mmm-yoso!!!

Thanksgiving Brunch: Sea Harbour - Rosemead (Los Angeles)

This year we decided to dust off an old tradition, one we'd put away into the closet over 5-6 years back and grab some dim sum on Thanksgiving day. Over the years we've become less satisfied with the inconsistent and plain low quality of the dim sum in San Diego. Instead, we opted to drive to our favorite place for dim sum Sea Harbour. We made really great time on our trip to the SGV, having time to grab some roast duck for dinner (a later post) before arriving at the doors to the restaurant about 10 minutes before opening. Sea Harbour is one of those places with an eternal line during weekends and holidays, you either get there early, or try to time the first major turnover of tables.

On this day, the line dictated a major seating effort and the place was at full capacity ten minutes past ten.

Service was bit confused at first and while not exactly the most friendly, much better than Shanghai No. 1, where the asking of the most simplest question (like, "could I have a menu?), would cause them to give us a pained look like Dr Szell had been working on them for a couple of hours, "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going into that cavity. That nerve's already dying. A live, freshly-cut nerve is infinitely more sensitive. So I'll just drill into a healthy tooth until I reach the pulp." You almost thought they were trained here. 'Nuff said......

For some reason the Missus wanted some Gailan.....

They obviously brush some oil on it to give this poached vegetable some sheen. As gailan goes, this was fine, but I thought the oyster sauce was very good.

We usually go fairly light and at Sea Harbour go primarily with seafood. The hargow was good, nicely pleated, the wrappers not too think nor too sticky.

The shrimp were plump and cooked well...my only complaint were that these were perhaps too big, you couldn't eat them in a single bite. Which I guess is not much of a complaint at all.

I loved the Shrimp, dried scallops, and Chinese celery dumplings on our previous visits. These did not disappoint.

Nice wrappers, not too sticky, the savory flavor of the shrimp and dried scallops, with a nice textural counterpoint and the palate cleansing flavor of the Chinese celery. Still a favorite.

We always try something new when we visit Sea Harbour. On this visit it was the Radish Cake with XO Sauce. We usually avoid ordering these because we make it at home, but the allure of the XO sauce could not be avoided. This dish totally changed our opinion of Radish/Turnip Cake.

There were huge pieces of daikon in these, not shreds, that literally melted in your mouth! The texture was excellent. The XO sauce wasn't artificially salty and just added a touch of spice, with a nice savory touch. But those tender chunks of radish cake....I'm sure we'll be having those again.

The clunker of the day....and there always seems to be one, was the vegetarian Black Fungus and Celery Dumpling.

Nice textures, but pretty bland.

I was looking forward to trying the Egg Tofu in Abalone Sauce.

Loved the texture of the egg tofu, the sauce was pretty mild though.

At this point, we were satisfied but waiting on one item. We asked one of the gentlemen about it and he efficiently went to check the kitchen and told us "exact, three minutes"...and about three and a half minutes later our Pan Grilled Spinach Pork Bun. The Missus thinks this is too sweet, but I usually love the flavors. Today, I was less then satisfied with the dough which had the texture of dough where steam had escaped leaving it on the harder, waterlogged side.

I still enjoyed the filling, so I'll just have to wait until our next visit to see......

 Overall, our tab came to about $35. Which may be expensive if you dim sum in LA, but not so much if you've had it in San Diego recently. Plus, there's nothing here that comes remotely close to this in quality, prep, and flavor.

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

We made two more stops before heading home; first to Tianjin Bistro for some "day after" suan cai yang rou, then the market for some supplies. We had smooth sailing until the 5/405 merge...after that it was pure murder until we hit Carlsbad, where traffic suddenly dissapated.....very strange!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!

Roadtrip: Dim Sum at Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village - San Gabriel (Los Angeles)

After our quick meal at Happiness Restaurant, the Missus calculated that we could still make it to San Gabriel and check out Shanghai No.1 Seafood Village before it got too crowded. Shanghai No.1 had been creating some buzz around the SGV, though I think it's more for the amount spent on decor (I've heard over a million) then the food. The restaurant is located in the same strip mall as Beijing Restaurant and where Green Village was before it shut down. The restaurant really doesn't look like much from the outside.

But the interior is something to behold, looking like an old Shanghai nightclub/restaurant.

