Li Wah

Revisited:

2999 Payne Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 696 6556

Since I have returned from the West Coast, I have been slightly obsessed (just slightly) with finding the best Dim Sum in Cleveland. I just can't get enough, and I can't wait to go to San Francisco in a few weeks to dive into their Dim Sum offerings.
In Cleveland the Dim Sum options are limited. As far as I knew, there were three to choose from; C and Y, Bo Loong, and Li Wah. In the past I have tried C and Y Chinese restaurant and their Dim Sum was quite tasty. In retrospect, they were my first encounter with Dim Sum, and I still think that they were very good after experiencing Dim Sum at other places. Unfortunately, C and Y is now closed. The next option, as I have mentioned in the past, is Bo Loong. Bo Loong's Dim Sum was very good, but Li Wah is even better. I wrote about Li Wah before as well, and I wasn't impressed or pleased in the least, but their Dim Sum has made my return worth it.
Since returning from the West Coast we have been back to Li Wah three times just for the Dim Sum, and it is now our favorite in the city.
We have been on Sundays so far, and they are packed. Our most recent visit we had to wait for a table, and the place is huge. The servers keep coming around with the carts full of steaming options to choose from. It still is a bit overwhelming as they continue to bombard you with tasty options, but I am starting to grow accustom and even restless if they don't come at me from all angles.
Of course we got our now usual selections, Har Gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), Siu Mai (steamed pork dumplings), fried Taro Root, (which I still love oh so much), and steamed shrimp with green peppers. As always, we order some type of Tofu, fried or stuffed with either pork or shrimp. We are really getting the hang of ordering the items we like and being able to recognize the ones we don't. We did try a new sweet offering, which ended up being preserved egg on top of a Lotus Seed and ginger paste, stuffed inside a petite sesame seed bun. The flavors were hard to pin point at first, but they were quite unique and had a delightful sweet finish.
After indulging in all of the delicious morsels my companions and I couldn't possibly have another bite. We asked for the check and prepared to leave full and satisfied. That was until a nice young gentleman came over with plates full of Crispy Roasted Pork with a Cucumber Slaw. At first we said, "oh, no thank you", as we were so full, but after a short conference with my two equally intrigued companions, we couldn't resist. It was a good thing we changed out minds and got this fabulous dish. The Pork skin was so crisp and salty I could eat it alone as a snack. The meat was so tender and juicy and the layer of Pork fat underneath was a guiltily sumptuous finish. We couldn't possibly finish the Pork dish, but all three of us were glad that we decided against our initial response.
Li Wah has now proven to me that sometimes first impressions can be wrong. I will continue to return to lavish in their Dim Sum offerings and to satisfy my newest addiction.

Li Wah

2999 Payne Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 696 6556


I suppose I have been on an Asian cuisine kick lately. But, I love the flavors and the different techniques that go into such cuisines. I have been looking for the best that Cleveland has to offer. I have been doing research on what others say is the best in the city, and so far we seem to have somewhat differing opinions. Li Wah in Cleveland's Asian Plaza, has been toted as one of the "best" Chinese restaurants in the city. Okay, you walk in, and the place is pretty, everything matches. It is a large and sprawling place, and when we arrived it was early on a Saturday evening. We were promptly seated, and our server came over a few moments later.
We looked around the dining room and saw parties of four or more of people not of Asian decent. Not that is exactly what is important, but I feel it can be a good indicator of whether the food is authentic and or good. We ordered some tea, and decided to get the "Spring Roll" appetizer and the "Vietnamese Spring Roll", just to compare. Both arrived, and served with two plastic squirt bottles of spicy mustard and sweet sauce. They were crisp rolls, both I found to be uninspired and lacking flavor. The only flavor was from the fishiness of the Vietnamese rolls; not a good flavor. I ordered the Vegetable and Tofu soup and my companion ordered the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. The soup I ordered was meant to be a starter soup, and the other as a meal, which I realized when we ordered, but the server I think thought that I did not know this information.
After about 45 minutes I would say, the vegetable and tofu soup arrived. A large bowl of raw vegetables tossed into a salty broth with cubes of Tofu bouncing around. There were chunks of shrimp and crab as well, which I was not aware there would be in a vegetable soup. The beef soup was lacking flavor as well, and only had the bean sprouts to thank for texture which came on the side for your own addition. The noodles were over cooked and also lacking.
Even though we only had a few items, and it was early on a Saturday evening, I still feel that is no excuse for a restaurant that is supposedly the "best" in a city.