Dim Sum

We read about a new Dim Sum restaurant in a local magazine and decided to give it try. Richard was in San Francisco on business earlier this year and had eaten at an amazing dim sum place there. Ever since, he's been craving the incredible little dishes and driving Beth crazy describing them. So yesterday we couldn't hold out any longer, and immediately after Carter's gym class we booked it over to Lobster King -- kids and all.

Traditionally, dim sum is served from the early morning to midday, so we were arriving towards the end of the service at about 1:45pm. The place isn't very big, but it was VERY busy and loud... just the kind of place you need to be when you have two hungry little guys who happen to be picky eaters. No one would notice if Carter had a meltdown because there weren't any chicken nuggets or grilled cheese anywhere in sight.

Preparing for the worst, we sat down ready to grab whatever we could off the carts and then get the heck out of dodge. But to our shock and amazement, the kids were enthralled by the place. "Oooh! Chopsticks!" cried Carter. "I'm hungry" chimed in Erek. The first cart of steam baskets came and went, while the waiter said something we didn't understand and pushed the cart quickly by us and back to the kitchen. Then came the fried dim sum cart. After watching Mom and Dad point at a plate of food and have the waiter place it on the table, Carter spoke up and pointed to a little dish of something fried. "I want that." We couldn't believe it, but then again he was just asking for something; whether he ate it was a different story. He had picked a plate of four small, skinny deep fried shrimp paste rolls. We crossed our fingers as he took his first bite, praying that he would at least just cry if he didn't like it, and that the rest of the uneaten roll wouldn't go flying across the restaurant. But that didn't happen. "Yum, Daddy!" We couldn't believe it! Then Erek said "Let me try!" and he took a bite. "Yum, Daddy!" said Erek as well. AMAZING!! They tried something new and LIKED IT!!!!!

So there we were: Mom and Dad sampling all kinds of little bites off the steamed cart and fried cart, Erek and Carter going through four orders of their dim sum favorite, and all of us sipping from our Chinese tea cups (the boys drank Sprite from their tea cups). Carter even used his chopsticks successfully. We all laughed and talked and enjoyed our food. It was a WONDERFUL family lunch!!!!

Here are some pictures off the internet of a few of the tasty bites we had: