Dim Sum
Photo: Courtesy of Yank Sing
While you can always find reliable Chinese specialties in the city's Chinatown (reportedly one of North America's oldest and largest), votes in the 2009 San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants guide indicate that great dim sum can be found all over the Bay Area. For your next brunch outing, instead of sticking to your usual bacon-and-eggs routine, try one of these Top Dim Sum restaurants:
49 Stevenson St.; 415-541-4949
101 Spear St.; 415-957-9300
“Bring on the carts, baby!” sing veterans and “virgins” of this Chinese duo of lunch-only “white-tablecloth” Downtown and SoMa “dim sum meccas” “reminiscent of Hong Kong”, where a “whirlwind” of “smiling ladies” roll trolleys “laden with a dazzling variety of choices” including “amazing” “broth-filled dumplings”; “prices aren’t Chinatown” and some “swear they must work on commission”, but the place keeps packing in everyone from “expense-accounters” to “tourists.”
5821 Geary Blvd.; 415-387-8273
“Bring a posse, because you’ll need help” sampling the “bounty” of “succulent” dumplings “constantly passing by” at this Outer Richmond all-day “dim sum heaven” where you’re practically “guaranteed” to “wait in the cold” on weekends (but are rewarded with “instant food gratification as soon as you’re seated”); “it costs a pretty penny” and the space is “long overdo for redecorating”, but the consensus is it’s well “worth the schlep.”
365 Gellert Blvd., Daly City; 650-992-9000
“Divine” dim sum awaits devotees at this “busy Hong Kong–style” eatery in Daly City – even if they have to “set their alarm clocks on weekends” to beat the “Disneyland-during-spring-break crowds”; a “waiting area as crowded as the fish tanks” “filled with the day’s meal” (including “exotic seafood” that “gets expensive”) is part of the deal, as are “abrupt” service and “noise”, but for most “it’s still one of the best [of its kind] in the area.”
6255 Geary Blvd.; 415-387-8338
Expect “all the classics” at this “lively” Hong Kong–style seafooder in the Richmond where the “kitschy decor” and “hustle bustle add to the fun”, but don’t overlook the “wildly interesting dim sum” “not regularly found elsewhere”; “it isn’t your average Chinese” chime madams and misters who sail over for “delicious” dishes “prepared expertly” and crustaceans plucked “straight out of their fish tanks”, declaring we’d “certainly come back.”
388 Ninth St., Oakland; 510-286-8866
“It’s sometimes hard to understand what they are offering” at this “behemoth Hong Kong–style dim-sum palace” in Oakland, but “all you need to know is that everything is great” say devotees who praise the “generously filled” dumplings, “fresh seafood from the tanks” and some of the “best Peking duck outside China”; a “brusque staff” and “extremely noisy” dining room are no deterrent to fans who are willing to “take a number and wait” on weekends when it’s “a zoo.”
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