My wife and I were in Chinatown this afternoon to shop in a few stores. After picking up some dried noodles and browsing a new pastry shop, we headed on over to a nearby corner dim sum restaurant, Mei Sum. Mei Sum, a repeat winner of many “best dim sum” awards in popular local publications, has a long standing reputation for having excellent food, good prices, and fast service.

As soon as you step into Mei Sum you are greeted with the familiar style of a dim sum restaurant. Dozens of tables are scattered about with dim sum service carts meandering their way through the isles to serve hungry patrons. Unlike many dim sum restaurants, Mei Sum has dim sum service daily from 7:00AM to 8:45PM. We walked in at about 2:00PM, but even during this off hour the restaurant was still about 75% full.

We were quickly seated and served ice water and a pot of hot tea. Mei Sum has two pages of dim sum items ranging from $2.35 and up. They also have a few other regular dishes that can be ordered on the side. Within minutes of being seated two dim sum carts had already passed us by. We got a few items off the cart and special ordered a bunch of others that needed to be prepared fresh in the kitchen. Here are some of the items we enjoyed:

BBQ Pork Pastry

A little different from what I normally order, this dish is comprised of tasty shredded barbecue pork in a flaky pastry. An unusual, but flavorful, dim sum dish.

Mushroom Chicken Dumpling

These dumplings were filled with a large chunk of chicken thigh meat. The dumplings were steaming in a nice mushroom broth which really enhanced the flavor.

Fried Chicken

A non-typical dish for dim sum, these fried chicken wings were brought to our table and touted as a special item for the day. We opted to try them out and were not disappointed. The chicken wings were tender and juicy, cooked perfectly with a little crunch. But what made this dish a winner was all the crispy fried garlic that covered the entire dish!

Beef Look Funn

This dish is a staple for me and my wife when eating dim sum. The beef in the look funn was well seasoned and the shoyu sauce added an extra kick of flavor.

Shrimp Dumpling

Another staple menu item for dim sum is the shrimp dumpling. These small morsels of flavor are very simple, essentially made up of only the wrapper and a few chunks of shrimp. Simple as it may be, the seasoning of the shrimp and the delicate chewiness of the wrapping makes for a great dish.

Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce

One of my favorite dim sum dishes, the spareribs in black bean sauce at Mei Sum is as good as anywhere I’ve had it. The spareribs are tender and juicy, having absorbed all the great flavors from the black bean sauce.

Beef Tripe

Not a dish that many people would order, the beef tripe is nothing more than tripe and sliced vegetables steamed in a clear broth. The broth, drawing additional flavors from the vegetables, is absorbed well into the tripe making them very flavorful. I also enjoy the chewy texture of this dish.

My wife and I also sampled the pork hash and the steamed mochi rice (sorry pictures turned out poorly!). Both these dishes followed in the standard of those mentioned above. I especially enjoyed the steamed rice.

Final thoughts: Mei Sum does an excellent job of living up to its reputation as one of the best dim sum restaurants in town. All the dishes we sampled today were well prepared and flavorful (and inexpensive!). One thing that did stand out for me about Mei Sum was the service. The servers at Mei Sum are a cut above your average dim sum restaurant experience. They were fast, courteous, friendly, and very efficient. I would recommend Mei Sum to anyone looking for an enjoyable dim sum breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Mei Sum Dim Sum
65 N Pauahi St, Ste A
Honolulu, HI 96817
Ph: 808.531.3268