Dimcha, Greater Kailash 1, Delhi: Delicious Dimsums

Yum cha is a Chinese style morning or afternoon tea, which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum dishes. Dimcha brings this age old Chinese tradition to the heart of South Delhi, serving bite-sized steaming parcelled delights along with traditional Chinese teas. Since Yumcha is one of my most favourite treats, I am most excited to visit this restaurant. The restaurant’s small and cozy interiors are done in a style one easily recognises as oriental. Seating fifteen and with an open kitchen, Dimcha offers a couple of dozen varieties of dim sums and half a dozen teas.

I meet the 23-year-old Rahul Sayal, the owner of the three-week-old restaurant. It turns out that dim sums are his favourite food too, and this was an important factor in his starting Dimcha. When I ask him how his eatery is different from the dim sum establishments, a visibly proud Rahul says “we have many unique dimsums on offer. We try to keep them as authentic as possible. And unlike other dimsum eateries we do not use minced pastes here. All stuffings are made from fresh chunks of meat and fish.”

The proof of the yumcha being in the taste, I now settle down to taste the goodies. Starting with the vegetarian dimsums, chilly garlic dumplings (Rs. 245) has mixed vegetables, garlic greens, peanuts and birds eye chili, making it an enjoyable treat.  Glass dumpling with five treasures (Rs 225) with vegetables and fresh coriander in a crystal clear pastry is a bit disappointing however with little flavour or textural character. From the non-vegetarian menu, I try the interesting looking spinach and prawn roll (Rs 275) with prawn mousse rolled in spinach, steamed with black bean sauce. It is an excellent creation. Char sui chicken bao (Rs. 295) which has five spice flavoured chicken bar-be-cue bun is beautifully baked but I would have preferred the filling to be a tad bit less sweet.

I now take a soup and salad interlude. Tom yum prawn soup (Rs 295) looks great but is somehow lacking in depth. The Nueng Pla Koong salad with steamed prawns in tom yum dressing (Rs 625) would have been a great salad, had there not been a surfeit of fish sauce in it, giving it a bitter and oversalted after taste.  Crispy red turnip cake (Rs. 355) with red turnip and vegetable cake topped with spicy dry Garlic Chili is a treat. Pork Puffs (Rs. 295) with roast pork in toasted sesame puffs, and glazed with honey is very much like our own desi puffs available with neighbourhood bakeries.

Now comes the dish I have been most eagerly awaiting – the Cheung Fun. A Cantonese dish, it is a thin roll made from a wide strip of rice noodles, filled with shrimp, pork, vegetables, or other ingredients. Sweet soy sauce is poured over the dish upon serving. Since it is not very easy to make, it is not an often found dish in the dim sum menu. Crispy prawn cheung fun (Rs. 475) with its batter fried filling is obviously a favourite here, going by the number of people ordering it, but I prefer the more traditional prawn cheung fun.  Equally enjoyable is the vegetarian asparagus cheung fun (Rs. 325). As my carb-fix, I have the delicious lotus leaf parcel with sticky rice and chicken (Rs. 295).

I end the meal on a sweet, comforting note with Tim Kao-Neaw, home-made ice cream with sticky rice and mango sauce (Rs. 375).

I have had some delicious dimsums at Dimcha. While some of the dishes need a bit of tweaking, that is to be expected in a restaurant that is barely three weeks old. I am impressed by the overall expertise with which dimsums, especially the cheung funs are being churned by a 100% Indian kitchen team. Clearly Dimcha is an interesting option whenever you are visiting the GK1, N Block market.

Restaurant Ratings (out of 5):

Food: 4.0 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 4.0 | Overall: 4.0

Meal for two: Rs. 1200 | Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Home Delivery: No | Address: N-17, Ground Floor, Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi 110048 | Meal for two: Rs 1,500 |Telephone: 011 65000724-25