Dim Sum at Kam Fung
Dim Sum is a numbers game. Two people can’t really accomplish anything, and nine people can’t fit at one table. Most Dim Sum dishes are comprised of 4 items - usually dumplings - which would make a party of five an awkward experience. A part of four is a delicate situation and would only succeed if all four members were to eat the same meal, which works against the real purpose of the Dim Sum experience. I suppose the ideal number might be somewhere between 6 and 8.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, because I’ve been trying to get people together to go for Dim Sum. I’ve been slowly scouting out my friends, and even friends of my friends, to see who would be up for a Sunday Dim Sum excursion. It was pretty slow going at the start, but the momentum seemed to have caught fire last week when all of a sudden I had enough people interested. I set the date for the next Sunday and put the word on the street. Before I could decide between Ruby Rouge and Kam Fung, I had about nine people interested. Uh oh . . . too many. Will even more rsvp? Will we have to split into two tables? Will I get stuck at the mostly vegetarian unadventurous table? This can’t be happening…not to me…
I decided to just relax and ride it out, and sure enough, by the time Sunday rolled around we had enough cancellations, hangovers, illnesses, and dental surgery victims to narrow the party down to six - the magic number. We all met at 11:30am at Kam Fung, which has moved into the 2nd floor of a mostly Asian shopping center in Chinatown. I say “mostly Asian” because there is one non-Asian space in the mall: the Romanian consulate. I wonder if Romanians have a thing for Chinese food, or maybe it’s just a coincidence and those Romanian delegates are sick of Asian food. Food for thought, literally.
Our party was comprised of myself, my Very Special Ladyfriend, the brothers Bertrand (an architect and a film sound editor), a friend who was a welcome last-minute addition to the party, and a surprise re-entry: the dental surgery victim. We had to wait approximately 15 minutes, with about 50 other people, until our number was called. The hostess, a middle-aged Asian woman, would bark out the numbers as the tables became available - on an extremely loud sound system, which is not what you want to hear on a Sunday morning. Here is what it looked like from the hallway:
Because of the ear-shattering volume of the sound system and the thick Cantonese accent of the hostess, it was almost impossible to hear exactly what numbers she was calling. Luckily, the brothers Bertrand had lately been reaching themselves Cantonese, but even they had trouble hearing the numbers. To be honest, because the speakers were of questionable quality and the volume so high, the sound was so badly distorted that it was difficult to tell if the numbers were being called in English or Cantonese.
Here is what we had:
Vegetarian spring roll
Shrimp/pork dumpling and Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce
Sticky rice
Shrimp, pork & Chinese chive dumpling
Pork, nappa and ginger juice dumpling
Seaweed roll with shrimp and crab
Seafood dumpling with mayonnaise
Vegetarian treasure bowl
Rice noodle roll with shrimp
Crab claw stuffed with shrimp
Fried squid
It went unspoken, but at this point I am pretty sure we all had had enough. 
That egg tart up there symbolized, in my mind, that this meal was over. In fact, I’m pretty sure the words “Dim Sum” translate as little morsels or light snack - but we had crossed that line a while ago.
Although I should admit that I, and quite possibly the brothers Bertrand, may have been trying to decide if the meal was over, or were we just taking a break? That’s when we decided to finish off what was left on the table. And that is also when, mysteriously, more plates of food were suddenly appearing. I don’t know who ordered them, but there they were.
Hot water chestnut squares
I have no idea
Sesame balls with lotus paste
Coconut pudding
Here is the aftermath
And the money shot:
There were so many dishes that whizzed by so quickly that looked so delicious, or so weird, that I think Dim Sum will become a long-term commitment. I will try to have a Dim Sum Excursion once a month, and I will try to find more Dim Sum locations in Montreal. I already know about Kam Fund and Ruby Rouge, and I have heard talk of a large Dim Sum place on the south shore, which may be my next pick - if I can convince 4 other people to pile into my car and roam up and down Taschereau blvd looking for Dim Sum.
On our way home, which my VSL and I decided would best be accomplished by walking, we were saddened to see that the big Chinese grocery store on the northwest corner of St- Lawrence and de la Gauchetiere had burned down the previous day - it was still steaming. I used to shop there, picking up barbecued pork, duck, bok choy, frozen dumplings, and sweet packs of Pocky chocolate-covered pretzel sticks that I will sorely miss.
I hope they rebuild.
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 pm
Yikes, it’s been a few years since I’ve been to the Kam Fung. My first dim sum experience was there when I was a little Peabody. My next post will be about my lazy Sunday dim sum brunch at home!
January 25th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Kam Fung is one of our favorite places, and we often take out-of-town guests there. We always eat too much! Thanks for this account and the great photos. (Was it you who also wrote about Jean-Talon recently, in another place?)
