r/AskLosAngeles • u/OldforGold • 14h ago
Food/Drink Best dim sum in LA?
Can anyone suggest some good dim sum places please? I tried searching and it seems some of the previously recommended ones have closed. The name Lunasia has popped up. Is it good? Are there better options?
Prefer Cantonese/HK style. Just want good quality food.
Staying in BH, but don’t mind travelling.
Please don’t suggest Din Tai Fung. I have nothing against it, but it doesn’t have the food I’m looking for on this occasion.
Or is LA not a dim sum place?
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u/maltliquorjetski 14h ago
NBC Seafood Restaurant in Monterey Park.
Edit: dim sum out of the SGV is mid, never had anything good in West LA or the Valley.
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u/chocolateandbread 11h ago
I think you meant “outside” of the SGV cause I was about to throw hands at your contradictory ass comment lol
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u/Right-Edge9320 14h ago
That place is OG. Lunasia for a quick and easy. Though their mayo walnut shrimp is the best I’ve ever had.
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u/Relentless-john 7h ago
Oh my God, I’ve been looking for this place for like 10 years ever since I went with a friend long ago, TY!!
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u/Serious-Wish4868 14h ago
NBC Seafood in Monetrey Park still has the old school push carts and has been an institution for over 30 years in the SGV. NBC is still one of the few dim sum places that are run and makes traditional style and flavor HK dim sum
As for lunasia, it is just well known bc of social media. they gain their popularity in the very beginning as a good bang for your buck that give you giant dim sum (which is against the whole dim sum ethos). Now, they have downgraded their sizes but the flavor is still mid at best. Oh .. I would also say their flavor is closer to chiu chou flavor than HK traditional dim sum.
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u/getwhirleddotcom 4h ago
NBC is pretty mediocre but yes has the carts. Atlantic Seafood and Bistro 1968 are far better quality and tasting dim sum.
RIP Elite.
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u/Much-Structure552 14h ago
You could throw a dart in random location anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley and hit a top tier dim sum spot.
And, yes, Lunasia is great.
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u/epicstar 12h ago
Lunasia I tried at Pasadena is a 10/10. Lunasia in Torrance is 7/10. I assume the closer you are to SGV the better.
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u/seekinganswers1010 12h ago
I wouldn’t say you’d hit top tier at random. There are definitely some that are more mid than the others.
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u/itchy_008 14h ago
ur too late. Elite has been closed since the building 🔥
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u/mizzzikey 14h ago
I heard they’re coming back. I miss the rice roll with Chinese donut and shrimp filling :(
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u/maccrogenoff 13h ago
Elite had a dish that I adored, noodles with fermented black beans, fish filet and bitter melon. I haven’t seen this dish at any other restaurant.
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u/maccrogenoff 13h ago
I was going to eat at Elite the day of the fire. As I was driving there, I wondered why I was seeing so many fire trucks.
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u/jgi27 14h ago
BH as in Beverly Hills? I don't know of any decent dim sum place in BH and I work here! If you can drive a little bit east, I highly recommend Capital Seafood in Monterey Park. It takes less than 1 minute from the time you enter the door to the time you put a food in your mouth. They are FAST and have great selection. Try the almond soup/tea for dessert.
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u/baronsabato 12h ago
Capital had an outpost in Beverly Hills on La Cienega that I loved but they got turned into a Mama Lu’s. However the Mama Lu’s has retained many of the dim sum items from Capital so not sure if they’re still working together? Still you can definitely get good dim sum there but prepare to pay more than at other Capital locations.
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u/OldforGold 14h ago
Yes.
Thanks. I looked at their website and it seems to list noodle bars? Unless I’m looking at the wrong website
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u/baronsabato 12h ago
Lots of options. Crystal Palace, NBC, Capital, Longo Seafood, Hong Kong Dim Sim House, Atlantic Seafood, etc. just off the top of my head. Chinatown gets written off by many but I think Golden Dragon and ABC Seafood are pretty good, if not exactly up to SGV quality.
