beXnlog

Dim Sum Face Off

Part of the fam's in town again. Monday's brunch was at Buddha Bodhai in Chinatown since we had Vegetarian Dim Sum House on Sunday - a nice change and a chance to compare some of the dishes. While VDSH serves dim sum all day, BB only does so in the morning and early afternoon. After 3 or so it's the dinner menu.

I must first say that i've had countless meals at VDSH; after all, i've been eating there for over 10 years. I've had nearly everything on the dim sum menu at least once and also many of the dishes off the menu. Like most restaurants, VDSH does have their off-days but overall i love the place. Great authentic tasty vegetarian fare. Top 5 of all time.

Now as for BB, i've only been to the Flushing location once and the newer Manhattan restaurant about 5 times.* I've had just a handful of their dishes and none of the dim sum until today. So far everything's been good to very good with the exception of the pan fried noodles (which were soggy and overly-gravied). They have many dishes that VDSH doesn't serve and their house specialty - fake char siu (honey-glazed BBQ roast pork) is awesome. The owners have been super nice to us too!

So i guess you could say VDSH is the favored incumbent while BB is the new underdog with lots of promise. That's my background in the world of vegetarian dim sum in New York City. (Oh, and Dim Sum Go Go is terrible. They have some vegetarian selections but when we went, both carnivores and vegetarians thought it wasn't raveworthy plus the service was the opposite of nice. Whoever thinks it's awesome doesn't know what good dim sum is in my book. Worst thing according to my mom: shrimp in the dumplings wasn't even de-veined!)

Of the five BB dim sum dishes i shared with my mom and their comparisons to VDSH's versions:

1) BB's House Special Congee v VDSH Corn Congee (aka jook, which is rice porridge): BB hands down! They serve it up with fake ham, fake jellyfish, peanuts, cilantro, mushrooms and rounds of yu ja guei (deep fried Chinese bread). Super yummy.

2) Rice Flour Rolls with Fake Ham: VDSH wins with a fair margin. They use better, juicier fake ham and add cilantro sprigs to the filling. BB's fake ham was too dry but the rice flour roll part was good.

3) Buddha's Bean Curd Rolls (bean curd skin wrapped around vegetables, pan fried and sauced): BB! Their version had a nicer, chewier texture and a better sauce. VDSH's is too sweet.

4) Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves: Tie. Both were very good but quite different. VDSH's version is full-sized, contains traditional fillings like chestnuts and beans and is so fragrant when unwrapped. BB's order is 2 smaller packets instead of 1 large one, filled with salty fake chicken. Can't decide!

5) Har gow (shrimp dumplings): My mom says VDSH's are better. I hate shrimp both real and fake so i didn't have any.

I would definitely go back and check out more dim sum dishes at BB. Next time i'll revisit the Flushing location since it's been a few years. So for now VDSH is still it. Buuut that House Special Jook at BB...

PS: People who get annoyed because glasses of water don't automatically arrive and/or aren't constantly refilled obviously don't know what "authentic" dim sum is! First off, it's called YUM CHA which is to drink tea. Dim Sum is all about the tea! Secondly, you're not supposed to drink cold water with hot foods. I'm so tired of morons on foodie message boards posting idiotic reviews, claiming to know what "true, authentic X-kind of food is" because "they once visited X-country." And please don't use a chopstick like a knife.

*I assume that the Flushing and Chinatown locations are related but the Chinatown website doesn't mention the Queens restaurant. Can anyone confirm this?

posted by beXn @ 2:20 AM