Dim Sum at Myers + Chang

I've had dim sum at a number of Chinese restaurants over the years, but I've always felt disgusting a few hours later. After a delicious meal at Myers + Chang in the South End in December, I knew I had to give their dim sum a shot, as I was sure that post-meal sickness wouldn't set in from their food.

I took along my friends Ann, who had never had dim sum before, and Kristen, who loves M+C for their gluten-free menu. When we arrived at noon, the restaurant was almost empty (although I think the holiday weekend had something to do with it). Our waiter gave us little slips with all the dim sum offerings, and we began checking off our order.

First out were the bao, steamed buns with various fillings. I've heard amazing things about the pork belly (in the back of the photo), but it was my least favorite. The braised short rib (left) was tender and tasty, but the soy braised chicken (right) was my favorite, bursting with salty goodness and perfectly cooked meat. The bao aren't huge, but the short rib and chicken both had tons of meat and were pretty filling.

Plates started coming out faster, and we were enjoying every bite. Mama Chang's Pork Dumplings were fantastic - crispy dough with intensely flavored pork without the greasiness inherent in so many dumplings or potstickers. The tea-smoked pork spare ribs (above) were lacquered with a sweet and sticky coating which crisped up all the edges of the meat. The fried rice with pork and pineapple was fine, but I wasn't wild about it. I definitely appreciated the wide range of flavors (and I loved the fried slivers of shallot on top), and the balance between sweet and spicy and savory was on point.

Thankfully, all of the plates are small enough that you can order many different things to get tastes of everything (my favorite way to enjoy a meal). The dan dan noodles (above) were plenty spicy, and the cucumber on top helped cut the heat. The Thai ginger chicken vermicelli was a big hit, especially with Ann, who normally hates Thai food and would never even order anything with the word Thai in it. We also ordered the edamame and celery slaw with candied lemon, which is not usually on the dim sum menu but they added it for the gluten-free menu. I love this stuff and could eat it every day. The savory sesame oil and the sweet lemon peel both bring out the fresh flavors of the veggies - so tasty!

We ended up ordering more than we intended, mostly through some miscommunications with our waiter. So if there's one thing I would do next time, it would be to only ask for a second menu sheet instead of verbally giving an additional order to the waiter. We ended up with 3 of some dishes (where we only wanted 2), and a few things got ordered that we never asked for. It wasn't that big of a deal, though, because everything was delicious and we didn't mind having more of it to enjoy.

Cheap Eats: Pho Republique

Another week, another great bar deal. But, while many establishments don't venture much past fries and wings, Pho Republique in the South End offers tasty treats for $2 a pop. Their dim sum bar menu has eight varied options - choose one for a snack along with your drink, or they them all for a meal or to share.

All of the choices are tasty (even the crispy tofu, considering that this Bostonist is not a fan of the tofu), but there are a few real standouts in the bunch. The candied garlic spare ribs, 2 per order, are sweet and savory, with a crispy caramelized exterior and meat that falls right off the bone. The veggie rangoon, which looks more like an eggroll, is filled with cream cheese and tender shredded vegetables. And the edamame gyoza are crunchy envelopes stuffed with pureed edamame, an excellent combination of crispy and smooth textures.

Pho Republique is located at 1415 Washington Street in the South End. The Dim Sum Bar Menu is offered Monday through Thursday, 5:30-7:00pm at the bar.

Originally published on Bostonist.