Opened in 2017, this elegant Upper West Side location of Jing Fong was the only location left of a New York favorite until the new Chinatown location recently opened another location on Centre Street. All the usual dim sum is available late into the evening, some of it innovative but most of it standard. Platings are lush for a dim sum joint, and there are mixed drinks, too, making dim sum popular for a quick bite or group brunches in this neighborhood.

This narrow storefront in the midst of Flushing’s transportation hub is not what many New Yorkers may think of as a spot for stellar dim sum. Though a broad range of dim sum is available, the specialties are congee and steamed rice noodle rolls, the latter bigger and lusher than usual with the fillings such as pork ribs with black bean sauce, curried fish balls, and stewed beef brisket, among a dozen others. Chiles stuffed with shrimp paste was another delight.

Though somewhat obscurely located on the edge of an industrial district area by the Flushing River, Asian Jewels (formerly Ocean Jewels) is the neighborhood’s pre-eminent dim sum palace, offering a bit of luxury at surprisingly low prices. Though its dumplings lack the delicacy of, say, Bamboo Garden’s, the dim sum choices are solid and even innovative. Recommendations include the vegetarian rice rolls, minced beef balls, salt and pepper fried anchovies, and “baked sweet Mexican bun.”

Along with the fast casual cafes popping up all over town, this homegrown chain that broadcasts its Hong Kong roots may also be the future of dim sum. Offering a soupcon of elegance, it fabricates a broad range of congees and dumplings, including relatively thin-skinned xiaolongbao, and diaphanous siu mai bursting with shrimp, served with multiple dipping sauces and all at slightly elevated prices. Tea is another specialty.

This sprawling Chinese restaurant in Forest Hills, a neighborhood with a growing number of Chinese restaurants, serves favorite dim sum plates like outsize watercress-and-fish dumplings, beef rice noodles flavored with cilantro, shrimp har gow, humongous siu mai, and fatty pork riblets in a steamer dotted with black beans. Later in the day, the place turns into a very good Cantonese seafood restaurant.

In the space once occupied by dim sum and Cantonese banquet specialist Joy Luck Palace, a new Chinatown food court recently appeared. The largest of the stalls, 89 Eatery, specializes in dim sum every bit as good as its predecessor. Step up to the counter and order dim sum from a steam table rather than from carts with a selection of 10 or so types at one time, plus congees and more kinds of la rou fan than are found at other places in Chinatown.

The last couple of years have seen the demise of some of the larger banquet halls, which were the primary destinations for dim sum, while new places have specialized in much narrower selections, as Yin Ji Chang Fen demonstrates. This Chinese import form Guangzhou — where the delicacy originated — specializes in steamed rice rolls more fully stuffed than the city had seen before, proffered as a main course; two or three make a full meal.

This antique lunch counter offers great dim sum of the coffee-shop sort, not delicate or expensive, eaten mainly by older locals who linger by the hour over a plate or two. Dim sum, mostly pulled from a steam cabinet, falls in three categories: dumplings, baked buns, and congee. Taking Chinatown back to the 1950s, this is a place not to be missed.

There are many dim sum options in Manhattan’s Chinatown, but Pings is a crowd favorite for good reason. Whether its steaming siu mai or fluffy bao buns filled with char siu, the quality of the dishes — fresher, always served hot — are often better than many spots in the neighborhood. There’s often a wait for tables, so plan accordingly.

Since 1989, this restaurant has offered Cantonese dining at its glitziest. The two levels are reachable by an elevator at the direction of a walkie-talkie-wielding wrangler, and the place used to get wild on the weekends — now not so much. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to enjoy a broad range of dim sum rolling by on carts. The braised chicken feet are impossibly tender, the turnip cake earthy and wiggly, the shrimp siu mai sprinkled with crunchy roe, and the vegetarian crystal dumplings possess a green translucence. 

On the border of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, East Harbor is the largest dim sum parlor in Brooklyn, with rolling carts, private rooms, big round tables with lazy susans, and one of the longest dim sum menus in the city. Oversized fish balls, soy-braised chicken feet scattered with fresh green chiles, open-ended rice rolls cut like tekkamaki, and goji berry gelatin are highlights. Saturday and Sunday around noon remain peak times, so go early or on a weekday.