Good to see the NYC-NJ rivalry is still on.

“What we ought to do is sue New York for all the environmental damage they’ve done over the years - all the New York garbage that was dumped illegally in our state, all the environmental damage.”

We all know it’s all New Jersey’s fault anyways.

To the uninitiated, the dim sum experience can be quite a harrowing experience so much so that it can completely turn someone off the entire eating experience. Along with the language barrier, perceived rude service, unfamiliar cuisine, impatient waiters, and often times shared tables, there is also an overwhelming amount of restaurants offering dim sum. The old adage of dining where the Chinese dine no longer applies, as every joint is jam-packed with Chinese folks. Here are our favorites that dim sum pros and neophytes alike can appreciate.

Linden Place in Flushing offers all the creature comforts not often associated with a typical Chinese restaurant. There is free valet parking, non-shared tables, and a helpful English-speaking staff. While you are sipping cups of tea and chowing down ha-gow, and the requisit cha-siu baos, you can admire the interior that’s leftover from what must’ve been a Italian-American catering hall. (Linden Place Restaurant, 34-20 Linden Place, Flushing, NY)

Sun Ming Gee is conveniently located on 6th Avenue in Brooklyn’s Chinatown, off the BQE and two avenues from the N train. The shrimp rice noodle (cheung fun) is a one of the best in the area. The massive portions of rice and noodle items on the menu are enough to fill you, quite literally, to next Tuesday. Spoil yourself with the e-fu noodles with crab. (Sun Ming Gee, 618 62nd Street, Brooklyn, NY)

Dragon Palace is a David to the Goliath dim sum joints in the surrounding area. Skip the massive Jin Fong Palace, Golden Bridge, or the guidebook listed HSF, for the more cozy digs. Along with the dim sum staples, be adventurous and try as many dishes rolled off the carts as your budget will allow. If that’s not enough, there is also a made to order buffet table offering snails, clams, turnip cake, and stuffed green peppers. (Dragon Palace, 202 Centre Street, New York, NY)

Vegetarian Dim Sum Restaurant offers a respite from the squishiness of live fish and animal carcasses hanging in the windows of the many storefronts in Chinatown. Vegetarians will delight in the fact that they can dine guilt-free, while carnivores will wonder how gluten and soy can resemble a bit of meat. The crowd is a mix of elderly Chinese, TimeOut NY-toting hipsters, and every now and then a Beastie Boy.(Vegetarian Dim Sum Restaurant, 24 Pell Street, New York, NY)

[photo by: wireguy/flickr]

I’ve walked by Winnie’s so many times dating back to my single digit years, but never once did I ever think that I wanted to go in. I still remember the drunken, worn out, old men hanging around the place. It wasn’t until NYE 2006 that I, along with Karen, Mike, and Solim, set foot into this dive. With the mostly Chinese crowd, with a requisite white guy who hangs out with the group, turning bright red from a couple of sips of beer, and the large karaoke screen complete and 80s and cantopop-heavy karaoke collection, there is no doubt you are in Chinatown. Remember, the bar is called Winnie’s afterall! The place even has the old vinyl booth seats that brings you back to the days of chop suey shops. There’s no pool table, arcade game, or a jukebox. The bar doesn’t even have a tap! It’s all bottles of Heineken, Coors, Bud, and Corona. You might even challenge yourself to down the house specialty “Hawaiian Punch.”

[Winnie's, 104 Bayard St, New York, 10013]

Oh, the price of success. The old school pizza joint run by an equally old school pizza making Italian-American has received so much positive press coverage these past few years. Everyone from the The New York Times, Zagat’s, Village Voice, and even the borough-phobe New York has given the pizzeria so much love. In fact, Time Out New York, recently annointed the joint with the Best of Pizza in NYC. Word has it that even NYC guidebooks are heaping praise as well. It is because of all this attention that the wait for a Dom’s Special porcini mushroom slice is now over an hour’s wait. Most of the throng of drooling customers all fit the description of visitors to Midwood. Hey, you know what I mean! It’s as if the Brooklyn natives who grew up eating at DiFara’s have left to find a new pizza crush. As much as I love DiFara’s, I think it’s high time I do the same as well.

[DiFara's Pizza, 1424 Ave. J at E. 15th Street, Brooklyn]
[photo: NYCviaRachel/flickr]