I enjoy dim sum, especially when the offerings are hot and fresh. We've tried a number of dim sum restaurants with rolling carts in both Virginia and Maryland, and have yet to find a favorite. I like Oriental East in Silver Spring with its bright space and bustling atmosphere, but the wait for a table can be really long and the location is a quite a drive. Mark's Duck House is the opposite, with a dark atmosphere, but closer to where we live.
This weekend we tried out a new dim sum joint near Eden Center and Mark's Duck House. The space is large, with a number of round tables nicely spaced apart. When we arrived at 11 am, the restaurant was only half full. The staff swooped quickly to our table with their carts, offering all types of delicious dishes. With two other friends we had a nice time enjoying pots of chrysanthemum tea and jasmine tea, good conversation and trying a nice variety of dishes. They didn't start to bring out a wider variety of dishes until closer to 12 pm, so showing up right when they open at 10 am means a limited selection.
Crispy fried jumbo shrimp with serrano chilies, crepe noodle with shrimp.
The shrimp were still hot and were very good dipped in a mixture of red chili oil and soy sauce.
Roast chicken, bbq pork, gai lan with sauce, and shrimp-chive dumplings.
Congee with scallions, preserved egg and pork.
HKPS has a cart dedicated to congee, with a variety of toppings. My fiance loves congee, and very few places in the DC region offer it with their dim sum. This version was very good and super comforting.
Har Gao
Har gao are usually one of my favorite items for dim sum. These were a bit over steamed, and the shrimp paste mixture fell out of the wrapper.
Steamed bbq pork buns
The dough was super soft and squishy, and the filling was nice and savory with a tangy bbq mixture.
***
For all of the dishes and tea, this was $21 per person including tax and tip. Definitely a great price considering the wide variety of dishes we tried. The staff was very attentive, constantly refilling the hot water in the pots of tea, and topping off water glasses. Since we sat down while waiting for one more person, we had to wave off the carts numerous times, but I consider that eagerness a positive virtue. The shrimp and chive dumplings and pork buns were probably my favorite. I liked the gai lan, but plastic Chinese chopsticks are not the best tool to pick up round objects.
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