I have found the world's perfect food.

Salty, sweet, savory, crispy, chewy. Individually? Each of these things is to be prized. But it's rare for them to come together in some wonderful whole. Yet it happens! Every weekend at Wong's King Seafood from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm.

I don't speak Cantonese, so I'm not sure what Dim Sum means. The hack who runs this site tells me that it very roughly translates to "light snack," I guess? I don't know about that part, because I certainly wasn't going to stop at a snack of one or two plates alone. You sit in a big open lounge with a lot of other people while waitresses push little carts around, each stacked high with plates and places of deliciousness, all of it is washed down with copious amounts of Oolong tea.

There were so many tasty things, but a few in particular stood out. The first was the Cantonese pork belly. Cubed, each pieces was layered like succulent geological strata: fat, tenderest meat, and a crown of crispy skin. The texture was soft, juicy, and just a little bit crispy all at once. I almost swallowed them whole, but then I remembered that I had to do this write-up.

Next were the Siu Mai. These were even tastier than the pork, amazingly. Each was a meatball-sized piece of pork and shrimp all rolled together, wrapped in an egg noodle and steamed. They were amazing. Succulent & juicy with a seafood twist to them, given further tang by generous amounts of salty soy sauce.

Then there were the bao. Calling them meat buns (steamed and baked) is an injustice. The meat filling? Excellent. The bread surrounding it? Also excellent. Together? Oh clipped coins and an empty pruse, they were so good! I ate until I felt sick and then kept right on going.

There are other places to get Dim Sum, I hear. I'm going to try them all. But I will definitely be going back to Wong's King Seafood.

Brass Horse Books