Dim Sum House (Westwood): A Pictorial Essay

Taking over the old Mandarin Kitchen location on Westwood Boulevard, Dim Sum House hopes to capture the a piece of the Westside dim sum market. It’s always a tricky proposition to go to a restaurant on its first day of operations, but it’s the only time slot which fits my schedule this week, so here we go!!!

No photo of the outside signage, because the contractor was still on a ladder in front of the restaurant, putting up the sign as we dined!

Tea was not offered when we sat down - I had to ask. Then I was told there was no jasmine tea; only oolong.

Our server then informed us that not all menu items were available yet (actually only about 40% of the menu was available, and thus we could not try some of the more interesting-looking items on this visit). This is understandable, I suppose, as this was their very first day of dim sum service.

No napkins on the table settings. Had to ask for napkins. Huh?

We ordered eight items up front, and they materialized over the course of the next HOUR…

Xiaolongbao: These were okay. I do like how piping hot these were when they arrived at our table. No porcelain soup spoons to enjoy the soup - And no, they don’t have those spoons at the table setting either.

BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Roll (AKA Cheung Feng): Pretty tasty! But they were less than warm on arrival, which distracted from the full enjoyment.

Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce: A good standard to gauge dim sum is this classic dish. And the rendition at Dim Sum House is quite good!

Sesame Ball: The sole dessert item available today came out next, and these were decent as well. And warm!

Coriander Scallion Rice Roll: Really nice. But again, this was served at a lower temperature than what I am used to for this dish…

Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce: Solid. Nice texture on those phoenix claws, and the au jus was delicious.

Baked BBQ Pork Buns (AKA Baked Char Siu Bao): Lovely, but again, just a tad cooler than what I’d like to see.

Shiu Mai:Good temperature, but sort of a mess in the flavor department.

Overall, many of the missteps in today’s dim sum meal, especially those with pacing, were likely attributable to “first day jitters”, so a return trip is definitely needed for a proper review. But the temperature issues may just be due to lack of the healthy turnover we are used to seeing at busier dim sum houses. It is worth noting that the flavor of most of the dishes are either on target (or close to it) for proper dim sum. Gotta come back to Dim Sum House on a later date!

Dim Sum House
1822 Westwood Bl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310.441.9651
dimsumhousela.com

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Going for a more authentic HK experience

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Thank you for coming and I really appreciate your feedback!

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@SpockSpork and I were thinking of going yesterday and then ended at Poke Me instead (yes, I know, totally different food).

There’s enough promise in your review that I want to go, but I think I’ll wait a few wks for new opening kinks to be worked out.

Thank, as always, for being the intrepid tester!

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Seems promising, especially since the proprietor is following this thread and taking note. :wink: Does anyone know what happened to Mandarin Kitchen? Retirement? Out-of-Business? Just curious.

What happened to Manadarin Kitchen? It has a new menu, but same owner and same chef, according to the young man waiting on us. He seemed confused even by the name change. :slight_smile:

Lunch:

We also ordered soup, which never arrived, no big deal, we were full. We also had vegetable spring rolls (good) and chow mein (old-school). No egg tarts today.

They were very nice and sent us a couple shrimp-vegetable dumplings as a treat.

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Looking at J_L and your pictures, setting messy presentation of the siu mai aside, it seems like Dim Sum House suffers from oversteaming their dim sum judging by the limp wrappers.

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Ate there yesterday and enjoyed it. Yes, half the menu is not yet available and yes, the shu mai were over steamed but still juicy and quite tasty. For two of us, our impromptu dim sum supper cost around $38 before tip. Chicken feet, potstickers, XLB all good. I want this place to succeed because the Westside needs another solid dim sum option (especially one that does not charge for tea and condiments—lookin’ at you, Capital Seafood).

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Just curious: what kind of condiments do some charge for?

Capital Seafood charges for hot mustard, chili sauce and soy sauce. Their condiments order includes small dishes of all three on a single tray. Not expensive (maybe $2.50?) but it’s the principle!

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I’ve never heard of this anywhere. #nickel&diming

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I’ve been eating dim sum for (just counted) FORTY-THREE effing years and I’ve never heard of such a thing. It would be a deal breaker for my ever returning.

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Elite does that same shit

Damn. I need to start checking my fuking bill from now on! #boycott

I just had the same thought.

can we BYOC?

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Is it AYCE??? My husband is a big chili sauce-r :slight_smile:

What’s the principle you are referring to?

I’ve been to both Irvine branches multiple times and have never been charged for any of the sauces. Maybe this is new for the BH branch. They do charge $1 per person for tea service.

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Happy Harbor in Rowland Heights also charges for tea service. I remember seeing it at Seafood Cove #2 in Westminster. Tea charges have been going on for a while now.

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