Full House Seafood Restaurant, Chinatown

After checking out the Banksy show at the gallery downtown last night, a group of us headed over to Chinatown for some chow. We ended up at Full House, a lively but smaller version of the ballroom-sized dim sum/seafood houses across the street but still complete with tanks of live spot prawns, lobsters and a strictly decorative freshwater fish so enormous for the size of his tank we were certain he hadn't been able to make a turn for years. With six of us at the table, we were able to order quite a feast.

I normally don't care too much about Hot & Sour soup, but the one I had was perhaps the best example I can remember tasting. It was full of different types of mushrooms, tofu and just a hint of red pepper to give it some heat. I think I ate three bowls. Others tried the wonton soup which also looked excellent, packed as it was with vegetables including vividly green brocolli, baby squid tentacles, chicken, and pork-filled wontons. I ordered stir-fried snowpea leaves for the table which were a hit. (Spinach seemed like bad idea anyway and I love the snowpea leaves though I can't stand snowpeas themselves.) I also ordered scallops in a black pepper sauce which I thought was okay, not great. I'd never tried the thin Singapore noodles which came spicy and with a kick of curry powder and bits of shrimp and vegetables. The shrimp with candied walnuts is also a good dish to share with a lot of people since it's a heart attack on a plate. (The shrimp are lightly battered, fried and then covered in a mayonnaise-based sauce and candied walnuts.) This version had turned a bit mushy by the time it reached our table so wasn't as nice and crisp as it could have been but still rather delicious. Other dishes included a bright red sweet and sour beef which I didn't try, a half peking duck (I love eating the crispy skin on steamed buns with a little plum sauce but am always rather indifferent to the meat itself; just seems like too much trouble to get much off those tiny bones). Somewhere in there was a plate of pan-fried dumplings which are hard not to like. I'll definitely be going back to Full House and I'm sure it'll come in especially handy when there are gallery shows around the corner on Chunk King Rd this fall.