Golden Unicorn was a circus with a fast paced staff and people scurrying to and fro. They must have traded in their 3 rings for 3 stories of dining space; their main attraction was the dim sum. The side show barkers remained downstairs to call out names of clients who had waited long enough to get to the front of the line, where they were then dispersed among the dining rooms. Curtain material covering every wall including those without windows was certainly plentiful enough to be repurposed as “the big top”, but that is where the circus reference ends. This was not all fun and games but a serious business that has earned its reputation for quality food.
Steam carts were abundant and piled high with bamboo steamers filled with delectable morsels. This was something one could expect from a dim sum house, however, the table with roasted duck was new to me and was making quite a few stops. It also made a quick turn and we never saw it again. That was nothing to fret about as there was plenty of food to go around and we found other diversions.
For years I’ve been wondering whatever happened to the small condiment bowl that contained ketchup and hot Chinese mustard. Maybe they were being sent to Golden Unicorn, since they were plentiful here. It’s a very nice condiment combination, although I prefer the combination of vinegar, hot pepper oil and soy sauce. At any rate, all dumplings were served with condiments of one kind or another as they should be. We seemingly split our dim sum into two groups, dumplings and buns.
Don’t quote me, but I believe the top left photo is of Fun Gor, a shrimp, pork and spinach dumpling wrapped in rice flour. Ha Gow has always been my favorite and consists of shrimp, sometimes with a bit of bamboo shoot, but not always. It too has a rice flour wrapping. The photo on the lower left was described as a shark fin dumpling and contained shrimp. The last item has been described as beef noodle, but I’m certain that it’s just a rudimentary description of the ingredients, since the noodle is in essence a wrapper. Golden Unicorn calls it a Steamed Rice Roll with Beef on their dim sum menu.
Ah, now it gets a bit more interesting when the cart with clams in oyster sauce comes around. It was difficult not to order these, just for the pure enjoyment of the “show”. It wasn’t the Peking Duck, but this cart filled the bill for something out of my ordinary dim sum experience. But I left room for the bao.
This type of custard filled bun tastes almost as good to me as the small custard tarts that one usually sees at a dim sum restaurant, so I generally reserve it for last as a dessert of sorts.
Char Siu Bao, a BBQ pork bun has been a staple in my dim sum experience and I favor the yeast dough that is baked rather than the steamed version on the right, but they both have the sweet and savory filling of the barbequed pork and each is a good choice. The baked version has the added interest of a sweeter more flavorful dough.
http://www.goldenunicornrestaurant.com/18 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002
(212) 941-0911
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