Phoenix Palace
Reviewed by: Nikki Buchanan, The Arizona Republic, Mar. 10, 2010
When it comes to gathering family and friends to eat and talk and eat some more, the Chinese are old hands.
They were nibbling dim sum about a thousand years before we Americans turned brunch into a similar Sunday pastime. If you've never tried dim sum before, Phoenix Palace offers a deliciously accessible introduction to the elaborately prepared small plates. If you're already a devotee, don't wait another minute.
Scene: Phoenix Palace is a big room, packed with tables, some outfitted with lazy susans, and large enough to seat the multigenerational families arriving in droves on Sundays. A small takeout area near the front door makes it possible to grab a few snacks and go. But who would want to when dim sum celebrates the noisy movable feast of traditional trolleys laden with gorgeous goodies?
It's all about abundance and instant gratification. You see something you like and you "follow your heart" - which is dim sum's colloquial translation.
Service: More carts per minute than any other dim sum restaurant in town. And most of the servers speak some English while a few are fluent. They're universally friendly and willing to describe what they're pushing.
Food: Don't be spooked if you see a bowl of chicken feet whiz by. They're the exception, not the rule, in a tradition known for its refinement. Do expect an array of dishes so pretty, you won't care if you know what you're eating.
No one makes better char siu bao, steamed buns filled with sweet barbecued pork, because no one else gets the dough this fluffy or the pork this moist. They're amazing, but so is every dumpling and pastry here. We loved the slippery rice flour roll filled with beef and splashed with sweetened soy sauce. Har gow, pleated bonnets of pink shrimp, and firm jellyfish dumplings made us purr with pleasure, as did a sweet, shiny bun filled with shredded coconut, and a little pastry perfection called Snow Mountain, its interior rich with coconut custard.
Spicy salt shrimp, nested on taro sticks and topped with jalapeño and green onion, are all salt and crunch while crisp-skinned roasted duck, served with pickled vegetables and peanuts, is aromatic with five-spice. Mashed taro comes stuffed with pork and wrapped in a crispy lace, but pan-fried taro cake, unctuous with pork fat, offers a different experience altogether. After all the heavy dishes, steamed Chinese broccoli, drizzled with oyster sauce, seems blessedly light and healthful.
Lowdown: Get there before the 11:30 a.m. crush. But turnover is quick. Some dishes are surprisingly generous, so come with a group to sample more things. Items categorized A-E range from $2.25 to $6.25, which means two people can eat a table's worth for $35 or less
-- Nikki Buchanan, The Arizona Republic, Mar. 10, 2010