January 25th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I’m just passing by from chowhound and although the food looks delicious, I’m more distracted by the…you know…giant pile of rubble. I used to buy my pocky at a grocery store in Chinatown that had groceries on the right when you walked in and toys and trinkets and things on the left. Is this the same place? I don’t remember where the store I went to is/possibly was.
January 26th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Hot dang! Thanks for that, Spanky. Dim Sum is such a wonderful thing. Before you go exploring the South-Shore, you still have to check out Tong-Por, Lotte, and Chez Chine (and that’s just in Chinatown). I would skip Ruby Rouge, though. The last two times I went were disappointing.
Keep it up, Spanky. I always enjoy reading you.
January 27th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Great post. You’ve definitely made me want to try Kam Fung now, and I’d love to hear what you think of my fave, Lotte Furama (entrances on both Clark & St-Laurent, just south of Rene-Levesque) My friends & I prefer to go on Saturdays because we don’t like waiting in the Sunday lineups, and Lotte Furama has many larger tables, and we’ve been up to 11 people seated at the table with no problem. Everything is scrumptious and I now get cravings for it… let us know!
January 27th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
[…] Nnot quite as good as The Great Wall here in Ottawa or the Kam Fung in Montreal, but still a treat to have Dim Sum at home! Most of it was ready in 10 to 15 minutes, but the sticky rice took quite a bit longer. […]
January 30th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Beth,
Yes - It was I who wrote about Jean-Talon Market for the Ethicurean , where I will be a regular contributor.
Andrea,
There were 2 grocery stores on the northwest corner that were pretty similar, so I don’t know which one you mean - I guess it’s time for a trip to chinatown!
Cranberry,
You are a wealth of information! I had never heard of Tong-Por, but I will check it out. Are you good with synonyms, if you know what I mean? Also , do you know the name of the south shore Dim Sum place?
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Yes Spanky, I am that guy.
I don’t know the name or location of the place on the south-shore, but I have been on the lookout. I’ll email you if I find out before you post about it.
Andrea, the place you’re reffering to is on the south-east corner. It’s called UNI and it is one of my favourite shops in Chinatown.
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Great, not only do I have to go to Kam Fung this Sunday, but I must print and bring with me a notepad file of every single dish posted to sample.
Is it even possible for two people to eat that much food in one sitting?
I haven’t been to the Kam in about 6 years. It was always a favorite though, and everytime I try to make it out for an early afternoon brunch, I always end up sleeping too late and miss out. Not this weekend though!
PS - I love your blog! (the maple syrup egg cups and banana-challa sandwiches are tops!)
February 14th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
dim sum means “pick of the heart”
April 14th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
[…] Just so you’ll know, I haven’t been skipping breakfast. In fact, I’ve eaten quite a few very good breakfasts that I should have written about but felt I could not do them justice without a photo or two. Many have been things that I have already blogged about, like the bagelettes we made last week and the Tropicanas we also enjoyed, plus the multitude of scrambles and over-easy’s and smoothies and sometimes just a small bowl of cottage cheese with banana slices in it. I even went for Dim Sum on the south shore, which I will post about very soon . . . once I download the photos taken by a friend who has his own camera. […]
December 29th, 2007 at 1:43 am
Hi-ee everyone,
Kam Fung is a great resto. Food is always fresh. Service is as expected and it’s pretty good, too. Once your table is called, you’re ok. I will only eat there for dim sum unless a friend of mine suggests a good place
Someone mentioned the Tong Por? Well, i used to eat there a lot (upstairs). I was praising the place left right and center to a friend i brought there for a first experience - and we were served rancid squid. I spit it out. I never went back again and i returned to the Kam Fung. I also ate in the Tong Por (downstairs) and never had a problem. For me, since then, i doubt Tong Por!
I would say location is pretty important for a dim sum house, the place on the south shore is really good too, but for me, it’s really out of the way. I only ate there once.
Kam Fung is right in Chinatown and the walk through it…is great - all the cute little shops, street vendors, and fruit stores.
Thanks for reading,
Babe
May 1st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Nice to see some Kam Fung love on teh internets.
A friend of mine started a Dim Sum Facebook group which is thriving nicely - we have a core of about 4-6 people who come every week and a larger number of floaters (I think the best turnout we had was around 12 people). We were going to Tong Por originally but Kam Fung has become our permanent venue at this point - better food, more variety, less expensive.
Things that must be eaten:
- Those flat shrimp/pork/chive dumplings, lightly fried
- Salt & pepper deep fried tofu (I’m addicted to this)
- Steamed bbq pork buns