Northern Chinese dim sum all day, every day. A light-filled dining room with persimmon walls and gray wainscoting. A Chinese-English menu for every diner, Chinese or Western. And an owner who's happy to answer culinary questions. What more could you ask for? Chicken wings marinated in rice wine? Spicy wontons in red chili sauce? Don't expect them to show up on carts Hong Kong-style. Here you order dim sum from the menu.

Soups and rice dishes are homier propositions--wheat-noodle soup with fried pork chops and fried chicken with mustard pickle over rice really hum. Noodles with ground pork, shredded cucumber, and bean paste are good. Pork rolls or beef rolls--hoisin-dabbed pancakes rolled with paper-thin slices of meat and scallions--add to the fun. So is the pancake that pulls apart to reveal layers of flaky dough. More unusual are pan-fried beef buns--hamburger-shaped rounds filled with beef or pork and a dollop of gelatin that melts when they're seared in the wok. Fire-breathers will want to test their mettle with roasted beef noodle soup. After all the heat, a cool bubble drink--made from tea, coffee, or fruit juice--with jumbo tapioca pearls is just the thing.