Tour:Smart - Martin Atkins at Avant Garden Tonight.
H-Town Rock
Missed Connections: November 2 - 5
Daily-ist Thursday: River Oaks Theater 70th Anniversary Celebration
Get sticky at Lawndale's Sugar Skull workshop
Don't ask how, but somehow we'd gone our entire life without trying out dim sum. In fact, we hadn't even heard of dim sum before moving to Houston. It is a travesty, but don't worry—we've remedied that situation. This weekend, we lost our dim sum virginity at Kim Son. . .and in front of hundreds of people no less. Perhaps thousands. It was totally worth it.
Dim sum is like a Chinese version of tapas. They are small snippets of heaven served in tiny stainless steel bowls with the food ranging from seafood to meat to veggies to sweets. The food can be steamed or fried (can you guess what we like more?), but either way it is delicious.
After hearing fables of how fabulous dim sum can be, we were itching for an excuse to drive our butts all the way to Bellaire for dim sum at Kim Son. Lo and behold, this weekend came and our ever intrepid friends introduced us to the heavenly, albeit dizzying world of dim sum. We haven't recovered yet.
If you've never been to a dim sum place, this may be a bit overwhelming. Kim Son is actually a Vietnamese restaurant that is split up into sections. The place is enormous. Though they have rooms that serve entrees, the dim sum is king of the show. What's even better is that, once seated, the food comes to you! Servers push carts packed full of food in the little stainless steel containers by tables of hungry and wide-eyed patrons. If it looks good, just point and say, "That one." Though some people enjoy the sushi style menu marking for dim sum, we were excited to see the carts wheeled by so we could take a look first hand at what we were getting ourselves into.
Between mouthfuls we did manage to take a look around the place. The most noticeable thing was the huge screen playing Shaolin Soccer (and who doesn't love Stephen Chow?) complete with subtitles for us English speaking folks. The pillars everywhere reminded us a bit of the Parthenon or a hotel, but the dual staircase in the front gave it a majestic look perfect for a wedding. Was that confusing? Yeah, so was the whole feel of the decor. The best part was the 90s hits playing in the background. Before I knew it, I found myself singing along with the Spice Girls while stuffing my face.
Back to the food. . .we blame the bright colors and orgasmic aromas for how much we ate. Everything was so enticing as we picked and chose willy nilly from the parade of carts with the ever friendly ladies. Note: We always recommend trying the dish first and then finding out what it is so you won't talk yourself out of it. Our highlight of the meal was the chicken feet, so don't let the name scare you! Other honorable mentions include the stuffed tofu, the barbecue ribs, and the duck.
For those of you with a sweet tooth, have no fear. Dim sum can be sweet, too! They have plenty of desserts to choose from, though they may not be the most "traditional" tasting sweets. We bit into a custard thinking it would be a little like flan, only to get an interest array of egg flavored tart!
After such an amazing meal, we've been itching to back as soon as possible, but the idea of driving so far out was a bit disconcerting. That is until we found out that there are TWO more Kim Son locations with one of them even being inside the loop. Hallelujah! Anyone wanna make a trip this weekend?
12750 SW Fwy
10603 Bellaire Blvd
2001 Jefferson St
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Photo: flickr user lovebuzz
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MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ...... Kim Son !!!!!!!!
The one place in Houston That I miss the most - always went to the downtown (Jefferson) location.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ...... Kim Son !!!!!!!!
The one place in Houston That I miss the most - always went to the downtown (Jefferson) location.
Oh, Cory. Take yourself to Fung's Kitchen as quickly as possible. For reals. Kim Son is good, but Fung's is amazing.
Fung's Kitchen is VERY good - go early or late - it's "Parking Impossible".
The dim sum that I've had at Fung's Kitchen, YumYum DimSum, and Kim Son (Sugarland) didn't justify the ravings I've heard and read. They weren't bad, just not the end-all-be-all. But maybe I went at the wrong time or the chef was having an off day. I stick with Ocean Palace and enjoy a stroll through the mall afterwards.
Now if any Houston restaurant can figure out how to make xiaolong bao, I will sell my condo and relocate to be closer.
"It is a travesty, but don't worry—we've remedied that situation."
it is more like misuse of the word travesty.
Main Entry:
2travesty
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural travesties
Etymology:
obsolete English travesty disguised, parodied, from French travesti, past participle of travestir to disguise, from Italian travestire, from tra- across (from Latin trans-) + vestire to dress, from Latin — more at vest
Date:
1674
1 : a burlesque translation or literary or artistic imitation usually grotesquely incongruous in style, treatment, or subject matter 2 : a debased, distorted, or grossly inferior imitation
synonyms see caricature
Sounds like a place I can sink my teeth into!