A thread about dim sum a month or so ago had me thinking about it, when I noticed a pretty-good Chinese restaurant in Buffalo Grove had a sign up saying they were serving it on weekends. We got there too late last weekend and decided to see if a Hoffman Estates place was still any good. We visited the Buffalo Grove place today. Of the two, my vote would go to Jockey Wok 'n' Rolls Cafe, 1017 N. Roselle Road (between Golf and Higgins), Hoffman Estates (847/885-0880). They serve dim sum daily from 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. off a menu, and from carts on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The menu of offerings is only a bit more limited and the quality rivals the best of Chinatown (however the restaurant is considerably cleaner). I particularly enjoyed the stuffed eggplant. The chef, Tak-Ming Lee, was once a chef at Hong Kong's Jockey Club. I was less impressed with the dim sum at Cilantro, 154 McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove (847/520-9980). I have enjoyed the food there at dinner, but their dim sum is odd. To begin with, each item is about twice the size you might expect. Shrimp and chive dumplings 3 inches in diameter, for example. I would definitely not describe these as delicate, although they were stuffed with whole shrimp and quite tasty. Some other items were unpleasantly heavy and greasy, while others were a bit bland. The list is a bit more limited. With careful ordering, you could have a decent meal, though. On the other hand, you have to give them credit for trying. Dim sum in the suburbs is a bit like a dancing bear: it's not how well it dances, but that it dances at all. Cilantro's dim sum service is off a menu from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Leah Zeldes
Chicago, IL