6166 E. Speedway Blvd. Chefs of China's Sung Dynasty understood food as their art form. They felt free to experiment in a range of ingredients and cooking methods, resulting in more than a hundred tiny dishes created around 960 A.D. that still remain in the Chinese culinary repertoire. There are only a few Chinese restaurants in Tucson that offer dim sum and, to my knowledge, only on Sundays. Golden Dragon, a local chain, has a fairly extensive dim sum offering at its Alvernon Way location.
Service is traditional.
Waiters roll carts full of small surprises past your table, and you simply point to the ones you'd like to try. I love this way of making a meal, but the dishes here are a bit too homogenous to be truly satisfying. They come in a variety of dishes, including shrimp balls, rice crepes and water chestnut dumplings. Simply steamed, the dumplings are the most interesting. Fish balls, a little like gefilte fish, have a pleasing texture, but they need a broth to diffuse the intense flavor.