Dim Sum at Chinatown’s Golden Unicorn
I love dim sum… it’s like Chinese tapas. Little bites of multiple dishes with served with Jasmine tea make for a great meal, anytime of the day. I usually have dim sum on my trips to San Francisco, but I have heard so much about the popular Chinatown institution, Golden Unicorn, I just had to go see what all the buzz was about.
Walking down the crowded streets of East Broadway I quickly found the “Golden Unicorn” sign in the sea of Chinese characters. As I entered the lobby of what appeared to be an office building I was greeted by a hostess. She called for the elevator and sent me up to the 3rd floor (the restaurant occupies the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors). As the elevator doors 
opened I gasped, I entered into a huge dining room, fabric-covered walls decorated in gold brocade, and chandeliers hung from the ceiling accented with neon lights. My astonishment at the decoration proved to be short-lived as I saw a sea of waitresses pushing dim sum carts past well-fed customers.
I was quickly seated (it was mid-morning on a weekday, expect long waits on weekends) and tea was served. The next 45 minutes was spent choosing little plates from the non-stop parade of dim sum carts passing my table. There was a large selection of plates to choose from , but I wasn’t feeling too adventurous, so I took a pass on the steamed tripe and steamed chicken feet and chose 
instead a few varieties of dumplings and a shrimp noodle. The shrimp dumplings were great however I thought the pork dumplings were forgettable– the texture of the boiled peanuts inside didn’t bode well with what would have been an impeccable pork dumpling. The shrimp noodles were good, but nothing I has was truly outstanding.
Three little dishes, tea, and an hour later I was paying my bill. No prices are listed so it came as a little surprise that the bill was $14.95. I think it was the shrimp noodles that put me over the top.
I am happy I finally got to experience Golden Unicorn, but I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way and trudge through Chinatown to visit anytime soon.
Location: Golden Unicorn, 18 East Broadway (between Catherine Street and Market Street), map, 212-941-0911
Subway: F to East Broadway; J, M, Z to Canal Street; B, D to Grand Street
Hours: Daily 9am-10:30pm
Photo credit: personal collection
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POSTED IN: Chinatown, Food & Beverage
3 opinions for Dim Sum at Chinatown’s Golden Unicorn
Mary Jo
May 3, 2008 at 10:16 am
I have a couple favorites for dim sum in Oakland.
They don’t sound like they are as ornately decorated as the Golden Unicorn (and they are both just huge warehouse type of rooms with no decor), but it’s a whole lot cheaper, too.
I think $15 is a lot for that quantity of dim sum.
Heather
May 4, 2008 at 12:36 pm
You are so right Mary Jo, Oakland has great dim sum as well as some other exceptional Asian restaurants (my favorite being the French-Vietnamese Le Chavel).
I think I will just have to go back to my old stand-by Chinese restaurant in Flushing. Even if taking the train out to Queens is a bit far it’s worth it!
Alex-Sirened
May 6, 2008 at 10:57 am
I’ve only had the proper dim sum experience once (Tampa of all places) and it was interesting for sure. I think all the carts are neat but if it wasn’t for the Korean friends that took us, it would have been more tricky as to what to pick. And yeah stuff ranged from very good to not so good so my wife and I never went back.
But I suppose we should give that another go here in Amsterdam.
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