Another place to eat in Taipei - Dimsum Kitchen

These days, yum cha in Sydney costs a bomb. I go hungry even if the bill adds up to $30/head. Not to mention, if we go yum cha at all, we would stick to the staples only.... Certainly stay away from the special tier like prawn rice noodle (鲜虾肠粉). Sometimes, I even dream about all you can eat yum cha in my sleep... Ha...

If this sounds like you, look up Dimsum Kitchen (廚窗港點) when visiting Taipei. It is an all you eat Cantonese style yum cha.

Importantly, it is not your typical cheap and nasty all you eat buffet. It actually serves good food. You can see the chefs toiling away in the open kitchen.

The dim sums are steamed fresh (see Pic 1). Good varieties although I can't recall ever seeing har gow (prawn dumpling) there. It was always fun to take a stack of those steamed bamboo "bowls" back to the table. Try balancing them when stacking them 5-6 high :)

The highlight for me was always the prawn rice noodle (鲜虾肠粉). In Sydney, this is always the special tier yum cha dish (say $12-15 each depends on which restaurant). In Dimsum Kitchen, it was all you can eat. Each batch is made fresh. You can watch the chef making the whole thing from scratch (pouring the rice water on the prawns and "folding" the rice noodle). By the way, the prawns were always of good quality.

Beyond dimsum, plenty of hot dishes (including curry fish ball HK style), cold dish (including jelly fish salad), Chinese BBQ (if you are picky like me, can rummage for the duck legs), soups (the good stuffs see Pic 3 not the corn soup you see in RSL). My other favorite was the freshly fried 腐皮卷. It was also famous for the freshly steamed Chinese desert buns (Pic 3).

Beverage is included. The list is comprehensive (from soft drinks in cans) to milk teas and beer from tap. There is also a good ice cream and fruit selection.

The true test is we have been back several times already. Our daughter who is always picky with her food actually asked to go back to Dimsum Kitchen during our last trip.

Cost is OK. Around NT$720-760 (depends on which day of the week). So roughly A$36-38.... For a bit more than per head cost of yum cha in Sydney, I get to stuff myself silly.

The place is always busy. Essential to book. Online booking is easy. May need to have a local number though.

Getting there is easy. Take the metro/MRT. It is around 10 mins walk from the Shilin (士林) station. By the way, if you are going to the Shilin night market, better to get off at the Jiantan (劍潭站) station.

If you go there during lunch time with the family, there are two interesting places to check out nearby afterwards. The Chiang Kai-shek Shilin Residence Park is between Dimsum Kitchen and the Shilin station. Also worth checking out the National Taiwan Science Education Center if you have a young family.

Note: Pic 3 is the official pics from the website. i forgot to take pics where I was there.