What I Ate: November 29, 2009 (Fortune Chinese Seafood Restaurant)

Lunch: After church, I took my parents to Fortune Chinese Seafood Restaurant (10901 N Lamar Blvd # D, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 835-8889‎) for Cantonese dim sum. We had a variety of dishes ranging from shaomai (steamed pork and mushroom dumplings) to chicken feet to congee. Overall, Tina and I felt that the dim sum was significantly better than what we had at Shanghai Chinese Restaurant on Middle Fiskville Rd. The tofu skin wrapped meat and vegetable rolls really missed the mark while the pork ribs were underseasoned (a bare hint of black bean sauce was detectable), but the rest of the dishes were quite decent. At this point, if I want dim sum while I'm in Austin, this is the place I'm going to go to fulfill that desire.

Dinner: We had another family gathering for dinner tonight (my parents, Tina's parents, Tina, and myself) at our new house. We had picked up some roasted and barbecued (Chinese-style) meats from First Chinese Barbecue Restaurant (10901 N Lamar Blvd # D, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 835-8889‎) earlier in the day - half a roast duck, half a soy sauce chicken, and a pound of Chinese barbecue pork. The duck and the chicken were quite good, but the pork was a little low in flavor (the seasoning hadn't penetrated deeply enough into the tender loin). I cooked a dish of turnip greens, Tina made a tomato and egg soup as well as a vinegared potato and celery dish, and Tina's parents brought over some shrimp cooked in Chinese BBQ sauce, potatoes and green beans, & cooked soybeans, and my parents provided the cong you bing (scallion pancakes) and cooked peanuts. It really was a family meal with everyone contributing a little.