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Mon-Thu. 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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The dim sum is amazing. It's hot, it's plentiful, it's cheap, and most importantly, it's GOOD. There are a few places in the ID that are not (hrmm...House of Hong). I only need one dim sum place, and Harbor City is it.
I was debating between three or four stars, but since I still plan on coming back again for their super cheap and delicious siumai, chicken feet, and ha gow, I'll round up.
We were a party of two, but since the place was so busy, they left the option to have us sit at one of the bigger tables, but we would be sharing with other people as well. We did coz we were hungry and we were in a rush anyway. But as long as you have no problem sitting across the same table from strangers, this might work out for you.
The service was okay. The carts went around regularly and when they didn't have something immediately available in the carts such as the beef tripe I wanted, they actually remembered to send one my way once they got more out there.
Not too shabby, but don't expect to get seated, eat, and pay your bill within a literal lunch hour (hour as in only ONE hour). It may take a little longer than that.
Nothing like a bitchy waitress to wrap up your dim sum experience.
And I know that she wasn't just having a bad day or she's a bitch. She was plenty smiles and all politeness to everybody else.
Listen. If you have a problem with me, wait until I'm out of earshot to talk shit, or at least turn your back on me BEFORE you decide to roll your eyes at me. And there is nothing like having you slam down your tray of dim sum shit onto my table (without a "if you please" or "do you mind...?") just so you can transfer your crap from the tray onto the cart.
And let's not forget how many times I politely asked for things and how 15 minutes later I still didn't receive jack shit or how you repeatedly brushed me off.
Thanks, but no thanks.
P.s. Many of the other waiters, and waitresses (ones NOT in charge of the dim sum cart) were plenty polite, quick and efficient. But nothing like one bad apple to spoil the bunch. We will not be back. Ever.
There are way too many businesses in Chinatown for me to waste my money at a restaurant that allows such sub-par service. I get way, way better service at Jade Garden. Which is, in and of itself, laughable.
So......
The boyfriend has had a wild craving for dim sum lately, and I am more than happy to…
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SKIP JADE GARDEN!
that's all i can say abt this place. this place rocks to the max! why, coz the food is 90% similar to jade garden (coz i think the worker/chef went to open a place by their own) and the wait is... absymaly small compared to jade garden! u decide!
normal fares like har gao, siew mai, chong fun, cha siew bao are heavenly, so if u like jade garden minus the wait, THIS IS IT!
They had impressive steed seafood dumplings! Very big and hearty! I tried a lot of steamed dumplings with seafood and cilantro and they were delicious. The size of the dumplings, I thought, were really big compared to most restaurants so I was excited about that.
The size of the restaurant is rather small for a dim sum place. The facade is small so its hard to see on the street, and behind the take out counter/foyer there is a decent amount of tables, but as I experienced, it got pretty busy around 11am on a Saturday!
The dim sum itself here is alright. Not great, but not terrible. The trick though, is learning some of the secret dishes this place has to offer:
Try ordering a "century egg steamed fish rice-noodle roll" (or "pay dan yu pien cheung fun" in Cantonese), or a "spareribs and chicken feet steamed rice-noodle roll" ("pai gwut fong jow cheung fun"). I promise these will blow you away. One of the best kept secrets in Chinatown.
Pretty solid dim sum place in the International District! Harbor City isn't huge by any means, and at 12:30 pm on a Saturday, our party of three had about a 15 minute wait and ended up sharing a large round table with another group. No biggie, though.
The variety of dishes wasn't the most impressive I've seen, but Harbor City hit offered up plenty of standards: honey walnut prawns, humbow, sesame balls, egg custards, chicken feet, and oodles of shumai. Everything we had was good, and the price can't be beat...including tax & tip, our group of three got out for just $10/person and we did not leave hungry!
The service ain't the best and there are few places to sit. Go to Jade across the street and leave this hole in the wall to me.
Thank you,
Dim Sum Jess
Best Dim Sum I have ever had.
Their Steamed Rice is to die for. Their pork buns are also amazing. I mean, meat inside of a donut? Are you for real?! YES! It's true. It is also super cheap. For a nice sunday brunch, it can't get any better!
