We ended up early to the Imperial Inn so that we were the third couple in there...luckily. The place fills up rather quickly for a lunch joint from what I have both heard and seen, and we really wanted to get our hands on some classic dim sum. We were summarily seated and given the option of tea. When we were asked if Jasmine would be okay, we assumed that a "no" would result in no tea; plus, we both love jasmine tea to accompany such fare.
We began our adventure with the first cart pusher placing the cart at the edge of our table somewhat gruffly but rightfully so: they offer rather swift and down to earth service there. She pointed to each cute metal steamer basket, each filled with different dim sum favorites, saying the title of the dish in not the clearest of English -- I was in heaven :) This cart was obviously the meat cart, and we decided it was necessary to test the chicken feet, shu mai dumplings, and Nhi's favorite - steamed doughy shrimp dumplings - placed between us. Chopsticks in hand we dug in.... the chicken feet were not very chewy, thankfully, and they were rather tasty with a very interesting texture. The skin was still slightly crispy from the frier even though they were doused in a sweet sauce. All in all, I'm glad that I was able to try chicken feet, but I do not see them becoming a staple of my culinary life anytime soon, especially fried as they were. The shu mai were pretty standard fare with a combination of pork and shrimp steamed in the delicate, yet doughy wrapper. They were surprisingly good and may have contained a vegetable or two. They were very nice when dipped in the tableside condiments: soy sauce and chili oil. The shrimp dumplings had a doughier wrapper than the shu mai did, and they were much lighter in taste as well. We actually ordered a second basket of these as the cart carrier stopped by a second time within the next ten minutes. Like i said; they have surprisingly frequent rotations of the food for a dim sum tyro such as myself! We did not try the tripe, spare rib, or beef meatballs simply because I do not eat beef.... I'm sure they were fantastic, and perhaps in the future I may sample the tripe simply for the culinary experience.
As we snacked on these meaty morsels, the next cart came by - the rice cart I later labeled it - and we chose sticky rice mixed with rather sweet pork wrapped in individual bamboo leaves in the steamer. It was a bit more oily than its counterpart, another dish of pork and sausage within sticky rice. Both dishes were quite sticky, and enough was served to us that I had a cute pint-sized takeout of the leftover. We both agreed that the sticky rice was a necessity as part of an East Asian meal: I love rice more than I can say.
The next cart to go by we did not really take much from, for we had become somewhat stuffed, resulting in choosing a steamed rice dough-wrapped baby shrimp doused in soy sauce before being placed on the table between us. The shrimp was rather sweet and the chewy rice flour wrapping complemented the texture of the shrimp rather well. This was a lighter dish, even though the dough was thicker than we would have either suspected or liked at first bite, but I went back to the plate for seconds. I decided to go for the vegetable soup off of the menu to get a bit of non-meaty goodness in my stomach to accompany such hearty dishes we had been served. Unfortunately, we passed up the crab claws fried and put in a sort of dough, shrimp balls, and some sort of bun. We did, however, take glazed eggplant with a helping of duck sauce drizzled over it along with a plate of mochi-style rice cake sauteed on both sides and filled with sweet pork. I considered it almost a desert, until my eyes were directed to the dessert tray being pushed in our direction.
This cart we did not actually take from, but it contained any chinese-style steamed dessert you could hope for: buns of various styles, sesame balls, rice jello with what seemed to be lychee or longan, fried dumplings, deep-fried taro root, spongy cake that reminded me of really light-looking cornbread, and egg custards. Apparently I did not see a mango jello-styled dessert that Nhi mentioned later, or I would have certainly found some inch of room in my already-packed stomach for such a rare treat. Another thing I missed was some sort of squash-based (other than eggplant) food such as pumpkin, kabocha, you name it...I would have eaten it. Regardless, it was a great experience that resulted in the two of us wobbling out of the restaurant, me with my little takeout container, and a belly full of tea and food. I almost ran us out of tea, and they really give you quite the sizable portion in the steel kettle that stays warm throughout the entire dining experience. I love the down-to-earth methods of the waitstaff in Chinese restaurants and the homey air of neighborhood eateries and bakeries. They make me feel like I am part of the town more than being wined-and-dined like a complete outsider like we were when we went to China last year. This was a great local introduction to dim sum that only resulted in embarrassment when I dropped a chopstick because I was cleaning it of a sticky sauce, and the waiter asked if I wanted a fork. I was so insulted I could have died, since I am the one who carries around his portable stainless-steel chopsticks in his pocket all of the time: I even had them there with me just in case I needed them. To end this dining experience, we toured around Chinatown, poking into butcher shops and bakeries, and buying kitchen necessities at a local hardware store. It was a day I shall not forget as my first dive into the wonderful world of dim sum in Philadelphia!
