Dim sum 101 doing quality dim sum for South Bay Area. There was a healthy wait of 45 min for dine in Sunday around noon.
Elected to order to go, I don’t think the rice roll paper is house steamed. I think they just buy fresh rice rolls and roll it but still tasty nonetheless.
Egg tart crust was ultra flaky and buttery. Egg tart itself was just alright but again not a lot of choices in the area and this definitely seems to scratch the dim sum itch without driving to 626.
They also serve dim sum all day, which is my jam. I know that makes me a heathen to some traditionalists on the board lol.
I don’t think desiring dim sum in the evening is heresy (personal opinion as a Canadian born Cantonese). Sure most places only serve it before dinner, but I think that’s more an economical imperative because the prices are so low compared to larger dishes (which more expensive ingredients) that you would see more of at dinner. In HK, Tim Ho Wan is a well known chain which only serves dim sum and is open from 10am - 10pm. My opinion, if you can make the business work doing it all day, more power to you.
For your next South Bay trip, try Tempura Carlos Jr. Carlos was the force behind the old Mitsuwa food court tempura restaurant (Hannosuke?). Before Mitsuwa moved to Del Amo, he moved to Old Town Torrance.
Quick review on two restaurants that are in the same Redondo Beach strip mall.
Jiayuan Dumpling House gets great reviews, but I haven’t been impressed. Call me traditional, but not a fan of most of their filling combinations. And they tend to be pretty greasy. I’d be game to try their dumplings steamed or boiled, but that’s not an option, so we haven’t been back since our first couple of tries.
Riara’s has become a family favorite. It’s the only breakfast burrito we’ve found that doesn’t mash all the ingredients (especially the potato) into the egg. Maybe a personal preference, but I’m fine with the egg / bacon / cheese sort of mixed together, but the potato needs to be kept separate and crispy to provide that textural differentiation.
I first found Riara’s looking for a breakfast burrito, but have subsequently become a huge fan of the pizza. They call it Sicilian style, but it’s Sicilian in shape only, imho. The crust is much thinner, crisper and a lot less greasy. My only complaint is the sauce, which veers towards a sweet profile (not sure what region that comes from). This may turn some people off, but imagine the Elio’s pizza you’d eat as a kid, but make it better and actually tasty. That’s Riara’s and I’m not ashamed to say that I love it
is kanbongji the fried chicken wings? Definitely not cheap, BUT the wings are massive… the owner said he buys them from some special purveyor and pays something like $5 a pound or so.
We’ve driven past First Christian Church in Wilmington a few times in the evening and noticed a busy food stand in the parking lot and have been curious about it. Finally checked it out this evening and turns out it’s Pinoy Big Mouth, a grill your own Filipino BBQ spot like Dollar Hits (but better than Dollar Hits in my non-Filipino opinion)! They had a nice variety of skewers. We had the pork, pork intestine, chicken, hotdog, & fish balls (forgot to take pics of all the skewers). Chicken intestine, pig ear, and some others were available as well. Their excellent dipping sauces (chili-garlic, manong’s sauce, & vinegar) take the skewers to another level. They also have other dishes like freshly made shatteringly crispy and delicious lumpia and a damn good sisig plate with fried egg and garlic fried rice. The rice was so good and garlicky, I got another side of it. Also, the people who run the stand are super nice. We will definitely be back to try their other dishes like the goto, and also the inasal and liempo plates which were unavailable today. For those of you who aren’t lame and unadventurous like me, they do have balut. Oh, and if the pineapple-mango juice is available, get it!
Not gonna lie, I’m very excited for this. All the knockoffs in the area are terrible.
ETA:
Speaking of chains that are actually pretty good, I didn’t know the South Bay was getting a Fogo de Chao, but I just drove by the old Grimaldi’s location in El Segundo and it is now a Fogo.
Wow all the restaurants are coming, I’m into it! All we need next is a Jon and vinnys, maybe a Walter manzke restaurant, and a coupe of other places and Ill never have to go to the city again lol.
Obviously everybody has to decide by themselves where to draw which line - but at least for me boycotts (supported through social media) of any corporation is pretty much the only way to be able to influence decisions. Significant loss of revenue changes such decisions and so no business at all is the biggest possible impact.