Dim Sum at Fan’s with Suzie the Foodie

Too funny! It looks like I photoshopped myself into this photograph which is ironic since I have been feeling quite out of body these days. To say life has been rough and a challenge is a huge understatement. When I had the chance to go out with my friend Emily on a Star Wars gaming day, I said hell yeah!

Fan’s Chinese Restaurant

My friend Kelly said that if I ever get back to Fan’s Chinese Restaurant (451 Windmill Road in Dartmouth) I had to try the dim sum.

I was thrilled it was being offered on a Saturday afternoon when Emily and I showed up so we went for it.

I love that they have photographs to show you what the menu items actually look like. I have only had official dim sum once before so this was very helpful and reassuring.

We ended up ordering the Steamed Shanghai Buns with Minced Pork, Fan’s Shrimp Dumpling, Sticky Rice Chicken in Lotus Leaves and Siu Mai.

I have made Siu Mai dumpling myself so I knew what a treat it was to indulge them without all that work. Remember, I really needed a vacation through food. These were absolutely delicious.

The Sticky Rice Chicken in Lotus Leaves was a complete mystery to me. I am not a fan of rice in general so I rarely order it when I go out.

This rice with that beautifully flavoured chicken rocked my foodie world. Absolutely stunning, I wanted to eat every little piece of rice and savour it. I now of course have to learn how to make this myself and figure out where the heck am I going to get lotus leaves?!

Fan’s Shrimp Dumplings were works of art. They looked like blushing jelly fish filled with sweet shrimp. Again, I can absolutely appreciate the work involved in making these perfect little foodie gems.

I am a huge fan of steamed buns (see my tutorial here) and used to eat them in Toronto and Vancouver all the time. I was very surprised by Fan’s Steamed Shanghai Buns with Minced Pork. The dough was so sweet, it tasted like cake! They were delicious but not as moist as I am used to. Definitely tasted like a savoury dessert which was unusual but not disappointing. In fact, a bit of a fun surprise!

Foodie Conclusions

Emily and I enjoyed all of this food for just over $20! We did not understand the pricing system at first so we just ordered what we wanted (what an indulgence) and could not believe it that we each ended up only paying around $12 each.

I sincerely hope I get to go for dim sum at Fan’s Chinese Restaurant again some time very soon because it was the best meal for the best price I have had in a very, VERY long time. No, wait, it is the best food I have had in a long time. PERIOD!

I give this foodie experience five out of five wooden spoons. It was exactly the vacation from reality that I needed.

Thanks for the suggestion Kelly! You rock!