No, they aren’t opening a branch down here. But frozen versions of roughly 10 dim sum varieties can be ordered for pickup locally at Sweet Heart Dessert in Rosemead. Note, however, that Sweat Heart Dessert has very limited operating hours–indeed I don’t think I’m ever in the San Gabriel Valley during those hours. I can see why Koi Palace is taking this step, since they already have a central dimsum facility that supplies the more common varieties to their various Koi Palace/Dragon Beaux/Palette Tea House branches, as well as to a few outside partner eateries. It’ll be interesting to see how this works out.
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do they have a list of items?
The announcement was posted by the owner of Sweet Heart Dessert on the Facebook SGV Eats discussion group page and included a link to the menu. I presume it’s the Koi Palace group top 10 best sellers like har gow, siu mai, bbq pork buns and the like, since that’s the obvious reason to have a central kitchen. Of course with Facebook’s crazy algorithms, when I went back to the page to look for that posting again I couldn’t find it. I believe the owner also mentioned that the best way to order was via direct message, presumably due to their limited store hours.
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thanks guys for the info!
Probably a well coordinated and orchestrated exchange between the WeChat aunties of NorCal and SoCal as well as the people who run Sweet Heart Desserts House, some of them know each other very well. So Koi Palace may or may not be involved at all.
A few of these folks across North and South do group purchases and bring Sweet Heart Dessert House offerings up to NorCal for the group, so they are just reciprocating for SoCal (either that or the owner sees a new business opportunity) or owner is doing food buying trip and doesn’t want to go back home empty handed. The target demographic for SoCal for these offerings would be of course… SoCal WeChat aunties.
Just be glad they are only into a certain niche of food, so they won’t be gunning for omakase bentos.
By the way Sweet Heart Dessert supposedly has some really good and authentic Hong Kong style desserts (so good that WeChat aunties and some uncle types) would gun for it via group purchases.
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The aunties will just find another app.
Twitter Aunties or TikTok Aunties etc
Nothing will stop their insatiable appetite for snacky snax…
Maybe they can be the middle person to pickup cases of Den Sake from Den Sake Brewery in Oakland and also Soba Ichi next door for their raw house made soba, after they do their next frozen dim sum run… but I’m guessing a few of the WeChat uncles might want Ming Kee roasties first.
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Actually aren’t the aunties best known for outrageous rumor mongering?
Don’t know, but if you find a bunch of them waiting for dim sum at Sweet Heart Dessert they likely are not FTCers.
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Down here the aunties instigated a couple of grocery store buying panics in the San Gabriel Valley that were not replicated in the larger community. One writer posted a screenshot of a WeChat message that said somebody’s daughter was a nurse at St. Jude Hospital who warned that the mayor of LA was going to issue a lockdown order the next day. I mean, St. Jude, that sounds so official. Of course there’s no St. Jude hospital in LA, as the one everybody knows is in Tennessee, though there is a small St. Jude Hospital somewhere in Orange County, but they’re not going to get inside info on LA.
Oh how fun. I’m sure during that time they stocked up on frozen dim sum, dumplings, $8 bentos (or materials used to make them), large peaches and grapes, frozen brown sugar boba popsicles of every imported variety (because some will deep dive and try one of each all at once), Lady M style crepe cakes, mochi donuts, peaches the size of small watermelons, side dishes like the kind from Dai Ho and congee joints, and obviously when trays of uni are on sale (usually those are for the aunties who are also into wine and fancy shoes with tips that can kill).
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AKA The Great Alhambra Rice Famine of 2020.
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Did anybody ever try the frozen dim sum? I saw that Locale is offering frozen dim sum from Dragon Beaux and am trying to decide whether or not it was worth ordering.
I was super tempted to order that this week from Locale, but it’s a lot of Dim Sum for just the two of us. I did order the frozen Wontons from Cali Dumplings a few weeks back and those will a standing order. SO GOOD. I also had them at their booth in Smorgesburg and I wish they sold that dipping sauce they use. AMAZING.
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I was thinking about placing an order for their wontons, so this clinches it! Too bad you’re not my neighbor or we could split that dim sum order. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to fit everything in my freezer!
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I ordered the Dragon Beaux xiao long bao and steamed BBQ pork buns from Locale. They come in packaging marked with their sister restaurant Koi Palace.
When I opened the xiao long bao package, the frozen product did not look promising. The wrapper color looked a bit too translucent and the dumplings had a uniformity that made them look like they were made by a machine.
I hoped they would look a little better after steaming, but no such luck. They were super disappointing -somewhat flavorless filling and soup (the only thing I could taste was ginger), encased in a mushy wrapper. I sure hope this isn’t the same product that is served inside their Michelin-starred restaurant.
I was similarly worried about the steamed BBQ pork buns. While the bun had that smooth exterior that most frozen buns have, the filling was decent.
Based on this experience, I would not be in any rush to order their frozen dum sum again. The Cali Dumpling frozen wonton were a win, so thanks @Dommy for the rec!
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They have a bunch of different frozen dumplings at the Capital Noodle in the OC. We have tried several varieties and these are very good. Fillings are tasty and good skins.
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