Dim sum brunches in NYC: Five great dim sum palaces to visit

Kick off a day at Ozone Park’s Resorts World Casino New York with dim sum at this well-heeled Cantonese chain, which caters to numerous Chinese businessmen taking a break from cranking the slot machines or betting on electronic game tables. Grab a seat by the windows overlooking the Aqueduct Racetrack and work through à la carte standouts like sticky cheong fun (rice noodles) with shrimp and golden chives ($4.50), exceptionally tender pan-fried taro cakes ($3.50), and Shanghai-style steamed buns that gush a soupy mix of pork and crab ($4.50).

Those seeking the atmosphere of a bustling Hong Kong dim-sum palace will find it at this Chinatown stalwart, where gaudy neon lights line the ceiling and walkie-talkie–toting staff orchestrates the seating like air-traffic controllers. Flag down passing carts carrying dependable bites like translucent dumplings packed with snow-pea leaves and shrimp, and mounds of fried sticky rice studded with Chinese sausage. Arrive before 10am on weekends to beat the crowd and snag the freshest items.

The city’s oldest dim-sum parlor (it first opened in 1920) is also one of its most innovative, eschewing pushcarts for made-to-order dim sum that’s as fresh as any in town. The egg rolls ($3.50–$3.95) are like none you’ve ever tasted, with a crunchy shell that gives way to delicate folds of egg crêpe and a savory chicken-and-vegetable filling. Other highlights include fluffy roasted-pork buns ($1.25) and tender eggplant stuffed with a spiced shrimp-and-scallion mixture ($3.50).

Restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld redefines the Chinese breakfast tradition at his sceney West Village joint, where dumpling wizard Joe Ng turns out whimsical riffs on the classics. Delicate har gao—shrimp dumplings also stuffed with bamboo shoots, crab or lobster—are designed to look like ghosts fleeing from a sweet-potato Pac-Man, and pork-and-shrimp shumai arrive skewered over shot glasses of warm carrot soup. While not to everyone’s taste, the playful Katz’s pastrami egg roll is a novelty worth trying at least once.

A scrum of Chinese families snakes out of this boisterous 450-seat Cantonese joint on weekends, marking it as one of the highlights of Brooklyn’s Chinatown. Once you’re in, flag down waiters ferrying a procession of goodies coming out of the open kitchen—fatty spareribs with bean-curd sauce, plump chive-packed dumplings with a sear from the griddle and platters of roasted pork served with exceptionally crispy strips of skin. All the familiar items hit the spot, but save some room to sample offbeat selections like Hong Kong–style duck tongues marinated in soy sauce.