The environment is so amazing too! The smell of food that just drives right on by! For all the foodies out there... this is heaven. Carts of food at your hands. Oh yea. Love it!
Try this place! If you want to go somewhere else, you're missing out... and I will be taking your spot.
Good EATS!
I did some yelp detective work on good dim sum places before I decided to try this place the first time. Harbor City came up as one of the top places in the city, as rated by you beautiful people, and I trust you. I really do. You would never mislead me!! For that, I'm calling y'all for a second date where we may or may not go to 2nd base... if I'm feeling it still. :P
Onto the food though.... we waited ~15 minutes in their tiny foyer area, salivating from the smells of the yummies. I enjoyed all the dim sum standby's but I have a few unique honorable mentions for you:
(1) the bbq pork mochi cake thing. It's basically a sticky mochi ball but it's got bbq pork instead of sweet beans etc. Oh it was good. It was lightly fried for a nice crunch with the stickyness. I suggest it. I've never seen anything like it before.
(2) the peanut pork see-through satchel thing. It's kinda football-shaped and pinched along the top. And it's clear-ish. And it's got pork and nuts in it. It was good. I had no idea what the waitress said as a description but we said, 'what the hell? let's do this!' It's a see-through crunchy nut meat satchel. She may been trying to say that to me but even as I write it, it sounds confusing...! :P
The food was good so that's about all that matters to me. The one thing I was bummed about was the lack of attention to my empty water cup. (It has recently been brought to my attention that I drink more water than anyone else ever at meals so my water consumption and subsequent need for refills is a bit greater than your average diner patron..) that being said.. I need me some water. At least one refill during a meal. The food can be hot and I like to cool the palate with some ice water. Tea don't help a hot mouth!!
All in all, I was pleased with Harbor City as a good representative of legit dim sum in the International District. Give them a go if you're looking for a little change.
--Dim Sum Review--
For a Saturday during peak hours (12ish), it was really busy, but of course that is expected! The wait was about 15 mins, which isn't bad compared to their competition (Jade Garden) across the street.
Dim sum wise, we were a bit disappointed. They had all of the usual dishes like chicken feet, fried taro, hagow, shumai, sticky rice, tripe,egg tarts, etc... but nothing really stood out. Some of the steamed dishes were a little cold and the egg tarts were slightly burnt. The flavoring of some dishes like the fried taro was something we weren't used to (i'm not a big fan of the curry kind..), but the taro skin was excellent! Not too oily with lots of taro. Also, another plus is their hagow has tons of shrimp as opposed to places who put more bamboo shoots.
It is a small, family owned establishment with really friendly service. I don't think it is the best dim sum place in Chinatown, but it's not bad!
The portions are well sized. The basics were great, shumai and hargow. Steaming fresh and hot. We walked right in at 1 pm on a Saturday. I hope everyone else stays at jade garden so I won't ever have to wait....
I've had a steady dim sum craving for about a year now. We went to San Francisco's chinatown to satisfy it, but sadly we went to the wrong places and I didn't quite know how to navigate the take-out only style they had there. Now that I'm back in Seattle, I had to go the the best and cheapest place to revive my love of dim sum that San Francisco killed. Via Yelp, I found Harbor City and it was the perfect place.
It was a shrimp-lovers paradise. The shu mai were succulent with a good mix of shrimp and pork. The shrimp ball skins were thin and had the perfect chewy bite. The shrimp and chive dumplings had a good ratio but could have been warmer. The sauce with the shrimp and rice noodle was sweeter than my preference and the noodle was a bit too heavy/gloopy. I enjoyed their crispy tofu skin(?) wrapped shrimp and seaweed though the skin could have been crispier. Maybe it was out too long.
The steamed bbq pork buns were pretty awesome. The ratio of bun to meat was perfect and they steamed it just shy of too moist but it held its integrity well even when I ripped it into sections. The bbq pork recipe was more of a "homemade" style than I was hoping for but it had a wonderfully rich sauciness. I was hoping for a more red, manwich-style (sweeter?) bbq pork, but the authenticity of their recipe was also tasty though it had a tad too much five-spice in it.
The chili sauce they had at the table was great. It's not the same as my favorite chili/bean paste oil they have at Noble Court but it was really close. Their chili sauce/oil had more of a ground chili paste consistency to it which worked fabulously.
