Ignore huge Lan Garden menu, but embrace delicious dim sum

Super Har Gow Jumbo Shrimp Dumplings ($6.95) are among 50 items on the dim sum menu at Lan Garden 88 in Ridgefield. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Slow service and pricing fresh fish by the pound are two of my complaints about Lan Garden 88, but I am totally won over by the restaurant's delicious selection of Hong Kong-style dim sum.

I can recall my first taste of dim sum in Hong Kong in 1979, when I had lunch in a restaurant so popular a customer waiting to eat stood behind each occupied chair as carts circulated in the dining room.

There and at dim sum lunches I had in later years in San Francisco and Manhattan Chinatowns, servers sang out in Chinese the names of the freshly prepared items displayed on the carts they pushed.

At Lan Garden, the atmosphere isn't as colorful and no carts appear in the dining room.

But the Ridgefield restaurant makes up for that by serving dim sum all day long (until 1 in the morning). 

Dim sum is also referred to as "yum cha," which means "eat tea." 

Beef Dumplings at Lan Garden ($4.95).

Fried Canton Carp Ball ($5.95).

Hard to top these dim sum

Lan Garden's freshly prepared array of dim sum eclipses what's available at any other Chinese restaurant in North Jersey, including Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee.

In contrast to the large bound menu, Lan Garden's dim sum menu is a piece of paper on which you can check off which of the 50 items you want and how many you want.

The menu also includes Egg Custard Tart and other desserts, as well as Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls and Congee.

The items are labeled "Small" ($3.50), "Medium" ($4.95), "Large" ($5.95), "X Large" ($6.95) and "Super" ($8.95), and usually include two to four dumplings and so forth. 

Filling meal for $15 a person

On Tuesday afternoon, four of us ordered two Super Har Gow Jumbo Shrimp Dumpling, one of my favorites for the stuffing of minced shrimp and the garnish of tiny fish eggs.

We also ordered a Seafood Dumpling with Spinach, a Beef Dumpling, two Mini-Sized Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf ($5.95 each), Chicken Feet with Gluten in Chu-Hou Sauce, two Fried Canton Carp Ball and Pan Fried Chive Cake ($4.95).

The sticky rice and chive cake put the meal over the top, and we washed it all down with cup after cup of hot Chinese tea.

I was stuffed, and when the check came, we spent about $15 a person before tax and tip.

Chicken Feet with Gluten in Chu-Hou Sauce ($4.95).

Inside a Seafood Dumpling with Spinach ($5.95).

Eleven years ago, I celebrated the purchase of a new Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid with a meal at China 46, the Chinese soup-dumpling restaurant that preceded Lan Garden 88. On Tuesday, it was time to celebrate the purchase of my latest green car, an all-electric Tesla Model S.

Lan Garden, 88 Route 46 west (near Grand Avenue), Ridgefield; 201-840-8688. Restaurant hasn't received its liquor license yet, meaning you can bring your own wine or beer.

Open seven days for lunch and dinner, but closed weekdays between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

At a dim sum lunch in Fort Lee, tea is 95 cents per person

Small clams in black bean sauce at Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee.

Editor's note: Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant closed, but has been replaced by Aquarius Seafood Restaurant, which also serves dim sum.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

"Yum cha" is Chinese for "drink tea," another way to describe the meal called dim sum -- where servers circulate with small plates of food and offer them to customers.

I recall dim sum lunches in Honk Kong and in San Francisco's Chinatown where the waiters rolled carts through the dining room and sang out descriptions of the food they were hawking.

At Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee, the servers emerge from the rear kitchen carrying small plates of food on trays, approach customers at their tables and ask whether they want one or two of them.

Pan-Fried Chive Cakes.

Fried Salt Pepper Shrimp.

I started going to Silver Pond for dim sum lunches more than a decade ago, usually as part of a group of  five or six people. 

But as prices increased, dim sum became a pricey meal, especially for one or two people.

After an absence of several years, I returned on Tuesday, and discovered the restaurant now charges 95 cents a person for tea.

I took my bill and credit card up to the counter and asked the woman at the register how long Silver Pond has been charging for tea, but she didn't answer.

The food is as good as I remembered, but service has suffered. 

I had to ask two waitresses for a second small plate of spicy red chili paste and hot mustard four or five times before I got it.

Shrimp with Bean Curd Roll.

After I inadvertently spilled tea in this small dish, I had to ask repeatedly for another.

On Tuesday, we ordered four small plates: Pan-Fried Chive Cakes ($3.95); Shrimp with Bean Curd Roll ($4.95); Fried Salt Pepper Shrimp ($5.95) and Clams with Black Bean Sauce ($9.45).

The bill for two people was $28.05 before the tip.

My only complaint was the black bean sauce, which had been thickened with too much corn starch.

The dim sum menu lists more than 50 items.

Such other small plates as Turnip Cake and Spring Rolls are $2.95 each, and Chicken Feet and Egg Tart are $3.55 each.

Compare today's prices to the range in 2004: $2.75 to $8.60. 

We saw the owner, Kam Lee, in the dining room on Tuesday. I was told he opened Silver Pond about 22 years ago.

Silver Pond also has tanks filled with live seafood, including fish. 

I remember a wonderful two-course meal made from a grouper that was taken out of the tank and dispatched in the kitchen.

Silver Pond Seafood Restaurant, 230 Main St., Fort Lee; 201-592-8338. Cash and American Express cards only.

Dim sum is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tea is 95 cents per person.