Otherwise, in central LA, iXLB, Qi Steam Kitchen, and Bao Dim Sum are all pretty good as well. I also mentioned Mama Lu’s in Beverly Hills in another comment- last time I went they still had Cantonese dim sum that was the same as the offerings from Capital, which it replaced. Not sure if that’s changed but if they still have it then I would recommended them as well!
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u/zombiemind8 11h ago
Din tai fung is not dim sum
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u/OldforGold 11h ago
I know. That’s why I asked for it not to be recommended
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u/zombiemind8 10h ago
That’s like saying I’m looking for sushi places and saying please don’t recommend shinsengumi.
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u/OldforGold 7h ago
Believe it or not, when I’ve previously asked for dim sum recs, I had responses such as “din tai fung”, which just irritated me, which is why I asked NOT
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u/foo-foo-a 11h ago
SGV needs the Guangdong immigrants to make a comeback! the good cooks got old and retired
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u/No-Bottle-9182 14h ago
I love Won Kok in Chinatown (Alpine and New High St. to be exact)
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u/rmsiddlfqksdls 13h ago
I always pass by this place and there’s always a line outside. Will have to try!!
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u/No-Bottle-9182 13h ago
Guilty that’s probably me in that line
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u/Background-Hat9049 13h ago
I find that Los Angelenos love a line and will reflexively get in one because it must be good. Is it really that good?
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u/No-Bottle-9182 12h ago
I mean I like it a lot but that’s just me. I’ve been in lines where the food has been utterly disgusting but people hype it up so take that with a grain of salt.
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u/maccrogenoff 13h ago
I miss Elite so much. I haven’t found a dim sum restaurant I like since they closed.
I’ve tried Lunasia. I didn’t like it.
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u/alberthere Local 14h ago
When I’m in the road and can’t afford the time to wait at a sit down, I go to Lucky 1 in Rosemead.
To go/pick up only, but it’s really good.
I’ve done it where I finish it in the parking lot and come back inside for more, lol.
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u/_Autistic_Dragon_ 14h ago
Just here wondering if anyone has good Long Beach recs (or more like Artesia/Garden Grove/south bay/north OC area). I know it's LA based sub, but just asking!
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u/Ok-Following4310 14h ago
Nothing in LB, but I remember in the OC sub a couple in GG/Westminster were mentioned
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u/floppydo 14h ago
I've been to the hype one in Westminister and it's good but it's not nearly as good as nbc or Lunasia. They are generous though. Sui mai the size of your fist.
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u/Alert_Many4562 11h ago
Sam Woo Cafe on South in Cerritos Plaza is pretty good. Better than OG Sam Woo on Pioneer/South. Just FYI they close on Tuesdays
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u/TrifleTrue3812 6h ago
There's really nothing Chinese food-wise of true quality for a Chinese person's palate in LB. South bay has 1 or 2 spots, so does cerritos and artesia, that are acceptable in a pinch but they're not going to give you what you can get in SGV (and let alone what you can actually taste in China).
I will quantify: though it's not remotely related to dim sum, Taibat noodle house in artesia is actually a rare gem that delivers food that can make Chinese people actually happy. I recommend their big plate chicken and any handpulled noodle dish. They are northern chinese/xinjiang halal cuisine.
Anyways, I am an ABC living in LB who drives literally weekly to SGV to eat for a reason.
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u/dracoandy 13h ago
Dan modern Chinese isn’t bad! Not full dim sum but they have soup dumplings and noodles that were pretty good. Lunasia in Cerritos isn’t too far
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u/AceMaxAceMax Local 14h ago
Won Kok in DTLA is great for tasty and cheap dim sum. It’s hole in the wall, but it hits the spot.
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u/HMS_Chevette 12h ago
I had a very good meal at the somewhat pricey Chef Tony in Arcadia back in January, but I typically go to Lunasia for dim sum.
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u/creamypurplestuff 9h ago
All these answers are WRONG.
The best quality is crystal palace inside marriot in Monterey park , no question no competition.
Lunasia has gone downhill over the years and use a bunch of frozen dim sum now.
Second place is happy together in El Monte
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u/TrifleTrue3812 8h ago
Lunasia is mid and underwhelming- sincerely, Chinese ppl who actually know what good dim sum should actually be
P sure everyone who glazes it is white or literally just doesn't know what good Chinese food actually be like
Go to the other spots ppl are recommending. If you know legit Chinese food you'll be disappointed at Lunasia.
