UYE Happy Garden Dim Sum Dinner #3

Paul C.‘s dim sum dinners have become one of the regular UYE’s that I’ve found myself looking forward to lately. It’s a great time to sit around a large table and get to know our fellow Unilocalers all while enjoying some delicious, and sometimes unusual night-​time dim sum.
The atmosphere is always fantastic, and the company is nothing short of wonderful. If you even remotely like dim sum you should definitely click «I’m In» on the event page, and join in on the festivities!
Thanks for the Unilocaltastic tradition, Paul! I can’t wait for the next installment of Happy Garden Dim Sum Dinner!

You always have to be really, really hungry whenever you go to Paul’s UYEs. I learned this from the last dim sum dinner, so I tried to avoid eating big meals all day.
AND. IT. STILL. WASN’T. ENOUGH.
There was a huge turnout this time and over 10 different dishes to try from. (Taro puffs were still my favorite. Paul always has the owners make them fresh and they are the best taro puffs I’ve ever had. Hands down.) These UYEs are always great for trying new items on the Happy Garden menu at an affordable price. Plus, it’s always good to go with a bunch of Yeeps who know what’s what!
As if 10 different plates wasn’t big enough, we also went to Wing’s Ice Cream after. At $ 5.50 for a medium sized cup, their ice cream is a steal! They have really exotic flavors like mountain apple, pandan, and Mayan chocolate.
Thanks so much Paul for organizing and bringing those tasty almond cookies from Lynn’s. Thanks to Janice for bringing those rich, chocolate-​y Big Island cookies!

Before I start, I’d like to apologize for writing a review on my own UYE. I am fully aware it’s not the norm but wanted to reach out to all.
I LOVE to eat. I LOVE Chinese food. I LOVE good company. And I LOVE ice cream. That pretty much sums up my UYE #3.
I am very fortunate that my sister introduced me to this place about 5 years ago. I found it very interesting that this place serves dim sum during dinner hours. I really enjoyed my first meal here and come regularly. I have introduced this place to MANY MANY friends and colleagues and most of them enjoy the food here.
I would like to thank all 18 Yeeps who took time from their schedules to take part in this UYE. I may have stressed a bit with the arrangements and preparation but after seeing so many happy faces, laughs and clean plates after the dinner that stress was sure worth it!
A special thanks to 3 special Yeeps who came to ALL 3 of my UYE’s: John N., Maka K. and Cathy T!!! You guys are AWESOME!!!
I also want to express my gratitude to Happy Garden and Wing’s Shave Ice and Ice Cream for handling our large group. Happy Garden brought out our food at a good pace and very generous with their portions. Wing’s closes at 6pm on Mondays but opened its doors to our group at 830pm via special request.
I also would like to thank Janice H. for bringing a box of chocolate dipped shortbread from Big Island Candies and Rod U., Michael C., Cathy T., Li Y. and David T. for bringing alcohol to share with all of us. And Michael — — you’re so thoughtful in bringing plastic cups for the booze. YOU ROCK!!!
UYE’s are special as you get to bond with fellow Unilocalers on a smaller scale than your regular Unilocal events. It’s been almost a year since being an active Unilocaler, I’ve met so many great people and each time I get to meet more new faces. I pretty much knew all who attended but it was a first for me to meet T Y., Adrienne B. and Kristianne M. I previously met Rod U. and Li Y. at Michael C.‘s and Jacob N.‘s UYE at V Lounge late last year but didn’t get to chat with them. But at my UYE it gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with both of them.
Due to high demand there will be UYE #4 to come. It’ll be in a few months and I hope to see you there.

This was my first UYE and I have a feeling that Paul C. has set the bar pretty high. I came here with my friend Kristianne S. to avoid the «omigah we don’t know anyone «feeling, but immediately walking in the door, everyone was absolutely wonderful friendly.
Paul C. was the master of ceremonies, helping to make sure the tables were evenly disbursed and we had elbow room, etc. He also explained the fact that the owner of the restaurant would be cooking everything to order and helped with the placing of our orders and made sure anyone’s special requests were taken into consideration.
And then the food started coming and coming and coming and coming and coming and coming and at one point when our bellies were full we thought it would never end, yet there was more.
I tried chicken feet and intestines for the first time and allegedly Paul C agreed to try gefilte fish. :)
After we had ingested probably every item in the kitchen and unbuttoned our pants, the competitive eating continued when we waddled down to Wing for ice cream because there’s always room for ice cream.
It was great to meet some Yeeps in person and to chat with them at the dinner table.
I would do shout outs to all those who it was nice to meet but alas it was nice to meet everyone. :)

In Chinese culture, we say hello by asking «have you ate yet?». I often feel that Paul C. always greets us with this saying in his usual generous demeanor. It is no secret that fellow Unilocaler Paul C. throws awesome UYE’s. There is a reason why so many of us have been to all 3 of his UYE’s. We all love it!
UYE Happy Garden #3 had the largest crowd so far and many new faces! Between the two tables, everything was well planned and to the credit of Paul C and Happy Garden’s staff, well executed.,
Being mostly Chinese myself, eating these foods are more of a comfort food. None of these dishes are new to me, but as they say, it is the company with the food that makes eating great.
With that being said: I love chicken feet, I don’t mind eating their pig intestines, and I’m a sucker for Chinese long beans. Sprinkle with fresh dim sum and twenty other Unilocalers and friends and you got yourself a grand olé Chinese party!
As usual, we had our after party over at Wing Shave Ice and Ice Cream where we partied for another hour!
Can’t wait for #4.

