Little Treasures

This weekend, I had dim sum with friends at Emerald off of Convoy. Delicious! Oh my goodness did we pork out! It's been a decade since the last time I've been to a dim sum restaurant. My first and only experience before was with my mom in San Francisco when I was checking out colleges. We had a little travel book on the city that gave recommendations on places to go and some good eats around town. We decided on a restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. The inside was as big as a football field and we were the ONLY white people in the entire place. My mom and I were directed to a table in the very center - everyone else seemed to be cozily placed along the perimeter.

When the first cart came around, the waiter asked us for the check.

What? We hadn't even ordered yet. How could they expect us to pay already? Was it buffet style my - my mom and I just looked at each other in panic.

CHECK!!!! NO CHECK!!!  He yelled to the hostess.

OMG. More attention, on the obvious minority. We thought we were going to be kicked out. Finally they came and placed a little piece of paper on our table and resumed the service.

You want this!

It was a command... not a question - to which we said yes obediently again and again until our table was covered with every possible steaming bun and vegetable known to man... except for some odd looking black snake or mushroom thing. We were so terrified of this dish that NO came our of our mouths rather naturally.

At Emerald, I was in good hands so I willingly (and happily) left the ordering to my veteran dim sum friends. Shrimp shumai, sweet pork buns, shark fin shumai, taro cake, tofu pudding, pineapple buns, shrimp dumplings, and large noodles with hoisan sauce were just a few of the delicacies that decorated our table. We left happy and our stomachs full to the brim with 'little treasures' (the literal translation of dim sum).