Midtown Lunch

Wokano on Washington Ave serves dim sum every day. The exterior is not too inviting, but inside it has the standard dim sum joint look; you know, gaudy chandeliers and big round tables.  Like most dim sum places, the stream of goodies dies down after lunch time, but at Wokano you can order from a one page menu of dim sum option, ensuring a fresh and hot product. Just know that they do run out of things.

I have certain standard for dim sum, so I had to find out: Woka-no or Woka-yes? I’m sorry, that’s likely the worst pun I have ever done.

First taste was promising; stuffed bean curd, with layers of thin bean curd sheets filled with shrimp and pork, had a great texture and flavor.

Clams in black bean sauce are great to share and still taste good after they get cold. Comparable to what most dim sum places put out.

Pan fried chive dumplings were not my favorite, a bit too greasy.

I smiled when I saw the crab claw on the menu. I haven’t seen these on a dim sum cart in years. I kinda think they fell out of dim sum style, if thats a thing. Crab claws are deep fried ball of shrimp paste with a crab claw stuck in it. It is a whole lot of shrimp paste at once; I probably enjoyed this more as a yout.

And their pork shu mai is probably the biggest version I’ve seen. They were served hot and were quite good.

Fried chicken wings were delivered to another table and they looked so crispy we had to have them. I hate hate hate when a chicken misleads me with its good looks in to thinking it is super crispy when it actually isn’t. Luckily, these wings were seriously crispy. Plus they had subtle hints of ginger. This may have been the first time I ordered wings at dim sum, but it won’t be the last.

I can officially vouch for Wokano’s dim sum. And unlike in Chinatown, there is a big free parking lot for those with cars.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Quality dim sum that is available later in the day than most places
• You can order dishes fresh from the kitchen

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Not all the staff speak English well
• Items do run out

Wokano, 1100 Washington Ave, 215-271-3388