Jasmine on the second floor of New World Makati has always been a favorite for those discerning ones looking for traditional Chinese cuisine. Rather than go experimental or all-modern, Jasmine has been more about doing Chinese comfort food very well. So when they launched their Weekend Eat All You Can Dim Sum, it immediately became one of the hottest tickets in town.

With general community quarantine back, Jasmine reopened in June, and re-introduced the Weekend Dim Sum by adding new dishes to its menu. You can be thankful the Father’s Day weekend has passed, as it was literally jam-packed over the weekend, and now it may be far easier to book a table and enjoy some of the finest dim sum available in our fair city.

I won’t dwell too much on the usual dim sum treats you’ll find. It goes without saying that their crispy pork belly, siomai, radish cake, and hakaw are hard to beat. What this feature will highlight are the new dim sum offerings that varied their culinary landscape, and what I found were really welcome additions.

On the steamed dim sum front, the ones I’ll give my two thumbs up to are the minced chicken, truffle mushroom dumpling and the shrimp, corn, parsley dumpling. The minced chicken utilizes the truffle mushroom element delicately, while my personal favorite was the shrimp and corn which provided a new spin on the shrimp hakaw we're all familiar with.

For the barbecued and fried dim sum selections, look out for the barbecued pork pastry puff, as it’s flaky and filling, with a rich center of soft pork bits. The Youtiao shrimp mousse with wasabi sauce is an exciting new entry, and I liked the introduction of wasabi to add an unexpected flavor. The one my youngest son loved was the curry bun with chicken, mushroom, carrots, and corn. Along with the Youtiao, the curry bun allowed for cuisines other than Chinese to play a role in these new dim sum selections.

Among the main courses that are new additions, the sweet and sour chicken was a great variation on the sweet and sour dishes we’ve come to love. This is the one I would heartily recommend if one hasn’t had his fill with the steamed and barbecued dim sum orders. Yang Chow rice goes perfectly with this.

Jasmine is back on its feet, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s high quality, it’s dependable and consistent, and the Weekend Eat All You Can Dim Sum is a whole new world that’s heaven-sent.