The waiters were attentive with clearing plates and refilling water. The carts came by a little too infrequently than we would have liked (especially after we had a few items on our table). Dim sum is a bit of an adventure so we were disappointed that we weren't able to poke around more and ask what different items were.
Otherwise, the visit was a great success. For two people, it came to almost $20 and we left stuffed and satisfied. I love dim sum again.
Dim Sum!
There are a number of dim sum joints in Chinatown but this one might be ahead of the rest. However, I need to do more research before making that claim.
Cons: Small waiting area (but that's normal for the ID). Sorta lame atmosphere (but again, normal for the ID). It can take a while to get a table. If you want a water refill, you might have to ask three times and wait a half hour.
Pros: Good quality dim sum -- all the staples and some interesting surprises. The carts come around frequently. Comfortable chairs. (I'm a big fan of comfortable padded chairs. Many of the hip Seattle restaurants have the most uncomfortable chairs.) The workers seem to be relaxed and friendly. Their cute children hang out in the foyer. And it's so inexpensive! Two people can get stuffed for $20.
Pretty solid, even from a dim sum snob. I came here with a friend for lunch and left full and satisfied. Let's break it down:
Shu Mai: average, but I'm spoiled on my mother's version with pine nuts and fatty pork. The wrapper wasn't all wet and nasty and the insides were quite filling so overall it was acceptable.
Juicy pork buns: Impressive (for Seattle). These actually had an inkling of juice! Nothing like the spoon-filling ooze of those in Vancouver, B.C. but decent! The insides were tasty and they provided a nice red vinegar to go with. I will come back just for these.
Shortribs: These were below average. They were all stuck together and tasted quite bland. There was plenty of meat but not very tender.
Shrimp & vegetable wrapped buns: Delicious. I am not usually a big fan of these but I even contemplated ordering a 2nd. Yum! The filling is the right mix of pungent without being overwhelming.
Chicken feet: Undesirable. Tasted like it didn't have sauce, or something. Go to Noble Court for real chicken feet. I didn't even finish, and I usually eat the whole thing (yes, by myself).
Egg tarts: Tiny, cute, and very flaky. The inside could be more custardy but overall I was very happy with the little bites.
Taro deep-fried "buns": Nonexistent. This made me very unhappy.
Next time I will get the sticky rice in lotus leaves and perhaps the sesame balls. Until then I recommend you go and try yourself!
Looking for another go-to dim sum place in the I.D. district. Decided to check this place out based on reviews from some credible yelpers that had some good things to say. Now, this place is pretty small so can fill up very quick. Luckily I was flying solo on a reconaissance run so scored a small table pretty quick. They only have 1-2 carts going at a time so there can be some lag time between choices. Here is the break down
beef tendon: I am a sucker for all things tendon. There version was nice and melt in your mouth gooey flavored with five spice. Me likey!
pork Shu Mai- good, nice size, fatty pork filling
Shrimp dumplings-came in (just shrimp) standard version and one that was packed with sweet corn. I liked the sweet corn version and havent' had that elsewhere.
sweet buns were really nice to top things off.
After pigging out and taking home left overs, my bill came to $21.00. Now, I was able to eat the left overs for dinner so the actual meal cost in my book was like $10.50. If I had a partner in crime that day, it would easily have been enough for two.
In my opinion, a viable option for a good dim sum in the I.D.
Harbor city is my go-to place for dimsum. You can't beat the price and quality. The food is hot, fresh and delicious. Especially their bbq pork buns and egg rolls. it is a serious drool fest thinking about their food.
Just moved to Seattle and looking around for some good dim sum. I figured you have to try a couple to get what you want so this was as good a recommendation on yelp as any.
I must say that is popular, I waited for a table a short while on a Saturday a little after 12. I service was slow, which I didn't mind at first. The food was up and down when you could get some. The chance of getting food there was to beg or shout a cart down. They did not want to serve me. I was only a table of one, ordering plenty of food when I could get someone to look at me. I don't know what was going on????? Everyone else was offered food and then I was ignored, I was getting a complex of sorts. I will give them another chance after I try some of the of the places and if anyone can offer some suggestion it would be much appreciated.
