Dim Sum Palace

Dim Sum Palace
Catonsville, MD

If you live in Maryland and have a hankering for that delicious Asian brunch called Dim Sum, Dim Sum Palace is the place to go. Why do I say that? First of all, thank God Dim Sum Palace found a location in Catonsville, a haven for international cuisine around the world.
I was worried that when Chop Stix in Rosedale closed due to Covid, where was there to go? For me, Catonsville is only a 45 minute drive from Bel Air so if you have a passion for a fantastic Dim Sum place it's worth the drive.
I get there all excited not knowing what to expect but at first glance it's a store front entrance and walking in I was greeted immediately by the staff. The atmosphere was  very professional staff, very clean and the decoration is modern Asian decor. White cloth tables with place setting along with a jar of hot chili crushed oil, rock sugar for your piping hit tea of your choice, and menu that includes both traditional and Chinese American dishes along with Dim Sum. I was so excited to try there dim sum, yes, the ladies push the carts and you get to choose your favorite dim sum or try interesting new ones. My favorites included shrimp dumpling wrapped in a rice wrapper and steamed to perfection. Steamed ribs with black bean sauce, braised chicken feet, yep, chicken feet and fish tripe all steamed to perfection and each providing a unique taste. On the fried side I loved the fried taro with a ground pork filling along with the custard tart in a flaky crust. 
In my expect opinion, the food was fantastic. Perfectly made and not overly busy with pushing customers fighting for a table. The only concern which was understandable is inflation has increased the price and that's happening everywhere.
Other than that, no complaints. What's been happening with Dim Sum is that the older chef's have mastered the art of dim sum but they've been doing it for so long, it's time to retire. Long hours each day making dim sum from scratch from 6 am to preparing for a 11 am to 3 pm serving.
For those new to dim sum. let me give you a description of each dish I ordered. 
The shrimp dumpling (Har Gow) is one of the most popular dim sum appearing at every dim sum restaurant. The inside is made of ground shrimp sesame oil and light soy sauce sometimes with ground bamboo shoots mixed together. Then a separate dough is made simultaneously with rice flour and tapioca starch and forming little balls that are rolled ever so thinly and a portion of the shrimp is covered with this wrapper. Then it's steamed to perfection providing a translucent see thru texture along with a chewy bite. Add a dash of thin soy sauce and it's fabulous.
The spareribs with black bean sauce will be interesting in that it's not the actual sparerib used but actually it's the ends of the rib. It's a combination of bone, cartilage and fat. Kind of weird but for us, it's a combination of tremendous flavor, tenderness and flavor. It's mixed with black beans, corn starch is used to seal in the flavor with a dash of light soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil.  Steamed to perfection and not overcooked or undercooked, just perfect. It may take some of you a little time to realize that this combination of the sparerib that is the ends of the rub that is not usually included when ordering ribs. We turn everything that's not typical to eat into a fabulous dish.
The fish tripe, an interesting portion of the fish, may be celebrated with other ethnic dishes but is wildly popular at dim sum for its chewy texture lightly steamed with minced red peppers and a dash of light so sauce. It may seem gross but don't judge until you try it and hopefully it will be interesting.
Finally, the braised chicken feet, wait! it isn't so bad as it sounds. Everyone knows about collagen, a natural lubricant that helps the joints. Well, chicken feet skin and cartilage provides the same. It's deep fried, marinated and then braised to perfection. Yes, the nails are clipped and removed.  The Asian community made Tyson a richer man. Back in the say, he was discarding the chicken feet but once he found out that we love chicken feet, he was more than happy to supply these juicy delights.
Overall, my experience was relaxing, comfortable, had courteous staff and loved the beautiful decor.
On a rating from 1 to 10 with 10 being excellent, I give Dim Sum Palace a "100."
The only suggestion I have is they offer small platters of roast duck, Chinese vegetables, or suckling pig, or an assortment of fresh roast pork.

You gotta try it, you'll be glad you did!

Chef Woo Can
YouTube: Chef Woo Can
Amazon Books: The You Can Do It Asian Cookbook
www.chefwoocan.com
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