Try dim sum for Chinese New Year

By Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 | 5:09 p.m.

Greetings, Vegas Epicures.

Allow me to wish belated Happy Chinese New Year, for this, the Year of The Ox, to one and all. I suppose you'd like me to show respect and not write about steak for at least a week. Okay, be that way.

Instead, then, I'd like to talk briefly about two of my favorite places for dim sum, a Chinese phrase that literally means, "touch the heart." Dim sum is terrific sweet, salty and savory pastries and snacks that you eat in Chinese restaurants, generally at lunch or teatime. If you haven't tried this phenomenon, you are really missing out.

First among equals is Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast Casino. Kevin and Karrie Hung, who also own the Noodle Exchange across the hall, are real pros and their food proves it. Don't miss the crunchy firecracker shrimp rolls studded with sesame seeds, and lo mai gai, sticky rice stuffed with chicken and sausage, served steaming in lotus leaves. I like to go there after midnight; they stay open until 3 a.m. Call 367-7111 for more details.

My other favorite place for dim sum, the one where you will find local and visiting Chinese chattering away in Cantonese, Mandarin or Shanghainese, is Cathay House, at 5300 Spring Mtn, Rd., at the western edge of Chinatown.

Dim sum like ha gow, tempting shrimp dumplings, and siu mai, noodle wrapped minced pork, are served from traditional rolling carts, by a team of streetwise women servers. You may, however, have to speak a little Chinese to get the humor. Their phone number is 876-3838.

Finally, the downstairs at RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay has trotted out a new lunch menu, and it's amazing. RM stands for Rick Moonen, lecturer, uber-chef and author of a new sustainable seafood bible called "Fish Without a Doubt." Moonen only uses the best and most sustainable fish on the market, eschewing farmed or endangered species, which are often devoid of taste, anyway.

Rick's White Clam Chowder, only six dollars, is chock full of clams, bacon and potato, flecked with fresh dill. It's simply the best clam chowder west of New England. For those who prefer a sandwich, catfish Sloppy Joe, stacked high on a homemade potato and wheat flour roll, is the ticket. And for you nostalgic New Englanders, fried Ipswich clams with soft bellies, with fries and homemade tartar sauce, tastes just like home. Sign me up.

Max Jacobson is the principal food columnist in the Las Vegas Weekly, and a Food and Wine Journalist for Vegas Magazine. He can be reached at 702-990-2454 or [email protected].