Skip the Smashed Avo: Your Sunday Belongs to the Dim Sum Trolley

There's a particular kind of Sunday sadness that comes with a £28 brunch bill. You know the one: two slices of sourdough, half an avocado fanned out like a peacock, a poached egg that's somehow both undercooked and cold, and a flat white the size of an espresso. It's lovely. It's also gone in about nine minutes.

Meanwhile, across town, a trolley is rolling past a table in Chinatown carrying bamboo steamers stacked three high, and someone's grandmother is gesturing at it like a stockbroker on a trading floor. That, friends, is brunch done properly.

The Case for the Trolley

Dim sum as brunch isn't a new idea in Hong Kong or Guangzhou — it's simply the weekend ritual. But over the past few years, UK Chinatowns have quietly embraced the late-morning service, and the trend has spread well beyond London. Manchester's Chinatown now has proper yum cha sessions filling up by 11am on Sundays. Birmingham, Glasgow and Newcastle all have spots worth setting an alarm for.

The economics alone should win you over. A typical avocado brunch in a British city centre will set you back £26–£30 once you've added coffee and service. At a good dim sum house, dishes run £3.50–£6 each, and two people can eat gloriously — and we mean properly full — for around £20 a head, tea included. You're getting maybe eight or ten different dishes instead of one sad plate of toast.

And crucially: nobody has ever left a dim sum brunch still hungry.

The Beginner's Field Guide

The menu (or the trolley) can feel intimidating the first time. It isn't. Here's your starter kit.

Har gow (虾饺) — The crystal-skinned prawn dumplings. This is the benchmark dish: if the skin is thick and doughy, be suspicious. You want it translucent, slightly chewy, with a plump prawn inside. Order these first, every time.

Siu mai (烧卖) — The open-topped pork and prawn dumplings, often crowned with roe or a pea. Softer and richer than har gow. A trolley classic.

Cheung fun (肠粉) — Silky rice noodle rolls, usually wrapped around prawns or BBQ pork (char siu) and doused in sweet soy. If you like the idea of dumplings wearing a satin dressing gown, this is your dish.

Char siu bao (叉烧包) — Fluffy steamed BBQ pork buns. The sweet-savoury crowd-pleaser. If you're bringing a dim sum sceptic, lead with these.

Egg tarts (蛋挞) — The dessert course, whether or not you've saved room. Flaky pastry, wobbly custard, best eaten warm. Order them with your main dishes, not after — trolleys don't wait around.

How to Order Like a Regular

A few unwritten rules will carry you a long way:

1. Say yes to the tea. Yum cha literally means "drink tea", and it cuts through the richness. Jasmine or pu'er — just point if unsure.
2. Tap two fingers on the table when someone pours your tea. It's the silent thank-you, and it marks you as someone who knows things.
3. Order in waves. Get two or three dishes first, then more as you go. Dim sum is a marathon of small plates, not a starter-to-main relay.
4. Ask what's on the trolley. Staff are generally delighted to translate. "What's that one?" has never once been met with anything but helpfulness in our experience.
5. The steamed dishes beat the fried ones at most places. Fried dim sum is fine, but the steamer is where the kitchen shows off.

Where to Go: A Rough Map

We won't pretend this is exhaustive, but these are the cities doing the Sunday session properly:

• London — Gerrard Street and the surrounding lanes remain the heavyweight. Several long-running dim sum houses here still run genuine trolley service at weekends, which is increasingly rare and worth seeking out.
• Manchester — Chinatown around Nicholas Street has a cluster of spots doing bustling weekend yum cha. Arrive before noon or expect a queue.
• Birmingham — The Chinese Quarter punches well above its weight; the Sunday service here is a proper local institution.
• Glasgow and Newcastle — Smaller scenes, but the dim sum on offer is often made in-house and all the better for it.

Wherever you are, the tell of a good spot is simple: large tables, families, and a disproportionate number of elderly diners. If the room is full of people who clearly eat there every week, you've found it.

The Verdict

Is dim sum brunch cheaper than avocado toast? Yes — often by a third. Is it more fun? Enormously. Is it better value, more sociable, and a genuinely British way to spend a Sunday? We'd argue all three.

The avocado toast will still be there next weekend. The har gow won't. Go early, order the trolley dishes first, and tap those fingers when the tea arrives.