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Ming Dynasty rolls out authentic dim sum, noodles
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When I first heard that there was a dim sum cart restaurant in Albuquerque, I was pleasantly surprised. One of the things I miss from my start-up time in San Francisco was dim sum restaurants, where carts are rolled around and you can pick from any number of steaming dim sum, dumpling, rice and noodle dishes as they go by.
The carts are a staple of Asia, particularly for steamed dishes like dim sum and dumplings. The fried food, like noodles and fried dumplings, is less traditional — but this is America, where you can hardly get a meal without frying something.
I should also mention that my mother was Cantonese, born in Hong Kong, and I spent more than a decade growing up living in Southeast Asia, thus making me far pickier in my Chinese cuisine than most Americans.
While unassuming, Ming Dynasty on Eubank Boulevard in the Northeast Heights delivers. The noodles are authentic Cantonese — with none of the typical American sugary sweetness that seems to pollute most Chinese food in New Mexico. The bao buns, dumplings and dim sum were all also good. Maybe not as great as San Francisco or Hong Kong, but great for anything I’d expect to find in the Land of Enchantment.
The restaurant is aptly named. The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, saw the overthrow of the Mongols and a renaissance in China that built the Great Wall and saw Beijing rooted as its capital. Culinarily speaking, it is also when dumplings first appeared on the cuisine scene and the dynasty is known for flourishing restaurants and different, exotic cuisines permeating China’s cities and towns.
I will say, we were so delighted that we went back a second time within a month and the second visit wasn’t as good. I don’t know if it was an off day, or if the novelty and delight had simply worn off. The food, while still better than most Chinese in Albuquerque, tasted blander somehow. The second time the cart offerings also included some truly Chinese offerings, like chicken feet — which turned off my thoroughly American husband.
That said, we plan on returning again and Ming Dynasty will remain a brunch staple for us — the carts are only rolled out on the weekends. And I’m now also curious to try their regular lunch and dinner menus and chef’s specialty dishes, having seen the authenticity of their cart game.
