Fung's Kitchen on the SW Freeway

Eat here for a scrumptious dim sum (Chinese small plates) lunch on Saturday or Sunday. We love joining the crowds of multi-generational Asian families enjoying the vast array of dim sum dishes served from carts being rolled around the massive dining rooms. Last night we rang in the "Year of the Dragon" at a special banquet dinner we learned about at our last dim sum visit. We invited friends to join us for Fung's 3rd annual Chinese New Year celebration, which featured an 8-course gourmet dinner, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, and cultural entertainment. We got into the spirit by wearing red for good luck. The ten of us were eagerly seated around a round table with a lazy susan and a bottle of red wine (which we supplemented with a few more to really get into the spirit.) The feast began with an appetizer platter of BBQ pork, roasted pork, and shredded tofu. Next we were served a delicately flavored pumpkin-white asparagus-lobster soup that surprisingly had a big chunk of succulent steamed lobster meat from an entire claw in each bowl. The entrees included traditional crispy Peking duck, tender grilled Maine lobster in the shell with spicy sea salt, and stir-fried fillet mignon slices with sweet onions in a honey black pepper sauce. Delicious, golden-colored shrimp fried rice followed. For dessert, we savored the crisp, chewy fried sesame balls filled with sweet red bean paste and covered with sesame seeds (think Chinese jelly donut) and the unique Dragon's Beard candy made from superfine sugar threads encasing the sweet nutty ground mixture of sesame, peanut, and coconut. Wow! This fabulous meal was accompanied by exciting raffle drawings (Mimi & Ralph were lucky winners at our table), a traditional Lion Dance, noodle stretching demonstrations, hosting by personable tv cooking show chef and cookbook author Martin Yan from San Francisco and Dorothy Huang from Houston, goodie bags for everyone from Kikkoman, and more. Hoi Fung, chef and owner of the restaurant, made the rounds to each table (about 30 of them) with chefs Yan and Huang for a personal toast to the New Year. With a start like this, it is bound to be a legendary year. Gung hay fat choy, and see you for dim sum at Fung's soon!