Dude, you’re killing me! I’m at work in the Loop, and haven’t eaten breakfast yet…
I knew the bakery (you’re talking about the one on the south side of the street, right?) had other stuff, and have tried a few things, but I have to go on the weekends becasue they don’t open until 8 during the week, and I’m already on my way downtown by then.
And yes, I was referring to Sun Wah; I’ve never tried their other stuff, because the barbeque was just way too greasy-looking for me to deal with. I’ll have to check out the other stuff, though; thanks for the tip! I’d kill for a good Asian noodle shop of any sort downtown, though; nothing better on a -40 degree day than a steaming bowl of pho…
Having just returned from China (well the SARs of Macau and Hong Kong and the rebel province/ breakaway state of Taiwan), congee seems to be the popular choice. This is rice porridge with various condiments including hundred-year-old egg (not as scary as it looks), pork, pickles etc. Soy bean porridge is also eaten, but I’d stay away from that if I were you. The fried bready thing that goes with is nice though.
Congee and a spot of fruit is what most of the locals go for. You can certainly find that for breakfast here (Australia) but most people of Chinese origin presumably breakfast at home.
Here in Los Angeles, we have Mexican, Chinese, local steakhouses, and Pizza places open for breakfast (usually on Sundays)!
The Chinese restaurant that I know of that does breakfast is called The Empress Pavilion in Chinatown, which the SO has gone to. She had Dim Sum there, and she tells me that it was one of the best breakfasts she ever had.
As for the others, Almost every Mexican joint around here has Huevos Rancheros or Chorizo and eggs, both very yummy. Steakhouses usually have generic breakfast fare, and pizza places just serve pizza, which can be a great breakfast in and of itself. California Pizza Kitchen has a breakfast pizza if I’m not mistaken.
I don’t know, for my money, L.A.-area dim sum is a toss-up between Empress Pavillion and Ocean Seafood. Though I think the really smart move is to go to Montery Park/Alhambra/San Gabriel and get dim sum there.
(and I notice that Los Angeles magazine rated Ocean Star Seafood in Monterey Park as the best place in L.A. for dim sum…)
Maybe in London and in other parts of the USA, but at least in Texas ARE Mexican restaurants open for breakfast!. They usually offer the regular Mexican breakfast fare or mexican sweet bread with coffee or juice.
Second the pho, which by the way is Vietnamese breakfast food.
[hijack]Sun Wah is good, huh? I’m always terrified by what I see in the window. There’s usually this orange metroid/jellyfish-looking thing that scares me away to a pho restaurant.[/hijack]
[semi-hijack]There are Indian places that serve breakfast on Devon Street. Idli and/or chaat. Hmmmm…[/semi-hijack]
I think the overall trend here is that ethnic restaurants in their own communities will serve breakfast, but otherwise they feel that the American clientele are unlikely to stop in for a vaguely foreign breakfast.
Kind of like Chinese tapas…small portions of various yummy things, especially various dumplings, which you snatch from various moving carts that are roving the room. Easy to run up a tab quickly!
When my friends and I go to Dim Sum (Chow Chao City in Boston usually) we always run up a bill that comes to $11/person. It doesn’t matter how long we’re there, or how much we eat, it always comes to the same amount, within a buck.
In my town it is pretty normal for a restraunt to serve only breakfast and lunch, or only lunch and dinner. The pizza place next door to me is only open for a few hours during dinner. Most of these places are owned and largely run by an single person, employ and a single chef (often the owner) and the same staff works there every day. By remaining open for limited hours, they only have to hire one “shift” of employees. This keeps costs down and keeps them from having to pay an entire staff to keep the restraunt open during less profitable times.
I’d imagine many Chinese (and other ethnic) restraunts are owned by individuals and families, as opposed to chains, and have to do the same thing.
Would this be the same as what we call Yum Cha in Australia? Anybody here experienced both?
BTW, to Australians Dim Sims refer to a specific item of food: little deep fried pastry dumplings containing pork, cabbage etc - otherwise known as mystery bags.
Thats what I was thinking as well, in Australia (and indeed, china) it is called Yum Cha and it involves little carts with a couple of mouthfuls of food and LOTS of TEA and a REALLY long time if you do it right. If we ever go have traditional Yum Cha, it takes from 11 am to 2 pm.
Dim Sums in Australia are something that pretends to be meat wrapped in something that pretends to be pastry.
yam cha means drink tea , and it means to go to a tea house, drink tea and eat dim sum. truditonaly, they are only open 'till 1 P.M. (yam cha is cantonise, I don’t speak mandrin. I think dim sum is the same in each. dim sum means “point hart”) Hijack, how do you get the spelling checker to work on these posts ???
Yum Cha and Dim Sum are different things. Yum Cha means “drinking tea” and refers more to the ocassion or event (social, gossip etc) where Dim Sum is eaten.
