A while back when Ming’s Bistro first opened, it was a hot mess. Service was lousy, chaotic and rude. Food was below par and downright tasteless. Not so much anymore.

On the urging of a friend, I revisited. To my delight some things have changed. I am still on the fence about door greeting. But someone did approach and offered to, at least, figure out how many was in the party and when they could seat us.

(Picture purposefully taken with less patrons to avoid infringing on anyone’s privacy.)

The dining room was bustling with fully loaded food carts, loud attendants and equally loud patrons. Nothing says that people are having a great time like a lot of noise. Something must be right. I found out the fuss was all about food.

As the food carts made their rounds we selected items after items. If something was not the freshest, the attendant would announce that they would bring a fresh item out. How great is that! Most Dim Sum places in Orlando would serve as is. Bonus points. The food was fresh, delicious and very palatable. There was even efficient table clearing as we piled empty dishes.

BBQ Pork Buns – Soft supple exterior, with juicy flavorful porky interior.

Bird’s Nest – Delicately woven strands of crunchy delight stuffed with creamy taro and pork. A true gem.

Braised Chicken Feet – Expect to remove millions of tiny bones from your mouth. But the web cartilage is well worth the trouble. There are die hard fanatics of this dish, I am not one of them.

Braised Tripe – You do know what is tripe, right? Yes, that same thing you thought, cow’s intestine. Some restaurant leave that barnyard aroma in there, some clean it to sterility. Here there was a whiff, enough to remind of the origin, but not deter. Nicely done.

Chilled Jelly Fish – crunchy and slightly acidic.

Deep Fried Calamari – very lightly battered and fried squid. Light on salt and pepper. Non greasy.

Deep Fried Smelt – This tiny fish is eaten whole. I am told that it is supposed to be fried slightly soft. However, I prefer it totally crisp.

Pork Shumai – wonderful little blops of joy.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp – Whole shrimp deep fried with head on. The entire shrimp is meant to be eaten. Yes, even the head. If you take your head off, please drop it on my plate. Crisp, crunchy and packs a nice balance of spicy saltiness.

Shrimp Balls – minced shrimp meat formed into a ball encapsulated with crunchy strands. Great with every bite.

Shrimp Dumpling – minced shrimp formed into a ball and rolled in soft jelly like wrapper. A slippery wonder.

Steamed Shrimp Rice Roll – Giant whole shrimps blanketed in rice wrapper. Dipped in that sauce, it is a whole different world.

Stir Fried Mussels – Little morsels quick tossed in a sweet savory sauce. Great slurping.

Daikon Cake – Imagine forking a Chilean Sea Bass, it feels and almost tastes the same. Startling!

Roast Duck – Moist tender flesh with crisp skin.

It is nice to see that this restaurant has stepped up to the challenge of delivering a better product. While some restaurants stick their heads in the mud and stamp their feet that their methods and food is the superior way. This restaurant has chosen to adjust and deliver. Here is to continued growth and success. Keep those steaming carts rolling.