Full Kee

Richmond, Virginia

Just your average dim sum.

Welcome back fellow stuffies!  This week’s adventure takes us into what I think is one of Richmond’s Asian niches.  I really had a craving for some dim sum and found myself heading towards a well recommended little place called Full Kee Restaurant.  I arrived one Saturday afternoon, around 12:30, ready for some awesome yummies.  That's when the adventure really began.  The small parking lot led me to a very old and run down looking building that felt a little..  off to me but I figured, why not and walked on in.  The inside of the restaurant is a bit plain but roomy and much more welcoming than the building facade.  I was immediately seated by some friendly staff and was offered a pot of tea.  We got a nice little pot of chysanthemummy tea and even got a little bowl of rock sugar to sweeten the tea to my liking.  mmm :)

Not 2 minutes later, the first goodie cart rolled by.  I was a bit overwhelmed by the wide selection available on the first cart but quickly regained enough of my senses to order chive dumplings, shu mai, and some other pork dumplingy thing.  The skins on all of our food was incredibly sticky, making for an awesome chopstick dining experience, but really caught me off guard.  I would try to put the tasty looking morsel on my plate only to find it was still stuck to my chopstick when I moved to get another.  Maybe too much starch in the wrappers?  Hmm.  The flavors were not bad, but nothing really special.  I think the amazing reviews I found online had me expecting some incredible eats, but I was a little disappointed. 

The next cart rolled around and I got the steamed shrimp crepey things.  The stickier consistency of the crepe was a bit like the other dishes, which made the proportion of filling to crepe seem a bit off.  And too much of the soy sauce on top to compensate.

So one of my absolute favorite things to eat at during any dim sum outing is the steamed BBQ pork bun.  OH-EMM-GEE, so good.  I asked one of the nice ladies walking around with a cart to see if there were any available and she quickly returned to our table with the bready version of the bun.  While I do prefer the white fluffiness of the steamed version, I just had to give this one a shot.  The bread shell was nice and was just the right size.  The slightly bland filling left a little to be desired but was overall pretty decent.

I thought the food was filling and somewhat well made.  In the end,  I would rather try other restaurants for dim sum.  Maybe I came after peak dim summy time?  I will say that the variety on the menu and appearances of the dishes I saw on other tables, together with the friendly and attentive staff and good prices would definitely entice me for another visit. 


Overall, I wasn't completely satisfied with my adventure here to Full Kee Restaurant.  Maybe I will venture back here again for the Cantonese fare and have another foodie adventure to share!

Until next time... (◕‿◕✿)