The Weekly Eater: Yung Yee Kee offers clean, fresh flavors in elevated surroundings

Usually the appearance of a new restaurant is followed by a handful of, “Have you been there?” queries, but none to the extent of those insisting I get over to Yung Yee Kee Dim Sum restaurant.

OK, OK. At first the restaurant was simply added to my to-try list, but it quickly leapfrogged to the top because of the volume of recommendations.

A lot of its popularity has to do with the accessible, affordable nature of Chinese dim sum, in which multiple dumpling and other pupu- or tapas-size selections are made available for a few dollars apiece.

The restaurant is in the standalone space on Kapiolani Boulevard, near Ala Moana Center, that was formerly home to Thank Q Pocha and, going further back in time, Territorial Savings Bank and Sushi San.

It offers an elevated experience with its clean space, the semi- privacy of booths or banquette seating and upgraded tableware, and for this kind of ambience, people are more than willing to pay a dollar more per dish than the going rate in Chinatown, plus $3 for a pot of tea.

From a culinary standpoint, dishes are lighter and cleaner- tasting than what you’d find in Chinatown, although there’s a certain familiarity that may come with Yung Yee Kee’s family talent pool. That includes a former chef from Legends Seafood Restaurant, another selling point for longtime loyalists of the Chinatown Cultural Plaza landmark.

You get polite greetings, but due to short-staffing, the order-and- delivery period is just about the only time you’ll see your waiter. You’ll have to flag someone down every time you need something after that, whether it’s water, more tea, additional food or the bill.

There is some efficiency built into the system, as you’re given both a pictorial menu and a checklist of menu items to place your order. With everything on paper, there’s less likelihood of miscommunication and mistakes.

That said, I was thoroughly confused by the pricing because I was looking only at the price-free pictorial menu and reading off selections to someone with the order form, where the prices are listed. Maybe you won’t be as lolo, but I was reading descriptors like “S1” and “S2” as dollar signs, thinking basic items such as har gow(shrimp dumplings) and pork hash were, respectively, $1 and $2 loss leaders to compensate for “higher priced” S10 dishes, etc. No wonder this place has lines at lunchtime, I thought.

Eventually I learned the majority of dishes are priced from $4.95 to $5.50 — although there are a couple of $10.95 stir-fry dishes — and desserts are $3.95.

This is one of the few restaurants where aficionados can find dim sum day through night, and there’s a certain joy — in this era of limitations — in being able to order to your heart’s content (“dim sum” literally means “touch the heart”), without breaking the bank.

There are fewer steamed dumplings than you might find elsewhere. Vegetable options such as spinach- or chive-filled dumplings are absent, although there is one pan-fried chicken and chive option. Standards include har gow ($4.95), half moon ($4.95) and pork hash with shrimp ($4.95). Of these, only the pork hash stand out as being better than rivals’ because of its sweet juiciness and the absence of pork gristle. It’s on par with that of Waikiki’s Tim Ho Wan. Otherwise, flour wrappers of the har gow and half moon items are Hawaii thick, a far cry from Hong Kong’s thin, nearly clear, crystalline wraps.

I appreciated the reduced levels of salt and gooey gravy spilling from dumplings, including the bean curd roll ($4.65), in which every vegetable and piece of pork is discernible, and not some mystery. I also enjoyed the fluffiness of Yeung Chow fried rice ($5.50), as well as the nongreasy, lacy quality of taro puffs ($4.95), with the intense flavor of its Chinese taro filling. And although I’m not a big tripe fan, you would never know the version served here ($6) is tripe, due to its clean flavor and near weightless crunchy texture. It’s like biting into a very thin sliver of bamboo shoot or heart of palm.

Chicken feet ($4.95) in a black bean sauce are plump and juicy, and I loved the barbecue pork filling in one of the steamed look funn rolls ($5.95). Even better, try the stir-fried look funn rolls with XO sauce ($10.95). I loved the delicacy of these lightweight tubes flavored with a potent mix of dried shrimp and scallops, chiles and salt. Pure joy.

Elsewhere, I missed the brightness of orange zest that usually perks up the flavor of beef balls ($4.95) but is absent here. Also, I found only scant soup in xiao long bao, the Shanghai-style soup dumplings ($5.50 for three pieces), and found the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf ($4.95) to be more soggy than bouncy.

As for dessert, many people are loving the salted egg custard buns ($5.25). I love salted eggs, so the idea of watering them down with sweet custard doesn’t appeal to me as much. I was fine with the usual egg custard tarts ($3.95). At most restaurants, I end up peeling off the rancid crusts and eating only the custard. Here, the crust is fresh, light and flaky, so for once I ate the whole thing.

YUNG KEE DIM SUM

1411 Kapiolani Blvd.

Food: ***1/2

Service: **1/2

Ambiance: ***

Value: ****

>> Call: 955-7478

>> Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

>> Prices: About $30 to $40 for two

Ratings compare similar restaurants:

**** – excellent

*** – very good

** – average

* – below average

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.