Best Dim Sum Restaurants in Boston

Boston isn't really the place to go for exquisite, high quality dim sum so we have to make do. Go to NYC for your dim sum fix if you have the option. So here are my picks for Boston.

Hong Kong Style Dim Sum

Hei La Moon - This is the new favorite. The restaurant is huge with lots of seating so the wait may not be as long. You can also stop by C-Mart after for groceries. Validated parking is available in the garage next door.

China Pearl - This was the old staple till Hei La Moon came around.

Gitlo - I recently discovered this place. Finally, a restaurant with authentic, finer dim sum. There isn't much variety to the dishes but they make whatever they have really well.

Taiwanese Style Dim Sum

These 2 are complimentary. Shangri la has some dishes that Chung Shin Yuan does not.
Chung Shin Yuan - Don't fret even if you don't get seating the first round (see original post). They are very efficient and the food is all prepared before hand.

Shangri La - At this point I like Shangri La a little more ...

Let me know if there are new and good dim sum restaurants I've missed.

Shangri La - Another Dim Sum Gem

P and I headed here for brunch on Sunday after walking the dog. We usually go to Chung Shin Yuan which is closer but Shangri La has Kua Pao which I love. They don't serve kua pao at CSY. Both Shangri La and CSY are Taiwanese / Beijing style dim sum restaurants so not your typical cantonese dim sum.

The quality of dim sum at Shangri La is comparable to that at Chung Shin Yuen. I've tried all the items on the menu at CSY so going to Shangri La is more exciting for me :)

I love the salty soy bean milk at Shangri La. It's kinda curdy and has a little vinegar in it, not doing a great job describing it here but IMO it's better than what they have at CSY. Yum!


The pig ears here are really good. It's sliced really finely and nicely seasoned. I know it sounds scary but doesn't dim sum always sound strange but taste so good? =)


And the highlight of my meal, Kua Pao. It is like a sandwich with a piece of sliced pork belly topped generously with pickled vegetables and sweet crushed peanuts on a bun. The salty taste of the pickles balance the sweetness of the peanuts. Trust me, it is SO GOOD.


I prefer Taiwanese style dim sum to Cantonese style dim sum in Boston. The cantonese style dim sum here is not as refined and very greasy.

Shangri La
149 Belmont St
Belmont, MA 02478
(617) 489-1488




Chomp Meter:
One of the 2 best places in Boston for Taiwanese dim sum. The place is usually packed during the school year but it's easy to get seats in the summer. Definitely try the beef sandwich (nu rou jia bing), salty soy bean milk (xian dou jiang) and the kua pao!

See my review for Chung Shin Yuan.
See my review for Hei La Moon.

I spy ....

My random musing of the day. Was walking by a Taiwanese restaurant today and noticed someone I recognized from a competitor place ordering food there. Competitive analysis? Keeping their enemies close?

Maybe that's why the Taiwanese food in Boston is pretty decent! :)

Jo Jo Taipei - New Taiwanese Place

I was really in the mood for Taiwanese food after reading several postings on Chowhound. When we got there at about 7pm the place was almost full (a good sign?) but we were able to get seating right away.

We ordered:
1) Three cup eggplant: This was excellent. The eggplant was tasty and nicely cooked. I want to try the cuttlefish version next time.


2) Fried calamari: Was alright.

3) Tea smoked duck: One of the best tea smoked ducks in the area. The flavor of the spices were nicely infused in the meat. Oops don't have a good photo of this.

4) Spicy Cabbage: It was alright, but I wasn't blown away.


5) Xiaolong bao: Pretty good if you get a dumpling that's done right. The other people in my party didn't like this since their dumplings had no soup within. I was lucky and got 2 dumplings that were soupy. Definitely one of the better XLB in the Boston area if there is no dumpling malfunction!



(But so far, my vote still goes to the ones at Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown.)

6) Finished off with bao bing for dessert. YUM! This is shaved ice with sweet beans and sweet potato on top. Sounds weird but I grew up eating this, well a variation of it. Keep an open mind! :)



The prices were also really reasonable. Our entire meal cost $55! With the money you saved, you can stop by Yi Soon Bakery for pork floss buns. They also do a yummy very chocolately chocolate cookie that I absolutely adore.

Jo Jo Taipei
103 Brighton Ave
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 254-8889



Chomp Meter:
I'll be back! The food was pretty good and there are lots of other interesting things on the menu that I want to try. Also, the ambiance is much better than Taiwan Cafe and the prices are reasonable.

My Recommended Dishes:
* Anything in the three cup style
* Xiao long bao (but cross your fingers)
* Tea smoked duck
* Bao bing for dessert

Something to point out though is that the restaurant smelled of stinky tofu that someone else ordered! Hrmm intense, not for the faint hearted.

Dim Sum @ Chung Shin Yaun

Can I say how much I love this place? This is the second time we've been back in a span of two weeks. I can't believe we hadn't discovered Chung Shin Yuan earlier having lived in Newton for almost 2 years!

This place serves Taiwan style dim sum. That's different from places like China Pearl which serve Hong Kong style fare. In any case it's delicious. It's also a plus that parking is easy to find (it's in Nonantum), however, be prepared to wait at least a half hour for a seat.

We ordered the salty soy bean milk (photo below) and the mega fried dough sticks (I didn't get a photo of this unfortunately). These seem to be a favorite among the chinese customers :) We also heard the table next to us exclaim to the waitress that they weren't able to find soy milk of such high quality in all of San Francisco ... I doubt it's true but we were mildly amused.


The pig ears and tofu with century eggs. The pig ears could have been spiced better but overall they were tasty.


The carb dishes. Here's the very delicious vermicelli. We had the five spice beef noodles the last time and that was exceptionally good too.


The spiced pork ribs with surprise surprise, sweet potatoes beneath. We devoured this as well.


Chomp Meter:
Value for money and very authentic. Customers are 98% asian, it's gotta be good! Recommended dishes are the beef noodles, fried vermicelli, pigs ears and ... alright I give up, I liked it all and I can't wait to go back!

Chung Shin Yaun
183 California Street
Newton, Massachusetts 02158-1008