City View Dim Sum

Located on the threshold of FiDi and Chinatown this restaurant has a little bit of both. It serves fresh tasty dim sum for prices that are to be expected for its location - more expensive than in deep dark Chinatown but not as expensive as the Financial District crowd often is willing to pay. While you will get the same quality for less money in a small, grungy place where the only way you are going to get your food is if you order in Cantonese, City View is a good option for a sit-down lunch. It's clean, comfortable and the staff speaks some English - enough to explain which dumplings have shrimp and which ones have pork.
You never know how much your bill will be - the waitresses walk around with little carts, on which you can find all kinds of delicacies. Once you choose something, they mark your tab with a stamp, but you will never see prices anywhere. On average the bill ends up somewhere around $25 per person (free tea included, or do they charge for it? Who knows.)

Compared to the Oriental Pearl on Clay St, these guys do a much better job for the same price. And I kind of like the idea of choosing from a variety on a cart rather than choosing in advance from a menu.

They are only open daily, 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM. Cards accepted.

Photo (c) - yelp.com