As for the food, stay away from the baked goods. Heavy handed and off tasting. The rest of the meal was great. The steamed boa was perfect as it gets. Fillings were generous and well executed but could of had a little more seasoning.
I was shocked that it was still crowded even on a weekday for dum sum.
I'm tossed. I like some dishes of dim sum (chicken feet/fung zoa, bean curd roll/san juk gun, shrimp crepes/cheung fun) and I really didn't like others (sui mai, roast pork pastry-not the bun). All in all, I was full and satisfied.
Don't forget a side of spicy mustard and hot sauce. I like to take my food to the EXTREME!! Plus, it adds wonderful flavor levels to the dim sum.
I was a little pissed while we were waiting because we had a group of four and they let the group of five sit first. But I guess it was because they wanted to maximize their tables... whatever.
We went on a Saturday morning and I was CRAVING dim sum like no other. I saw the great reviews of this place and so I chose to go here. We waited for... close to 30 minutes? But once we sat down, the wait was completely erased from my mind.
We ordered two of the essentials, siu mai (should be self-explanatory), ha gow (shrimp dumplings) and phoenix's feet (aka chicken feet). GLORIOUS. DELICIOUS. SCRUMPTIOUS. It was a great meal, the bill came to be about $9 per person and that's amazing considering how full we were and how satisfying the dishes and tea were. They even remembered to refill my water a few times, bonus points! :)
I'll definitely be back but... maybe at a later time on the weekends since it seems to be super packed. The restaurant's too tiny, they need to expand like Jade Garden-style.
Cramped, busy, usually a wait, sometimes hard to find parking, yet I go. It's that good. The carts keep rolling by so very easy to over eat, but the price is right.
If you didn't know it you would walk on past. Give it a try.
Half of the table were dim sum experts and half were novices. I'll let you figure out which side I was on...
Staring up at me from the lazy susan in the middle of the 11 person table were some of the most unusual foods I had ever seen. The smell in the place screamed pig intestine and cow anus.
Brien and I sat down next to Lt. Dfens and Bert H. Brien had it easy but Bert just happened to christen that day as "Duck Feet Day" and wouldn't you know it: mastering the quack quacks led him to the more interesting adventure of choking down some of Little Miss Piggy's tummy muscles. As I cringed in equal parts disgust and admiration, Kerrie L saved our lives and flagged down a bewildered waiter asking for a menu. "Why would you want a menu at a dim sum restaurant?" He was probably muttering to himself...
General Tsao's Chicken and BBQ Pork Fried Rice looked safe and familiar so that's what we ordered. The rest of the table did share with us, so don't let them tell you they are totally hard core or above sampling "American" Chinese food. The chicken was spicy and all white meat with very fresh, steamed broccoli on the side. The fried rice was delicious, not too salty, good quality pork and lots of carrots, peas and egg.
My favorite Chinese place is still Tai Tung down the street, but I would eat here again with my hardcore cow anus indulgers. It's difficult to admit that I fall into the typical American jerkface category when it comes to Chinese dim sum, but here I am, being humble.
4 people for $40 with tons to take home. What a bargain. We got there about 11:00 today and didn't have to wait that long for a table and the 2 carts circulated fairly quickly. Got the usual items like shu mai, baked hum bow, nor mai gai, chive and shrimp dumplings, chinese brocoli with oyster sauce, soy sauce chow mein with BBQ pork, deep fried football things with pork, fun gor with pork and peanuts - also got some things I hadn't ever seen before: a shrimp thing in a won ton like wrapper with mixed vegetables (so-so), and a mochi-like thing with BBQ pork. Didn't try the ones with bean paste in them, but the pork ones were yummy. Egg tarts were ick. Only drawback is the place is kind of small and there's no parking.
Coming to Seattle from San Francisco, I was compelled to find good dim-sum as soon as humanly possible. I started out at New Kowloon, was repulsed by House of Hong, tolerated the wait at Jade Garden, and then finally, FINALLY found a dim-sum place that was awesome, and not swarmed by crowds of people.
The restaurant is fairly unassuming, I remember that the only thing that gave it away to my dad (the person who found it) was the roasted ducks hanging in the front window. For anyone who doesn't know, having whole dead animals in window means it must be at least a half-way decent Chinese restaurant... that and the fact that it's mostly Chinese people dining there.
