A Chinese Dimsum Guide (With Some Math)
Hi there. As the Lunar/Chinese New Year draws near, I have come up with this informative post. This post is a mix of a Chinese dimsum guide with some mathematics. Information presented here is from my (limited) experiences of Chinese dimsum in the Toronto area along with some references. Enjoy!
(This post is a revised post from an old post on dimsum. I think it is still on my website.)
Sections
- What Is Dimsum?
- Chinese Dimsum Food
- Table Sizes & Wait Times
- Pricing (With Math Examples)
- Notes
What Is Dimsum?
Chinese Dimsum a dining experience where the servings of food are usually in small plates or in small steamer baskets. The food portions are very similar to French hors d'oeuvres. Dimsum meals occur mostly during lunch time and on special occasions (Christmas, New Year's, Lunar New Year, birthdays).
Here is an example of a food cart full of dimsum dishes.
How Does It Work?
There are two main versions of dimsum (that I know of).
The one that I grew up with was cart service dimsum. Employees would push the carts of food in steamer baskets chanting/advertising out the dish name. What is neat about the cart service dimsum meal is that you can see and smell the food right in from you before ordering. You wait for the food to come to you instead of ordering and waiting. A paper tracker on your table is used to keep track how much food you take from the cart (and/or how much food is ordered).
Not all dimsum places have cart service. The second version of Chinese dimsum is closer to the usual dining experience where food is ordered from a menu.
There is a third option that I have found out. This restuarant in Toronto's Chinatown has an All You Can Eat Dimsum option that is similar to All You Can Eat Sushi. I never knew such an option existed until I ate at that place for lunch. These type of dimsum places are very rare I would assume.
Chinese Dimsum Food
Dimsum is not really ideal for vegetarians, vegans and health-conscious people. A lot of the dimsum dishes are meat and seafood heavy. In addition there are quite a few deep fried dishes such as the spring rolls, fried chicken wings and fried squid.
I don't want to go into great detail about the food. Here are some food pictures (and some of my favourites).
A good reference website is http://www.dimsumcentral.com/.
Table Sizes & Wait Times
Table sizes can vary in Chinese restaurants. There are tables for two, for four, for six, eight and up to 12. Some of the large tables have lazy susans for easier food sharing.
There are some cases when staff have to go to back room to retrieve extra chairs, extra baby chairs, more plates, cups, and chopsticks for the customer(s).
Wait Times
In general, wait times vary. If a place is really busy, wait times can take up to an hour!
When you come in, you mention the number of people to be seated and take a wait line number. Your wait line number is not necessarily your position/ranking in the wait line. This is because different groups are waiting for different table sizes to be vacant. As you wait, you can check out the food in the carts (assuming cart service dimsum).
Beware of small waiting areas in certain dimsum restaurants. It can be packed!
Pricing (With Math Examples)
Pricing of dimsum dishes do vary. Some places are better than others and some are more expensive than others. Different restaurants would have different prices with different food selections, different decor and different service.
Dimsum dishes have different categories such as Small, Medium, Large and maybe X-Large and/or Special. The different categories have their own assigned prices. Fried foods, and seafood items tend to be large items.
This (restaurant)[http://www.kwandimsum.ca/menu/Dim%20Sum%20Menu.pdf] (which I plan to go to someday soon) has a .pdf version of their menu with prices on the bottom. This gives you a small idea of Dimsum pricing (in the Toronto area).
If you are doing cart service dimsum, you can keep track of costs based on how much food is taken from the paper tracker.
Examples
Example One (Unit Price)
One dish of 4 pork dumplings costs $4 CDN. Each dumpling would be about $1 CDN each.
Suppose one item of 4 higher quality pieces of pork dumplings cost $10 CDN, each piece would be $2.50 each.
Now we have 4 pork dumplings from a super high end place which cost $20 CDN, each piece would be about $5 each. It better taste good!
Example Two (Large Family)
Suppose a large family of ten ended with a bill of $322 CDN. It comes to $32.20 CDN a person.
Example Three
Three friends at a dimsum place ordered 4 small items at $4 CDN each, 2 medium items at
$5 CDN each and one large item at $8 CDN.
These items cost 4 × $4 + 2 × 6 + $8 = $16 + $12 + $8 = $36. It comes to about $9 per person (excluding possible drink costs and tips).
Example Four (Large Table of 10)
A large table with a lazy susan seats ten hungry people. They order 8 small items at $4 CDN each, 7 medium items at $5 CDN each and three special items at $10 CDN each.
This cost adds up to 8 × $4 + 7 × $5 + 3 × $10 = $32 + $35 + $30 = $97.
Note that these scenarios in the examples may not be realistic in your area. In general, the more you eat, the more you pay.
Notes & Tips
Dimsum can be confusing as they are many dimsum restaurants and each one has their own selection of choices. (Paradox Of Choice)
Dimsum experiences can be random in the sense of where you are seated, when food arrives from the kitchen, wait times and so on.
Some of the dimsum items can actually be found at a local Asian bakery (BBQ Pork buns) or a specialty dumping house restaurant.
If you are waiting too long for a particular item from the food carts then it may not be available.
Since a lot of Chinese restuarants (in the Toronto area at least) are getting more diverse customers, you can get by not knowing Mandarin/Cantonese Chinese. Having Chinese speaking friends along is helpful.
When it comes to trying a new restaurant, a new cuisine or new food it can be hit or miss. It's like gambling in a way.
Some people like the cart service dimsum restaurants because you can see the food, other prefer the order from menu approach. It comes down to preference. (For me I like both as long as the food and service is good.)
At a dimsum restaurant, you do not necessarily have to have dimsum (unless that is the only thing they have). You can order from a regular menu.
In most cases, you do get for what you pay for. Some places have high prices but the food may not be worth it and there are some inexpensive and good eats out there. It depends.
If you eat too much dimsum from lunch, you may not need dinner.
In the rare case, table sharing occurs. I have done table sharing only once in my toddler years. It was me and someone with some other person in a table of four. The restaurant was very small.
References
The food looks really good but to be honest I don't really see the appeal of having to wait for the cart to roll out and maybe not even get what you want. Seems like a nice social experience, though. Do you think restaurants save expenses on wait staff with this system?
Dimsum meals are usually social and a lot of (Asian) families bond together over meals.
In theory, you get food faster from the carts than from the traditional ordering from a menu. The food from the cart is ready to eat. (Beware that some of the food may get cold as it has been out for a while.) Yes, there are cases where you don't get what you want from cart service or menu.
I'm not sure about the saving expenses part. Many of the people who serve the food from the cart system are older women (seniors). With cart service, people get their food faster and can lead to a faster transition from outgoing customers to incoming diners. I think it is more of getting the revenue faster.
Ahh, it is faster! Thank you for the informative response.