MILL CREEK — Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, I was waiting in line for dim sum.
The idea of eating this famous Chinese lunchtime delicacy in an authentic setting helped cure jet lag and left a lasting impression.
Fortunately, Snohomish County eaters don’t have to go all the way
to Asia to experience fine dim sum.
Mill Creek’s Zen Garden may not overlook Hong Kong harbor, but, as the name suggests, it offers a view into a beautiful, peaceful Asian garden.
Huge windows and high ceilings give Zen Garden a feeling of grandeur. The terraced room seems almost to float above the koi ponds.
Dim sum is a lunchtime affair, typically served from late morning to mid-afternoon.
Zen Garden serves dim sum daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They also have a full Chinese menu for dinner and banquets.
Last week, a friend and I headed to Mill Creek with an appetite and excitement to try what’s been dubbed by some as the best dim sum north of Seattle and south of Vancouver.
In fact, Zen Garden is the only Hong Kong-style dim sum I could find in Snohomish County.
It’s a bit worn — it opened in the ’80s — but the food is good and eating dim sum is always fun.
At some dim sum restaurants, including the one I went to on the other side of the globe, food is served from small carts piled high with plates of steamed, fried and baked dough and noodles stuffed with pork, seafood, beef or a combination.
It doesn’t quite work that way at Zen Garden, in part because of several steps leading through the restaurant. Instead, a server comes by with a tray full of treats to get you started, then items are ordered off a menu.
We started with baked pork buns and baked onion buns. The dough is light, sweet and delicate. Inside the pork bun are bits of red, tender meat that has you reaching for a second. The onion buns came with bit of lightly caramelized scallions. (Both are $3.25)
Every dish is two or three bites big. The portions are served either on a plate or in a bamboo steamer.
Mini sticky rice ($3.75) is a bundle of love: ground pork and Chinese sausage is stuffed with glutenous rice inside a leaf you open like it’s Christmas morning.
Sticky rice pies ($3.75) are the Chinese equivalent of meat pies. Rice rolls ($4.75) are big, wide rice noodles rolled up with pork, meat or shrimp. We went for shrimp and they were succulent and perfectly cooked.
The steamed buns — we tried the chicken and mushroom filling ($3.25) — were just right. A plate of Chinese broccoli was good, but at $6.25, a bit pricey for a plate of steamed veggies.
My favorite, though, was the shrimp and spinach dumpling ($3.75), a pocket of sticky, grass-colored dough wrapped around the best blend of seafood, herbs and spinach.
There are many Chinese desserts, including fruit, various sesame and custards. I actually thought I’d ordered a sweet with the sticky rice pie, only to discover it was savory.
That’s part of the fun of trying foods from other cultures: Order something and see what you find.
Don’t worry, the staff likely will warn you away from food that’s too foreign.
One time at dim sum in Vancouver, B.C., I pointed at a bowl of a mysterious food and asked the waitress what it was.
“That’s sour chicken feet,” she said. “You no like.”
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Zen Garden Chinese Restaurant
16300 Mill Creek Blvd., next to Mill Creek Town Center; 425-745-6668; www.zengardenmillcreek.com.
Speciality: Dim sum and Chinese.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Alcohol: Full bar.
Vegetarian options: Many.
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