The interior of the restaurant was actually recently remodeled, there is matching wallpaper, chairs, and furnishings, and the seat cushions are not covered in plastic (yay!). The layout of tables is quite nice as well, which at a dim-sum restaurant is an important factor because at places like Jade Garden where the floor plan is complex, there are certain tables which rarely see a fresh cart roll by. Not the case here, where there are big tables in the middle with the rotating tops, and smaller tables on the sides. This give the carts a nice little Nascar-style track to loop around and everyone gets fair treatment.
Of course, there are the usual dim-sum-problems which plague this place, like non-existent water glasses unless you plead for them. And it is possible to get the last of an item on a cart and it will be cold. But, the staff is receptive and were more than willing to exchange dishes if cold or soggy (don't know if you've ever tried to explain "sogginess" to a non-native speaker but they always give me the weirdest looks)
The dishes themselves are what make me keep coming back. Everything is either average, or WAY above. Things like the shu-mai... were just average (too dense). The shrimp egg rolls on the other hand... AWESOME! If you're going, this is what I usually get:
- Egg rolls, filled with shrimp and a little bit of starch-like sauce
- Shrimp and scallion dumplings w/ sesame seed. Best I've had, nice and crispy on top and bottom. Wrap has good texture and the filling has nice mild flavor.
- Sticky rice. Filled with bay shrimp, ground pork, and mushroom. Never mushy or overcooked, perfect consistency and the filling has rich, intense flavor. This is a consistently good item at most dimsum joints but it is near perfect at Harbor City.
- BBQ Pork honey pastry-thing. If you don't know what I'm talking about, they're the little pastry rectangles with bulbous centers, covered in sesame seeds. I prefer these to Char-su-bao (excuse the butchering, native speakers), the white puffy BBQ pork buns.
All this good stuff, and the price is right on par with other regular dim-sum establishments. You'll pay anywhere between $6-$10 per person if you want to leave full.
Feel free to laugh at the hordes surrounding Jade Garden as you waltz into Harbor City with your posse and enjoy good dim-sum without the hype.
They have all the basic dishes, and was good, prices are very good. Food is fast, just be careful to not take on too much at once, as they will be back many times again, unlike some other places.
Absolutely more than meets the eye, this joint.
The first time I came I was enticed by the Yelp reviews raving about the food here, and for the most part they were spot on.
The siumai / shaomai / shumai here is among the chunkiest, most juicy, and filling examples of the type I've ever come across, easily 50% larger than the shumai I'm accustomed to. The fact that I could actually taste real chunks of lean meat in the filling is a real testament that the chefs use quality materials in their food (as opposed to some joints that have mystery filling for their dim sum).
The xiao pai gu (small pork ribs) are also excellent. Same chunkiness as the shumai with generous cuts of perfectly cooked and juicy meat, with just a slight kick thanks to bits of jalapenos in the oil.
The phoenix claws (chicken feet / feng zhua / feng gow) is really cheap and perfectly sauced as well - not too heavy on the sweetness or oiliness. The meat and skin of the chicken feet comes off easily and is just the right crispness and chewyness.
Other staple items - Steamed tripe, hargow / shrimp dumplings, zhongzi (sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves) were similarly EXCELLENT.
So why must I give this place only 4 stars despite the gushing review of the food?
1) The service is spotty. Sometimes you feel like you're waiting forever for the one good cart (with the hot steamed foods) to come around to your table. Sometimes the girl that tends that cart will carry some of the steamed items on a large plate and serve them table by table - isn't that the purpose of having a cart in the first place? I would think it's more efficient to push the cart around instead of having it block traffic around the tight aisles.
2) The lines can be incredibly long (15-30 minute waits) on weekends during peak hour (11:30-1:00PM).
3) Not enough variety in their dimsum offerings that are carted around. In short, they simply load the cart with too few types of items. There is only one cart for steamed goods, another cart for fried / pan-seared / special dishes, and maybe another one for desserts. Typical dim sum places have a mobile frying station for the fried / seared dishes to give them some extra heat before serving, and another cart for congee (see below). I was disappointed in the Chinese Leek & Shrimp buns (jiucai bao / gauchoy bao) because they weren't hot by the time they reached our table.
