DIM SUM IN OLYMPIA

Chinese brunch may be the best brunch of all, at least that's what goes through my mind every time I visit Kirin Seafood Restaurant in downtown Vancouver, B.C. Hell, there's at least 25 dim sum joints up there - all with carts full of baskets and bowls, all steamy and smelly and packed with surprises.

Pulling the cord from chest once again: There isn't dim sum in the South Sound. Right? Please tell me I'm wrong.

Therefore, I'll be front and center when Naomi Kakiuchi leads a dim sum class Wednesday, Feb. 3 at the Bayview School of Cooking in Olympia. She'll show the crowd how to roll, wrap, pan fry and steam sesame balls, hum bow, vegetable spring rolls and sui mai.

Torture, really. I'll sip her Cantonese tea, sample the delicacies, and then it's back to the frustration. - Jake de Paul

[Bayview School of Cooking, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 6-8:30 p.m., $50, 516 W. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.754.1446]

MAMA'S KITCHEN

Open little over a month, Mama's Kitchen is the newest addition to the smorgasbord of dining options that exist in Federal Way. Serving Vietnamese cuisine, the modestly decorated restaurant has comfy padded chairs and bar stools at nine tables and a wrap-around bar facing the windows looking on Pacific Avenue. Amid standard Vietnamese dishes - fried wonton, crispy chicken wings, pho soup, stir-fry, fried rice - I was surprised to see a Vietnamese sandwich called banh mi. Until my trip to Mama's Kitchen I was unaware of its existence. Served on a French roll, the 8-inch long, 4-inch high banh mi arrived packed with thin carrot slices, tomato, lettuce, white onion, hot jalapeno rounds, whole cilantro sprigs and lightly barbequed and thinly sliced chicken hugged against pork cooked the same way.

No bright red BBQ pork here - Mama's stuff barbequed over open flame and tastes like it.

At $2.75, a more affordable, flavorful and filling lunch would be hard to find. - Jennifer Johnson

[Mama's Kitchen, 31254 Pacific Highway S., Federal Way 253.839.1115]