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Adventures in Dining

Doing Dim Sum at Restaurant Peony

Kids Love Snacking on a Meal of Appetizers

     “This must be the biggest restaurant in Chinatown,” my 10-year-old exclaimed the first time we entered the sprawling dining rooms of Restaurant Peony in downtown Oakland’s Pacific Renaissance Plaza. After our host had zigzagged us through a maze of tables spilling with patrons who made way for our 6-month-old’s stroller, we found ourselves in yet another dining room in the back of the restaurant, reserved for banquets and special occasions.
     It was a Sunday evening, and while much of the business in Chinatown seemed closed for the night, Peony was filled to capacity. That evening, the majority of the restaurant was reserved for what we were told was the “Chinese version of 4th of July,” but in spite of the crowd, the uniformed servers seated my family of four immediately.
     We dined in the midst of music, announcements and speeches, all in a Chinese dialect and amplified with the help of several microphones equipped with loud speakers. While the menu at Peony is famed for its expansive roster of Hong Kong-style specialties, options like oxtail braised in red wine or pan-fried deer did not appeal to my daughter’s palate, so we went for the more predictable choices, like hot and sour soup, which veered toward the hot side, Kung Pao chicken and chow mein. Peony’s house chow mein was very tasty, not overly greasy,
made with thinner noodles and a generous mix of ingredients served in well-balanced proportions.
     If you want dim sum, however, you must come during the lunch hour, which extends to 3 p.m. every day of the week. My daughter and I returned to Peony a few weeks later on a Sunday afternoon to give the dim sum menu a try, and once again, the restaurant was full, with a wedding reception taking place in one of the VIP rooms. This caused my daughter to describe it as “the event restaurant,” and it certainly looks the part, white tablecloths, carpeted floors, oversized tables and all. Since Peony has the capacity to seat close to 900 guests, however, we were seated within 10 minutes.
     Dim sum is a fun experience for the kids — my daughter described it as a meal of appetizers. She enjoyed choosing among the bite-sized dumplings and savory dishes rolled regularly to our table by way of traveling cart. Dim sum originated as snacks served in teahouses, and our server’s first question was about our preference for tea. He brought us a steaming pot of jasmine and left us in the hands of numerous waitstaff, none of whom seemed to have a strong suit for speaking English.
     While seating was quick given the restaurant’s size, the carts were relatively slow in coming for the same reason. If your child is not feeling adventurous, there are many familiar choices, like steamed pork buns, shrimp and pork dumplings and crispy spring rolls, all of which we summoned to our table. We also tried the pan-fried turnip cake and the rice noodles with spare ribs. Because communication with the servers was difficult, we asked to peek beneath the metal lids and into the steaming baskets to get a better idea of what we were ordering. One of the servers described a dessert we sampled as “fried milk,” which turned out to be a light egg custard. Requesting specific orders, like vegetable dishes, was difficult, so knowing the names of your dim choices before you come here helps.
     But the language barrier is part of what makes the Peony experience an authentic one. In the lively tables surrounding ours, large families of multiple generations gathered for a meal together, with several guests reading books and Sunday papers written in Chinese characters, the youngest of diners eating with their chopsticks in hand, and other guests accompanied with shopping bags filled with groceries purchased from the adjacent market stalls. Peony is, above all, a neighborhood establishment, one that’s attracted a diverse following from around the Bay Area.
     The restaurant has won several accolades, like Best East Bay Dim Sum by Oakland Tribune readers and Best Hong Kong Dim Sum in the Bay Area by Sing Tao Daily News readers. Those deterred by the idea of finding street parking should head straight to the Pacific Renaissance Plaza’s convenient indoor lot, where the rate is $2 an hour.
     Dim sum prices range from just under $3 to under $6, so the selections add up quickly. A finger-food tradition, dim sum is a hit with kids, who can see their menu rather than read it, point to what looks good, and all the while, feel like they’re having snack after snack. After your meal at Restaurant Peony, try bringing the little ones to the Oakland Asian Cultural Center or the Asian Branch of the Oakland Public Library, also located in the plaza. Or, if you didn’t fill up enough on custard buns and bean pudding, there’s ice cream and tapioca tea downstairs at the Sweet Booth.

Restaurant Peony, Pacific Renaissance Plaza, Suite 288, 388 Ninth Street, Oakland, (510) 286-8866, www.restaurantpeony.com

IF YOU GO
Heads up parents, Restaurant Peony features the following:
•    Highchairs and booster seats
•    Spacious rooms with easy stroller access
•    Straws available by request
•    A wide-ranging menu and moderate to high prices
•    A disabled stall in the restroom
•    No changing table
•    No drawing materials or similar entertainment provided for young guests

TRY THESE FOR DIM SUM
Don’t live in Oakland? Try one of the following dim sum destinations that everyone’s talking about:

ALAMEDA — East Ocean
www.eastoceanseafoodrestaurant.com

FREMONT — New Fu Lam Moon
www.fulammoon.com

DUBLIN — Willow Tree

WALNUT CREEK — Imperial Seafood Restaurant in

RICHMOND — Saigon Seafood Harbor Restaurant in
 

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