Review of 'Mei Dim Restaurant'
In Manchester looking for somewhere to eat we stumbled across this basement restaurant in Chinatown - Mei Dim Restaurant. What attracted us to it was it was easy to look inside, it was busy, and it had a dim sum menu outside (though not really marked as such) with some of our favourites.
Glass-walled stairs lead us down into the restaurant where we were quickly shown to our seat in the corner on right side of the restaurant near to the entrance to the toilets which, unlike other restaurants we have visited, did not mean any unpleasant smells. What it did mean, however, was that we got a cold draft from the street any time the main restaurant entrance door was opened. The interior is a bit basic and we were not huge fans of the thin paper tablecloths on the table which looked decidedly cheap. Tables are reasonably distanced apart with a good mixture of large, medium and small tables accommodating any groups that came through the door. Indeed, it was quite busy with the staff running around quite a lot meaning that service was a tad slow though after ordering the dishes came quite quickly…
We quickly set aside the standard menus and examined the dim sum menu which was a helpful four-page affair with pictures, descriptions and prices. It took a while before the maitre'd came to take our order at which point we immediately ordered “Chinese tea” (Jasmine) for two (£1.50 each with our sharing a HUGE metal pot that we never managed to finish) then randomly selected items from the menu which, as is typical, arrived as it was ready but we did not really have too long to wait between dishes arriving on the table.
Despite my companion not being a fan, I had to order the “Steamed Beef Honey Comb [Tripe] with Black Pepper Sauce” (£4.90). A good sized portion, I found this a touch “cow-y” (as per my companion) but quite tender and flavourful.
The “Steamed Roast Pork Buns [Char Sui Bau]” (£4.20; 3 pieces) were quite tasty with a good amount of filing though there was a bit of Chinese sausage inside which I am not a huge fan of. The buns were fluffy and quite light though a bit small.
“Steamed Mixed Meats & Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaves” (£4.90; 2 pieces) was quite tasty though small, with a good amount of tasty filing though no big pieces of meat. The filing's sauce was pleasant but did not overpower the flavour.
For some reason I randomly picked “Glutinous Rice with Chinese Smoked Diced Meat” (£4.90) which had very little flavour and not much meat in it though it was a good size portion.
The “Meat Spring Rolls” (£4.20; 3 pieces each cut in 2) were amazingly tasty with a good amount of filling that did NOT include large quantities of beansprouts for a change. Served with a soy sauce dip, these were very fresh and quite yummy.
I thought the “Mixed Meat Croquet” (£4.20; 3 pieces) was quite good with a lovely gelatinous shell with a deep-fried crunch to it and a good amount of meat filling but my companion was not a huge fan though I think it is more of a texture thing - It is quite gloopy but this does not bother me.
My companion is also a bit wary of the wide, slightly slimy, white “cheung fun” dishes but I ordered the “Roasted Pork Cheung Fun” (£4.50; 3 pieces) anyway. This also came with a soy sauce dip on the side. She seemed to like them though they were a bit awkward to eat as they stuck to the others and were very soft. There was a good amount of pork filling though I found the flavour quite mild.
Last up was one of my favourites: “Deep Fried Prawn Balls (with Mayonnaise Dip)” (£4.90; 4 pieces). Too often have I seen this dish served without the Mayonnaise which means it is dreadfully dry and no where near as sinful. In this case the Mayonnaise was, oddly, quite runny but it still added that little bit extra to the prawn dumplings that make it so good. As with everything here, it was served piping hot and straight out of the kitchen.
I think how the toilets are maintained is always a good sign of how serious a restaurant is - If they don't bother keeping them clean, what is the kitchen like? Do they not care about hygiene and the comfort of their guests? In this case they were very clean indeed and smelled quite nice.
Generally the service was reasonable but not exactly personable, getting straight to the point though when flagged from across the room they did come and see you fairly quickly. For the two of us the bill came to £43.65 including a 10% service charge clearly stated on the bill (and we were not asked to add a tip on the card machine either). It is actually quite reasonable for dim sun.
In summary, reasonably priced if not spectacular dim sim in Manchester's Chinatown serving some crowd favourites including some fairly authentic Chinese dishes that the crowd might want to give a try…
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2024-01-13
Cuisine: Chinese
Address: 45-47 Faulkner St, Manchester M1 4EE ENGLAND
Location: Manchester (England)
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Telephone: +44 (0) 161 236 6868
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