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Dining Out: Hong Kong Tea House & Restaurant Masters Fine Art of Dim Sum | |
| BY NANCY HOBBS SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE |
03/14/2003 | |
| Word is spreading quickly about the newest little tea house in Salt Lake City, turning the small but steady clientele of just a few weeks ago into a full house, and then some, for weekday lunches. Even at its out-of-the-way location at 565 W. 200 South -- which almost weekly is becoming less obscure with the trendy Orbit cafe across the street and the Bridge Projects immediately east -- the Hong Kong Tea House & Restaurant is being discovered as the place to find delicious and authentic Chinese food, dim sum in particular. Hong Kong Tea House is the creation of Ogden landscaper David Chen and chef Wing Chip Yeung, whom Chen met on one of his frequent trips to San Francisco to dine at fine Chinese restaurants. Chen persuaded the chef of 15-plus years to become his business partner and bring his craft to Salt Lake; together they designed an attractive dining area, with boldly colored walls of sage, brick red and yellow, and red lacquered tables with Lazy Susans in the center to more easily pass plates of dim sum and pots of tea. Visitors to Chinatowns around the country may be well versed in the art of ordering and eating dim sum. For neophytes, figuring out how and what to order, and then how to eat it once it arrives, can be intimidating. Servers at Hong Kong Tea House ease most anxiety by being helpful with suggestions and patient with timid diners, despite a bit of a language barrier. What is quite remarkable is that, given the time servers spend at each table, even with a full house, water glasses and tea cups are constantly replenished and there is little delay in delivering the food -- obviously due to an equally efficient kitchen staff. Dim sum is most easily compared to American appetizers or even Spanish tapas, in that the savory or sweet selections, such as Chinese dumplings or steamed buns, are typically bite-size or just a little larger, and come several to a plate for sampling and sharing. They can be ordered off a menu or chosen from a selection the kitchen has ready, brought to tables for patrons to accept or decline. One of the advantages of ordering dim sum is that Hong Kong's "small" plates start at $2.25, with "chef's specials" at $4.25. So you can try something new on each visit and, if not pleasantly surprised, at least you won't be financially bruised by disappointment. Quite a few curious diners have been willing to pay $2.25 for an order of steamed chicken feet, said Chen. The dish is the result of a lengthy process of blanching, then deep-frying and finally steaming, and the result is similar to eating poultry skin. As Chen said, "Once people try it, they like it." On the other hand, the price of all those little plates of dim sum -- particularly if you can't say no to intriguing offerings paraded around the dining room -- can add up quickly. And with 50 choices of dim sum on the "lunch" menu, served from 10 or 11 in the morning until 3 p.m., it is easy to get carried away. Loosely translated, dim sum means "touch of the heart" or "heart's delight," and we found several choices that fit that description on recent visits. Top of the list was the eggplant stuffed with shrimp paste, which is the thinner Japanese eggplant, cut into lengths and stuffed, then pan-fried and served with a delectable sauce. Also delicious were the beef wienoki rolls, with thin slices of garlicky roast beef wrapped around long, thin wienoki mushrooms. If the steamed barbecued pork bun -- a dim sum staple -- is the gauge by which Chinese restaurants might be rated, the Hong Kong Tea House wins top honors. The rice-flour dough is spongy and slightly sweet, with spicy pork in the center. The buns also come stuffed with beef or egg custard, which is similar to a marzipan filling. Also well known to dim sum aficionados are lotus-leaf packages filled with sticky rice. Open the packages (don't eat the leaf) and find rice steamed to perfection, imparted with the subtle taste of lotus. Texture plays a huge role in dim sum selections, and you are likely to find a disparity -- even around your table -- as to who likes what. Some fellow diners felt the rice noodle rolls were too mushy for their liking, while others loved them. Some found the mango pudding, with a texture similar to flan, just too gelatinous, although others disagreed. But given the variety, everyone should be able to find something to like. An abbreviated menu of dim sum is offered in the evenings, when Hong Kong Tea House turns to more upscale Chinese cuisine, with fresh flounder, lobster and crab, or even duck, quail and pigeon. Peking duck is a house specialty, with the kitchen cooking the duck fresh for lunch and dinner service. A whole duck is $23 at dinner, but most order the half for $13. The tea house, as the name implies, offers more than half a dozen teas with lunch or dinner. The owners have applied for a liquor license, which Chen believes will enhance the "fine dining" atmosphere he is striving for in dinner service. "Personally, I'm pretty picky," Chen said about dining
out. "I couldn't find any restaurants in Utah that suited
my need." He set out to create his own, and though he is
the first to say it's not quite what he aspires to yet, Hong Kong
Tea House already is one of the best choices for authentic Chinese
in Salt Lake.
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