China Gourmet — Restaurant in Philadelphia

We went on Saturday for lunch. There is a parking lot with free parking available, however, there were so many people that I feel like it took longer to get a parking spot than it did to get seated at a table. If you have a big party, I would recommend trying to condense the number of cars.

The restaurant was very busy. However, to be seated for 2 people it was only about a 15-20 minute wait. There was an employee near the entrance who wrote down your name and party size and would call your name whenever an adequate table was ready.

Once we were seated, we were offered tea and/or water. They leave a pitcher of the drinks on the table for you to refill your cups yourself.

Employees roll around carts with different types of dim sum options to choose from. There was a cart with soup, one with desserts, one with shumai. There didn’t seem to be many options available and the carts came at irregular times. For example, the soup cart came to our area 2-3 times within 10 minutes whereas the other carts came by only once or twice the whole time we were there. The employees don’t really ask if you want anything, so if you see something you like, let them know! Don’t try to “wait your turn.” Instead, stand up, point, and just let them know what you want otherwise they will just roll the cart away and you will be left hungry and waiting.

The food was good, but I felt like there was not a lot of variety. They have some of the “typical” dim sum foods, such as pork sticky rice leaf wraps, beef balls, pork and shrimp shumai, egg tarts, sesame balls, chicken feet, and shrimp rice noodle rolls. I was disappointed that they didn’t have pork buns, soup dumplings, and more meat options.

Overall, we paid around $60 for 2 people (we got about 8-10 dishes). The wait was not bad for how busy the restaurant was. The food was good, however, I felt like there was not a lot of variety in the number of dishes available. The service was slow and the parking situation was a bad experience. If you’re craving dim sum, check this place out but be prepared for slow service once you’re seated and a busy/loud environment. I think I would do takeout next time instead...

On Sunday, I went alone to the renowned China Gourmet restaurant in the Northeast for lunch. When I arrived, the place was almost full. The hostess asked for my name and clearly informed me that the wait would be about fifteen minutes. Shortly after, an elderly white couple walked in. The hostess also asked for their name, and since I was standing nearby, I clearly heard the elderly man's name. To my surprise, within minutes, the hostess loudly called out the man's name and seated them ahead of me.

I was there first, so why were they allowed to cut the line? One could argue that I was alone, but the restaurant mostly had large tables. If they had a party of four or five, I could understand, but what difference does it make between one and two people? I approached the hostess to reason with her, but she kept repeating that the manager would arrange a table for me soon. Not wanting to escalate the situation, I decided to let it go.

After being seated, I ordered several dim sum dishes. When a plate of Cantonese fried noodles was brought to my table, it was completely cold. I mentioned this to a nearby waitress, who disdainfully replied, "What do you want me to do? We can only heat it up in the microwave." I agreed, not being too picky as long as the food tasted good.

However, throughout my meal, except for the lady pushing the dim sum cart, no waiter attended to my table. After waiting a long time with no service, I got up to get my own takeout box and bag to pack the leftover food. I could understand if the staff were busy and shorthanded, but then I noticed that the elderly white couple from before had a server explaining the dishes to them with great patience, along with the lady pushing the dim sum cart.

I was instantly furious. As fellow Chinese, was this racial discrimination or simply the arrogance of a popular establishment? If anyone tries to justify such discrimination or pandering to white people, they're...

Ventured to Northeast Philly today to try this dumsum out.

Parking: There is a parking lot shared with other businesses within the vicinity. It is very busy so finding a spot may be difficult.

Food: Authentic. Has most of the classic dimsum dishes though I did not encounter the beef short ribs. Dishes taste exactly what one would expect at a dimsum. Egg tarts need more custard and less pastry. You can also order a la carte.

Price: Dishes are categorized by "size" with each "size" being a fixed price per dish. It is not overpriced. Fairly priced, similar to other dimsum places I been to.

Drinks: Complementary water or tea. Can purchase softdrinks. Not unlimited refills.

Service: It was busy around lunch time during the weekend but the wait was not long. We only had to wait 10-15minutes before being seated. Based on my experience/observation, service experience is highly dependent on location of seating. We were sat away from the center of the building, closer towards the stage area and service was scarce (in terms of waiters/waitresses). The waiter/waitresses appear to be assigned specific sections of the restaurant but tend to float around the front/middle area. We sat in the back and had to wait quite some time before we could get their attention to pay for the check. Additionally, they don't come around to get the finished plates/dishes frequently. The employees pushing the food carts around came by frequently however I feel as if they don't really visit tables in an organized manner. There were definitely some carts that visited our table more than others. For example, we were visited by the soup cart more than the cart containing the shrimp rice noodle rolls...