One of the reasons why I love dim sum is because I love anything in a bun. I guess I'm just a sucker for msg-loaded things stuffed in chewy dough. Another is the fact that you can pick anything off the rickshaw you want and not have to wait for service.
Speaking of service, Golden Unicorn is quite expedient. By the time I came out from the washroom, there were these seven baskets already before us.
Dim Sum
We dug right in. The lady pushing the cart came by with some congee, so we grabbed one. It was pretty creamy like the one I made the other day with my Crockpot (that took 8 hours to cook!). The "skinny" pork as they say in Chinese was a bit on the dry side, so I had to spit it out. The pork chops at the bottom of the top picture was much more tender, and the squash complemented it nicely. The best part of this congee was the thousand-year-old duck egg, which was tender and wasn't slimy like they are normally if you eat them by itself.
Thousand-year-old duck egg and "skinny" pork congee
Here is one of my absolute favorites - shrimp-chive dumpling. It's actually a family tradition at home; we grow our own chives and use only the freshest shrimp from the Atlantic (according to my Dad the shrimp on the Pacific is all contaminated with industrial pollution).
Xsection of shrimp-chive dumpling
This tasted awesome, but then I started wondering whether that awesomeness is because of the shrimp that tasted way too fresh-off-the-boat. I quickly gulped down some tea to wash it down.
Meat zhong-zi
The meat zhong-zi tasted pretty good - it was just the right combination of sweet and saltiness. The sticky rice was cooked to perfection for a melt-in-your mouth experience. Even for a non-meat lover like me, I had to give it up for the tender pork bits inside.
Another favorite item was the shrimp wrap in XO sauce. I didn't grab a picture of it, but the sauce was out of this world.
Eggplant with crab meat
The fried eggplant was probably the least favorite item on the table, as it took considerable rounds to finish it. It was too much on the oily side, and the stuff inside was not recognizable to human taste buds. I think it was something like a doughy crab mix.
One of the ways you can judge the quality of a dim sum joint is by its egg tart. These came on a plate, glistening golden yellow with the oil on the custard reflecting in the light (see the heart shape below?)
Egg tarts
One bite gets approval from all my 200,000+ tastebuds. Its light, flaky crust complements the soft, mellow core nicely. Since our other two guests aren't dessert fans, I took another bite from hubby's before my calorie-counter kicked in and warned me of the consequences.
All and all, this was a perfect celebratory meal. Although our two guests didn't eat that much (one was saving his stomach for a BBQ, and the other didn't feel like eating all that much), I think I ate wayyyy more than I could handle. But the funny thing was that perhaps because of all the tea and msg, I wanted more! Can't wait to come back here.
Golden Phoenix
**** (4/5)
$$
Kids-friendly
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