Our Dim Sum Tradition Lives On in the Suburbs

My wife and I do a lot of our local dining out in Media, Pennsylvania, the seat of Delaware County in the southwestern suburbs of Philadelphia. We sometimes combine dinner with a visit to downtown Media’s Trader Joe’s, and that was the situation Friday evening when we opted for a pre-shopping meal at Tom’s Dim Sum, which I blogged about back in 2022. 

Although I’ve made my passion for old-school Americanized Cantonese food clear many times, my wife and I also have had a strong fondness for dim sum going back to the period when we lived in Philly’s Chinatown. That’s also where we first became familiar with Tom’s. They opened a second location in Media later on and it’s come in handy since we moved out in that direction. 

Their menu has gotten gradually larger since we started eating there. They’ve also remodeled it since our last visit, and I found the new version a little more spread out than necessary. But we managed to settle on a few dishes after a couple minutes of deep discussion. 

These photos show most, but not all of Tom’s current menu. 

Two of their more appealing-sounding menu items are scallion pancakes stuffed with either beef or pork. While both look great on paper, we are normally put off by the inclusion of cilantro, to which my wife and I have a strong aversion. We probably should have done this ages ago, but at her suggestion, I ordered a pork pancake without cilantro and the server nodded with a smile. 

We also requested Shanghai Shumai, which had a another pork-based filling, and Singapore Noodles to share, while my wife added a cold cucumber salad for herself. 

 The pork-filled scallion pancake arrived first and was extremely impressive from a visual standpoint. 

It pleasingly tasted as good as it looked. The only slightly odd feature was that the pork slices were cold inside of the warm scallion pancake. But that was more of a quirk than a problem. The tender and delicious pork went well texturally with the pancake, as well as flavor-wise with the scallions and pickled radish pieces that accompanied it. 

This was the highlight of the meal and something we’ll definitely order during subsequent visits to Tom’s. I’d also like to try one filled with beef.

The cucumber salad and Shanghai Shumai came out next. I only like cucumbers in the form of pickles and passed on the former, but my wife seemed very pleased with it.

I had tried Shanghai Shumai one previous time, so I knew what to expect. They are a nice change of pace from regular pork dumplings. Each one comes in the form of a pouch that is filled with ground pork, glutinous rice and mushrooms. This is another dish I’ll likely return to at some point. 

That left just the Singapore Noodles, which was the last item brought out to our table. 

I’ve been eating this dish with some degree of regularity since first learning of it over 20 years ago from a colleague I sat next to at my longtime job. 

For those unfamiliar with it, Singapore Noodles consists of thin rice noodles with any mix from among pork, Shrimp and chicken – or all three – and a scattering of vegetables, all hit with a healthy dose of curry. 

Tom’s version is neither among the best nor worst that I’ve had. It featured less meat and shrimp than I’m accustomed to, but the overall flavor was still very good. 

Although it’s not quite the same as eating in a large dim sum dining hall where carts of food are wheeled around to each table, as we used to do on weekends during our Chinatown years, it’s nice to have the option of quality dim sum closer to where we live now. There is a second dim sum restaurant a couple doors down from Tom’s called Dim Sum Mania. The menu and food are similar, but we prefer the atmosphere at Tom’s.