Ginsu 2000 at Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

I'd been to Dynasty Seafood Restaurant earlier this year (and you can see Vanbrosia's excellent review and pictures) and didn't think I'd be back quite so soon, but just this weekend a friend from China told me about "steamed buns with runny egg", that was apparently a staple of dim sum.
I don't go to dim sum very often, so I'd honestly never heard of it. In my mind, I thought it might be like xiao long bao, but with some tasty soft-boiled egg inside, or something like that. Another friend was regaling me with tales of how you have to carefully nibble it instead of chomping down and having all that tasty yolk explode everywhere. Sounded like great fun! So we resolved to and Dynasty Seafood Restaurant got picked.

Turned out "Steamed Bun with Egg Yolk" wasn't quite as interesting as I imagined. It's a smallish steamed bun, each about half the size of a tennis ball. The "egg yolk" part looked like oily melted cheddar and tasted like the dry, powdery egg yolk from a preserved egg, except it was wet and sweet. There was still an underlying powdery texture in the mouth.
And it's better while steaming hot, so eat it fast when it comes.



The rest of what we tried was quite mundane as far as dim sum went. Siu Mai was very firm and like last time it had orange fish roe on top, but this time it didn't have a fishy smell, thankfully.
Overall, quality tasted quite fresh, though some things were probably pre-made and frozen, like the four siu mai that came stuck together in a steamer. On a busy Sunday morning, staff were basically scrambling ragged but still professional (though generally a bit stiff and unsmiling). The more experienced dim sum goers confirmed this was an above average dim sum spot.

TIP: Ask for a pair of scissors, and if they simply say no, make a mild fuss about it. We pointed out that they were a dim sum restaurant, so how come they didn't have scissors? (No, don't be upset or rude when you do this). You may get the answer we got: A conspiratorial, hushed, "Our scissors are not clean. If you saw it, you would not want to use it." To add to your pleasure of the ironic, you may subsequently see a server cutting dim sum items with a pair of scissors.

TIP: Save any serving spoons and forks for other dishes. You can "clean" them by wiping them on a clean napkin.

TIP: Insist on something to cut with early, if you are sharing dishes. You may then get a fork and steak knife. The former is generally useful for many dishes. The latter may be a Ginsu 2000, which you might then find hilarious when it can't slice open a steamed bun (see pictures below).