I have so much pictures to catch up on! I hope you folks don’t mind, there will be a few posts coming with less detail than I’m used to giving because it has been so long. Hopefully you enjoy looking at pictures of food anyhow (who doesn’t?!). This post is from a previous visit to Fook Lam in Chinatown. I have a detailed post from my first visit there, found here. Let’s check out what I had at this visit!

Siu Mai – delicious of course. Can’t go wrong with dim sum pork hash.

Seafood Bundle – one of my favorites. I think it’s all the different elements. The bean curd wrapper, the seafood, the shiitake mushroom – I highly recommend it!

Seafood Chow Mein – this is my absolute favorite noodle dish from Chinese restaurants. It invokes memories of childhood parties in Chinese restaurants. I love the seafood gravy and topping, the crispy noodles that are half crispy and soft from the gravy. So much texture and flavor, still one of my favorites of all time. The one here is okay, I think you can see that the vegetables outweigh the seafood.

Xiao Long Bao – supposedly one of their signature dishes. I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t think it was great. I assume you can get it better in China but I was not impressed. The concept behind this dumpling is that you bite into it and release the soup contained in the dumpling as you eat. It’s an interesting way to make dumplings. I’ve never made it before but I assume they just freeze broth and stick it into the dumpling frozen and it melts when you steam the dumplings. They serve these dumplings with a red vinegar sauce. I just think the way these dumplings are made are more interesting than how it tastes. I wouldn’t recommend it from this restaurant.

Fook Lam was a 50/50 chance. Why? Any Chinese restaurant that has good ratings on Yelp could be a restaurant that pleases the crowds and not necessarily the Chinese folk. I’ve gotten plenty flack from my friend who insists I take her to authentic Chinese restaurants so the pressure is on. She won’t let me forget a certain Chinese restaurant we went to…which I never claimed was authentic Chinese. Aiya, the pressures of being Chinese. Anyway, I finally got to try Fook Lam out a few weeks ago and I liked it. It’s located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza on the first floor facing River Street. The restaurant is clean and they get plenty good eats. The waitresses are fast and efficient and parking is validated. I haven’t been to Cultural Plaza since kid times so I didn’t realize how nice their parking lot is. I mean compared to the other places I have parked, their parking spaces are spacious! Let’s check out the food shall we?

Shrimp and Chive Dumpling – I prefer the pan fried one to the steamed one

Black Bean Spare Ribs – delish!

Shrimp Dumpling – good!

Seafood Roll – good as always. Always winnas.

Baked Custard Bun – These were fresh out of the oven and heavenly. One of my most favorite sweets…ever.

Siu Mai – I know pork hash isn’t loved by all…but I have always loved it. One of the dining companions commented that the skin on these dim sum dishes were great. Not hard and thick (don’t say it!) – just the right amount of softness.

Deep Fried Shrimp Balls – not bad, not great. I think you pay for the looks…hehe.

Short Ribs Look Fun – I saw this picture repeatedly on Yelp and just had to try it. Eh, it was alright. It wasn’t spectacular. It was just look fun mixed in with spareribs. Nothing special, glad I tried it but I won’t be ordering it again.

Char Hung Sut is located in a super safe neighborhood and serves up awesome food. April Fools! Okay only about the super safe neighborhood part. You gotta admit, Char Hung Sut’s location is in a less than desirable location but the food makes it well worth the trip. Can you believe I have never tried it until about a month ago? I’m definitely a fool for that. Everything I have had here has proven to be awesome. It’s also helpful that I go super early before work so I can just park on the street and jump in…free meter parking! I was amazed by the person who helped me. I think he’s the owner’s grandson. I ordered all kinds of stuff in random numbers and he magically added them all up on a piece of paper manually…then added tax all in his head. I was amazed. Then again, I’m terrible at math so anything would amaze me. He had talent!

Love the packaging. It’s becoming like a theme huh?

Taro Cake. Look at how thick this was! Definitely not the kind of taro cake I’m used to, but I’m not complaining. I thought it was interesting that they had a black bean sauce in it.

Look at all these nummies; pork hash, half moon and yip chai (with pork)!

Here’s the filling of the yip chai. Delicious. It’s also the same filling in the half moon – so good!

Chow Fun – $6.25

The most flavorful “haole” chow fun I have ever had. I call any chow fun haole if its not dark like the Chinese ones. This was SO good…so much flavor packed into these noodles. The garlic chives make a big difference. Definitely winners.