One of the things I test at EVERY dim sum place is their pidan shourou zhou (thousand-year egg and meat congee) - which was astoundingly EXCELLENT. This item was buried in their menu despite it being a very commonly requested item in every dim sum joint on the east coast and SF. If only they had a congee cart, this would be more easily accessible instead of waiting 15 minutes for a special order of this item.
4) Yeah, the tininess of this place and decor are kind of lacking, but I won't really hold that against them. I can't complain for the awesome food and awesome prices.
Overall:
The best bang for the buck in Seattle for dimsum / yamcha. The food and its taste is ultimately what brought me back many many times for repeat visits. The cheap price ($8-$12 a person) is simply the cherry on top.
You need to dig harder to find the dishes that aren't offered often on the cart though - I strongly encourage everyone to try a new dish or two each time you visit, and stray off what's being offered on the cart.
Good Dim Sum, small space; so expect to wait for a table even during the weekdays. They have a few unique dishes, but for the most part it's standard Dim Sum at a good price!
So I took a little study break to have lunch here with some fabulous yelpers today. And overall it was a pretty great experience.
At almost every dim sum place I end up eating the same dishes. I really don't like eating things that I'm not even sure what they are so I stick to my basics. However, the basics here are hot and fresh unlike a lot of other dim sum places you'll find around the ID.
The place is smaller than other places you'll find in the ID, but the table is worth the wait. It can get a bit loud in here, but really, why do you need to talk while shoveling large quantities of yummy food into your mouth?
Solid contender for the dim sum top spot in Seattle. I had steamed pork buns, sticky rice in lotus leaves, shrimp wontons, beef tendon, chicken feet, duck feet and shrimp and chive steamed rice buns. The sticky rice was exceptional - not too greasy, flavorful and complex, better to me than Jade Garden's down the street. Everything else was fairly good and reasonably priced. Restaurant looks mostly clean (floor seemed a little dirty) and the decor has been renovated. I would definitely come here again, and try the barbecued or roasted pork, or the congee.
My hangups - service can be slow and inattentive, and the offerings seem pretty limited. If you can go with someone who speaks Cantonese, you will probably do great here.
In the beginning, there was House of Hong. And Seattle was very sad.
(But really, what did I know? I was 17 the first time I had dim sum, and it took a long time to become this connoisseur.)
Then came Top Gun, and the ID became a bit more chipper.
But alas, Top Gun disappeared, and a lesser, non-ID restaurant had to stand in that day. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
Then Top Gun miraculously reappeared, but far far away in the pits of a hell parking lot guarded by a perilous, exhausting journey over the 520 bridge. And Jade Garden is acceptable, but it gets me too full too quickly...and not in a good way.
Then came Ron M, with lofty promises about amazing dim sum in the ID, at a funny little place called Harbor City BBQ. Terribly crowded on New Year's Day, but still absolutely wonderful. Then again in the early afternoon on a late-spring weekday - empty this time...which would have doomed the quality of the food at other, inferior restaurants, but did nothing to diminish the wonder at Harbor City.
This time I got to go with the queen of tripe and chicken feet herself, QuinnC. We got the standards siu mai and ha gow, but changed up the adventurous stuff - to duck feet and pig stomach. That day I discovered I could eat a whole flock's worth of duck feet...so much nicer than that big pad of fattiness on the chicken. Pig was amazing too - as long as I could make myself not think about what it was.
We got full (in a really really good way), on about $17.
And so, by the grace of the dim sum gods, Seattle's light burns bright once again.
The dim sum was pretty good. I would give it 4 stars, but they took forever to bring us our water! I do not drink tea, so I asked for water, halfway into our meal they still haven't brought out the water so...we had to ask again for our water.
Come early in the morning because there are few tables and it starts to get busy around 11am and you get fresh hot dim sum.
For 35 bucks, 4 of us were stuffed!
Second dim sum experience in Seattle. Large portions, yummy, fast, and good tea.
Pretty sure we were overcharged, something I was warned about by other reviews but decided to risk anyway. Oh well.
