Dim Sum . . . And More
Written: May 12 '00 (Updated May 12 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice place to take your friends and family and get to use a Lazy Susan. And you'll have to read on for the BEST REASON to go here.
Cons: Can be really crowded and the food is good but not great. There's one reason you go. Read on.
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| ATOM's Full Review: Ton Kiang |
Dim Sum . . .
Beautiful, Beautiful Dim Sum.
It was kept from me for 22 years, but when my college friend introduced me to this weekend brunch tradition at the China Royal Restaurant behind the Saint Louis airport, I was converted. It became a Sunday ritual with my college friends. I devoured every tiny morsel of Sui Mai, Har Gao, and Fried Taro that was wheeled by from the carts. We required multiple revolutions from our Lazy Susans to satiate our appetites. This is where I honed my chopstick skills, ready to snap up the last Har Gao before my neighbor. And Dim Sum is why many of my friends just won't go whole kosher, or why their vegetarianism is only when convenient. Dim Sum, gimmee some.
In San Francisco, so far, Ton Kiang is my favorite Dim Sum joint. [One must always say, "so far," when talking about their favorite San Franciscan restaurant because one knows they will never ever be able to try all of them and the next great find may just be a gentrification away.] And apparently, I'm not alone here. This place is hella packed ALL the time on the weekends. Don't even think you'll be able to walk in and get a seat immediately. You'll have to wait outside like everyone else and enjoy the cold wind of the Richmond District as Chinese-American and Russian-American families maneuver their way through the barrier you and your friends create on the sidewalk. But you will wait. Because it's worth it.
And it's worth it not because the sui mai is more scrumptious, the har gao is more succulent, or the sticky rice is more supreme. Sure, the Dim Sum is tasty, but that is not why you will wait. No, you will wait because of one reason, and this reason has yet to be mentioned in any other review.
You will wait because . . .
. . . Are you ready?
You will wait because of . . .
THE NAPKINS!!!
Don't laugh. I'm serious. You have NEVER seen napkins before like those at Ton Kiang. And seeing is not the sense you need to use. You have to FEEL them. You will take their softness up to your cheek just like in the Downey toilet paper commercials. They are the most absorbent napkins I have ever held. They aren't the cloth ones that make you wonder what bodily fluid was placed in them before they came your way. They aren't those dinky paper ones you pull out of metal rectangles that aren't capable of soaking up a teardrop. No, these are the Roto-Rooters of napkins. Rather than opening the drain of your bathtub to get rid of the bathwater, just throw in one of these puppies and they'll finish the job in seconds. And they'll still be able to dry off the rest of you afterwards.
Everytime I leave this restaurant, I ask if I can have a few to take home with me. And the waitstaff doesn't look at me funny because they know why I'm asking. I'm sure each of them has a stash at home too. And once I'm handed a few of the Rolls Royce of napkins, I tell the manager (the one not dressed in a white shirt and black bow tie, but a dinner jacket), "Please, don't get rid of these napkins." He nods because he understands.
He understands the Dim Sum is OK. He understands that his restaurant provides the right amount of Lazy-Susaning for gatherings of families and friends. But what he understands most of all is that the napkins are divine. If you quilt them, they will come.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ATOM
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Member: Adam H.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 105 members
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