Last night I ventured to Chinatown for dim sum for the first time in a couple of years. I’ve been craving a revisit to Dim Sum Go Go, which I first stumbled across on a weekend visit to the city in 2007 while waiting for the Chinatown Bus back to Philadelphia. I was pleasantly surprised then, and even more so now that I have more dim sum experiences to compare to.

We started with a dish of shrimp and mango fried rolls. The mango added a surprising touch of sweet and tart, although they were served so hot that you could not taste the shrimp unless you let them cool a few minutes - we learned this the hard way, scorching our mouths as we went, and ordered a second plate to be sure we could enjoy them properly cooled.

I also ordered an off of menu treat - baby bok choy. Such a simple dish, cooked in oil and garlic, but I can not say enough about the rich flavor. In the world of dim sum prices this platter was a “splurge” ($12), but one that was well worth it in my opinion.

Next we moved on to a collection of steamed dumplings recommended to us by our waiter. I’ve included photos of some of our favorites below. We also tried:

Shrimp Dumplings - A classic and delicious way to serve shrimp.

Pork Dumplings - Another classic, these lacked as much flavor as I had hoped.

Abbott’s Delight Dumplings - Our first vegetarian dumpling, I remembered liking this from a previous visit but still can’t remember what is in it!

Jade Dumplings - Another veggie blend, this time with shoots of jade and a touch of ginger. The ginger made your mouth tingle with a bit of spice, while the jade gave these dumplings a pleasant crunch.

Three Star Dumplings - These were the sleeper vegetarian favorite for us.

Duck Dumplings - Another standout of the evening, these were cooked to perfection, with a rich duck flavor I’ve rarely had from duck entrees.

Shiu Mai - A blend of shrimp and pork, this was a late edition to our order, but turned out to be a favorite of the table.

Finally, we would not have done our taste test justice without sampling Dim Sum Go Go’s pork buns. As it turns out, they were worth sampling twice. A light, fluffy yeast bun was slightly sticky and nicely complimented the richly seasoned pork inside.

Overall, Dim Sum Go Go is a nice break from the over-the-top, huge, cart filled restaurants that so often top the “best of” dim sum list. All of our orders came out fresh from the kitchen, with nothing having even a hint of being stale. The prices are reasonable (downright good for beer at $3 each), service acceptable, and decor clean. I would recommend a visit to anyone, especially if you are looking to introduce friends to the dim sum experience.