Many of you have eaten the food of Hong Kong without ever realizing it. Dim sum, today eaten by Jewish people in New York who need a break from cream cheese and nova, was invented in the south-eastern corner of China called Guangdong as part of a traditional tea ceremony. Hong Kong added the now-eponymous steaming carts and a culinary tradition was created.
Sunday morning, we took a quick walk over to Lin Heung which is a short walk from our temporary apartment. I would link to the restaurant, but the owners definitely have not gotten around to making a Web site. Also, no menus, no waiters, and you have to find your own seat.
Food at Lin Heung is not brought to your table - when a steam-cart emerges from the kitchen, it is thronged by hungry Hong Kongers looking for their breakfast. The delivery-woman (all cart-pushers are female while tea-pourers are male) doles out bamboo trays to whomever has managed to elbow through the crowd and then stamps your receipt indicating... something, we had a hard time decoding exactly what was going on.
Lin Heung is able to get away with all of this because it serves up some of the best dim sum in Hong Kong. There are some items that don't quite suit the American palette (steamed tripe, unidentifiable fishy-smelling meatballs, buns full of pork fat, etc.) but we had a great time and some delicious food. It's also a great place to meet locals and fellow-travellers while sharing large tables - we met a handful of local Hong Kongers (who were extremely helpful in helping us figure out the ordering system) as well as some Korean tourists who seemed as mystified as us.
looking like HK natives already! getting psyched to come visit in 2 years!!