South China Dim Sum: Most authentic & addictive dim-sum
I feel trendy and metropolitan and Asian in this hole-in-the-wall casual but authentic and delicious Dim Sum restaurant.
I was desperate to try this place after hearing that a friend of a friend who is a Chinese-born Cape Town local, touted South China Dim Sum as the most authentic dim sum in Cape Town. I fell in love with dim sum and dumplings etc on my trips to Hong Kong and Singapore so I was excited for some holiday notalgia and delicious dumplings - street food style. I was not disappointed.
Har gow with spicy szechuan soy sauce (steamed translucent wheat and tapioca dumpling with prawns, water chestnuts and spring onion)
Prawn dim sum is something I always like to try (especially after having the best everrr prawn wonton soup in Hong Kong at Tsim Chai Kee). These were delectable. Fresh and crisp prawns with crunchy water chestnuts wrapped in a delightfully gelatinous dumpling dough and dipped into the szechuan soy sauce with some of their spicy chilli sauce that makes your lips slightly numb. So good we ordered more.
Vegetable pot stickers with nuoc cham sweet chilli sauce (Pan-fried wheat dumplings with caramelised onions, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots, ginger and garlic chives)
Lots of shredded cabbage as the main filling with loads of flavour. With their crispy outside you don’t miss the meat at all. I am obsessed with nuoc cham, it's probably one of my favourite dipping sauces which I basically drank during my time in Vietnam. This one could have done with a bit more fish sauce, but to be fair it's hard to get too much of the sauce on the pot sticker due to the dumpling not really being able to soak stuff up because it's fried.
Chicken wontons with spicy szechuan soy sauce (poached wheat dumplings with chicken. Water chestnuts, ginger and spring onion)
The filling of these had a similar flavour profile to the prawn dim sum, bar the prawn flavour obviously and the wonton wrapper. The soft chicken was so good with the crisp water chestnuts which are always such a vibe in wontons. I ordered another portion of these as they were so easy to eat. Yummo.
Siu Mai with mustard and hoi sin sauce (steamed open face wheat dumpling with prawns, water chestnuts and spring onion)
Haven’t got too many comments on this but it was really good! My only issue was that the hoisin sauce had a slightly articficial flavour.
Beef potstickers with chinkiang black vinegar (Pan-fried wheat dumplings with beef, cabbage, ginger and spring onion )
I found them a bit greasy with a very crispy bottom, however the chinkiang vinegar cut through the fat nicely. The sweet smokeyness of the vinegar added a caramelly flavour which went with the beef so well.
Char siu bao (steamed fluffy wheat bun filled with honey roasted pork and onion)
I also tried the pork bao bun (I know, it's bad to order pork :/ ). Char siu is barbequed pork and it was very sweet and sticky and nice. The bun was fluffy, fresh and warm. A bit too sweet for me but it satisfies the sweet craving at the end of a meal so no need for dessert. I also often find the black bean paste, which it was topped with, has a slightly artificial flavour but my dad LOVED this dish and the dipping sauce sooo…
I really liked it here and could imagine a vibey night with 2 friends and some Chinese beer and dumplings. Make sure to book and they also have a back room which is a bit more closed off but good to sit in if you don't like the view of longstreet or if you want to feel more like you're in a karaoke bar. I’m definitely coming back to try some of their soups and to eat my weight in dumplings again. They are easy to eat and you can eat a ton of them.
Menu Items tasted:
Chicken wontons with spicy Szechuan soy sauce R45 ; Beef potstickers with Chinkiang black vinegar R42 ; Vegetable pot stickers with nuoc cham sweet chilli sauce R42 ; Har Gow with spicy Szechuan soy sauce R58 ; Char siu bao R30
289 Long St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000
