Hello, Yum Yum

A new Asian diner brings dinnertime dim sum to the Inner Loop

Comments (0) By Robb Walsh Thursday, Aug 25 2005

And while the place is quite small, it's also very charming. The wooden floors and dark green walls give the little cafe a calming atmosphere -- when it isn't crowded. The restaurant is run by just two people, a father-and-daughter team from Hong Kong. The young woman runs the front of the house, and Dad does the cooking. He is obviously an accomplished chef. The choices may be limited, but everything I've had there has been perfectly cooked.

The annoying name, Yum Yum Cha Cafe, is a play on words in Chinese, according to the menu. Yum cha is phonetically similar to "drink tea" in Chinese. So yum cha cafe would be "drink tea restaurant." And in China, dim sum is a meal traditionally taken with hot tea. The double yum makes the name a bilingual pun.

Troy Fields

Dim sum for dinner (clockwise from top left): Sesame rolls, pork-and-shrimp shiu mai, shrimp dumplings and shrimp rice rolls.

Location Info

Map

Yum Yum Cha Cafe

2445 Times Blvd.
Houston, TX 77005

Category: Restaurant > Asian

Region: Kirby-West U

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Details

Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Shiu mai: $1.80
Shrimp dumplings: $2.70
Shrimp rice roll: $3.65
Pan-fried chicken dumplings: $2.70
Sesame rolls: $1.80

2435 Times Boulevard, 713-527-8455.

More About

Unless you carry a Hello Kitty backpack, "Meet me at Yum Yum," is probably not a phrase that will ever roll trippingly off your tongue. But if you can avoid gagging on the cutesiness of it all, you may find this place quite handy when you've had too many happy-hour cocktails and you need some dumplings to soak up the alcohol.

It's also an Inner Loop haven for people who just like to pig out on fresh rice rolls and shrimp dumplings at odd hours -- you know, the Chinese breakfast for dinner folks.