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It may just be a simple name, but the faint mention of Dim Sum brings joy to my heart. The Chinese refer to dim sum as a variety of light dishes served with hot tea. While it used to be enjoyed on special occasions in China, it can be found almost daily in parts of the World, and in select Chinese restaurants in the US on weekends.
Despite my love for dim sum, it’s been years since my last Yum Cha, the Chinese name for the entire dining experience. Having discovered the dim sum thread on CU recently, I was enthusiastic to explore what Columbus has to offer. I chose a restaurant that was close to me and was seemingly enjoyed by CMH Gourmand.
Little Dragons Chinese Restaurant is just another one of those unassuming strip mall restaurants in Northern Columbus serving tasty ethnic food. Just down the road you can dine on Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian and Mexican cuisine, not to mention the Middle Eastern triangle on Cleveland Avenue and a cornucopia of ethnicities on Rte 161.
What makes Little Dragons so much better than other local Chinese establishments is the decor, the food and yes, the weekend dim sum. The rather bland exterior is negated by a simple elegant interior: playful fish at the entrance, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and large tables in the rear with lazy susans to serve family style.
Their menu offers the standard fare like hot and sour soup and war sue gai, but also exciting dishes with sea cucumber, frog legs, beef tripe, and even a clam soup. So there are some unique items to try here in the week as well.
Just as varied as their dinner menu, the dim sum menu is aimed to please. CMH Gourmand referred to dim sum items as tapas like, a reference I can appreciate. The individual items cost between $2 and $8, the most expensive being a conch salad. While they don’t employ a dim sum cart bustling around with several items, they offer you a menu to select the items you like. Chinese tea is complimentary with dim sum, and great to sip as you are looking over the menu.
This is what I ordered: sesame seed cake, broiled pork buns, chive shrimp dumplings, jellyfish salad, Mandarin duck, and broiled squid with garlic sauce. They were all delicious. I was surprised that the last two items were served chilled, but I liked them just the same. There are several other items to try on the dim sum menu, and I could see ordering a few off the regular menu as well for a greater variety – like some warm soup and maybe rice. This was a lot of food and it was more than enough to bring some home.
My tab for six items and hot tea was a mere $24, certainly a fulfilling meal for two to share. A group of 8 people in the back could easily share the entire dim sum menu for $12-15/ person, and have fun distributing the food with the lazy susan.
Dim Sum is available 11-3, Friday-Sunday at Little Dragons (1508 Morse Rd). Credit cards accepted. Phone: (614) 846-9114.
Love Little Dragons! Great post!
Sounds like I need to take a field trip. Thanks for posting this review.
just went there last Sunday. One of my favorite chinese restaurant in Columbus. The spiced beef tribe and three cups intenstines are my regular order :) You can ask to preheat the cold appetizer if you like it warm.
Nice write-up, thanks! I have only had dim sum in Hong Kong but have a massive steamed pork bun craving at the moment. Will try this soon.
I was in san Fran this past weekend and had some dim sum for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised and i might have to check this place out
Jellyfish salad!? Someone drive me out here!
@Columbusite – you’ve earned your keep today: Well, I just had a rather disheartening experience at city council. I went to speak and I touched upon the meter issue.
If you want jellyfish salad, it’s on me. Just PM me and will figure out a time and place. You’ve earned your jellyfish as well Liz, battling this meter thing. Let me know!
Columbusite – you can bus and bike to Little Dragons in a snap – it is at Morse and Karl Road.
Thanks for the Dim Sum update PZ. Very good post.
I love Dim Sum! One of my traditions going to Chicago is stopping by the Phoenix in China Town. Great food, but the wait is terrible.
@CMH Gourmand – you inspired me, what can I say? As these Winter months press on, I intend to visit Sunflower, Fortune, Joy’s Village and Lee Garden and see who really has the best dim sum menu in Central Ohio. Maybe some of you will join me in this epicurean journey.
Little Dragons is a hidden Gem, and we’re lucky to have them here. I’ve always been curious about sea cucumber. The hostess said it was like eating a big piece of fat, but some people still like it. :]
@patient_zero – Anytime. There is no such thing as a bad time for dim sum.
Ha, the one time I’ve been here, my stomach rebelled instantly. However, I will definitely give them another shot. :)
The absolute best way to have Dim Sum is in a group of 6 – 8 people. I would love to go with other CU members. Anybody interested?
Went yesterday (Sunday) and arrived at the tail end of “dim sum hours”, 2:00. The dining room was crowded with only two tables open and I would estimate 90% of the clientele were Asian (I always feel funny commenting upon the number of Asians at a Chinese restaurant-it’s stupid and yet we do it anyway). There were only three waitresses handling 20 or so tables. They were working their butts off but not keeping up. It was easy to see that there was turmoil among the troops-the manager (or who I took to be the boss) kept calling quick meetings to re-organize her limited troops.
The waitress who came to my table spoke very limited English. She had no idea what I was talking about when I repeatedly asked to see the dim sum list. “Dim Sum” I said 5-6 times. She smiled as if I was asking for black leather boots. Finally she came back laughing at presented me with the half-page list of “dim sum” Comparing the list to the regular menu, it was readily apparent that the list was simply a recitation of the appetizers that are already on the regular menu-a feeble attempt to make a dim sum list that were largely not dim sum at all. There are maybe five-six items that qualify as real dim sum.
I had to wait a very long time for my food. I arrived at the wrong time as many large tables were leaving and the constituents of each table were trying in vain to reconcile checks among themselves.
Now I suspect it sounds like I am trashing the place. Nope. The food was largely quite good. The fish intestine hot and sour soup was amazing-enough to be a meal in and of itself for $6. The beef tripe was served cold but was expertly prepared and easy to get used to rather than the white ginger laden tripe I am used to as dim sum. The pot stickers and five spice pork were much less successful-the pot stickers had been steamed too long such that they were falling apart and stuck to the inside of the standard stainless steamer they arrived in.
My advice is to order the specials and the more adventurous items from the menu and be prepared to share. Fantastic food is available, but the best stuff is not from the so-called “dim sum menu”.