A Downtown Chicago Table for Dim Sum and Cantonese Classics

A bamboo-steamer-style lunch can take plenty of directions here: translucent shrimp dumplings, pork buns, pan-fried turnip cake, a supple rice crepe, or a less familiar plate of chicken feet. In Lakeshore East, near Millennium Park, this polished downtown restaurant makes room for the full Cantonese dim sum spread rather than treating it as a short list of greatest hits.

The setting has enough polish for a celebratory dinner, but it is not overly formal. The dining room is spacious, clean, well lit and comfortable, with decorative touches that give it an upscale look without making a table of dumpling enthusiasts feel out of place.

Ordering happens from a digital tablet or iPad menu that uses photographs generously. That is a particularly useful feature with a menu this broad: you can see the shape of a rice roll, the look of a seafood plate or the size of a bun before adding it to the table.

The interface is straightforward enough to encourage browsing. A meal can begin with familiar shrimp shu mai and pork soup dumplings, then wander into a rice crepe with fried donut or a lotus-leaf-wrapped rice parcel without turning the order into a guessing game.

The menu works naturally for family-style dining. Several dim sum plates can cover the middle of the table while larger barbecue, noodle, rice and seafood dishes fill out the meal. It gives a group plenty to discuss besides the usual question of who ordered what.

Shrimp dumplings are among the dependable opening orders, with carefully made wrappers around flavorful fillings. Shrimp shu mai adds another classic to the mix, while shrimp dumplings with green chive offer a specific variation worth noticing on the tablet.

Pork soup dumplings bring a more substantial bite to the steamer lineup. They fit nicely alongside sesame buns and pork buns, which give the table a soft, sweet-savory contrast to all those delicate dumpling wrappers.

Vegetable dumplings provide a lighter option, with a subtly sweet character and three dumplings per serving. They are useful in a large shared order, especially when the rest of the table has become enthusiastically meat-forward.

Rice crepes, often called cheung fun, deserve more than a quick glance. Their soft, silky texture is a different experience from the firmer wrapper of a dumpling, and the menu gives diners more than one route into them.

The rice crepe with fried donut is an especially unusual combination: tender rice noodle wrapped around a crisp center. BBQ pork rice crepe offers a more savory, roast-meat direction. Ordering both is a fine way to appreciate how much range can exist inside one dim sum category.

Chicken feet, congee and lotus-leaf-wrapped rice keep the selection connected to traditional Cantonese dining rather than limiting the meal to the dishes most Americans already know. These are the plates that can make a return visit feel different from the last one.

Pan-fried turnip cake is another old-school dim sum favorite, with a browned exterior that changes the texture of a meal otherwise dominated by steamed dishes. A table that includes turnip cake, dumplings and rice crepes has a little more contrast built in.

The dim sum may get the early attention, but the broader Chinese menu is substantial enough to carry dinner. Barbecue selections, seafood, soups, noodles, rice dishes, congee and family-style entrées make this more than a daytime dumpling stop.

Crispy pork belly is a standout from the barbecue side, delivering the roast-pork character diners hope for when they order it. Roast duck is another appealing centerpiece, with crisp skin and tender meat, while roast pork gives the table one more classic to pass around.

Beef brisket, sweet-and-sour pork and mixed fried rice provide familiar comforts among the more specialized dishes. The mixed fried rice is particularly handy as a shared base for a spread of barbecue and dim sum, and the sauces and dressings add another layer to the table.

Seafood has its own corner of the menu, from salt-and-pepper shrimp to salt-and-pepper lobster and goby fish. The shrimp is a strong choice for diners drawn to that peppery, savory style, and it is often favored over the salt-and-pepper squid.

A selection of Asian-style cocktails gives dinner another option beyond tea. Milk tea with tapioca suits a more casual meal, while complimentary jasmine tea keeps the table supplied with something fragrant and calming between bites.

The restaurant's Lakeshore East location puts it within easy reach of Millennium Park and the center of downtown Chicago. It can work as a destination meal after time around the park or simply as a convenient place to gather in the neighborhood.

Inside, the room accommodates both a pair settling in for lunch and a larger party ordering widely across the menu. Groups as large as eight have found comfortable seating with a reservation, and the conversational noise level is generally moderate rather than boisterous.

Free Wi-Fi is available, a modest convenience that can be useful when coordinating the rest of a downtown day. For the meal itself, though, the more compelling screen is the one at the table, full of photographed dishes that make one more order seem perfectly reasonable.

Some meals conclude with fortune cookies and larger complimentary cookies, an easygoing finish after a table full of steamers, rice crepes and shared platters. It is a pleasant little extra when it appears, especially alongside the last cups of jasmine tea.