Fook Lam Seafood Restaurant

Several weeks ago I was in Chinatown hoping to have some Taiwanese food for lunch.  As luck would have it, it was a Monday, and K C Kitchen was closed.  I also thought about visiting Season's Ice & Eatery, but remembered that the owners of the shop were out of town for two weeks.  Since I was already in the area, my friend suggested having something to eat here.  After that first visit, I decided to come back again and try a few different things. 

Upon arriving at Fook Lam, I found the restaurant to be crowded.  Stepping inside, I left my name at the counter and was given a little slip of paper with the number 71 on it.  Below that was written the number 2 (for two guests).  After waiting for about 5 minutes, I heard over the loudspeaker "chat yap sat", "qi shi yi", "number 71" -- funny!  At least they gave me three chances to respond.

Once inside, we were seated at a table in the far corner of the restaurant.  This is the crowd at 1:30 pm.  Can you imagine how many more people are here at 11:00 am?

Once seated the carts started coming around to visit.  This one was on it's way and contained mostly fried stuff in the bottom and a number of desserts up top.  See the hungry look on the man in red's face?  And how's the girl with her mouth open.  I think she saw something she wanted.

We chose a few items off the carts and also ordered a few items that are not on the menu.  Let's start with this -- #24. honey tripe (US$1.90).

Sweet and just a little spicy, the tripe retained just enough bite to make this enjoyable.  One thing that I don't usually like about tripe, is that it's most often overdone -- too tender, with not enough texture. That was definitely not the case here.  If you like tripe, you'll definitely like this.

#9.  Chicken feet with black bean (US$1.90).

After the first bite, I couldn't really tell that the chicken feet were braised using black bean sauce.  Instead, the flavorful chicken feet seemed to have been flavored more with chilli and star anise.  Distinctive in flavor, I wish this would have been braised for just a little while longer so the chicken feet would have been just a bit more tender.

#21.  Steamed spinach & scallop dumplings (US$1.90).

Tiny bay scallops and wilted spinach were surrounded by a thin, semi-translucent rice flour skin.  Soft and tender, with just the right amount of filling, these dumplings were nearly perfect.

#33.  Beef look funn roll (US$2.75).

Thick and slippery look funn noodles were wrapped around lots of flavorful minced beef before being topped with sweet soy sauce and a healthy sprinkling of chopped green onions and cilantro.

Pan fried turnip cake with XO sauce (US$4.95).

This dish is actually not on the menu, but they will make it for you if you ask.  Mashed turnips were mixed with flour and dried shrimp before being pan fried until crispy with savory XO sauce.  Garnished with slices of cut red chillies, chopped green onions and cilantro, this was one of my favorite dishes here.  It reminded me of the chai tow kway that I had in Singapore.  All this needed was some of that sweet, dark soy sauce.

Xiao long pau (US$3.80).

Ever elusive, this dish is another that is not on the menu.  Xiao long pau, or pork dumplings with soup, are a rare find on dim sum menus here.  If you know to ask, you'll be in for a treat.  Eat them while they're hot, otherwise, the soup will be absorbed by the skins.  These were nicely filled with ground pork and well flavored with lots of ginger.  The skins could have been a little thinner though.

#43.  Fish rice soup (US$3.95).

Rice soup, or congee, is another favorite of mine, but one that I don't indulge in too often.  Normally, I will have the century egg (pei dan) with pork rice soup, but this time I decided to try something different.  Large chucks of fish were swimming in the bowl of smooth textured rice soup.  Add a little vinegar and a sprinkling of pepper and you're set.

After all that, I still had room for dessert.  I decided to have the red bean jelly (US$1.90).

Cool, refreshing and not at all sweet, this red bean jelly hit the spot.  It's not often that I indulge in dessert after having dim sum, but was so irresistable. 

The dim sum here at Fook Lam is, in many ways, just as good as the dim sum at my favorite place, Panda Cuisine.  The selection of items here is good and the dishes are thoughfully prepared, flavorful and well portioned.  In addition, the service here is better than at most dim sum places and given the quality of the food, the prices are very reasonable. 

Fook Lam Seafood Restaurant
Chinatown Cultural Plaza
100 North Beretania Street Suite 110-112
Telephone:  808.523.9168

Comments

[jezz jazz]

Hi Reid!
Fook Lam is one of our favorite places for dim sum. The last time we went there, the waitress asked if we would be interested in xiao long bao! YES!!!!!! We've been going there for a couple of years now, and this was the first time we found out that they have it! The only other place that I know of it here is at that Shanghai Bistro, but they may be overpriced, so we haven't gone there yet. Anyway, we ordered it and enjoyed it at Fook Lam. (We had them in San Francisco last summer for the first time, at Shanghai Dumpling House and at Koi Palace). They have these corn cakes at the front fry station at Fook Lam that we like - two rounds of wun tun pi, with fishcake and corn inside. It's pre-cooked, and they crisp it up on the grill. Their custard cream buns are really good there too! Hmmmm.... we're going to have to go to Fook Lam again soon! :)

[milgwimper]

AHHHHH Dim Sum...I have been craving for Look fun (cheong fun) for a while now. But it has been awhile since I had the chicken feet in black bean sauce...Oh yum. I can't wait til you post some more. :)

[cindy]

Reid! Remember when I went back to Hawaii in October and I told you about going to this dim sum place and how it was good?!

[clare eats]

Oh, I want dimsum now!!

[MBS]

Wow! Food here looks ono and the prices are just right. I haven't been to the Chinese cultural plaza in ages--it seems to be much more interesting than before. Is there a website for the cultural plaza? I couldn't find one.

[FatMan Seoul]

The dim sum looks good, mate. And the red bean jelly looks interesting - never had that before.

