Chiayi's 40-Year-Old Northern Chinese Cuisine Restaurant

This restaurant, "Dim Sum World," is one of the few Northern Chinese cuisine spots in Chiayi. Located across from the original site of Chiayi Air Force Village, it is run by descendants of immigrants from mainland China specializing in mainland-style dishes. During my college days in Chiayi, I often visited this 40-year-old establishment. Besides their buns, steamed dumplings, and cold appetizers, which are quite good, the restaurant operates on a self-service basis. The dried tofu has a slightly sweet and mildly spicy flavor. The marinated seaweed is flavorful, though it uses thicker seaweed knots. The shredded tofu salad is prepared in a Taiwanese style, with celery and shredded radish. The century egg tofu is paired with soy sauce paste and minced garlic; the tofu texture is decent, and the century egg doesn't have that sour aftertaste. Overall, the ingredients are good, and the cold appetizers are fairly standard. Now, let's talk about the noodles and dumplings. The dumplings only come in one variety: chive dumplings, which I find average in taste. The fresh pork soup dumplings resemble the ones from Hangzhou, without soup but with some meat juices, which are quite nice. The soup dumplings are Shanghai-style, with a sweet white filling, no ginger, and a pure meat flavor. The soup quantity is moderate. The shrimp steamed dumplings are delicious, made with hot dough wrappers and a pork-shrimp mixture, which I also recommend. As for the noodles, the zhajiang dry noodles are ordinary. The fresh pork wonton noodles feature wontons with scallion-pork filling, which are decent but slightly sour due to an issue with the alcohol used in the meat mixture. The noodles are chewy, and the broth is bone-based. The Yangchun noodle soup feels more like a Yangzhou-style dish rather than Taiwanese. The fresh pork wonton soup has the same sourness issue as the wonton noodles, likely due to improper handling of the meat mixture. The soy milk is rich and not overly sweet. Overall, I recommend the cold appetizers, buns, and steamed dumplings. The noodles are average, but the shrimp and vegetable-pork wontons are better options compared to the sour ones. Restaurant Name: Dim Sum World 📍Address: No. 81, Minzu Road, Huanan Village, East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan 🕰️Business Hours: Monday to Sunday, 11:30 AM–2:00 PM, 5:00 PM–8:00 PM ☎️Phone: 052787150