We were here during lunch, but the dinner menu is also available. We asked to look at the dinner menu....and got what was to be the typical service here....lousy, abrupt, and perfunctory at best.

The menu really looked like those we saw in China, an over-sized volume of glossy photos, with each dish described in detail. I had read several accounts saying that the dim sum was expensive, but of course those folks hadn't eaten dim sum in San Diego recently. Here the small is $1.98, medium $2.98, large $3.98, and "specials" $4.98.

Since we had already eaten, our ordering habits had to follow a strategy we have when eating multiple meals in the SGV.....folks always look at me strangely when I tell them we actually have a strategy for eating, like I'm crazy or something. Only folks like my good friends and fellow bloggers like Kirbie and "CC" understand that I'm not totally insane.....partially perhaps, but not around the bend.

We started with the Lily and Corn Porridge ($4.98):

I took one sip of this and went...whoa....the base of the porridge was dried scallop, which just brought it up several notches. Also, notice the smoothness...it basically looks like milled broken rice! Most places serve you rice porridge that looks like rice and water....heck, that's what mine looks like even though there's abalone in it! This was the best I've had in a while, not too starchy or gummy, smooth, nice savory flavor that enhanced, but didn't overwhelm the added ingredients....quite nice.

Next up was the Abalone sticky rice in Lotus Leaf ($3.98):

 Loved the way this was executed, the rice wasn't over-cooked and mushy. The rice had absorbed the maximum amount of smoky flavor from the lotus leaf. There was a slice of abalone, but it was pretty rubbery and instead of a whole egg yolk, there was a smear of yellow. Overall, this was good, but a bit on the rich side.

Next up was the Shanghai Vegetable Bun ($1.98). Now I enjoy the version at Chin's, but this was in another league.

 These weren't very big, but the flavors were. The version at Chin's tends to be too bready and sweet. This one had a mild yeastiness and the filling had that balanced salty-bitter-sweet flavor I enjoy.

So far so good.....but from here our meal kinda took a turn in the wrong direction. If you've read our little blog long enough, you know that we just couldn't have a Hu Cai (滬菜) meal without trying the Xun Yu. Here's it's called Old Shanghai Smoked Fish and this one is priced fairly high at $12.99. Supposedly this is not made in the traditional way, but cooked to order, which, if you've ever made this - marinated-deep fried-marinated, seems a bit odd. The dish, which was on the small side was presented well.

The Missus took a bite and told me I wouldn't be able to eat it. But of course I had to try.....man, this was some of the muddiest fish I've had in a while. It tasted like I stuck a handful of dirt in my mouth. The textures were interesting, the exterior light and crisp, the interior almost like silken tofu, which I found odd considering this is fish. I just couldn't bring myself to eat another bite.

The Xiao Long Bao was also terrible ($4.98) - if anything was over-priced on the dim sum menu it was this.

First the folds were hard and gummy, not made well. The flavor of the soup was on the mild side and the filling was hard....much too hard for Xiao Long Bao. This would probably do in San Diego, but not in a Shanghai style restaurant in the SGV.

 The one item I really wanted to try were the Shenjian Bao ($2.98):

Not to incur the wrath of my friend YZ from Shanghai, who will automatically tell me how wrong it is for SJB to have folds on the top. This was fluffy, the dough on the sweet side, but had a nice amount of salty-sweet "soup".....much too sweet for the Missus, but I liked it. The meat wasn't anything special and this was fairly good overall....it looked better than it was.

The service really didn't live up to the standard of the design and decor.....this was basically lipstick on a pig. When we asked for boxes they were basically thrown at us...the whole objective seemed to be around turning over tables....I guess someone has to pay for the furniture, right?

I thought the execution of the dishes were better than the actual flavors, the SJB is a good case in point. The Missus and I had an interesting conversation about the food on the drive back home. The Missus came to the conclusion that I'm pretty unbiased when it comes to Chinese regional cuisine....I wasn't raised on the stuff, but became immersed during our years in the SGV, so I was basically a blank slate. She was raised on a combination of Lu Cai - Shandong cuisine, of the Jiaodong style and spicy Hunan/Sichuan cuisine. So the flavors of  "South of the Yangtze" really don't appeal to Her.....interesting theory.

As for the dim sum at Shanghai No.1...well let's just say it won't make me forget about Sea Harbour or Elite.

Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Restaurant
250 West Valley Blvd Suite M
San Gabriel, CA 91776

 

 

Revisits: China Max for lunch

Another revisit coming at ya'.......

China Max:

A couple of weeks back, before things started getting really crazy at work, I managed to meet the Missus for lunch. If we manage to meet, the usual place would be Izakaya Sakura, but on this day, I was craving pan fried noodles and the Missus was craving something....well kinda weird in my opinion...just read further.

To me, China Max does the best pan fried noodles in the area....it has gotten pretty pricey though. The seafood pan fried noodles are now $16.95 and that's the lunch special price! Yikes!!! However, in this case we get the best of all worlds.....

The Missus gets the shrimp, fish, etc.....I get all the seafood She doesn't want and all the noodles I can deal with. Love this dish as the slow metamorphosis begins...starting at the crisp edges and the portion under the "gravy" which slowly becomes a "wet" noodle dish. Love the contrasts of textures, the flavor of the sauce isn't too salty, nor does it overwhelm anything....though I will say the quality of the fish has sometimes wavered.

The Missus had a weird craving for Shrimp with Lobster Sauce....which I just don't care for....

I think of it as shrimp cooked in pasty egg drop gravy....the Missus on the other hand has a strange affection for this.

I guess we needed some greens so the Missus ordered Gailan....nicely done, but we usually don't order vegetables when eating out unless it's something special....I can usually pull all of this off at home.

I've been a bit down on Dim Sum in San Diego.....for the last, say......four or five years. The lack of consistency, which to me, often appears to be a lack of effort, has kind of gotten old. But I always want to have my mind changed and over the last couple of years, I think China Max has done the best with regards to dim sum in the area. So why not try a couple of items since were here....

The Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Dumplings looked good.....

But was barely lukewarm inside...it didn't look it, but was also on the greasy side. These dumplings always have a bit oiliness to them, but when not right, they edge to greasiness.

On the other hand, the wrappers to the Shrimp and Spinach Dumplings were dry and brittle.

The shrimp had good flavor, accented by the greens, but this is a dumpling and the filling is just half the story.

I'm wondering if and when dim sum in San Diego will catch up with what's going on twenty-first century. I guess as long as mediocrity can buy the children of these restaurant owner's Mercedes Benz's things will stay the same. I do enjoy traditional dim sum when it's done right....but it has been a long time since I have had dim sum where I thought that 2 out of every 3 dishes were ok. 1 of 3 might be ok in baseball, but not in dim sum.....

China Max
4698 Convoy Street #C101
San Diego, CA 92111

Yum Cha Cafe- Lunches in Linda Vista.

Welcome back to the food blog called mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is -yes- still on vacation.  I know he is eating well and will have some great posts when He and His Missus get back.  ed (from Yuma)is -yes- working a lot right now.  Cathy is -yes- blogging again about a meal.

Kirk has posted many times about Yum Cha Cafe.  Part of a chain based in Los Angeles, Yum Cha Cafe serves small, individual portions of sweet and savory snacks, soups and BBQ meats. It is not 'traditional' Dim Sum in that you point and pay and get all the items on a tray to carry to a table.  It also is not expensive.  

It is located in the same parking lot as Thuan Phat grocery store and the corner of Linda Vista and Ulrich, which houses many restaurants and has a good parking area.  The ability to have parking nearby restaurants anywhere seems to be a plus lately.

Some trays of hot foods-which are served up as a portion of either $1.39 or $1,79.
Steam baskets of Dim Sum.
BBQ duck, chicken and pig. These are sold either by the pound or by the half or the whole.
Pay and find a seat.  Hot tea is in a pot next to the door.  Three "B" choices. Each is $1.79. The fried chicken wings (7 pieces) have been fried, but are not crispy, from sitting on the steam tray too long. Still the flavor is good.   The vegetable seafood dumplings (3) are pan fried and filled with crispy vegetables, shrimp and fake crab. The roll is mainly tofu, with a green leafy vegetable...here's a cross section view:
The outside of the roll is a bit crispy tofu and the rolled up insides are a good texture; not mushy.  I like the flavor of this vegetarian savory item...

Below is pictured fish porridge ($3.99), dumpling soup ($1.99) .  We almost always order the fish porridge. It is filled with a good amount of a fresh, firm white fish and is a meal in itself.

