I've been meaning to try Dimsum at Wakano's located on the corner of 11th and Washington for a few weeks now. Last weekend, I just happened to be in the neighborhood with my frequent dining partner who I will refer to as Miss Hungry All the Time (Miss HAtT) and we decided to drop in. It was already close to 2PM which is a little late for dimsum when we walked into the dining room.
The room was large and surprisingly bright with minimal red and gold traditional chinese decorations which is often found in dimsum halls. We were quickly seated and the steam carts started coming our way. As it was late for dimsum, the place was only about half filled but didn't really feel empty. We quickly picked out our favorite items such as the phoenix claws (aka braised chicken feet), bean curd rolls, shumai, shrimp rolls and har gow (shrimp dumplings). My father always says that you can tell the merit of a dimsum chef by the quality of their har gow. In this particualr case, I don't think it was a great indicator. The har gow was a little pass it's prime having been sitting in the steam cart just a little too long. However it wasn't bad just nothing to write home about. The shumai were still tasty with just the right balance of pork, shrimp and mushroom giving the little steamed dumpling great taste without the fatty gristle that often plagues shumai. The shrimp rolls were mighty tasty with the rice paper expertly made so that it wasn't too thick and the shrimp was fresh.
The braised chicken feet had great texture but not enough flavor. The sauce lacked a bit of salt and heat. However, again not terrible. Miss HatT and I managed to finish everything off and took home some tasty goodies for my parents. I would recommend this joint for people looking for authentic dimsum food without the authentic dimsum hustle and bustle and aggravation of c-town on a sunday morning. Parking was free and there was no wait and no need to shoulder my way through a crowd which is always a plus for me.
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