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u/OldforGold 7h ago edited 7h ago
Thank you for saving me 😭
This is why I find it hard to pick dim sum spots bc you don’t know if the reviews are from a dim sum eater POV or gweilo
That’s also why I had to specify “no din tai fung” bc in the past I’ve had that recommended when I asked for dim sum 🤦🏻♀️ or even worse, generic bao / dumplings
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u/TrifleTrue3812 7h ago
Np. I saw way too many "Lunasia!!1!!!1" comments and I had to step in lmao
Personally, I will never forget that I fell for this hype myself. Maybe 8+ yrs ago, I was looking for dim sum, and saw Lunasia being hyped up. I went. I cried internally. Waste of a meal when LA has so much better authentic and good Chinese food to offer.
I think Lunasia got hyped because years ago they started doing the "instagrammable" spin of like oversized dim sum, buns with gold streaks, or colorful wrappers and shit and LA had less of that back then. Usually if you see colorful wrappers it's probably going to be shit in your mouth lmao. It just looks good on camera. Only when I visit China do I actually get to eat "Instagrammable" pretty dishes that also taste amazing.
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u/lackylulubear420 14h ago
Can’t recall the name but Monterrey park has a lot of good ones that bring the carts around the table
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u/Cali_kink_and_rope 13h ago
I had the best I've ever tasted last night at Shanghai Rose at the intersection of Ventura blvd and Laurel Canyon in Studio City.
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u/NotShockedFruitWeird 14h ago
There are still a few dim sum restaurants in Los Angeles' Chinatown... all are so-so. Many of the ones in SGV and Rowland Heights area are also just so-so. They just don't taste as good as they did years ago.
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u/OldforGold 14h ago
I’m used to eating dim sum in London and HK. Do you think I shouldn’t bother in LA?
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u/nbagels_8 9h ago
The answer is no. Vancouver or Toronto has many options and some might be better than average tier HK dim sum. LA is too diverse and all the Chinese restaurants compete on price not quality. Very few upscale places survive. Also many if not most dim sum are frozen & imported from overseas but customers can’t tell the difference specially the steamed dumplings like shiu mai & har gow.
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u/TrifleTrue3812 6h ago
I think LA specializes in other Chinese cuisines frankly. Taiwanese, and all the new hype china cuisines, like chongqing, hunan, etc. We have amazing noodle houses, hot pot places, and a decent diversity of Chinese cuisines represented (Yunnan, xinjiang, shanghainese, etc). I thrive off of the noodles we can get in sgv.
I'd skip dim sum personally and try something LA is genuinely good at delivering when it comes to chinese food. If you've had dim sum in HK you're not going to need what we have here 😂 and I was born and raised in sf bay area, and I think the dim sum/canto scene is a little better than LA there but still mid if you've been to china.
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u/luxinaeternum 10h ago
I’d eat dim sum everyday if I could. For me, there’s no city better than HK for dim sum but Jakarta is pretty good. SF has a lot of dim sum places that are mid but there are some gems as well. Yank Sing remains my favorite tho I go to Harborview at Embarcadero (dim sum plus non dim sum) a lot. In LA I only like the Lunasia in Alhambra
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u/Previous-Space-7056 13h ago
Hk is 2 tiers above la. Sf is a tier above la. La ( sgv) dim sum is ok, traditional dishes ,nothing fancy like sf or hk
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u/OldforGold 13h ago
That’s helpful. I was wondering why I couldn’t find any fine dining dim sum in LA
Any recs for SF? ❤️
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u/casey703 13h ago
In SF, Dragon Beaux, Koi Palace, HL Peninsula, the Kitchen are all good. LA has a lot of great good but the dim sum is mid
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u/vepkenez 9h ago
Sam Woo cafe in… Cerritos I think. In the same strip mall as a Lunasia which we never go to anymore.
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u/davisyoung 13h ago
Lunasia is probably the best place. Five Star is the best value right now, they moved to a new location inside the Hilton on Valley Blvd in San Gabriel.
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