[doglover]

Jin Wah in Beaverton has long been a favorite of ours. We loved the little place right on Canyon road that felt more like a 50's diner than a chinese/vietnamese restaurant. The old jin wah had amazing specials and a staff where we knew everyone. A couple of years ago they moved into a much bigger place a few blocks away, expanded the menu by a mile, added a bar, and added every day dim sum.

The new Jin Wah remained a favorite, but the bigger place never really did much for us, except for bringing good dim sum to the west side.

Our last two visits to Jin Wah have been different. The food is now being prepared with a higher level of precision. Today the dim sum was clearly better than it had been - for which we are very grateful - and featured a few new items included one that we hadn't seen outside of Hong Kong. We enquired about a chef change and yes ! New 2 new chefs have been hired. Both have been in the Portland area for about 15 years - I should have asked where they came from, because one or more local restaurants just took a big hit.

The huge place's ambiance is still not to our liking, but the food has improved markedly and we highly recommend that anyone craving good chinese and who doesn't want to drive all the way out to Division just off the 205 to eat at Wong's King -- Jin Wah is a reasonable substitute. Wong's King Seafood is still the King of Portland Chinese, but Jin Wah is the Prince of the west side.

[Flynn]

Great info. I'm not at all opposed to the dim sum I've been used to at Jin Wah, so I look forward to trying it out since the chef(s) change. And one of my knocks on their dim sum has been the lack of variety. Curious, what's the dish they're serving that you haven't seen outside of Hong Kong?

I'm in the 'Wong's King has slipped' camp, so I can't use it as the gold standard it used to be.....

[doglover]

I wish I knew the name of it. It's a rather simple dumpling -- very similar to the shanghai dumplings that have the soup inside.

Wong's King may have slipped -- I admit we haven't been for over 6 months - who do you suggest might be in position to take advantage?

[randix]

Any updates on this place (Jin Wah Seafood Restaurant)? I see it got a positive write-up by Gerry Frank in today's Sunday Oregonian. Worth a visit?

[truth]

I've been to Jin Wah a few times for lunch and have been digging it. I could use a bit of help with regard to which dishes to try out here. I have really liked the General Tso's Tofu and the Chow Fun w/ chinese broccoli, although I think I would like the dry chow fun better. So far, I haven't really been into the dim sum - I don't think dim sum is my thing, as the "standards" seem really bland and I want sauce and spice; not a big fan of chinese bready things or the mystery meats and chicken feets. Anyone got any good suggestions for dishes Jin Wah does well?

[Amanda]

Get something with eggplant there, if you like eggplant. They seem to handle that vegetable especially well!

Best regards,

Amanda

[m5570]

doglover, on Aug 12 2007, 11:46 PM, said:

I wish I knew the name of it. It's a rather simple dumpling -- very similar to the shanghai dumplings that have the soup inside.

Wong's King may have slipped -- I admit we haven't been for over 6 months - who do you suggest might be in position to take advantage?

are you talking about these dumplings?

Xiaolongbao

[Plump_and_Juicy]

I'm going to be celebrating my birthday there tonight. I have my favorites, but what dinner-type dishes would you recommend? Nod to Angelhair - I do like eggplant and will look for something with that.

[Plump_and_Juicy]

Report on dinner at Jin Wah:

Arrived at 6pm and the place was nearly deserted. It filled up to capacity over the next two hours. We had a hard time deciding on our order - they have a huge menu with photos of each dish. Problem is, most of them look like bowls of brown with some green. Don't let that fool you. We had:

Large pea shoots with, I think, soy and chicken stock - very simple and fresh. Nicely laid out on the plate. These came first and we wolfed them down.

Eggplant and scallop hot pot, with Nappa cabbage and onions in a fabulous sauce. Lots of diagonally-sliced Japanese eggplants and good, firm scallops. Sometimes scallops taste weird in a Chinese restaurant, but these tasted appropriate. They were on a hot fire in a metal pot and we had to ask the waiter to put it out. Dangerous and more importantly, sauce burning!

Salt and pepper fish with raw onions and red peppers (crispy white fish, very delicate, in medium sized pieces). I looked for some kind of sauce with it though - maybe on the side as a dipping sauce. I wouldn't mind a few of these nuggets in a fish taco.

Sizzling beef flanken ribs with black pepper and green pepper. I like their sizzling platters except for their mixed seafood - the notorious Krab. They have two kinds of beef ribs; the short ribs are in a sweet sauce, the manager said, and recommended the black pepper ribs. Excellent.

I had a lychee bubble tea. There was a cart marked "Dim Sum $1" and against common sense, we got a plate of sesame balls with some black bean paste inside. Rubbery, nasty, but we ate them.

Yesterday's leftover lunch - the beef ribs and the eggplant, plus rice. You know how much you want to eat the food hot and fresh, and how many steps down the leftovers are? Well, I was very happy with how good they were - I enjoyed every bite.

Great meal - my first dinner out in way too long.

