Chinese Tapas

If you’ve never tried dim sum, the best place to go in London for the full-on rough and tumble of the dim sum experience is CCK in Wardour Street, right in the heart of Chinatown. Dim sum is best described as “Chinese tapas”, small servings of different savoury dishes that you share round the table, and literally meaning “little pieces of heart”. We always prefer CCK because it’s one of the few, if not the only, dim sum restaurant in London where the dishes are on a host of trolleys which constantly patrol the tables and as diners, you simply stop one of the waitresses and select what you want from the trolley. It’s great fun and very exciting for foodies as you see the stream of different dishes pass up and down the restaurant like taxi cabs full of yummy goodies.

It’s not ideal for conversation though. The noise, especially at peak lunch hour times, is ear splitting with all the diners calling out for what they want and the hostesses calling out what they have to offer. It’s also very disruptive as every few minutes a new trolley passes by your table and you have to break off your discussion to see what’s in the cabinets to make your choices. And if you’re after one particular favourite dish, you have to be constantly on the lookout for the trolley with it on - or call out to each passing trolley if they have that particular item.

So what’s on offer? Steamed balls of pork or beef mince flavoured with different garnishes. Steamed or fried spring rolls, some stuffed with prawns. Little parcels of meat wrapped in pastry - rather like Chinese samosas, either fried or baked. Fried yam dumplings filled with meat and vegetables. Chickens feet braised in soy sauce - for the more adventurous. Noodles, roast pork, roast duck, congee (a savoury rice porridge) with chicken and vegetables. Mmm, even writing this list is making me hungry!

The trolley system also means that you eat way too much. It’s so exciting to choose all the little selections as they trundle by in their glass cabinets or in stacks of bamboo steaming trays that you will choose too many too fast. So it’s ideal if you go with a huge gang of ravenous friends, without having had any breakfast. That way, you’ll make the most of the experience and be able to try as many dishes as humanly possible.

My family and I usually waddle out of CCK completely stuffed and exhausted by the whole experience. Time then for a taxi home and an afternoon spent lolling on the sofa with belt buckles and trousers undone, like fat and decadent Romans…

If you have another favourite haunt for dim sum, please add a comment and let me know - much as I enjoy CCK, I’m always game to try somewhere new, especially if the food is good!