 "Photo: Mike Paschal/The Daily Texan")
It has been said that if you want good Chinese food in Austin, go to Houston. Fortunately, the newly opened Get Sum Dim Sum does not fit that mold.
Although it provides traditional fare, the experience of dining at the restaurant is a far cry from traditional: The cashier doubles as a waiter and there are no pushcarts full of delectable steamed goodies that one associates with dim sum.
When ordering, one has the choice of either two-dish combos or a la carte. Since I am very fond of cha sui bao — steamed Chinese barbecued pork buns — and sesame balls, I opted for one of the $7.50 combos.
The har gao — steamed shrimp dumplings in wheat-starch wrappers — were very tasty. There was a generous amount of shrimp, and each dumpling made for a very hearty bite. Unlike most steamed dumplings, the wrapper didn’t stick to the bottom of the steamer basket.
After the har gao, the fried vegetarian spring rolls didn’t offer anything spectacular. They were normal, fried spring rolls — passable, but nothing extraordinary.
The same could be said for the siu mai pork dumplings. These steamed pork and shrimp open-faced dumplings were yummy, but still just so-so. Given the limited menu of dim sum for the combo choice list, I would probably order these again, simply because I like variety and these weren’t necessarily bad, just average.
I was disappointed with the cha sui bao, the dish I was initially most excited about. While the filling-to-wrapper ratio was nice and the dish was properly steamed, I found the barbecue sauce to be a bit too sweet for my liking. Also, for being “barbecue pork buns,” the filling was noticeably lacking in pork. I really wanted to like this dish, but it fell short of my expectations.
The sesame balls, however, were a brilliant finish to this meal. Sesame balls are made of fried sticky rice rolled in sesame seeds and stuffed with red bean paste. The different textures of the sesame balls were well-done and quite wonderful, with a good crunch from the sesame seeds and a nice chewy texture from the sticky rice.
Get Sum Dim Sum is a convenient place to go to for tasty Chinese dim sum for a really affordable price. So save gas money by not going to Houston for your next Chinese food craving.
Get Sum Dim Sum is located at 4400 North Lamar Blvd. Suite 102, and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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