3000 Central Ave # 1
Charlotte, NC 28205

First Impressions
I've driven past Dim Sum before, and can say that it's exactly the type of place I look for during these “people darker than us” dinners. It's in a strip mall, has dated signage, and carries just a touch of shadiness to it. Not sure what that says about me or my intestines, but I like to think that the best cooks spend more time actually cooking than being too concerned with the aesthetics of their restaurant.

What Sort of Ignorance Are We Working With
I've eaten plenty of Americanized Chinese food, which I do enjoy, but I've not dined on anything authentic. It was my understanding that this place is pretty close to the real deal, so I was really anticipating both sampling the 'real' Eastern food as well as hopefully trying something new and different.

Beverages and Appetizers
Well, wanting to try something new certainly wasn't a problem. We opted to get three of the 'dim sum' dishes for appetizers: A leek dumpling, Har Dou (shrimp dumpling) and jelly fish. You read that correctly, despite our server trying to steer me away from it, I ordered a jelly fish appetizer.
While it's very cool to be able to say I ate jelly fish, the actual experience wasn't that overwhelming. It has a chewy texture (similar to poorly prepared calamari) but no distinguishing taste. There was a spicy sauce/marinade that worked well with the slaw the jelly fish sat on.
The leek dumpling was similar to a stuffed hushpuppy, which means very tasty.
The Har Dou was what I expected from a dumpling, in that it was soft and doughy with a center filled with stuff (in this case shrimp)
This was all washed down with a great German influenced Tsing Tao.

Entree
I opted for the Bok Choy dish. Pretty basic plate of steamed bok choy in a very light sauce with rice. It was good, and filling, but a complaint would be that there wasn't much to it. Boring may be the best term, as I was hoping to be excited by my dishes.
Brandy went for the Egg Foo Young which, while looking absolutely horrible (think cow brains in gravy) was a fabulous dish. Without the gravy, it would have been a very good dish, but gravy on an egg dish seems odd, it really really works.

Dessert
We were each pretty full, and pushing it past closing time, so we weren't really given an option to order dessert, but that worked out best for everyone.

What I Would Have Tried If I Ate Meat
Any, and possibly all, of the pork themed dumplings. Oh bacon, how I yearn for you.