I don’t have too much more to add about the food that the other UYErs haven’t already said, except for Happy Garden served the biggest shrimp balls (har gau) I’ve ever had! My dad LOVES dim sum so he’ll be thrilled that we can get it at night!
As for the UYE, that was my first time. I’m pretty sure that all of Paul C’s organizing & hosting skills will make it a tough act to follow, but I had so much fun & met so many nice yeeps that I’m sure I’ll go again. I’m a total noobie and it seems like everyone else is «elite» (???), but they were still really nice to me!

Roasted veal sweetbreads — Velvety rich red Burgundy
Grilled duck hearts — Brooding young red Bordeaux
Foie gras — Sauternes
Sautéed calf brains — Simple Spanish red
Deep fried bull berries — Hoppy American beer
Deep fried pig intestine — 190 proof grain alcohol (before and after consumption).
The barnyard smell announces it’s arrival long before it hits the table. Golden brown, crisp «tubes» served with a sweet sour sauce whose vinegar base can’t break through the poopy, back end aroma. Images of «Two Girls One Cup» springs to mind. Gag reflex engaged.
Food is the catalyst for bringing people together. I’ll buy that.
Good food, fun loving people = good conversation and a good evening.
Bizarre, detestable food, fun loving people = great conversation, dares, you firsts, disbelief, and expletives; a GREAT evening.
Bottom line, an incredibly well executed UYE with an incredible group of Unilocalers who are even greater IRL!
End note: Three separate people bringing Ménage a trois wine to the same UYE? I’ll save that analysis for the experts!

Great #tree UYEX, Paul-​san!!!
In my buzzed stupor, I’ll update mo’ tomorrow. Choke fun, hubby got laid, and I got fo’ meet Rod U. (Supahstar Unilocaler).
Write mo’ once I pau sleep! Mahalo choke to T. Y. fo’ being my DD! Hubby had his phone on silent.
Oyaumsi nasai, minna-​san! («Good night, everyone!» in Jap-​ah-​knee)

Wow! Third time is indeed the charm! This third dim sum dinner was super fun!
There was too much food (as usual) and everyone left with take out boxes… We had 14 different dishes ranging from shrimp dumpling and mochi rice wrapped in lotus leaf to beef chow fun & turnip cake!
We had our own version of food fear factor with bribes and dares to push everyone eating habits to the limit! Deep fried pig intestine, chicken feet, & mystery bean curd anyone?
Janice H was nice enough to bring some chocolate dipped shortbread from Big Island Candies and Paul C brought almond cookies from Lynn’s and Chinese ginger good luck candy for everyone!
With full bellies we all waddled over to Wing’s ice cream shop for the UYE after party! (Second dessert YAY!) Wing’s was nice enough to open especially for our group and we definitely took advantage of that! I think we wound up ordering every single flavor they had available! (cookie butter, blackberry swirl, fig & candied walnut, oreo s’more, Mayan Xocolatl, tangerine dream, pandan, mango, mountain apple sorbet, & starfruit sorbet.)
Special thanks to Michael C, and David T for being on the same wavelength as me and bringing the SAME bottle of wine! (Menage a trois indeed! LOL) and to Rod U for sharing his whiskey!
Thanks Paul C for always hosting such fun dim sum UYE’s!

This UYE put on by Paul C. was so much fun. The restaurant was ready for us when we arrived and Paul did a great job of getting the food ordered for everyone.
I will admit that I’m not a huge fan of all of the items but there were plenty of dishes that I did like and there was so much food that some were able to take a to go box with them.
The owner and chef did an outstanding job of keeping the food coming and seeing to our needs. This is basically a one person operation and I’m in awe of her skills.
I enjoyed the after dinner get together around the corner at Wings for ice cream. Paul planned that for us and arranged for Wings to be opened for us. Good job Paul.

Third time’s the charm.
I was very thankful (thank goodness I wasn’t working for once) to be able to attend Paul C’s 3^rd dim sum UYE dinner at Happy Garden. And though this UYE was full of good friends and good food, for me there was definitely 1 standout of the evening:
Taro Puffs.
Oh yes, those wonderful and delicious taro puffs that Paul arranged to have prepared fresh especially for this UYE. These were just incredibly good. To have it served fresh from the kitchen was such a treat, and I’m thankful he was able to have this planned out with the restaurant.
Paul was very organized and thoughtful when placing the food orders for the group. Since there was only 1 cook in the kitchen, he kindly informed us he would like to place identical orders for each table (we occupied 2) as to make food preparation less of a hassle in the kitchen.
Dishes served included turnip cake, sweet and sour pork chops, corn dumplings, crispy noodles, chicken feet (I passed on this one), mochi rice, fried pig intestines (I passed on this too!), beef chow fun, and of course, those delicious taro puffs.
There was a special appearance at the UYE by «The Three Wines Men.» Correction. That would be the «2 wines men and the 1 wines woman» to be exact. As it turns out, Cathy, David, and myself all brought the exact SAME bottle of red wine to dinner. I believe we finished nearly all 3 bottles of Menage a Trois. Cheers indeed.
As always, It was great to see familiar faces and meet new ones as well. Good to meet Adrienne B and Kristianne S and nice to see newly anointed elite, Li Y, as well.
Post UYE dessert was nearby at Wing’s Shave Ice & Ice Cream, as they were kind enough to open shop for a half hour for us after finishing dinner. All credit goes to Paul for making all arrangements with the owner for stopping by after hours. This was my 1^st visit to Wing’s, and though I’m not in or around Downtown much, I hope to make future visits.
Lastly, THANK YOU to Paul C for graciously hosting this event. Your attention to detail, meticulous planning, and accommodation of requests (i.e food) made this a very enjoyable UYE. Thanks Paul!
BOTTOM LINE: Fun and filling UYE. Good food and great company!