Do you DIM SUM? (Phoenix, Tucson: home, live, restaurants)

[joskel]

Dim Sum is one of those interesting oriental approaches to a buffet and one I have enjoyed grazing on three different continents, so far. There are not always many such places outside the Asian continent, but there seem to always be some around, if one seeks dim sum.

I note Tucson has Gee's Garden and China Phoenix. Any comments on the restaurant? Romeel's Tucson Restaurant Reviews is a very interesting site to browse, if you have not found it before.

Enjoy.
Joseph

[Djbabybokchoy]

As a matter of fact, we were just at Gee's Garden last night.

It has that 'unfortunate restaurant' syndrome going on. I thought it was a buffet, which it's not. But, whatever.

We go in, we're seated. The place is decorated pretty nice - lots of tables, but not many customers (which is odd for a Friday night, I think). There's a bar with two TVs (which is also odd, considering how 'fancy' the place is trying to look) and some fish tanks. LOTS of fake plants that need a cleaning and I could SWEAR our table was slanted. But, whatever.

The menu itself leaves something to be desired -- think typical take-out Chinese food stuff, but it's $10-18 for an entree. There's no descriptions of any of the meals, just the names. Which is okay, I guess, because who doesn't know what Sweet and Sour Chicken is?

They also forget to mention that what you order comes out as a big plate for the whole table. Now, the $10-18 makes sense. That's for EVERYONE. Duh. Too bad we didn't know and ordered two separate dishes. The dough-covered-and-fried entrees came with cute little bowls of white rice. No extra sauce.

Anyways - the food was okay. A step above regular take-out food, but nothing to write home about. Some of their other stuff could be really stellar, but we stuck with the basics. The folks next to us had a pot of tea after their meal.

The service was pretty lame considering there were only four or five tables with anyone at them in the dinning area. Two folks at the bar watched TV and I'm pretty sure I saw the owners eating at a table in the back. But, there was one waitress being useless (literally, I'm not sure what her purpose was) and standing around while the other one was doing all the work - which means the service was sloooow. My bar for servers is pretty low, I think: I shouldn't have to ask to get a drink refill. I had to ask here.

On our way out, we saw two separate families (one of whom was really Chinese/Asian - which is a good sign) waiting to be seated. The whole place is virtually empty, but these folks are WAITING to sit? What's wrong with this picture?

Looking back, I see that they're trying to emulate the Kanki's serving style - where they serve the whole table. Except not mentioning this is a big mistake. I would have ordered more had I known what was really going on.

But... yeah. Good food, though. We'll probably go back.

[joskel]

Hi JillBoBill, How interesting. Sorry you did not get to try the dim sum. Here is what Romeel's site says of Gee:

Gee's Garden (Dim Sum): $$$$ After several failed Chinese restaurants at this location, Mr. Gee has finally brought upscale dim sum to Tucson. Frankly, Chinese fare is not our cup o' green tea, and I find few that merit a return visit (Chef Chu's in Palo Alto is one). But dim sum... that's another story. Battle the throngs of Chinese that show up after noon on weekends to get a seat (what better sign is there than that?), and then don't be shy flagging down passing carts. Once large parties of Chinese folks arrive, they bring out the good stuff, so be patient. It's expensive and not quite up to the freshness standards of LA & SF's Chinatown, but it does just fine in a dim sum pinch.

Perhaps the dim sum is only a luncheon thing. That is not uncommon in China. Will just have to pursue that at a different time, right?

Have a great day.
Joseph

[Chorizo]

Gee's has been at that location for as long as I can remember. I've only ever eaten there once and it was so long ago (I was knee-high to a grasshopper) - I don't remember it.

I don't even know what Dim Sum is!?

[joskel]

Above is a picture of some dim sum dishes. Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation @ Dim sum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you eat Chinese much, you have probably had some of the dishes. It is a great way to sample many different flavors and dishes without having to order a full order. But it is not normally a thing served for a dinner, so you may not have encountered it, yet.

Have a great day.
Joseph

[azhiker]

I haven't yet tried Dim Sum but it looks pretty good in those pictures.

Just wanted to comment on that Romeel's Restaurant Review site you linked too. The writers reviewed quite a few restaurants, but personally, I'd be leery and take that site with a grain of salt. My main reason; the first type of food reviewed was taquerias, and they put La Salsa as "The top of the taqueria food chain.", so, for me, everything after that is suspect.

Interesting, I suppose, and I did agree with some of their rankings (disagreed with others), but that first category about taquerias set off flashing lights. Then again, tastes in food are so individual, but I thought to myself, 'In what world is a Rubio's be better than a Pico de Gallo?'

Thanks for sharing about the Dim Sum though. I'm not real knowledgeable about Chinese food, though about a year ago, I had some great Chinese food up in Phoenix, and it really felt like it was the first time I'd tasted Chinese, and that the other stuff I had eaten was junk. It was great. There were several Chinese among our group, so they did all the ordering. It was an eye opener.

[Djbabybokchoy]

No, we didn't have the dim sum. I've heard of it, but until you posted that picture, I had no idea what it is. I thought it was, like, soup or something.

I guess it's a barrage of dumplings?

[marc11864]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

I guess it's a barrage of dumplings?

It's a smorgasbord of delish!

Dim sum is by no means restricted to just dumplings. If you are at all familiar to Spanish tapas it's more like that. A melange of dishes you sample from!

Although as Joseph stated, Gee's is definitely not as good as LA or SF but for Tucson it'll do in a pinch. I was there just last week for the first time since I moved here a year ago. My friend, who has lived here many years longer, joined me for brunch and I chose Gee's. It was his first dim sum and he wasn't too impressed. I was just glad to experience some of the familiar flavors from prior dim sum experiences.

Marc