A close up cross section of one of the ten dumplings served in the broth which tasted very much like fish sauce on this visit. But, for $1.99,  ten meaty dumplings and some Chinese broccoli is a nice meal. There are also some dumpling with noodle soups for $2.99. I have ordered that also and the broth was not as 'fish sauce' tasting.    

If you are eating in, you'll get your items in the steam baskets it was cooked in.  The shrimp shu mai, 4 pieces, are also $1.79. 
 
Below, shrimp stuffed eggplant (3 pieces, also $1.79) are a nice way to get a vegetable and protein-and it can be a meal...I do like these.

 
There are items for $1.39, mostly desserts and non-tofu vegetarian.  Apparently we didn't have any of those on this visit.

Here is a  braised "Hainan Style" chicken, roast duck and char siu pork on rice with preserved vegetables underneath with to-go packets of Sriracha sauce which was less than $5.  This was dinner, then breakfast, then lunch.  The lemongrass chicken was the best of the three meats, but I did not find the other meats objectionable. Sometimes I just get 1/2 lb of the roast pork...as a snack. 

Yum Cha Cafe 6933 Linda Vista Road San Diego 92111 open 8-8 daily.  Website

Eating with Friends all over the place: Ba Ren, Chautara (Madison), Sea Harbour (Rosemead - Los Angeles)

I received an email from a FOY (Friend of Yoso) today who mentioned that my posts have recently been a bit long-winded. Actually, the term used was "verbose". Under certain circumstances, I'm pretty sure that I'd be somewhat.... well pick the verb; maybe offended might fit the bill.... and perhaps I'd even respond with a somewhat colorful adjective of my own. The humorous and jovial tone of the email erased all possibility of that, and was a reminder that many of you are perhaps more interested in seeing what I ate, rather than reading about it.

And I just happened to have a bunch of photos..... revisits all, of recent meals with friends. The locations are miles apart, but here goes......

Ba Ren:

Yet again. I usually don't even take my camera out any more. During a recent visit, Akira requested a meal at Ba Ren. I believe the main reason being that I remember what his favorite dishes are here. So here's what Akira, Mr S, and I had.

 

 

 

 

 

After all these years Ba Ren still delivers......

You can find links to my zillions of posts on Ba Ren on our rotation page.

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Chautara - Madison (Wisconsin):

I made sure to return, since I enjoyed my meal there on my previous visit. This time around, the  food seemed to fall short, the Lamb Palungo way tough, the beef over-cooked, my dish, the Khasi Ko Masu was the best of the lot, but was a bit too salty. At least the photos came out a lot better than on my previous visit. Oh, and those thingys that look like Xiao Long Bao? They're "momos" a Nepali/Tibetian type of dumpling. My eating companions on this evening were from Shandong and Taiwan respectively, and were surprised when that hit the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you're wondering what, or where Chautara is, you can find out here.

Chautara Restaurant
334 State St
Madison, WI 53703

Sea Harbour - Rosemead (Los Angeles):

Believe it or not, after my breakfast at Gardena Bowl, on my recent visit to LA, I still had lunch in store. I was meeting Akira, and good FOYs PeterL and Angela, who drove all the way from San Diego, for Dim Sum at Sea Harbour. Packed as always, it was a fun and mostly delicious meal.

I love this first photo.... of the Durian Pastry.... it looked so good that PeterL could not help himself and snatched one away as soon as it arrived!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

So there you go...... more photos, less verbiage... sheesh, I feel like a laundry detergent ad, you know, more cleaning power, cheaper price!

Man, it's hot around here, I hope everyone is keeping cool!

Road Trip: Dim Sum at Sea Harbour - Rosemead (Los Angeles)

Today, stewing in my triple-digit-temperature sodden juices, I had the evil idea of doing a post on my latest bowl of Bun Bo Hue, or perhaps another Pho post. But just the thought of looking at a photo of a steaming bowl of Pho, was just a bit too much for me. So instead, let's just go directly to our current favorite Dim Sum Restaurant, Sea Harbour in Rosemead. When folks say they're going to LA, and want a recommendation for Dim Sum, I'll usually recommend Sea Harbour. Heck, when Ed from Yuma, wanted a couple of recommendations for Seafood Restaurants in LA, Sea Harbour was on that short list. And based on his post, Ed really enjoyed his meal at Sea Harbour. And if you needed another seal of approval, during our visit to Urasawa, Hiro-san himself told me that his favorite restaurant is Sea Harbour. Need I say more? You probably notice a dearth of posts on Dim Sum in San Diego...... that's mainly because the wild swings in quality and mixed experiences over the years have made us a bit "gun shy", after all, the usual layout of funds for a good dim sum meal, exceeds the risk associated with a good bowl of soup! Especially when the return on investment for dim sum in San Diego during the last few years have crashed faster than the stock market.....

