A restaurant that has been serving Cantonese-style dishes out of suburban Morris County will be opening its second location inside a storefront just off the Hudson River.
South Lions Dim Sum & Tea is currently planning their Mile Square City expansion at 512 Washington Street. The retail space at the building was home to Off the Wall Chinese Restaurant, which closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction paper has adorned the ground floor’s windows in the months since.
The East Hanover-based business that is coming to the space first opened along Route 10 in 2018. South Lions has a sister restaurant called iCooking Hot Pot & BBQ next door, but owner Andy Chen looks to be bringing a solid dim sum endeavor to Hoboken that can be surprisingly hard to find.
Originating from the Hong Kong region, the dim sum experience generally consists of a wide range of small dishes that are usually served family style. South Lions has posted their upcoming Hoboken menu and it features diverse offerings like a sticky rice with preserved pork or shrimp shumai, which are dumplings with a mixture of shrimp and squid.
Other distinct plates include scallion pancakes, fried shrimp balls, durian cakes, or a fried vegan bean curd roll. The dim sum menu totals 39 dishes with unique options like a baked egg custard, sesame balls, a turnip cake with pork, beef tripe, and spare rib tips with black bean.
The listed chef’s specials at South Lions are both seasoned with mala, a spice that utilizes Sichuan peppercorn and chili peppers. The mala spicy crawfish is a highlight, while a dried hot pot allows diners to choose eight ingredients for the chef to stir fry in a wok.
South Lions is set to feature many bubble milk tea varieties that include Jasmine Green, Oolong, and Taro, plus some fruit teas and even milkshakes to round out the experience. The restaurant, which presented its signage to Hoboken’s Historic Preservation Board during a March 1 meeting, is slated to be open from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.
The impending arrival of South Lions Dim Sum marks the second new restaurant coming to this block of Washington Street, as the automat-style Brooklyn Dumpling Shop is taking over the neighboring storefront. A timeline for the restaurant’s opening has not been announced, but the eatery can be followed on Instagram at the handle @south_lions_dimsum_and_tea.
