An invitation was sent to select members of the press by Steven Kokseng, Marketing Manager of Harbour City Dimsum House Inc., to join the Executive Committee in the opening of the newly renovated Dimsum Break in Banilad Town Center. Lunch was later served and we were given a huge bamboo basket filled with dim sum delights like steamed dishes (Shaomai, Quail’s Egg Shaomai, Mushroom Shaomai and Steamed Fried Rice) and the fried dishes (Spring Rolls, Fried Wanton, Sweet & Sour Pork).
I took a long hard look at the food basket and it brought forth a sense of nostalgia. It has been nearly four and a half decades since your favorite food columnist ate these dishes for the first time and I felt as if time stood still! In fact one dish, the Original Steamed Fried Rice, has been served for so long a time here in Cebu that it is now considered truly a Cebuano dish because it’s not found elsewhere in the Philippines or even in China.
This reminds me of an earlier conversation of food among friends and when it was the turn of dim sum to be dissected, a friend said it was in 1968 or 1969 when he had his first taste of dim sum and he remembered the year because he was going steady with a certain very pretty lady at that time (actually it was 1969).
The restaurant was called Ding How and it was located in the second floor of the Oriente building along Colon St. In fact, the sound of the high heels of John Talakitoc walking in Colon is still fresh in his ears and only a true blooded resident of Cebu City knows about this person. Today, there are so many people, excuse me, pretending to be residents of Cebu City because of the financial benefits for Senior Citizens.
The restaurant gained instant popularity because the food was delicious, the service via the dim sum trolley was quick and the food prices were very reasonable. The sight of all those dim sum dishes in steaming bamboo baskets really aroused your appetite. You could make a quick estimate on your restaurant bill because you merely count the number of small plates and multiply the price per plate.
In 1971 or 1972, it was later transferred to Manalili-Legaspi Street and you had to use an elevator to reach the 4th or 5th floor of the Choachuy Building. It later moved to the General Milling Building in front of the University of the Visayas and a branch called Ding Qua Qua opened in Mango Avenue. Its current location is in JY Square and the Great Dimsum Buffet is its specialty.
Two other branches later opened, Harbour City and Dimsum Break. The former draws its inspiration from a popular shopping mall in Hong Kong and when you want to relive your gastronomic experiences of that place, Harbour City is the perfect destination. Dimsum Break caters to the new breed of customers with faster paced lifestyles, the Korean bbalee bbalee or the “quick, quick’ generation. It also provides motorcycle delivery services for those who want a quick bite and even a drive through service.
Back then in 1969, the drive through was not necessary because people rode in tartanillas, mobile communication was through walkie-talkie, people wrote love letters and sent telegrams, the personal computer was yet to be invented, this writer never dreamt to be a food columnist and if my beloved reader has not eaten these dishes shown here, then you must be a citizen of World War Z. docmlhuillier@yahoo.com