[Dragondazd]

Even if no one's been, has anyone driven by and seen if there are crowds otside at dimsum time?

[polloelastico]

Everytime I've gone (Sunday 10 to 11 am) I've gotten seated within 15 seconds. I've been half a dozen times.

[Amanda]

They have pretty good dim sum there, IMO. Admittedly, it's been a while since I've gone there since it's kind of a drive for me and we've got 82nd over this way and Old Chinatown closer in, as well. I remember the Westside Jin Wah having quite the reputable and enjoyable dim sum.

Best regards,

Amanda

[stargazer]

We went today at 2:30 and there was plenty of empty tables. However, there was also only one cart of dim sum left... so anyone who wants dim sum should get there early (even though they say they serve dim sum until 3pm).

[Dragondazd]

No matter where you go, dim sum is always better at peak traffic.

We went there at 2 on Saturday. Some items were of course old, but the freshly baked stuff is pretty good. I'd say it was pretty close to Wong's King and possibly better, but it came out to be more expensive. The only real benefit was not having to wait in line for less than stellar dim sum.

So it was alright, but not really great. Wy doesn't want to go there because it is nearing SF prices but not as good. Similarly, I can barely tolerate an occasional trip to Wong's King because the food quality does not warrant the wait.

The steamed egg bun desserts were pretty good.

We will probably go back eventually at a better time (11-12) to judge them at their best, but probably won't make many trips.

[polloelastico]

Quote

Wy doesn't want to go there because it is nearing SF prices but not as good.

I agree it's not as good as what I've had in SF, but I find it to be pretty cheap, regardless. I order about 5-7 things, and get out of there spending around $20-$24. Then again, it's pretty cheap in SF, too. As is a lot of good Asian cuisine.

[polloelastico]

Also, Dim Sum is breakfast. I would suggest never getter there later than noon.

[stargazer]

polloelastico, on Sep 28 2008, 08:08 PM, said:

Also, Dim Sum is breakfast. I would suggest never getter there later than noon.

I'm under the impression that dim sum is like a brunch kind of deal, either in Taiwan or San Francisco or New York where I've lived, dim sum lasts from around 10am until 3 or 4pm on weekends. I suppose coming from the bay area I was just used to being able to get perfectly fresh dim sum at 2 or 3...

[polloelastico]

stargazer, on Oct 2 2008, 09:22 PM, said:

polloelastico, on Sep 28 2008, 08:08 PM, said:

Also, Dim Sum is breakfast. I would suggest never getter there later than noon.

I'm under the impression that dim sum is like a brunch kind of deal, either in Taiwan or San Francisco or New York where I've lived, dim sum lasts from around 10am until 3 or 4pm on weekends. I suppose coming from the bay area I was just used to being able to get perfectly fresh dim sum at 2 or 3...

You're right, but in my experience with the couple places here the huge rush is in the AM and after that it's slim pickings.

What are your favorites in the Bay Area? I was at Ton Kiang last spring, and had a pleasant enough experience that I'm considering returning in November.

[Dragondazd]

polloelastico, on Oct 2 2008, 10:29 PM, said:

stargazer, on Oct 2 2008, 09:22 PM, said:

polloelastico, on Sep 28 2008, 08:08 PM, said:

Also, Dim Sum is breakfast. I would suggest never getter there later than noon.

I'm under the impression that dim sum is like a brunch kind of deal, either in Taiwan or San Francisco or New York where I've lived, dim sum lasts from around 10am until 3 or 4pm on weekends. I suppose coming from the bay area I was just used to being able to get perfectly fresh dim sum at 2 or 3...

You're right, but in my experience with the couple places here the huge rush is in the AM and after that it's slim pickings.

What are your favorites in the Bay Area? I was at Ton Kiang last spring, and had a pleasant enough experience that I'm considering returning in November.

You are wrong. The time to eat dim sum isn't 'in the morning'. The time to eat dim sum is whenever there is the most kitchen activity. You go at the peak, which tends to be after 10 and before 2, whatever it is for that restaurant.

The price thing is a matter of relativity. It might be cheap food, but not in relation to dim sum places of that quality.

I think we got other threads on dim sum but:
We went to Yank Sing last time we were in SF, very good but pricey as dim sum goes. If you're in the city, you might as well go there though. They spill out into this enclosed courtyard for dim sum so the wait isn't that bad.

I love Koi Palace but it's too busy.

Dynasty in San Jose is our place of choice. Not too busy, decent.

[stargazer]

I personally really really enjoy Yank Sing, but again their prices are also the top of the line too. There's tons of discussions of who makes the best dim sum in the bay area and everyone has their favorites. I think I'm partial to Yank Sing because of their heavenly XLB (xiao long bao) and their free parking with validation on weekends which gives me a chance to stroll over to the Ferry Building farmer's market after dim sum. I also enjoy Koi Garden (a branch of Koi Palace in Dublin) which is less hectic than Koi Palace and Asian Pearl in the Richmond Ranch 99 plaza is also very good.