Dimsum up/down hill alert!
I have always been a huge supporter of Hei La Moon for dimsum but i have to say the last 3 times i have gone (All on Sundays around 11) that I have left disappointed. The cart selection i have found to be less than it used to be. The steamed items have been way over steamed with wrappers falling apart and the consistency of paste. Fried items almost non existent and when they do show up they are cold. And the worst offense i think is they have cheapened the ingredients on many items. There is a tofu dish that used to have shrimp on top. It now has some sort of stuff that more resembles rice flour/water with maybe a little fish in it.. The fried shrimp/chive dumplings were almost all chive. The fried shrimp taro dish now uses dry chow mein noodles instead of taro on the outside Etc etc.. We also found a few very rude cart ladies. One who kept putting things we didn't want on our table which we had to keep giving back. A second who stormed off with her cart that she had parked in front of us as we were asking for something. She had apparently got into an argument with a woman who was pushing the next cart, some words were exchanged and off she went... They have added a cart that sells beer, maybe this is their attempt to make you not notice the food quality!?
This prompted us to go back and try China Pearl in Woburn which we had not tried in a long time. We went the last two weeks.. Everyone in our party agreed that they liked it better than HLM! The ingredients were better, not over steamed, hot fried items, great variety. They even have a steam table setup with various items now. No paying to park, paying for tolls and friendlier service. We went at the same time Sunday at 11. There was a small wait there today, the week before we had a reservation since it was a large party.
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I've been to China Pearl Quincy 2x in the last month and it's amazing. Last time they had great seafood specials. Specials are up at a buffet table and a lot of their items are ordered off a menu now instead of carts. I like this way better because I get everything I want immediately, and it's hot. They also have a menu in english and chinese now to order from. Pastries/buns and desserts come around on carts still but I don't really see any of the regular food. Sunday at 11AM has worked really well for us.
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opinionatedchef
May 21, 2012 12:59 AM
I was chatting today w/ Wilson, owner of Sun Sun in Chinatown, and I asked him what the scoop was on best Chinatown dimsum places these days. He said that while he doesn't go out much for dimsum these days, he hears all the news from customers. It seems that dimsum chefs move around alot. Last year Hei la Moon was good, but this year it's not>> the chefs went over to China Pearl.So China Pearl is the best place, along with Empire Garden for cart dim sum in Chinatown.(not talking about Woburn here.) And Winsor is always good, he said. And for meals, he still likes Peach Farm. just reporting fyi. I like Winsor; never been to Empire Garden and don't think I've ever even read any CH talk about it.
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re: opinionatedchef
empire garden has been mentioned here on occasion (including me). i like it on a weekday as it is quieter and one can leisurely read the newspaper and feel like a Hong Kong businessman. Frankly all of the cart places are OK and none of them are great. They vary over time probbaly because chefs move as the Sun Sun owner suggests. Winsor for me is a step up due to the fact that things are brought to you when made and hence are hot, especially important for fried items.
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re: gourmaniac
I too like Winsor but i always find myself wondering about what "made to order" actually means.. When you can go there any day, any time and get such a huge variety of dumplings, how exactly are these being made. Certainly they are not rolling out dough and making an order of 4 of a particular dumpling to order.. I dont think rice flour based dumplings can keep very long raw without turning into mush.. You cant cook them and keep them warm without them turning to mush... So are things cooked and frozen and then steamed? Or !gasp! maybe microwaved? Im not quite sure how you manage that vast a selection of dimsum items when you are not cooking for hundreds and then sending them right out on carts like the dimsum houses are...
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re: hargau
Science Chick
May 21, 2012 02:23 PM
Maybe made ahead of time and kept in the fridge, then steamed to order?
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re: Science Chick
I concur. I think it's like the wontons at Hong Kong Eatery. For sturdier dumplings, made in a big batch and stored cold (but not frozen or microwaved). With har gau, perhaps made in smaller batches. Cheung fun may be made to order, as i know that you can ask for scallions and cilantro to be added to insides. Some things like stuffed eggplant, black bean spareribs are probably cooked ahead and then heated on steamers and I don;t think these will hurt their quality.
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re: opinionatedchef
I'm not surprised to hear that: the last couple of times we've been to China Pearl with our dim sum crowd (we were 11 strong on Saturday...assuming you count the 6-month-old), there's been a noticeable uptick in quality there. They were also doing things like swinging past with fresh custard-filled pineapple buns after we'd asked for three orders but there were only two on the cart.
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I haven't been to HLM in a while, since we favor Emperor's Garden for Chinatown dimsum. However, I will say that I do enjoy China Pearl in Quincy for their dimsum, which is fresh and tasty and has a wide variety of items. It's also nice that they have dim sum menus in addition to the carts, so you can order some specific items for those picky eaters in the group.
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