The xiao long bao skin looks a tad thick though.

[J]

hi reid, i love honeycomb tripe - when correctly done, it's pure heaven. the dish you had looks simply perfect!

[Lajja]

Hi Reid!
Often wondered about this place while waiting nearby at Legend Seafood. BTW, how was the Xiao Long Pau? They look exactly like my fave dim sum item, aka "Shanghai" dumplings...the juicy pork filling is heavenly when dipped in ginger spiked red Chinese vinegar! Can't wait for delicious post and to try this place soon.

[Will Lee]

Golden Palace has Xiao Long Pau but only if you are lucky that day. We kept asking for it and they brought out one. What is so hard about making this? Some one give me the DL please!!!

Then I saw a couple badgering the waiter for it and they brought out 5 and they took all of them. (agggghhh!!!!!) But at least Golden Palace is $1.60 per dim sum container - best price in Hawaii, I bet.

Royal Garden at the Ala Moana Hotel is the same - you have to ask for it. But RG is way expensive though. Probably rent is included in the overhead. Although RG is much cleaner than Golden Palace.

Where is the spot to go for Xiao Long Pau? Is there something remotely resembling Din Tai Fung in quality?

[Lajja]

Hi Will! Re: Quest for Xiao Long Pau! Totally agree with you that RG has the decor and ambience but is over priced. Last time I had very good Xiao Long Pau was at Shanghai Bistro. Had to wait a good 8-12 mns but it was worth it! Bad part was that I had share them with my dining companions so I only got to eat only two juicy dumplings. I first "discovered" these yummy dumplings at Fountain Court in SanFran, Inner Richmond. Sadly, the place was no more when I last visited.

[Rachel]

I can't get over how good your prices are over there. It starts form 2.75 for a small over here. How was the honey tripe? You didn't expand on each dish very much but they all looked fantastic :P~ That fish porridge and fried turnip cake looked excellent. Great pics!

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - All the prices looked good except for the XLB. most places here start at about $2.40 for a "small".

[Veruca salt]

Looks so good. Loving the Yum Cha as we like to call it.

May favs are the har gau and pork bits with garlic black bean sauce.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[cindy]

Kung Hee Fat Choy ^_^

[Reid]

Hi jezz jazz,

Long time no hear! I'm glad you like Fook Lam. I don't know why I waited so long to eat here, and I'm quite disappointed in myself for not doing so sooner.

I saw those corn cakes and will have them the next time I'm here. I wouldn't have known about the xiao long pau either, but a friend of mine ordered them on a previous visit and I just had to have them again.

Hi Milgwimper,

I love dim sum, but I don't indulge too often. =)

In fact, I'd probably eat dim sum every weekend if I could. =) I like look funn too, but don't eat it all the time. I normally will rotate this with some rice dish. Can you say carb overload? LOL!

Hi Cindy,

Yes, I remember! Thanks for the recommendation. In fact, I had made a mental note of it, and then it slipped my mind until a Taiwanese friend of mine suggested this place.

I'm glad I FINALLY got to eat the dim sum here. It's great! Thanks so much for the tip!

Hi Clare,

After looking over the pictures, I feel like having dim sum again too! In fact, I just had some today. =)

Hi MBS,

This is a really good dim sum restaurant and the next time you're back home, you must definitely try the food here. The prices are pretty reasonable for the quality of the food and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Unfortunately, the Cultural Plaza does not have a website. Sad huh?

Hi FatMan,

Thanks for stopping by again! It's always nice to hear from you. =)

The dim sum here is quite good (at least by my standard) and it's definitely someplace that I will continue to visit (as often as possible).

The skins for the xiao long pau were definitely a little too thick.

Hi J,

I normally don't take tripe as I find that it's usually not well prepared. When I saw this on the cart, I knew I had to have some. I wasn't disappointed. It was perfect.

Hi Lajja,

Long time no hear! I have to say that the dim sum here at Fook Lam is so much better than what you get at Legend's. Honestly! You really must try eating here sometime.

As for the xiao long pau, I'm sure it's the same as the Shanghai dumplings that you're speaking of. They are filled with pork and soup and they do taste great with red vinegar and ginger.

Hi Will,

I notice that most places don't have xiao long pau on the menu. Don't know why, but it seems to be the case.

On the other hand, I was told that you need to ask and most often, you will be told that they do have it. (I was also told that they serve xiao long pau at Panda Cuisine. Never had it there.)

The best xiao long pau that I've had on the island was at Shanghai Bistro. The quality is inconsistent at times, so one day it's good and the next day it's not.

Haven't been to Din Tai Fung, but I know you mentioned that it's a dim sum place in Taiwan. I'll ask my friend about it to see how this place compares.

Hi Lajja,

I also had xiao long pau at Shanghai Bistro. In fact, they make it known that it's their specialty. The xiao long pau at Shanghai Bistro is definitely good as the skins are thinner than these and there is less filling and more soup. I guess I have to post the review soon.

Hi Rachel,

The prices here are pretty good, though sometimes dim sum here can be expensive.

The honey tripe was definitely delicious and it's something that I will definitely eat again and again.

Sorry about the delay in completing the write up. Real life sometimes gets in the way.

Hi Kirk,

The prices here were definitely good. I don't know why the xiao long pau is so expensive. Maybe it's because they are not on the menu? I wonder....

Hi Veruca Salt,

The dim sum is really good. I don't normally eat har gau, but I've heard that it's pretty good here. As for the pork bits with garlic black bean sauce, are you talking about spare ribs?

Hi Cindy,

Kung Hee Fat Choy to you too!

[Kiks]

God, I need to move to Hawaii... what am I doing in stinky Europe when there's so much good food in Hawaii???