Lai Hong Lounge

If you threw a wedding on a submarine, the banquet room would probably look something like Lai Hong Lounge in Chinatown. It’s partially because this dim sum spot doesn’t have any windows aside from the front door, but it’s also large enough to fit a whole ship’s crew in one seating or host a rehearsal dinner where you can seat the obligated invites far, far away where they belong. And the bright yellow and red that cover this place add to the celebratory feel - if you’re the kind of person who wants to celebrate your own birthday, but hates big expensive meals or ironically doing a fake treasure hunt on Treasure Island, this is where you should go.

The menu here is pretty standard and all of the food - from the shrimp har gau to the xiao long bao - is solid, but this is one time when you can skip the steamed pork bao. And even though the crowded room makes it feel like you’re here for something big, you can get in and out of here only spending about $20 per person, which makes it great for everything from showing some visitors around to just going on a Sunday when you woke up wanting dumplings.