On weekends there will usually always be a wait at Sea Harbour..... even if you arrive before the 1030 am opening, it's likely you'll be standing behind someone who got there even earlier than you. Still, if you get there before 11am, on a normal weekend, it's likely the wait won't be too long. Turnover is very quick here.....

Like Elite and Happy Harbour, Sea Harbour does Dim Sum the upscale "menu style". The check off list is quite large at about 130 items....

It's always quite an effort to decide on what to eat. As much as Siu Mai would seem a "no-brainer", a visit to Sea Harbour is something of a special meal for us, so I've yet to have that here. The standard Char Siu Bao, is usually persona non-grata during our Dim Sum meals, as the Missus hails from Shandong and Beijing, and the dough is much too sweet for Her tastes.

So we tend toward the dishes that are not quite the norm for a typical Dim Sum meal. On this day, things started off with the Baby Pak Choy with Ginko and Bean Curd Sheets:

This was almost an entree sized dish. The pak choy was prepared perfectly, still crunchy, not saturated. We both love bean curd sheets. The broth was a light, but tasty chicken stock. The only negative for us in this dish were the ginko nuts. They were very bitter. I have been using ginko nuts a lot recently, and immediately knew these were not prepared well, the texture was mushy, and the flavor unpleasant. Still, the pak choy was good, even as leftovers.

The Shrimp, Dry Scallop, and Chinese Celery Dumplings were excellent.

Over the years, I've resigned myself to either overly sticky, or brittle and ripped wrappers for steamed dumplings. These on the other hand were perfect; with just enough pull. The amount of Chinese Celery was just right, adding that wonderful palate cleansing effect. The size of the cut was good as well; you knew you were having Chinese Celery. The shrimp was flavorful; and even though we really couldn't make out a dried scallop umami, the proportion of the other ingredients was just right for our tastes. We really should be having more of the steamed dumplings at Sea Harbour.

Though it's really hard when you see stuff like Foie-Gras Minced Beef with Spinach on the menu.

I was surprised that you could really make out the flavor of goose liver in this. The spinach was good quality, and not bitter in the least. A rich, but good dish.

We were split on the Cheong Fun with Bittermelon and Chicken.

The Missus thought that while the bittermelon was perfectly cooked, it was much too bitter for Her. I on the other hand enjoyed this. We both thought that the sauce for the Cheong Fun had a good salty-sweet balance to it.

The biggest disappointment of the day were the French Style Goose Liver Won Ton.

Very bland won tons (where was the goose liver?), in an insipid broth. This dish was very disappointing, as both the won tons and the broth lacked flavor.

Second place for most disappointing dish was the Fish Cake with Corn and Peas.

Which also suffered from the blandness bugaboo. This one almost got me to request soy sauce and chili paste, which is not provided on each table like the typical Dim Sum Restaurant. I can understand the desire to have each customer taste the real flavor and quality of each item ordered. But man, this was fairly tasteless.

The Missus and I were split on the Pan Grilled Spinach Pork Bun.

The Missus thought these were too sweet (of course), and too light and fluffy (???). I thought the sweetness wasn't over-powering, and really enjoyed the shrimp in the Buns. I'd have these again, but don't think the Missus would allow me to order them.

As a whole, we really enjoyed this meal, and ended up with some leftovers. And even though we ordered several of the most expensive items on the Dim Sum menu, our bill came out to a tad over $40, much less then we had expected spending.

Leaving, we noticed the huge crowd waiting outside the restaurant, braving temperatures that were surely approaching a hundred degrees. It left me wondering if I'd be willing to wait in this heat. Perhaps not, but we still think of Sea Harbour as one of the better spots for Dim Sum.

