December 25, 2006
Dim Sum For Christmas? Mayflower Seafood Restaurant!
What does a Chinese (who does not celebrate Christmas), do on a nice sunny Christmas day when most Western restaurants are closed? Hehe… she goes to eat dim sum!
This early bird caught the dim sum! There I was with J, at Mayflower Seafood Restaurant at 10:30am, when seats were still available and we did not have to queue for half an hour to eat!
The dim sum in Mayflower Seafood Restaurant taste very much like the ones from the famous Crystal Jade chain of restaurants in Singapore, except that the shrimp in Mayflower’s dim sum is a bit super-sized (See the Har-Kow picture below). A familiar taste was all I needed today. Eat with their chilli to provide the extra oomph!
The Char Siew Sou is warm on the inside and flaky on the outside. The crust just falls apart in your mouth as you bite into the slightly sweet taste of the warm Char Siew.
Bean Curd Skin Roll stuffed with ground pork and bamboo shoots, swimming in a dish of gravy was something I had not had for a long time. The pan fried version (a dry version with shrimp) is also served, but we opted for the steamed dim sum variety than the fried ones.
Then came my favorite… Phoenix Claw! I had to keep an eye on the cart-ladies to see whether the one with the Phoenix Claw was coming to our table so that I could get my hands on the Claws! These Phoenix Claws were cooked to tender perfection and the smooth skin falls off the bones easily. Trust me… I can eat the whole plate all by myself, but of course, J wanted some too.
Because we can buy Char Siew Bao from Ranch 99, we did without the Char Siew Bao and decided to have two servings of Chee Cheong Fun instead - one with shrimp and one with Char Siew. The Chee Cheong Fun was not steaming hot, which was a bit of a disappointment, and the “skin” could be a bit thinner, but dipping the Chee Cheong Fun in the tasty soy sauce was delicious.
Ahhhh… the cart lady with the Egg Tart came around. “Egg Tart” I said in off-key Cantonese, with my index finger showing “one” and pointing to the Egg Tarts excitedly.
Look at these dainty Egg Tarts. Flaky crust filled with a soft and smooth filling that is of the right sweetness and the right amount to finish in just two bites. A sweet taste to balance the savory dishes we had.
And what a better way to end the meal than with a warm bowl of soft Soy Bean Curd with light syrup. The spoon cuts gently into the piece of soft Soy Bean Curd (”Tofu Fa” in Cantonese), and the Soy Bean Curd melts in your mouth. This dessert is very popular and goes very quickly, so be sure to specially order it from the waitress or catch the cart lady when she comes by your table, but make sure you do this at the end of the meal so that the Soy Bean Curd is warm.
This was a great Christmas brunch (breakfast cum lunch) indeed! I’ll give it two thumbs up!
By the way… don’t mistake this for another restaurant of the same name nearby:
Great Mall Mayflower Seafood Restaurant
222 Great Mall Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 935-6999
This much coveted one is:
Mayflower Seafood Restaurant
428 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 922-2708
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I spent my Christmas morning in Mayflower Seafood Restaurant.
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Indian Mee Goreng In Penang Village
Vung Tau Restaurant - Bánh Khot
Happy Holidays! Happy Eating! Happy Food Blogging
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December 26th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Hmmm I love dim sums!!! Especially Phoenix Claws!
I have my collection of Crystal Jade Dim Sum photos, maybe I should post them soon. After my Christmas Dinner photos. haha..
Blessed Christmas to you!
December 26th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Crystal Jade seems to be one of your favorite food haunts heh! I’ll go to the Holland Village joint when I am back to SG in Feb. If you hold a keropok in one hand, I may just swing by to say “hi”. As for me, you bet I’ll be holding my camera. Haha!
December 26th, 2006 at 1:38 am
eh pai seh leh, they got a “no outside food” allowed policy, so i can’t bring my keropok in. haha…
you can start eating at Crystal Jade right at the airport. there’s a branch there. had dim sums there the few times when sis touched down at Changi for visits. “buay tan liao”.
December 26th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I live close to a huge Chinese Mall (largest in North America, by the way, and its sort of two malls next to each other, both open 365 days a year! Yeah!), and it was open on Chrismas day! So we had a party of 12 people (all family) dine in style in a Buddist restaurant there. Not traditional, but so much fun!
And we too had so much dim sum… As far as I’m concerned — beats turkey any time.
But it was so packed… I guess there are lots of people either not celebrating, or celebrating by shopping till they drop.
December 26th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Hey Simcooks,
If you haven’t been to Koi Palace in Daly City, you should go. I strongly recommend it for the BEST DIM SUM in the whole United States!!!! I am not kidding…truly and authentic Hong Kong style. :)
December 27th, 2006 at 8:29 am
Vasilisa - it’s great to have a party of 12 to eat dim sum - then there is a greater variety of dishes to try!
RM - I came across Koi Palace (on the web) while searching for the Cantonese name for Bean Curd Skin Roll. Daly City… hmmm… need to make an effort to go there. Haha! I hope their shrimp is smaller in their dim sum.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:51 am
We had dim sum last Christmas. It was great because we didn’t have a mess to clean up afterwards. And we can eat right away, which is good when you have kids.
December 27th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
These are all the standard dishes I would have ordered as well (maybe minus the Har Kow). :p
Phoenix claws, bean curd roll are some of my favs! yum yum. Have you tried Hong Kong Saigon near Lawrence Expy ? Also crowded during weekends.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
DF - I hope I can still eat out after the baby comes! Some of my friends with young kids tell me they (husband and wife) take turns eating when they eat out cos they need to watch the kid(s).
Tiger… Yummy. I saw your bean curd skin roll picture in Yelp! Hong Kong Saigon is nearer than Koi Palace. I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks!
January 1st, 2007 at 9:29 am
mmmm! this actually looks very delicious. sadly, i have had really bad luck with dim sum places in taipei lately. the egg tarts look especially good.