DC Dim Sum – Oriental East
Ah, the wonderful world of Dim Sum. Carts rolling through isles of tables occupied by eager and hungry fans of this Chinese tradition. No one single type of restaurant is as debated as to where is best than Dim Sum. At least in my experience. From local blogs filled with foodies declaring one Dim Sum haven superior to another to regional rivalries that go from coast to coast, the world of Dim Sum is as delicious an adventure as it is contentious.
My wife and I entered the fray of Dim Sum in the DC metro area recently. We tried Oriental East located in Silver Spring Maryland. This little restaurant was located in a shopping center. From the outside, nothing jumped out as anything more than a strip mall Chinese restaurant. The line that greeted us, however, seemed to change our minds.
Now, my wife is a foodie from San Francisco. She firmly believes that Dim Sum from DC does not even come close to the Dim Sum in California. The east coast vs west coast food debate is one that runs very deep. Many people on both sides argue that the other side is dead wrong. I’m not going to get into that deep debate, suffice to say, it is said that local DC Dim Sum can’t compare to whats offered on the west coast.
Well, one of these days I’ll get out to California and have a look for myself. Until then, I will be sampling as much Dim Sum locally as I can. Oriental East was our first stop on our new Dim Sum adventures.
First, as I said, the line was crazy. We went on the weekend and had to wait a good twenty minutes for a seat. This was not a small restaurant either just packed with people. Reviews on yelp and other sites show that this is one of the better Dim Sum places there are.
Once we got a seat and found the first cart, I immediately looked for and grabbed my all time Dim Sum favorite, Meat Donut. Yes, I know that is not what it is really called, but come on, meat stuffed into a glazed pastry dough? That’s what it should be called. And it was good. If you are new to dim sum look out for the small piece of paper on the bottom of the donut. My first experience, some five to six years ago, ended up me with wondering why this tasted so much like paper. Well, it’s not supposed to. Suffice to say, this one dish as very good. It was very fresh as well. All the carts rolled out of the kitchen and by the time they were halfway around they were empty.
Next up, sticky rice.Very tasty and very sticky. We also had an egg roll, that you can see in the upper right of the picture. It was good as well. Nothing that blows you away mind you. Rice and egg rolls aren’t your most adventurous items on the menu but they were good nonetheless.
Though I am not a favorite of the next dish, my wife loves it. Similar to my favorite meat donut but in a different type of dough. Not my favorite taste wise but still quite good quality of meat and dough. The main thing that surprised me was the freshness of the food. Perhaps it was because the restaurant was so full and the carts were always being emptied but everything came out hot and fresh as if we had ordered it from the menu.
My wife loves the eggplant. She was looking for it constantly since we walked in. She finally found it and said it was delicious. I wasn’t a big favorite but it was still tasty and fresh.
Dumpling were next. Again, fresh, right off the oven. Nothing particularly spectacular about them. Just high quality and good tasting.
Overall the experience was very good. The quality of the food, frequency of the carts and freshness were all great. There were more risky things on the menu that we didn’t try. Clearly my Dim Sum level of knowledge is not top bar here. One thing is sure. When you have a crowded restaurant odds are there is a reason for it. Have to wait 20 minutes? Don’t sweat it. The wait is worth it.
Next up will be Tony Cheng’s in Chinatown, DC. Much closer to us but not as high reviews on the many food sites out there.
Oriental East is located at 1312 East West highway in Silver Spring MD.
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