Yum Cha Heaven

After 15 hours of trans Pacific hang time we needed to walk and we wanted to eat. Nathaniel Wilder and I were en route to Nepal but faced with an epic layover in Hong Hong. So we stashed our gear and hopped a ferry to Hong Kong’s Central Terminal– gateway to Victoria Peak and some the best dim sum eateries in the known universe. From the terminal we made our way cross town to the venerable City Hall Maxim’s and queued up for a table. Yum Cha is Cantonese for drinking tea but implies much more. Yum Cha means to enjoy tea, and usually to enjoy sweet and savory snacks — dim sum — as well. We ordered a pot of good oolong tea and began watching for our first round of goodies. You don’t usually order dim sum from a menu, you make selections (or point emphatically in our case) from trolley carts pushed around the room by the restaurant staff. Many selections are served in bamboo steaming baskets, and by the end of the meal we had sampled at least a dozen items ranging from BBQ pork buns to shrimp dumplings, steamed greens, and mango pastry. The table was piled high with baskets and plates! And all this washed down with cup after cup of green oolong, perhaps the most refreshing and food-compatible tea on the planet! Dim Sum? Get some!

Advertisement