Wow! I finally made it in here and was surprised how much it had changed since it was just the BBQ house. I didn't even recognize it.
To be honest, I was swayed by all the Yelp reviews, even though my friends and family hadn't mentioned this place for dim sum. So, it was time to give it a whirl.
Two things become immediately obvious when you walk in. The noise is deafening and the dining room isn't set up for dim sum. There are two little aisles that people encroach on with their chairs. So, there aren't two clean paths for the dim sum carts to roll through. As a result, the carts don't come around as often as they should. I know chinese restaurants love those big round tables that seat 10 peeps, but I don't they work too well here.
The pros:
- The dim sum is pretty tasty.
- The food is incredibly inexpensive. (3 peeps - $25!)
The cons:
- Lack of variety of the dim sum
- The atmosphere
I don't know much about dim sum. I'd only had it once before relocating to Seattle. Since then, I've been to a handful of places, some huge, and some tiny and crowded. I think Harbor City BBQ has hit the sweet spot.
I don't eat most of the dim sum offerings, given the common use of pork in these offerings. I do, however, like seafood offerings, and am pleased to say that although I figured I'd exhausted all the seafood dim sum possibilities, I managed to have a couple items at Harbor City that I'd never even seen before! Don't ask me what it was. I have no idea what any of that stuff is called, except "Chinese broccoli."
The food was very tasty; the service was regular, not spotty; and they accommodated our large-ish group without fuss. It's right across the street from Jade Garden, cheaper, and less crowded. This seems like a win. I'll be back.
After a very disappointing experience at House of Hong prompted by a hapa woman who I presumed an expert, I just felt dim sum and I might not be right for each other.
As is often the case in stark disagreements, we were both (half) right - she knew dim sum could be enjoyable, and I knew House of Hong was terrible but I didn't give up.
In an overcrowded two block radius, Harbor City manages to distinguish itself from the likes of Jade Garden by being cheap, high quality, a bit less busy (although I'm not sure why and hesitate on reviewing because that might change) and taking reservations.
"Plump" is the best word I can use to describe the piping hot dim sum, from:
- bulbous har gow (shrimp ball)
- overstuffed shu mai (pork dumpling)
- various meat, including what appeared to be duck, in the large lo mai gai (sticky rice)
- steamed disc-shaped shrimp and chive cakes
- rice noodles with shrimp
- Chinese donuts
Everything here is plump except for the overwhelming number of Asian patrons and the bill. For 11 people, including 3-4 power eaters, our total damage was a mere $120.
Having overcome my rookie sortie, Top Gun may be slightly better quality at nearly twice the price, but from now on for MSG, chili oil and steamed and stir-fried goodness, especially if I can conscript a Cantonese speaker to join, I'm flying Harbor City instead.
came here again over the weekend. we had a group of 5 for dim sum and was over at jade garden but the wait was flippin' bananas. jade garden has an earlier prime time than most other joints, i guess. anyways, i headed over to harbor city to peep out the wait there and it was much much better so the posse headed there. we sat near the kitchen again and promply ordered 1 or 2 of almost everything. hahaha. we tore it up for reals. they didn't have tripe for some reason that day and the salt and pepper squid was only meh. everything else was on point, tho. har gow, siu mai, chicken feets, shrimp cheong fun, etc...and when we got the bill? man, hella cheaper than what i originally expected. we got outta there at about $15/per person totally stuffed. this has become my go to spot in chinatown. say word!
me and a couple pals had planned on trying the remodelled harbor city for dim sum over the weekend… Read more »
WOW! What a change this place was from the last time I was here. They really had converted the interior into a normal restaurant instead of the meat-market-looking (cold and white) they were with the previous owners. I guess changing owners will do that.
The dim sum was absolutely great! Gavin N. said they have the best Shumai in town and he was RIGHT! You get 4 tasty homemade fat Shumai - the steamed ground season pork is ready to roll off the edge of the wonton wrap. All the different types of good size shrimp dim sum (ha gow (shrimp ball), stuffed chives n' shrimp, deep fried tofu stuffed shrimp, etc), was succulent and just popped in your mouth. My favorite Nor Mai Gai (seasoned ground pork stuffed sticky rice wrapped in leaves) was good. The char siu bow (steamed pork buns) were little sweet for my liking, but I liked really like the buns (take it however you want). We also had the turnip cakes, chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, congee, black bean steamed pork, and bbq pork hombow - they were ALL delicious!
