Delicious Dim Sum at Laureate

My husband's cousin treated us to lunch at Laureate on our recent trip to London, and it was overall a wonderful experience.

When we went in, we were seated upstairs, where there were many tables set up. Unfortunately, the table we were seated at had a ripped tablecloth. My husband's cousin was able to explain the problem to the waiter and got it taken care of immediately.

Once the tablecloth was taken care of, our waiter brought the menu, which happened to be in Chinese. He also brought out the same menu in English, for those of us who do not read Chinese. My husband's cousin ordered chrysanthemum tea for us, which turned out to have a slightly sweet, flowery flavor.

We made a meal of dim sum. Some of the dishes we sampled included:

- char siu bao (steamed barbecue pork buns)

- siu mai (pork and veggies in a wonton wrapper pouch)

- sharksfin soup

- mini egg tarts

- cheung fun (beef in a steamed rice pastry roll)

- sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves

- black sesame rolls

Typically, the egg tarts are served as a dessert. However, the wait staff brought it out first, which took all of us by surprise. Even though dishes were served in an order that was different than what we were typically used to, they turned out well. The dumpling in the sharksfin soup was very flavorful, with its filling complementing the broth it was in.

The black sesame rolls were a new dim sum treat for my husband and me. They came out flattened, rather than the ball shape it should have been. However, the flavors of the black sesame filling(which reminded me of poppyseed filling), glutinous rice, and powdered peanuts came together to make a sweet ending to our dim sum experience.    [01 Dec 2005 22:24:29]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Chrysanthemum Tea, Char Siu Bao (Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns), Sharksfin Soup, and Black Sesame Rolls for dessert

     ­sadukie, Cleveland, OH   sadukie at adelphia dot net