Since we moved to Abu Dhabi, I have been missing authentic Cantonese cuisine. Most of all, dim-sum time, mainly for the desserts! If you are not familiar with dim-sum, it is usually only offered during breakfast and lunch time and features small bites of steamed foods like dumplings, noodles, meats and buns. It is served family-style in steamer baskets and enjoyed best with of course, tea. Read on to learn about Dim Sum for beginners.
A Guide to Dim-Sum (also known as Yum-Cha)
Dim Sum – translates to literal meaning of ‘Small Point’ but it really means Touch the Heart. “Yum-Cha” meaning Drink Tea. Tea is paired with dim sum dishes to aid with digestion and enhance relaxation.
Once they begin seating you in a dim-sum restaurant, they will ask you what type of tea you would like.
Here are the most well-known types of Teas you could pair with your dimsum:
(1) “Bo-Lay” – Pu Erh Black Tea
(2) “Gook-Fa” – Chrysanthemum Tea
(3) “Wu-Long” – OOlong Tea
(4) “Mut Lei” – Jasmine Tea
Ordering Dim-Sum
Paper Menu
There can be different ways depending on the restaurant to order dim-sum. There are currently 2 main ways, one can be by ordering via paper menu. Once given paper menu, simply write the number of dishes you want of each item. Keep in mind, the steamed dishes are meant for sharing for 2-3 people each. Pass the sheet back to the waitron and wait for your steamed dishes to come to your table to enjoy!
Trolley Style
The other way is the trolley method where waitpersons will be pushing trolley carts full of dim-sum dishes and shouting out the names of the dishes have in their cart. This method is the way I prefer because (1) I get to see the dishes that come out (2) dim-sum becomes a fun affair with people shouting out different dish names. The downside is that is is very difficult for non-Cantonese speaking customers to order and sometimes the wait is longer than usual.
Here are my Top 10 Dim-Sum dishes and their Cantonese names:
(1) “Har Gow” – shrimp in translucent wrapper
(2) “Ngau Cheung” – minced beef in rice noodle with soy sauce
(3) “Siu Mai” – shrimp and pork open top dumpling
(4) “Cha Siu Bao” – BBQ pork buns
(5) “Fong Jau” – chicken feet in marinated sauce (this one is not for everyone!)
(6) “Nor Mai Gai” – sticky rice with mushroom, pork, sausage wrapped in lotus leaf
(7) “Lor Bak Go” – turnip cake with sausage and dried shrimp (not a dessert)
(8) “Pai Gwut” – steamed pork rib tips in black bean sauce
(9) “Daan Tat” – egg tart dessert
(10) “Dou Fu Fa” – silky tofu dessert with ginger/sugar syrup
Dai Pai Dong Review
Over the weekend, we finally got to enjoy some dim-sum in the Abu-Dhabi area at Dai Pai Dong, Rosewood Hotel. However it was a different concept than what I was used to. The restaurant was decorated beautifully with antique chinese decor. They have a window viewing area of the kitchen where they steam the dim-sum dishes and customers can watch the chefs pan-fry the dishes. They provided us a paper menu, but ordering was off of the trolleys that came by. But best of all, it was ALL YOU CAN EAT DIM SUM.
All the dishes I’ve tried here were not what I was used to, they are so familiar but always had a unique intriguing twist to it. Some of my faves from the weekend are the beef dumplings which reminded me of beef balls but instead was wrapped in a dumpling. The egg tarts were the best part but it had a tangy mango icing brushed on the top. The baked chicken buns tasted so similar to baked cha siu buns. So scrumptious!
The rice noodles were quite small in comparison to the noodles I was used to back home. As well, I was surprised they did not have some of my favorite dishes like the shrimp dumplings har gow, the turnip cake sponge cake and more! The honeycomb cake and the green tea pudding were odd tasting and was disappointing to me.
Service
Service was excellent here, they checked up on us frequently and refilled our teapot several times. We had a table of 6, we paid 90 dhs each (with entertainer voucher). I would say it is good value since it was all you can eat. Overall, I had a great time at Dai Pai Dong with good friends, and my belly sure was happy.
Yum Cha!
DOT
