Dim sum in Happy Gathering, a small Chinese corner of Wales

When someone asks what my death-row meal would be, I answer dim sum. It’s a loophole where you don’t have to choose: you sample everything, and no two sittings are ever the same. Dim sum refuses to fit into starters, mains and desserts and instead arrives as a noisy, chaotic, all-encompassing feast for the senses.

I grew up eating like this on Sundays, with family, extended family and neighbours piling into Happy Gathering in Cardiff. Bamboo baskets arrived one after another, lids lifted and steam billowed out while we shuffled plates, nudged baskets and played a game of Tetris to make room for more.

We drank refillable pots of pu’erh tea; Dad tapped two fingers to say thank you, a gesture linked to the Qianlong emperor; the lazy Susan groaned as brothers fought for control to get closer to the siu mai. The dishes are everything: the snap of prawn inside a crystal pleated har gau, the slow peel of a lotus leaf from lo mai gai, char siu bao bursting with sweet barbecue pork, ham sui gok, charred turnip cake and braised chicken feet.

Wales, Cardiff

dim sum, happy gathering, cardiff, wales, puerh tea, siu mai, har gau, char siu, lotus leaf, chicken feet