worth the two extra dollars.

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Hei La Moon
88 Beach St, Boston, MA 02111

[hargau]

Tatsu, its actually much more complicated than that! You pay the $11 bucks to park in the garage (or is it $10?).. You then eat at heilamoon and when your done you give them your ticket and another $6. They put a sticker on your ticket. You give the ticket w/sticker to the parking garage dude on the way out and he gives you back your $10-11 that you originally paid him.

[tatsu]

Well, no wonder why I forgot, it's totally stupid. Next time I'm just bribing the parking attendent with leftovers.

[justbeingpolite]

Formosa Taipei also has an outpost in Nashua which is much bigger, much more seating.