One of my favourite weekend treats is to indulge in some dim sum. Of course dim sum is available everyday, at least at the restaurants we patronize but there’s something about the hustle and bustle of having dim sum on the weekend!

My favourite dim sum restaurant in the Bay Area is Koi Palace/Garden which has locations in Daly City and Dublin (in the East Bay) but it is always packed (expect a wait even if you turn up at 11) and a little bit pricier so we often settle for our neighbourhood joint, BK Bistro which does a pretty good dim sum both day and night.

So with both wee readers in tow (the younger asleep in his infant carseat), we popped over for Sunday brunch. Starting with a pot of chrysanthemum tea, we chowed down on our favourites. Wee reader likes the pan-fried daikon cake, char siu bao and the glutinous rice in lotus leaf (lo mai gai). My mum likes wukok or fried taro and pork dumplings and siu mai (steamed pork and shrimp dumplings) and wanted to try the fried pumpkin with salted egg yolk. I ordered the jian bao or panfried meat dumplings and the cheung fun (steamed rice noodle rolls with barbecued pork inside). The husband likes the steamed sponge cake for dessert and the simple dish of soy sauce noodles.

I should note that as I’m not from Hong Kong or Cantonese, I didn’t grow up with dim sum. And oddly enough, I actually eat more dim sum here in the Bay Area than when I lived in Singapore. Perhaps it’s because most of the Chinese restaurants in this area are Cantonese/Hong Kong-style restaurants whereas in Singapore, there are not as many Chinese people of Cantonese origin, so many of the Chinese restaurants in Singapore originate from Teochew, Hokkien (Fujian), Hainanese (i.e., the different regions of China) cuisines.

Steamed sponge cake

Chasiu bao

Chasiu bao, pan fried meat dumplings and fried pumpkin with salted egg yolk

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