On the morning of Chinese New Year (which was Sunday, February 10th) my family and I carried on the tradition of having dim sum as the first important meal of the new year. We chose Grand Restaurant due to my mom’s curiosity of this place. This restaurant is located in the New World Mall and it is really is a huge place.
Har gaw (蝦餃) and Shu mai (燒賣)
We started with har gaw (蝦餃) and shu mai (燒賣) which symbolically means happiness and wealth from the Chinese word shrimp. (Ha sounds like one is laughing.). These dishes were fresh and the shrimp used in these dumplings were fresh. The small issue is I wish they were served at a hotter temperature.
Braised beef tripe (牛肚), Shrimp rice noodle rolls (蝦腸) and beef rice noodle rolls (牛肉腸)
We ordered plates of braised spicy beef tripe (牛肚), shrimp rice noodle rolls (蝦腸) and beef rice noodle rolls (牛肉腸). The beef tripe was very tender and chewy. I liked it’s mildly spicy. The familiar favorites of the filled rice noodle rolls were fresh and tasty as well but again, it wasn’t served as hot as I would like it.
Waiting for our order of blanched ceylon spinach
The interesting thing about this restaurant, at least during dim sum service, were the long tables near the back of the kitchen. One section was for blanching Chinese greens like bok choy, Chinese broccoli and ceylon spinach and braised/stewed dishes (as seen here) where diners may leave the table, head over to that area and order plates or bowls of what’s available.
We opted for a plate of blanched ceylon spinach. Ceylon spinach has a faint, distinct earthy flavor and it has the texture of blanched spinach (slippery on the teeth). I grew up with this vegetable so I liked it. Also, I appreciated having some greens on the table.
Char siu sou (叉燒酥), Jin deui (煎堆; Sesame balls) and Haam Sui Gao (鹽水角), and Steamed salted egg custard bun (奶黃包)
Finishing off our meal, we had my favorite sweet-savory pastry char siu sou (叉燒酥), jin deui (煎堆) or sesame balls, and haam sui gao (鹽水角), and steamed salted egg custard buns (奶黃包).
The char siu sou was pretty good. Fresh, flaky and it had a decent proportion of char siu pork filling to crust. The fried sesame balls and haam sui gao are important part of the Chinese New Year dim sum repertoire since they symbolically mean wealth would come. The fried sesame balls were great. Crispy, not too greasy and the filling was good. The unfortunate thing was the haam sui gao had very sparse filling and we were left eating fried, greasy glutinous rice dough. The steamed salted egg custard bun was quite good. It vaguely reminded me of these buns I had in Hong Kong but not as masterfully made. At any rate, it was fine for what it is in New York City.
Overall, this restaurant was fine. I am shocked they charged $6 for mediocre pots of tea while the food were fairly priced. I have yet to encounter fantastic dim sum like what I had in Hong Kong a few years ago. One of the reasons is because of the antiquated rolling steam carts (the food is no longer as fresh since it’s been sitting in the steam carts for a while by the time it hits to your table). You will have a decent dim sum meal but it just won’t be excellent.
To view more photos of this meal, please view the slideshow below (or CLICK HERE for my photo set):
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Information:
Grand Restaurant (君豪)
at New World Mall
40-21 Main St, 3rd Fl
Flushing, NY 11354
Telephone: (718) 321-8258
Map
Happy Lunar New Year! Grand Restaurant is definitely a huge dim sum place, a rare kind in this neck of the woods. The dim sum isn’t stellar and like you said, I’ve had cold dishes as well. I do appreciate the varieties, but honestly, I would much prefer the basement food court for more selections, but that’s just the rustic me speaking. :)
That unfortunate that the dim sum was cold even though the steam in the steamcarts should be keeping them warm.