I'm always attracted to the "Chicken in the parking lot" here, and am racking my brains to recall what this place was before Sea Harbour. Maybe you'll be able to tell me.....

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

Dim Sum Lunch inside Vinh Hung Supermarket

Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy, as well as a few others write on this blog, mmm-yoso!!!  Today, Cathy is talking about another interesting lunch she had. You can enjoy it, too.  Vicariously at least.

Hi.  A few weeks ago, Mr. C sent me an email asking if we could meet for lunch.  Of course I could. So we did. Kirk blogged about his lunch here about 2.5 years ago so I figure I can talk about my experience here.
You enter the supermarket (formerly movie theater-Mr. C said he could not believe this was where he saw "The Matrix" so many years ago)and walk to the right- past the steam trays.  We were told to "sit by the window" and so we did. This was our view of the steam trays (which *obviously* used to be the movie theater snack area).

They serve Hong Kong style Dim Sum here.  Mr. C knew what he wanted to order and so I let him.  (You order from a menu here, no steam carts.  Items range from $1.80 to $3.20 for the most part)  I only told him I did not want chicken feet.   

 

Top left- Har Gao- Shrimp dumpling, in a delicate thin wrapper (moist, good flavor) Top right- Siu Mai (pork and mushroom in egg wrapper).  Front  - Haam sui gok-sometimes called a salty pastry...wonderful oval shaped rice flour items filled with pieces of pork and a thick 'gravy', crispy fried on the outside and sticky/rice like on the inside.   

The roast pork (it was almost $10 per pound, kind of high compared to other places; we shared 1/2 lb).  It was *really* good. The skin was crispy but not tough, the layer of fat was just right and melted in my mouth.   Oh.  The pork meat had a very rich flavor also.

The baked cha siu bao (buns filled with BBQ pork) were very fresh, light and the sweetness of the pork balanced with the saltiness of the bun.  Of course we had to have egg tart as dessert. Even though everything was excellent, my most favorite item was the Congee (porridge) with roast duck. Deeply rich with chopped pieces of duck with still crispy skin and that luscious layer of fat.

Mr. C said that this is one of few places that serve the porridge with duck.  He also said it was the best he has ever had. I never looked before, but I
will now...you know, so I can compare... 

Forgot my token condiment photo and to mention the rice in lotus leaf...  

Hong Kong Style Dim Sum, inside Vinh Hung Supermarket 10550 Camino Ruiz (SW corner at Mira Mesa Blvd) San Diego 92126 Opens at 9 am 7 days

 

Yum Cha Cafe

*** More on Yum Cha Cafe's Roast Duck and Chinese BBQ here and here.

As promised in this post, I've  gotten my act together and put together my jumbo-sized Yum Cha Cafe Post. Since Yum Cha Cafe opened, we've been back a few times, during different times of the day. 

 

The set-up is fast, and the ladies behind the counter smile and quickly wave you up to the counters.

 

There's the Chinese BBQ station, with the requisite items hanging.

 

The fried Dim Sum station, with the various offerings radiating the glow of the heat lamps.

 

And of course, the steamed items.

 

And here is where we start running into some of the little quirks about this location of Dim Sum Cafe. First it is a free-for-all, unlike the San Gabriel location where you pull numbers.(*** An update for 02/09/09 - guess what I saw today on my visit? They now have a number dispenser. But of course everyone was just ingoring the thing and walking straight up to the counter to order!) So during prime time, get those shin guards and flak jackets on. As FOY "PaulL" noted in an email to me, "Not to be rude but what a fire drill." It is not a real big problem during slow times, but man, some of those older ladies "take no prisoners". Still, the women behind the counters (and there is an army of 'em) are very nice and helpful, which leads us to point two; depending on who you get, you may have some problems if you speak neither Cantonese or Vietnamese. So for many of us, it is a point to get what you want, which is not a big deal. OK, you got your steamed dumplings, and the fried stuff looks mighty good, so let's get some. This is point three, fried is fried, and steamed is steamed, and never the twain shall meet. In other words, this is another station, with another crew, and there may, or may not be a "hand-off". Same with the Chinese BBQ. Say you survive, you've got everything you wanted all piled on one of those bright orange trays. Point four, the cashier is a separate station! During certain times, there may be a bit of chaotic bottleneck of sorts. Even though there are three registers, only one may be open. Once, when only one register was open, a huge mass of humanity, was gathered in front of the harried, but still cheerful cashier, who, with orange trays lined from one end of the counter to the other, on both sides, started just holding trays up for folks to identify, step up, and pay! Sometime during the chaos, someone else purchased my chicken feet, et al. Another time, my Hainan Chicken Rice left the building without me, I'm assuming incognito, or perhaps under cover of darkness...... Still, more often than naught, you'll leave the building, or sit at one of the tables, which have already hit a level of "San Gabriel stickiness" in just a little over a week (they must bottle the stuff now), and munch away.

