126 in 2022

A dim sum meal for me at 126 tends to be either a very late lunch, or an early supper.

It isn't because I don't do dim sum in the mornings. 

It's that 126 has more of a supper-ish vibe than a breakfasty vibe, and I think they know it too, because they've gone from a 24-hour to a late morning 1030 to a past midnight 3am.

It's no secret that I have a great love for dim sum. 

I've written about it long enough. 

Maybe because it's one of the foods that I can eat anywhere, anytime, and it don't have to be a table full of bamboo baskets and plates. 

It can be a single plastic bag, or a Styrofoam box for takeaway. 

I don't know if I've ever done a takeaway from 126. 

I think not.

Most of the time we eat there. 

I've got a series of pictures from previous years. 

This collection here, however, marks the first for this year. 

It's not a very big collection- we don't always order a lot when we're there, but we (more or less) know what it is we want, what it is we love, and what it is we want to have. 

Like the tubs of barley and winter melon drink with chunks of winter melon inside.

And the deep fried scallop yam puff which, I think, is probably one of several signature dishes at this dim sum place, and which- if you don't have an aversion to scallop, yam and deep fried stuff, you really must try. 

It's so good. 

The skin is crisp, the yam, warm and soft, wraps snugly the single piece of (umami-tasting) scallop inside. 

I like this dish so much that I actually get disappointed if we don't get to place an order. 

That doesn't mean that we don't have other favorites or that the other dishes aren't nice.

They are.

We love them just the same. 

My companion has a thing for the fish maw rolls. 

And we have a thing for the cheong funs and the xiao long baos. 

I find the cheong funs here cute. 

Not only do they have the options of char siew and prawn, they're smaller than your regular sized ones, the flour is thick, and the gravy is of so rich a texture you'd almost think of it as a smooth, velvety paste.

I like to slurp the gravy up with the fish maw rolls.

I also like to do the same with the siew mais. 

(Don't waste) 

But I can't do it with the xiao long baos. 

Not even with the meat.

Because in lieu of traditional bamboo baskets, 126 steams up their baos in their metal carriers with each individual bao sitting cutely and safely in its own little spoon. 

I think their timing's pretty good. 

Sure, you don't get the paus all perky and rounded like you'd get elsewhere, but the flavor's retained, and if you eat them the way I do- one small bite style- you don't have to worry about spillover. 

The spoon catches all the delish, savory soup and you can easily sip it slowly after you eat up the bao.