I think I had my fill of dim sum for the next 6 months! Lots of steamed basket just came in to our table non-stop and with all 10 of us there (and eaters) the bill came to $15 per person with tip! CHEAP CHEAP! =)
The staff was nice and very tentative to taking the steam baskets, filling our tea and water, and requests. That is very rare in Chinatown.
THANK YOU GAVIN N.! Finally, this has broke the ice for me to go to the larger Yelp events! Nice to meet everyone - Gavin, Naurry, Ian n' Ian, Sean, Rick, Will and Galvin! Dan really had a great time meeting all of you and eating dim sum - woohoo! =)
A MUST GO! =)
P.S. Going there on a traditional Dim Sum Sunday will be a challenge to find free parking on the street and might have to wait for awhile to get seated.
I think I will be going here instead of Jade Garden and the rest in the ID.
Everyone is waiting in line across the street while you can duck in here and have some awesome dimsum. Better than the last couple of times I've been out in the ID for brunchfast.
Delicious brunchfest!
Interestingly enough in this smaller-than-Jade-Garden location, they have more variety and faster service. Perhaps you should think of them as the leaner, meaner underdog that tries harder to please and throws down the tasty in large amounts.
There were asians at the table, so I can not say if the usual whiteboy "you rikey teh shrimp! you eat!" treatment happens here.
I did particularly enjoy the congee, their sticky rice (the one with the duck in it was super awesome), their broccoli seemed fresher than usual, and the rest seemed to have just a little more love in it than usual. ..or maybe that's just the MSG talking. In any case, they'll see me again soon.
If you still need a tiebreaker, they're also cheaper than much of the local competition. Win.
We went at about 3:30 pm on a Sunday. When we walked in it was empty. I asked if they were still doing Dim Sum, and we were ushered to a basic clean table with a smile. When our tea and water was brought to us so was the "tally card". We were told that the cart was done so we needed to select what we wanted so they could make it for us fresh.
I ordered the steamed shrimp dumplings, steamed beef balls, deep fried pork balls, pork dumplings, and steamed BBQ pork buns. The dumplings with Chinese broccoli were out. The dishes were brought to us two at a time piping hot. There was no sauces presented as sides.
Our meal was tasty. The shrimp was fresh and not overcooked, the BBQ pork was the best I have had for dim sum so far, and the beef balls had a great cilantro taste to them. I was a little confused on why the steamed pork dumplings had shrimp in them, but I liked them so I didn't complain. Each item had a little different taste (sauce/seasoning) then the others- even if them were also a shrimp or park dish... this was great because the meal didn't seem repetitive.
I believe the my brother's first dim sum adventure with me was successful- though he commented once in a while that it tasted a little weird- I think he is just use to eating food in his frat! Yelp did not steer my wrong with the Harbor City recommendation- as the next destination after Jade Garden. Harbor City is not the best "restaurant environment", but serves tasty cheap food and provides pleasant service. The entire meal cost $15 with tax and tip.
FYI-
* I thought it would be easier to order looking at the names on the tally sheet vs. the food on the cart for choices- turns out it is not!
*Harbor City is open 11am-11pm... even if they are vacuuming and cleaning up :)
* You can park at Uwajimaya for 1 hour for free with $7 bought in groceries or 2 hours for free with $15 bought in groceries- Instead of circling for parking I took advantage of this and picked up my veggies and protein for the week after dim sum.
Yay! After reading some Yelp threads about a dim sum event here, our family decided to check it out last weekend. The wait was loooong (~20 mins), but it wasn't as long as Jade Garden's wait, and the food was worth it! This place definitely has the best shu mai that I've had. Other standouts include the seaweed/shrimp fried in bean curd, shrimp dumplings, and the salt & pepper squid (although it was on the salty side). This place is small and can get way crowded, but the cart comes around with piping hot food fairly quickly, and service is good. There's also a few items that don't show up at other places, and I'll be back to try out more items next time...hopefully when it's not too too crowded.
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Dim Sum
Seattle, WA
Category: Dim Sum
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