The Women Keeping Dim Sum Carts Alive | On the Job | NYT Cooking
Dim sum cart service is a dying tradition. But at Golden Palace in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst neighborhood, two women are keeping it alive.
Pik Chan and Cheong Yin Ho have worked together for nearly two decades. They weave through packed dining rooms, pushing heavy, metal trolleys laden with stacks of bamboo steamers. Amid the roar of the lunch rush, they communicate without speaking — a glance or a quick hand gesture for chicken feet, beef balls, cheung fun, bean curd rolls — always understanding each other perfectly.
Pik and Yin start each shift the same way: Sharing a home-cooked meal, side-by-side. “It’s rare to meet someone you can work with for 16 years,” Pik said.
Read more about their friendship here: https://nyti.ms/3ZBsXqg
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42 Comments
Love.
This is beautiful work and amazing to watch
This was well produced. Literally touched my heart 😢
🥹🥹🥹
❤
20:48 she was being humble saying she walked 10k steps when she actually walked 15k
Incredible shoutout to the hard working women working dim sum carts. I have fond memories of watching my parents order with them and watching the cart workers speak different languages really opened my eyes
That ending was so heart felt.
Priya makes some wonderful reports – across all types of cuisines and people who work in the industry – front or back of the place. Truly enjoyed the dim sum report, watching the guests arrive, find a good seat where the carts go by, and begin to load up on the dim sum.
Pik's story mirrors the story of many first-generation immigrants in the '80s & '90s.
Awesome. More canto coverage
❤❤❤❤❤❤
That was so beautiful and touching. So much grace in such a busy work and service oriented space.
Immigrants life is hard
What is the American dream!? To work for the rest of your life!?
Again hygiene problems. Gloves touching phone, hat, pants, cart, food. Yucky. Never beating the allegations.
Wonderful story of a humble and transcendent relationship, and for me, an American blessing.
You’re in my neighborhood 👋
they did indeed put it in the final cut
I could eat har gow, shumai and Lo Mai Gai with sweet soy and a ton of chili oil every day.
Watching this reminds me of my childhood. Grandparents moved to Hong Kong my mum was blessed to grow up there, then moved back to New Zealand after British Occupation ended. I miss this experience so much!!
Another incredible story ❤ thank you for sharing it
didnt expect this one to be a tearjerker
Thank you for the lovely video. I grew up going to dim sum restaurants with aunties pushing carts of food around, and we don’t have that style of service where I live anymore. Seeing this let me relive my childhood and learn more about the kinds of women who were working the carts.
I watch dim sum video and now I’m hungry and sobbing.
What the heck new york times? I thought it was just going to be light hearted piece about dim sum servers.. here I am running out of tissues!
<3
Oh dang this place is right around the corner from me. I love their dan tat (egg tarts).
the smell of the propane warming the carts. and the hedgehog buns. even the scissors and pulling out the stamp for the card. thinking of those just brought me back to my childhood. i don’t live in a place around family or with good dim sum so i never get it anymore 😢
The organized chaos of a dim sum restaurant is just top tier! Always fast, yummy and affordable.👏👏👏👏
Many fond childhood memories in these restaurants. Good times!
Wow I've grown up eating tons of dim sum and this really shows how much hard work goes behind the scene its sad Cheong is going to retire!!! I can see the emotions between the two! Great presentation!!
Thank you so much for sharing this story. Like many, I found myself sobbing. I think it hits especially hard as a kid from Hong Kong in the diaspora. Growing up and having the privilege to experience authentic, traditional food and be able to retain the language of my parents is an enormous thing that so many aunties and uncles and elders have sacrificed for. Thank you to all of them all for the ways they've survived this country in the last few centuries and for giving us the chance to make it our own.
How did Priya learn Cantonese?
Hi , I am CK , Pik's son , thanks everyone for watching , hopefully everyone will love the video and my mom said just come to eat lol
also the fact she cooks breakfast for her coworker that’s so adorable
Looks like the restaurant only provides the white rice for the staff meal. Times are tough…
Thank you for documenting this. I’m from HK and can’t remember the last time I saw a dim sum cart.
Understandably, for the sake of brevity, some of the subtitles are missing the niceties:
8:40 "Uncle, haven't decided on what to eat yet?…"
8:50 "Little sis, would you like prawn or meat dumplings?"
Immigrants get the job done! ❤🎉❤
their sisterhood is so inspiring <3 :')
wow, what an amazing testament to these hard working women. thanks for a great video about great people.