on the north side of the city it’s popular to go out for expensive brunch on sundays. many times you’ll pay $11 for pancakes. granted the pancakes may be made using high quality chocolate, fresh whipped cream, strawberries. however if you venture further south to chinatown, you’ll find very different brunch eats: dim sum.

dim sum: cantonese translation puts it as “a touch of heart” and that’s what it does, it touches the heart with strange and familiar flavors. the four of us made our way to the immensely popular phoenix restaurant in the chinatown district. oddly enough this is the oldest restaurant in the same location in chinatown and it was packed. dim sum is to chinatown as brunch is to north side yuppies. equally as delicious, slightly more adventurous and a nice link between the old and new worlds.

there is no menu. there is a card on the table completely in chinese and ladies pushing carts around the dining room.  when they come by with something you want, they give it to you and mark something on your card. our resident fixer, mak, orders jasmine tea for us as she schools us on the proper protocols for excellent dim sum. to give you an idea of how traditional dim sum is: a book purchased in hong kong with pictures and english translations (for a gui san) of the dishes names and ingredients were dead on the money for everything we ate. let the games begin….

giant dumpling: it is what it’s called. it’s a monster sized dumpling, something like 8-10 bites, in a chicken-seafood broth. the dumpling itself is filled with shrimp, scallops, dried mushrooms and green onions. delicious and simple.

chicken feet: no longer relegated to walking around, they are for eating folks. these are steamed and served in a garlic sesame glaze. the process to eat them is simple really: grab a toe and suck the meat off. i enjoy trying new things like shark, goat, chicken feet, sea urchin, etc.  similar to goat it had little bits of cartilage that i kept eating and therefore made it frustrating. the glaze was delicious and i would likely get it again. as my lady said, “i’d eat that over arby’s”.

sesame balls: deep fried sesame paste with a dough outer layer and rolled in sesame seeds. simple, filling, sweet-but-not-dessert-sweet, and rich. very rich.

rice rolls, beef and shrimp: both were laid on a soy broth. the shrimp was sticky and overcooked but the beef was soft and underseasoned. the biggest problem i had was that there was too much rice dough. all of the flavors were masked by the roll. because it was steamed it was gummy and just not pleasing.

pigs in a blanket: yeah so maybe this one was here for the kids, but i had to try it. they were your usual vienna beef hot dogs but the dough was homemade and phenomenal. the glaze on top (which was on a few things) was sticky and stuck to the inside of your teeth. otherwise this tops the chart as best pigs in a blanket ever.

bao: oh the bao. like the softest pillow you could ever rest your head on, it was a heaven sent gift that has been passed down and refined over the years. not like wow bao and there machine made bao, no, this was better. way better. we ordered 2 kinds: egg custard and bbq pork. the egg custard was soft, sweet, velvety and rich with a touch of sweetness. the type of custard you would imagine a french pastry chef would aspire for years to produce and possibly never come close. bbq pork was like a ballet. the soft light bao dough, rich tangy bbq sauce, crusty shredded pork filling. like dancers moving so closely they could have touched each other, but never overlapping. they were in harmony. this, dear reader, was refined technique coupled with amazing restraint that unveiled a fabulous end result.

baked buns: these were filled with the same bbq pork as the bao however these were wrapped in a different dough and baked then topped with the glaze (see pigs in a blanket). good pork, bad glaze. ho hum.

spare ribs: man that was some mean bbq. the ribs were tender and moist and glazed to perfection. there was no ’sauce’ per se, rather it was baked in. they did stand up to the better ribs i have had over time. in the top 10 overall.

taro dumplings: these were strange yet tasty. the outside looked like corral, yeah corral from the ocean corral, then purple taro puree inside over minced pork. strange: yes, tasty: yes, familiar: hardly. salty, sweet, deep-fried crunchiness. all the basic food groups in one bite.

there are some that i missed. there has to be. to sum it all up the entire experience was great. i would definitely do it again. well that and the fact that the entire meal with beverage, tax, and tip came out to $16 per person. yeah, i’ll be back. get out there. eat some chicken feet. you never know what you might like.

try it for yourself.  phoenix restaurant - 2131 s. archer ave.