Life doesn’t get much better than watching a steaming-hot bamboo basket full of miniature parcels of joy whisking towards your table. Bite-sized and full of flavour, the dim sum wave is sweeping Riyadh – and we’re right here for it.
Vegetable siu mai, prawn har gau, chicken cheung fun, beef bao. Give us all you’ve got, and we’ll take that with a side of extra soy sauce please.
Crack apart those chopsticks, steam up those bamboo baskets and snack on some of the finest dumplings across the city.
Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant
It goes without saying that every city has a restaurant named after the Golden Palace of China’s Forbidden City, and Riyadh is no exception. Expect the usual mix of deep-red walls, bright neon signs and giant portions served up at high speed and you won’t be disappointed. The dim sum menu is scattered throughout the main options, so you might need to look carefully. The spring rolls are top-notch and not too greasy, with a satisfying mix of vegetables stuffed into a huge crispy casing, while the fried shrimp balls and rolls will satisfy any seafood-lover. While you’re there, plump for the mound of egg fried rice and you won’t go home hungry. Golden Palace is one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in the city, and its quirks only add to the charm.
Open daily 12.30pm-midnight. Al Olaya (011 462 7168).
Hualan
Hualan’s dedicated dim sum menu mixes Chinese flavours with contemporary ingredients, so along with classic Cantonese you’ll find plates like Angus charcoal buns and edamame doused in truffle oil (a firm Riyadh foodie favourite). More adventurous combinations include almond prawn and pumpkin beef, both available in dumpling form. After stepping through its colourful doors, the interiors of Hualan are elegant and refined, but if you head outside there’s a pagoda-topped terrace looking right out on to Olaya Street with sterling views of the nearby Al Faisaliah tower and Narcisuss Hotel. It’s the ideal place to perch all afternoon with your potstickers.
Open daily 1pm-11.30pm. Centria Mall, Al Olaya (011 211 0999).
Momo
While some don’t strictly class momo as dim sum – it’s far more often found in Nepal – the menu here more than redeems itself. Start off with some spicy edamame beans before diving right into a 24 hour-cooked short rib bao bun and a selection of the top momo. Our favourites include hickory smoked brisket, spinach and mozzarella cheese or the Shanghai dumpling soaked in ginger broth. Still hungry? Head for the main course list, which includes stir-fried crispy chicken and fish fillets braised in soy sauce. And if you’re still looking for a dim sum-style fix, custard buns are the stand-out highlight of the dessert menu.
Open daily noon-12.30am. King Abdul Aziz Rd, Ar Rabi, @momos.saudi (011 201 3110).
Riyadh Chinese Restaurant
Another old-school spot, Riyadh Chinese Restaurant serves up dim sum in giant portions. For just SAR15 you’ll get two huge vegetable spring rolls, or punt for a platter of 16 stuffed with chicken for SAR38. Dumplings and shrimp toast are served by the 12-load, and the fried wontons are a bargain at SAR19 for 12. Like the portions, the menu is simply huge (we count far more than one hundred dishes), so make sure to bring a few friends to share out those dumplings and fill the table with dishes. Or be ready to eat left-over dim sum for breakfast, lunch and dinner all week.
Open daily 11am-midnight. As Sulimaniyah (011 465 5451).
Yauatcha
Yauatcha promises to offer “accessible” dim sum from its high-end home at Mode Mall, and while we’re not quite sure what that means, if anything increases our access to delicious dumplings we’re more than happy to oblige. Light and airy with cherry blossom trees, you can really settle in here for a full-on bao bulking session – and one of the only restaurants on our list marking itself out as a dim sum spot, get ready to scoff down a fried platter of venison puffs or shovel in some top-quality smoked duck siu mai. There are literally dozens of dumplings to choose from here, so come along with a big appetite and – since it’s not the cheapest place in the city – a bulging wallet. The Yum Cha Brunch on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 6pm offers up an unlimited selection of favourites for SAR250.Open daily noon-11.30pm. Mode Mall, Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Rd, Olaya, yauatcha.sa (9200 06555).
