Pork Buns Along The Highway

At the door of the restaurant are crates of Chinese newspapers, which you can pick up and read or pretend to read. Inside, a row of mismatched lanterns dangle next to the large windows, and the light lavender walls are trimmed with an interesting sort of turquoise. Tables are placed in a geometric grid, with big aisles that allow the dim sum carts to be rolled about on the weekends.

A "Chinese form of tapas," dim sum is traditionally a brunch where you pick a variety of sweet and savory dishes to go with your morning tea. Oriental East serves dim sum everyday from 11-3, but the actual carts only go on parade on weekends and holidays. If you want the full experience, it's worth the wait (sometimes up to 40 minutes) so that you can pick from the shiny golden baked pork buns, or a quivering bowl of sweet almond jelly from the carts as they pass from table to table. The regular menu has your standard chow mein and fried rice, but the dim sum is truly the star.