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| The dimsum buffet at Hyatt's Li Li Restaurant served a good selection during my unannounced review on the competition among its peers. |
Chinese New Year brings back memories of good Cantonese cuisine. But if there is one dish that excites my heart, it is dimsum.
A few years back, I wrote a short article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer describing three dimsum buffet choices in the country namely, Hyatt's Li Li Restaurant, Resorts World's Passion Restaurant, and Solaire's Red Lantern:
http://business.inquirer.net/173326/checking-the-competition-on-dim-sum-buffet-offerings
For tourists visiting the Philippines, trying out a reputable dimsum buffet experience is one of the things I can recommend. That is, unless you visit Hong Kong directly to sample the cuisine there.
We once found ourselves in a Hong Kong stopover on the eve of Chinese New Year and discovered that many stores were closed and the surrounding vicinity seemed really quiet. We were told that most people go home to their families. Firecrackers happened on another day. So for that evening, we ended up with siomai (ground shrimp and pork dim sum) from the nearby store that was open. Obviously, Hong Kong has much more to offer that we were able to try on other occasions.
If there is one thing missing from hotel buffet offerings in the Philippines, it is the presence of the humble dimsum cart. Orders are usually ticked off a printed stub and this practice can’t quite capture the alluring sight of steaming bamboo baskets stacked one on top of the other.
During an extended work-related stay in Arizona, USA, we would dine at a full service Chinese restaurant and their dimsum cart during the lunch hour never ran out of exciting treats. We always looked specifically for the hakaw (prawn dumpling) because the restaurant seemed to serve the freshest kind.
On another trip to Shanghai, the first thing I looked for were the dumplings. The flavors were different from the Cantonese version and I found myself gravitating towards the latter.
In the Philippines, there is a wide array of dimsum choices.
I remember trying the shark's fin siomai that was tasteless, really. Sharks are endangered species and I sometimes wonder why culinary enthusiasts go to great lengths to obtain them.
All told, the celebration of the “Year of the Monkey” may be one good moment to sample the best that the country has to offer.