You may be asking yourself, if this is worth all the aggravation. Depending on your timing, and/or mind set, it can be kinda fun....in the "wow, that was somewhat invigorating, so long I don't have to it everyday" kind of way. One other key point, once you've experienced and understand the (fire) drill, you can get out of the place in a matter of minutes. Oh, and did I mentioned the prices? Dim Sum is broken into 2 price categories, category 'A' goes for $1.39, 'B' for $1.79. Put into those terms.....

OK, enough with all the details, let's have some Dim Sum. This version of Chaozou dumpling ($1.79), was bleh. Lousy wrappers, and tough pork. Though I can say, I've had worse at a few Dim Sum places in San Diego.

 

The "Pan Fried" Chicken Dumplings ($1.79), however.....

 

  Were a bit of a surprise. These looked like really bad "buffet style" dumplings, and indeed the wrapper was a bit hard, but the filling was very tasty.

Chicken and Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf ($1.79). Man this was quite a bit of food. Decent lotus leaf flavor, a bit on the dry side, but passable. One good thing about Yum Cha Cafe is that almost everything is quite hot when you get it.

 

This monstrosity is called the House Special Bun ($1.39).

 

It is pretty large, and is filled with several large pieces of Lap Cheong (Chinese sausage), and a slice of boiled egg. The Missus thought the bun was much too sweet, and the bottom of the steamed bun was a bit soggy.

The Missus likes the Chicken Feet ($1.39), I think it's Her favorite item from Yum Cha Cafe. On this occasion they were piping hot, plump, moist, with a decent flavor.

 

The Shrimp Siu Mai ($1.39), was pretty good on this occasion. Nice shrimp flavor, still hot, decent texture.

 

But on another occasion, the filling had a strong cornstarch flavor to it.

Steamed shrimp dumplings ($1.79). These were very good. I got them early on a Sunday morning. They were hot, and full of shrimp flavor.

 

I also bought some Shrimp and Chive steamed dumplings ($1.79).

 

And though I thought the wrapper to be a bit too chewy, the flavor was right on the button. As you can see by the photo to the right, there was a good amount of shrimp in these.

The Stuffed Tofu($1.79) was pretty blah.

 

The Steam Chicken Bun ($1.39).

 

Had but a smear of filling, which was on the bland side, and the bottom of the steamed bun was a soggy mess.

The Missus managed to snag some Cheong Fun with Dried Shrimp ($1.79). And it was surprisingly good.

 

As you can tell, it was missing the sauce. But here's another surprise, it's not soy sauce in those bottles, it's the sauce for the Cheong Fun! Nice surprise here.....

I had been hesitant to try any of the deep fried stuff....heat lamps, and sitting around does not make for great stuff. But I had been itching to try the "Golden Seaweed Roll" ($1.79).

 

And texture wise it was just as I thought, pretty limp and soggy. I did however, really like the shrimp filling, which was well flavored. If these come out of the fryer when you visit, it may be worth a try.

On another visit, I tried the Char Siu Bao ($1.39). And proving that timing is everything, this was perfectly steamed, no sogginess. Perhaps a bit short on the filling, and yes, the bun is maybe a tad too sweet. Still not bad.

 

I also tried the Pork Siu Mai ($1.39), which had just come out, and it was good. The Har Gow($1.39) suffered from wrappers that were too thick and chewy. Sorry, no photos, by this time my trigger finger was pretty fatigued.

Still have doubts about trying this place out? How about this. You can purchase all of the dim sum mentioned above, including the Siu Mai and Har Gow, for $24.05 without tax! That's fifteen servings of dim sum. I could make you really depressed and say it would cost you just $18.05 in San Gabriel, but why go there.

 

I realize this post is approaching the herniation point, but just a few more things.

