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It is not often that we get to go out for Dim Sum. When The Chinese Quest reviews Chinese restaurants, it’s always at dinner time. After we posted our review of Fortune Wheel Seafood Restaurant in Levittown, NY, we received lots of comments that we needed to try their Dim Sum in order to give the restaurant a fair, and complete review.
Yesterday, Mee Tsu Yan, Mini Mee (The “Dumpling King”), and Mee, err, I had the opportunity to go for Dim Sum at Fortune Wheel Seafood Restaurant. Fortune Wheel is located at 3601 Hempstead Tpke., Levittown, NY 11756. Yes, it’s really there. I’ve been there twice, and twice I drove right past it. A few times. This time even though I knew it was next to Best Buy, I still blew right past it. The restaurant is kind of set back a bit and is between two giant box stores. The shopping center is huge, and my GPS was doing me no favor, as it thought that Fortune Wheel was in a different location too.
One of the only differences between Dim Sum at Fortune Wheel and Dim Sum in Flushing and I imagine Chinatown is the wait. We didn’t have to wait. We arrived at 11:30am on a Saturday. By the time we were half way through the meal a small line had formed. Compare that to the half hour plus wait we had at Asian Jade and Lake Pavilion in Flushing. The other difference is that one or two of the Servers spoke some English.
What was similar was the pushing of the carts and the pushing of the Dim Sum. Thank goodness, they understood “No thank you!” well enough for us not to have every dish end up on our table. In case, you go for Dim Sum, and none of the Servers speak English, please memorize this phrase: 不,謝謝 (in case you’re not fluent in Chinese, try saying “Bù, xièxiè”). Your mileage may vary depending on how well you pronounce that. Try a deep tone.We were in for not only a very pleasant surprise this morning, but also quite a history lesson regarding one of the dishes that we ate thanks to Wong, one of our many Servers. He was a wealth of information, a great Server, and an asset to the Restaurant. [NOTE TO OWNER: Give Wong a raise. He deserves it!]
Dim Sum Time!
Before our coats were even off, and our tushies in the seats, the first dish appeared on our table!
Shumai – Or is it “Shu Mai”? A type of traditional Chinese dumpling, originating from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. The ingredients are ground pork, whole and chopped shrimp, and Chinese black mushroom.
Sticky Rice – Hit or miss with us. Mini Mee said nay. I said okay. Mee Tsu Yan said “give me more more more”.
Fu Pay Quen – This wasn’t the dish I thought it was going to be. I was expecting some veggies and stuff inside a fried roll. Instead it was either shrimp or tofu. I’m not sure. Mee Tsu Yan thought it was Shrimp.
Shrimp Dumplings – We could all agree that it did contain Shrimp, and we liked it.
Seafood Dumplings – By this time we had seen, and offered, a lot of Dim Sum. But, this fit right in with my, umm, See Food Diet 😉
History Lesson
Zha Leung (Chinese Donut inside Fried Noodles) – Without a doubt, this was my favorite dish. Once Mee Tsu Yan learned it contained a donut, he left the rest for me. He’s not on the same diet apparently that I’m on!
The legend behind this dish: Qin Hui or Qin Kuai (January 17, 1090–November 18, 1155) was a Minister or Chancellor of the Song dynasty in Chinese history. He is widely regarded as a traitor for his part in the persecution and execution of Yue Fei, a general who fought for the Song against the Jin dynasty during the Jin–Song Wars. This dish is served to look like the Ministers legs, and by eating it, you are eating the Minister and thereby extracting revenge against him.
Cha Siu Bao (Roast Pork Bun) – Always a favorite of mine. Sweet pork served inside a sweet bun. What’s not to like. Don’t forget the take the paper off the bottom of the bun!
Beef with Rice Noodles – We passed on this dish earlier. But, when we hungered for one more thing, we specifically asked for this dish. We should have past on it.
One of the things we noticed when we had reviewed Fortune Wheel was the lack of Spareribs on the menu. As we were about to pay our bill (ONLY $39.00 for all that food for three people!) and leave, we overheard someone at the next table order spareribs! They are a Dim Sum dish at Fortune Wheel, and they were nice enough to let us try some of theirs. I found it very fatty. Mee Tsu Yan loved it!
We also loved the Ying-Yang of the dipping sauces! Good feng-shui (we think!)
All in all, we loved the Dim Sum. We loved the staff and the food. Dim Sum at Fortune Wheel is highly recommended (at least by the two and a half Mee’s who were there)!
Humbly submitted for your consumption,
—Mee Magnum (“Chop! Chop!”)
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decent dumplings. filthy restaurant.
I love going there for the Dim Sum!
Jeff, have you ever been to The Orient for Dim Sum? We want to try that next.
Yes, I have, but only twice. It’s also good, but I’ve been going to Fortune Wheel for years, and have a sentimental preference for them.
We will compare and contrast.
How about Dim Sum in Flushing?
Only once to a place my Chinese friend brought me to. It was really good, but I can’t recall the name.
I’ve been to both Jing Fong and Nom Wah, in Manhattan, and love the Dim Sum at both places!
Best thing about Dim Sum is the vast varieties dishes you can try in one sitting.
Yes it is!! I’ll be looking forward to your comparison of Fortune Wheel and The Orient!
Hopefully we’ll get to the Orient for Dim Sum in a few weeks.