A note on the words: dim sum refers to Cantonese bite-sized delicacies ranging from delicate steamed dumplings to savory buns, served here as an extensive omakase (chef’s selection) course. Char siu bao is a fluffy steamed bun stuffed with sweet-savory barbecue pork, shumai are open-topped steamed dumplings, filled here with chestnut and pork, and with wagyu and tomato, and douchi are pungent fermented black soybeans used to steam tender spare ribs. Kinmedai is splendid alfonsino, steamed here with a savory olive paste, tantanmen is a rich sesame noodle soup served toward the end of the meal, and annin tofu is an almond-flavored jelly dessert.
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Steam Dim sum & Wine on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. This time, I visited a dim sum restaurant in Roppongi called “Steam Dim sum & Wine”. I didn’t know it existed at all, but it seems to have been around since about 2019! It’s located right next door to Havana Cafe! While heading over thinking I must have passed right in front of it quite a few times, I arrived and understood: with such a stylish sign, you might easily walk past without noticing unless you already knew it was there.
Heading down into the basement, you find a space with four tables and a counter.
The temperature was quite low that day, so the seats near the entrance were a little chilly, ha.
Dinner omakase course — 8,800 yen
We decided to add the 3,900-yen all-you-can-drink option to the omakase course.
And with that, the course got underway.
Chicken and dried tofu strips tossed with fresh kikurage (wood ear mushroom) and green zhacai (pickled mustard stem). Fresh kikurage has such a wonderful texture! It goes great with the zhacai too.
And in the back is a flounder carpaccio with XO sauce. Delicious.
Straight into the dim sum. First up, four pieces of dim sum.
The white one in the front is a char siu bao. Beneath the fluffy dough is savory char siu. Delicious. The yellow one is a shumai of chestnut and pork on glutinous rice. The green one is a yuzu-scented gyoza with shungiku (garland chrysanthemum) and atsuage (thick fried tofu)—incidentally, this green one might be my favorite among the four. The pleasant bitterness of the shungiku and the aroma of the yuzu are wonderfully refreshing. The chewy wrapper is great too. The black dim sum in the back is a seafood gyoza with kintoki sweet potato and black sesame.
The dim sum continues. For this round of special dim sum, on the left is a wagyu and tomato shumai. It feels almost a bit like Italian food, perhaps because of the tomato. Delicious. And the green one on the right is a wild sea bream and squid dumpling with karasumi (dried mullet roe).
Spring rolls! The chicken and mushroom spring roll has a delightfully crispy skin and is delicious! I really love spring rolls. The other one is a pan-fried bun with nira (garlic chives) and shrimp. The shrimp is wonderfully plump and bouncy, and so tasty!
With so many dim sum dishes coming in a row, I’m already starting to get full, ha.
Kanpo-buta (branded herbal pork) spare ribs steamed with douchi (fermented black beans), with a subtle hint of plum. The meaty pork is packed with flavor and delicious. True to the Kanpo name, it had a distinctly spiced seasoning.
Steamed kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) from Hachijojima with Hong Kong olive paste.
A delicate, flaky steamed kinmedai dish. The seasoning is gentle, so you can easily eat it even when you’re getting full.
Rich sesame tantanmen.
The soup is fantastic! A classic, quintessential tantanmen with a wonderful sesame aroma. After eating dim sum non-stop, I was honestly completely full, ha. You’d be entirely satisfied even without noodles. That said, this tantanmen is delicious, so I feel you should definitely try it!
Annin tofu with lemongrass syrup and coconut dumplings.
Because it’s carb-heavy from start to finish, it really fills you up, ha. The volume is plenty satisfying even without the noodles and rice and all that follows. There seems to be something like a short course on the menu as well (without noodles or rice), and I suspect that might be just the right amount! The food is thoroughly delicious, the portion size is generous, and at this price, I feel the value is great. A wonderful find.
Steam Dim sum & Wine (Chinese / Roppongi Station, Nogizaka Station, Roppongi Itchome Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
