DIM SUM AT THE PEARL

My friend Noel was in town last weekend and she had one request, that we have dim sum. Noel lives up in Maine where she's attending grad school, and apparently, there's a lack of decent Asian cuisine, especially dim sum. So we trekked down to the only place to get decent dim sum in Boston- China Pearl in Chinatown.

Back before I had the store, going to dim sum was more of a monthly thing. It was easy to go on the spur of the moment and with a large group of people (plus it's better with a group since you get to order more stuff). But I hadn't been to dim sum in months, so I welcomed the opportunity to go. Now, I will admit that there are other places to get dim sum in Chinatown. I'm just saying that China Pearl is really the only one worth going to. You can ask me about my experience at Chau Chow and Empress Garden some other time.

For you dim sum novices, this is how it works. You push through the large number of people who will inevitably be waiting for tables at the top of the stairs and walk up to the host stand where you're given a number. And then you wait until your number is called. (for us, this took about 20 minutes during which we observed all the people entering and leaving the Pearl. Our final conclusion was that everyone has dim sum at the Pearl- students, families, friends- EVERYONE. I even ran into a customer). When your number is finally called, you push your way back to the host stand and are given a ticket. Which is basically what they use to keep track of everything you'll end up ordering that day. Then you eventually get seated. Either on the main floor or the 3rd floor. And you may be forced to share a table, but luckily we got our own table. This is how it works at almost any dim sum place you go to. Be it in LA, NY or Boston. It's not that much different than when I went as a kid, except it's a lot more accessible now. And I gotta say that the service has improved since the earlier days. When i went to dim sum as a kid, my parents would wake us up super early on the weekend and drive an hour just to get good dim sum. And that was back in the day when the only people you'd see having dim sum were Asian.

So at the Pearl, they have the traditional dim sum going around on various carts, but they also have a stationary hot station. (the Pearl is the only place where I've ever seen this.) Each cart has different food items on it. And certain carts have set items, like the steamed bun cart. or the dessert cart. At the hot station, you can pick some different dishes. And since we weren't getting any good carts, I got up and ordered us some fried tofu with shrimp and chinese broccoli. Don't forget your ticket, you gotta get it stamped.
So if you're a vegetarian, you can just forget about going to dim sum. Unless all you're going to be eating is that steamed broccoli above. But if you love pork of shrimp, you'll be all set. Now since I don't eat pork, the majority of the dishes we got contained shrimp. (except for the shu mai which Noel consumed on her own, and which i did not photograph). Which was a good thing cause that's what Noel wanted. She let me do all the ordering, and I'll admit that ordering can be a bit difficult sometimes. Not all the waitresses speak English (though this has improved) and even if they do, they won't be willing to stand there and explain what's in every dish. If you're a dim sum novice, your best bet is to point and be open to trying new things. Or go with an experienced person.

Here are the shrimp dumplings that Noel wanted:
And here's a different version of the shrimp dumpling with some bamboo shoots and some green veggie. It turned out that Noel liked this the most.
Oh, let me mention that pacing yourself is a very important thing to do at dim sum. It's so easy to get carried away and order a table full of food that may not get eaten. so i highly suggest ordering a few things at a time and then ordering more if necessary, or taking a big group of people.

Here are some shrimp wontons:
And shrimp spring rolls with celery in fried tofu skins:
By this point we were so full we couldn't eat anything else. And to be honest, I'm not a giantic fan of the desserts served at dim sum. I'd much rather have an almond cookie for the corner bakery.

The last great thing about dim sum is that it's really affordable. All this food, and inevitably, no matter how many people you go with, you always end up spending around $12 per person. So the next time you're hosting friends from out of town, take them to dim sum. It's the perfect place to try something new and fill up on great food.