Had lunch at Lao You Ju yesterday... Thoughts:
1.) Best shumai? Better than Hong Kong? Not in my opinion. Shumai should be predominantly pork with some shrimp and what I got instead was more shrimp than pork. I can see how some people may think it's the "best", but this was not traditional for me. It was a good dumpling however. So HK people, don't come expecting the shumai you grew up on!
2.) Har gow - Nice skin on this, but I prefer Ming Hin's which has larger chunkier pieces of shrimp, which is what I expect from HK dim sum.
3.) Braised tofu skin roll - Loved the sauce which was lighter than the thick sauce served elsewhere. Though the filling in the rolls themselves were pretty skimpy.
4.) Ginger tripe (the "fuzzy white" one, not honeycomb) - Nicely flavored which is better than most places, since it can be kinda bland. But I prefer a softer texture, this was too hard for my taste, but then this is a personal perference
5.) XLB - Nice thin skin, though it was wasted on the bland meat filling. Definitely soupy, but just bland.
6.) BBQ pork crepe - Skin too thick and "rough".
7.) Egg yolk custard bun - The molten yellow sweet/savory bun... Again bland. Usually at other places, it's too sweet or too salty, this was just bland
8.) Steamed custard sponge cake (called egg cake on menu IIRC) - Meh... overcooked scrambled eggs in cake is not a good thing.
After asking more about the chef, I add three more items. Because the chef had spent many years in Hong Kong, I selected the 2 items that we did not order and dim sum chefs in HK should excel in.
9.) BBQ pastry (sou) - Mush... No texture, nice and hot tho... but sweet and mushy...
10.) Glutinous Rice Chicken in Lotus Leaf - Very well done, especially for someone who is not a fan of this dish. Chock full of filling and I especially liked the addition of the duck egg yolk.
11.) Durian pastry - came strongly recommended by the server, and I am a sucker for durian. The pastry here was firmer than the BBQ one, and I thought the durian taste was there but not over whelming. But you have to love durian... If you don't, don't expect this to change your mind.
In general, the dim sum was so-so for me. Not good enough for me to switch from Ming Hin. The dim sum came out and while they were not cold, they were definitely not piping hot (except for the BBQ pork pastry). In fact I popped the whole XLB in my mouth and did not even come close to burning myself.
One note though, after returning to the office, I found myself guzzling water. Definitely more MSG here than in Cai or Ming Hin. Service was good, but then we were not a party of 12 at prime lunch hour on a weekend.