 

There's a door to Thuan Phat Market conveniently located to one side of the restaurant. Nice, except that later in the afternoon, some of the more unpleasant fragrances makes its way into Yum Cha Cafe. It doesn't bother me much, but I thought I'd mention that. Also, I've found that the various dishes are much better in the mornings most of the time.

 

On one of my visits, I noticed a Caucasian Woman standing in the corner looking a bit distressed. She was a bit overwhelmed by the craziness (it was very busy that morning). Feeling bad for her, I stopped by and told her, to just "go for it, and get in there. You might have some fun." And so might you....

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Open Daily: 8am-8pm

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Jasmine Seafood-Dim Sum on a lazy Sunday

Welcome back to mmm-yoso, the blog about food.  Again Cathy is blogging about a meal she and her Mister had during their "seven days of feasting"-meals out between their birthdays.  The other people who blog here apparently haven't had anything to eat lately.

So, anyhow, The Mister and I were awake early on Sunday and were hungry.  Jasmine opens at 9:30 and we were in the parking lot before 10 a.m., avoiding the waiting throngs who are lined up by 10:30.  Kirk has blogged about dim sum many times, yet I've eaten here many, many times and never blogged about it.  Until now.

We usually order eight items, which seems to be just about the correct amount of food for us.  This time, the jasmine tea counts as one of the items.  They do charge $1 per person for the tea here, but it is a very high quality loose tea and even on the third refill of hot water, the flavor is still deep. I didn't take a photo.  Sorry.

  The first, noisy, steam cart rolled by. I pointed. -Har Gao- translucent rice dumplings filled with shrimp appearred on the table. You get four and, well...at least I sort of got a photo.  Price was Group C ($4.20)

The steamed bean curd roll- this one filled with pork, bamboo, cloud ear mushrooms and in a *very* flavorful broth. Also priced as Group C.  There were two of these pieces, cut to make 4 pieces total.

Wonton soup ( Group D-$4.50) came rolling on its own cart. Four shrimp wontons, Chinese broccoli, some scallions and a nice, warm broth. Never had this before. Excellent to share.

Shrimp Shu mai. (Group B $3.90) Always wonderful. Pretty much solid chopped shrimp.

Pork Shu Mai (Group A, $2.70), apparently ordered because we were not too adventurous...the tripe cart had just passed us..and the chee fee just didn't look all that good today.

Cross section of the Taro Gok (Group A), filled with a pork and preserved vegetable mixture that was just the right amount of juicy and salty for the light mashed taro...the crispy fried shredded exterior added just the right amount of crunch without being oily. Three on the plate.

Custard tarts, three on the plate, Group A, the perfect dessert...warm, eggy custard, flaky warm crust...mmm!

Jasmine Seafood 4609 Convoy San Diego 92111 (858)268-0888 website

The Missus's Latest Feet-ish.....

Just a short post tonight.....today was jury duty day, and it's amazing how sitting around for 8-9 hours just saps your energy......

So what is, or more precisely was (She has since moved on....) the Missus's obsession?

Feet, umm feast your eyes on this:

How the Missus could just wake up one morning, turn to me, and tell me, "I want some chicken feet"....for some reason that just sounds wrong. So, over the past 2 weeks, She's been feeting feasting on chicken feet, usually getting them 2 orders at a time. So here's how the Missus rates the chicken feet, which my Filipino friends call "adidas", from the various Dim Sum restaurants in the Convoy area.

1 - Jasmine.

The Missus's favorite by a mile...to quote, "plump, juicy, nice skin, nice gelatin, lots of black bean.....on the oily/greasy side."

2 - Emerald

"Ok, not as greasy as Jasmine, lots of skin, but not much flavor..."

3 - China Max(photo top of post)

"Bland, not enough black bean, tough.....the toes felt hard like I was eating giant toenails...."

So there you go, more than you ever wanted to know about the Missus's preferences when it comes to chicken feet. There is one major upside for me.....having the Missus concentrating on Her chicken feet, means more of this stuff for me:

Next time I want Dim Sum all to myself I know what to do....just wave some chicken feet in front of the Missus!

Jasmine Seafood Restaurant
4609 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Emerald Seafood Restaurant
3709 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

China Max Seafood Restaurant
4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

I'll be back with a new restaurant post tomorrow!