Whenever I’m back in New York visiting friends and family, the first order of business is almost always to go for Yum Cha (the second order of business is Vietnamese food).
“Yum Cha” is the Chinese tradition of brunching by eating dim sum and drinking tea.
Looking back over the last two decades of Yum Cha brunches in New York’s Chinatowns, not much has changed. The best restaurants still have hour-long waits on the weekends; you may have to share a table if your party isn’t big enough to commandeer an entire table of 10; as you sit down you are given a small sheet of paper to record the number of dishes you will order. If you are lucky to know one of the managers on duty, you can make small talk with him/her and save yourself a few bucks on the tea costs. And there is always gossip about which restaurant has the best dim sum in town.
Most dim sum is served out of bamboo steamers and as each pushcart stacked full of steamer baskets roll by, you will find yourself craning your neck to see if it has the dishes you like.
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