Alright, so today I’m gonna tell you about my little adventure, or should I say, my quest, for dim sum right here in Tallahassee. You know how it is, sometimes you just get that craving, that deep, undeniable need for some good, steamy, savory (and sometimes sweet) little bites. And well, I had one of those cravings hit me hard last week.
My Starting Point: The Dim Sum Dream
I was sitting there, thinking, “Man, some siu mai would be amazing right now. Or maybe some char siu bao.” The usual suspects, you know? I’ve had dim sum in a bunch of different cities, big ones mostly, where you can just waltz into a bustling hall on a Sunday morning and get your fix from those wonderful carts rolling by. So, I figured, Tallahassee is a decent-sized city, a state capital even! Surely, there must be something.
The Hunt Begins: Hitting the Digital Pavement
My first move, like most folks these days, was to grab my phone. I typed in “dim sum Tallahassee” into the search bar and held my breath. Let me tell you, the results weren’t exactly overflowing. It wasn’t like a tidal wave of options, more like a little trickle. I saw a few Chinese restaurants listed, of course. Some looked like your standard American Chinese takeout spots, which, you know, are fine for what they are, but not really what I was after for that authentic dim sum experience.
I started clicking through, reading descriptions, looking for those magic words: “Dim Sum Served Daily” or even “Weekend Dim Sum.” It was a bit of a slog, I gotta be honest. A lot of places might have an appetizer or two that technically falls under the dim sum umbrella, like spring rolls or potstickers, but that’s not the full shebang I was hoping for.
Finding a Potential Candidate (or two?)
After a bit more digging, reading some local forums and review sites – you always gotta take those with a grain of salt, right? – I found a couple of mentions. It seemed like there wasn’t a dedicated, all-out dim sum palace here. Nope. It looked more like a situation where a couple of the more traditional Chinese restaurants might offer a selection, possibly only on weekends, and likely from a menu rather than carts. Okay, not ideal, but better than nothing, I thought. My expectations were being… managed, let’s say.
The “Field Research” Phase
So, I picked one place that seemed to have the most consistent, albeit faint, mentions of having some dim sum. I decided to give them a call first. Always a good idea, I’ve learned, especially when you’re on a specific mission like this. You don’t want to drive all the way out there just to be disappointed.
The person on the phone was polite enough. Yes, they had some dim sum items. No, not from carts. Yes, it was on a special section of the menu, mostly on Saturdays and Sundays. Alright, game on. I mentally prepared myself that this wasn’t going to be like my experiences in bigger cities with huge Chinese populations, but hey, dim sum is dim sum, or so I hoped.
So, that weekend, I made the trip. Walked into the restaurant. It was a nice, clean place, a typical family-style Chinese restaurant. No bustling crowds waiting for tables, no shouting in Cantonese, no carts weaving through a noisy dining room. It was… calm. We got seated, got the menu, and sure enough, there was a little laminated page with their dim sum offerings.
- Har Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) – a must try.
- Siu Mai (Pork and Shrimp Dumplings) – another classic.
- Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns) – both steamed and baked, if they have them.
- A few other bits and pieces, like sticky rice in lotus leaf if I’m lucky.
We ordered a selection. The food came out, freshly made, it seemed. Was it the best dim sum I’ve ever had in my entire life? To be brutally honest, no. It wasn’t going to win any international awards. But was it good enough to scratch that itch? Yes, it was. The flavors were there, the textures were mostly right. The har gow were pretty decent, and the siu mai hit the spot.
My Takeaway on Tallahassee Dim Sum
So, after all that, here’s my two cents on finding dim sum in Tallahassee. It’s not a dim sum desert, exactly, but it’s definitely not an oasis either. You gotta do a bit of homework. You gotta manage your expectations. You’re unlikely to find those huge, traditional dim sum parlors with endless carts.
What you can find, if you look hard enough and maybe call ahead, are a few Chinese restaurants that offer a respectable, albeit limited, selection of dim sum items, usually on the weekends and ordered off a menu. It’s more of a “dim sum lite” experience.
It’s definitely a different scene from what I’m used to in other places. But you know what? Sometimes, a little taste is all you need to keep those cravings at bay. And it makes me appreciate those big city dim sum experiences even more! So, if you’re in Tallahassee and get that urge, don’t give up hope entirely. Just be prepared to do a little legwork. And hey, it’s always an adventure, right?