Review: At 007 Chinese Food, new Americans give Hamburg rare taste of ancient craft

Maung Maung mastered centuries-old culinary art in Malaysia, then gave Southtowns a restaurant Buffalo can't match

Clockwise from upper left: Shrimp tempura, pork-shrimp fried wontons, har gow, siu mai, dark egg, pork-shrimp in tofu skin, pork riblets steamed with preserved black beans.

Dim sum, the big menu of little dishes served around the world, tends to be concentrated in notably Asian communities. The brunchy menu of dumplings, buns, and braised dishes lends itself to gatherings, with friends and families lingering at tables as they dispatch waves of bite-sized delights. Carts are rare, now, with most places switching to more efficient a la carte service.

What most limits dim sum’s spread is the skill level required of its chef. Leading teams of handcrafters to safely and efficiently produce hundreds or thousands of pieces daily - steamed, fried, braised, sauced, or all of the above - takes an expert. 

Clockwide from upper left: dragon egg, har gow, small bao, dark egg.

Experts don’t come cheap. When Tonawanda dim sum parlor Emperor Dumplings lost its dim sum expert, it closed the restaurant. After months of searching, Emperor’s owner said it should reopen in May.

Which makes this an apt time to holler that Hamburg has a real dim sum parlor, too. Starring Buffalo’s OG dim sum expert, Maung Maung. At 007 Chinese Food, with wife Than Than Saw and son Harvey “Hein” Heinrich, 007 cultivated an appreciative audience at the original West Side Bazaar.

Eggplant plate

After a decade of building 007’s audience, and giving Buffalo a taste of fresh dim sum, that location was closed by fire. Hamburg businessmen Tim and Jack Sardinia reached out to Bazaar operator Westminster Economic Development Initiative, and offered Maung a space he could afford, at 84 Lake St.