Dim Sum

What is Dim Sum?  I don't know if there's a way to truly define it.  Its a combination of things.  Its a meal around brunch, lunchtime.  I've only had it on the weekends, but places may offer it during the weekday.  Its similar to tapas, in that you get many small portions and you all just share.  You always get tea and a few small dishes of sauce, usually a hoisin sauce and hot chili sauce.  The tea is an assumption, meaning they'll usually ask you what kind of tea you want, not whether you want tea.  Similar to tapas, there's no real rhyme or reason to how you can or should eat.  Servers push around metal carts with all sorts of goodies, noodles, desserts, soups, small bites, etc.  When they come around, they'll stop to let you inspect what they have and tell you what the options are.  You just say what you want and how many plates.  Then they just grab your bill, and put a little stamp/checkmark/number where your dish was and your waiter will tally it up at the end.  Pretty simple strategy.  There's virtually no wait time.  You sit down, and carts just start coming to you.  How great is that?

My parents came down this past weekend and Kelly and I met them at Furama on Broadway and Argyle.  The nice thing about the menu there is they have pictures and English on the menu.  Food was good, but if I can, I prefer to go to Chinatown.  There are more options there and more browsing to do afterwards.