Comments (0) Best Dim Sum - 2005
Wei Hong Seafood Restaurant and Bakery
The tapas-restaurant craze is great, but the Chinese have known for centuries how to make small-plates eating even better: Do it for brunch. That's basically what dim sum is, and the dim sum at Wei Hong, which relocated over the winter to a former movie house along a low-down stretch of Olive, does it best. Wei Hong's interior is grand as all get-out, a splendid setting for a meal whose name translates to "heart's delight"; the theater's stage remains intact, but its sloped floor has been retrofitted to accommodate four tiers of table seating. Morsels are served in traditional style, which means members of the staff push little trolleys and steam carts up to each table, explain in broken English what they've got and wait for you to point to what you want. What you want is everything: the pork dumplings especially, but also the shrimp har gow, fried taro cakes, Chinese broccoli, sticky rice, barbecue pork buns and eleventy-hundred other items. Another great thing about dim sum is that there's no need to save room for dessert: The individually sized sweet treats -- like egg tarts, custard cups, sesame red-bean balls -- come around in tandem with the savories. Do as the meal tells you, and eat to your heart's delight.
