"Every Sunday, [we have] people waiting until 2:30 [p.m.] to come in,” Chan said. “We have a line up outside the stairway and everywhere.”
Dim sum are small dishes, similar in concept to Spanish tapas, and range from dumplings to pastries and rolls. According to Kirin Court’s website, dim sum translates to “to touch the heart.”
Dim sum dishes, which are placed in covered steamer baskets or under dish covers, are pushed around the restaurant on carts.
“You have a chance to look before you buy it,” he said. “People can see what they have.”
Cart service is rare because of how labor-intensive it can be, Chan said. A robust kitchen staff churns out dim sum throughout the day so that cart pushers always have fresh dim sum options to roll from table to table, he said.
“People don’t see that too much,” Chan said. “Even in Hong Kong, right now, they don’t push the cart.”
Some restaurants may use two or three carts on busy days, he said, but at Kirin Court, carts are used every day of the week to honor the dim sum tradition. On busy days, there can be as many as 15 carts being pushed around the restaurant at one time.
To fill the carts, the restaurant has a large dim sum menu served all day as well as a number of full-size entrees to choose from.
“We have 45 items on the menu just for the dim sum,” Chan said. “And then, we’ve got an extensive dinner menu, also.”
Chan said Kirin Court is dedicated to the Richardson community. To show its support, cart pushers wear T-shirts from Richardson high schools on the weekends.
“We’re gonna be in the same community; we got to [give] something back to the community,” he said.
Kirin Court
221 W. Polk St., Ste. 200, Richardson
214-575-8888
www.kirincourt.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
