We went to Xiang Yuan on Las Tunas Blvd. in Temple City. Green Island used to occupy the location. It’s a Cantonese restaurant that serves dim sum and seafood. We had only the dim sum that was ordered from a menu.
In a nutshell, it was decent dim sum: chicken feet, steamed BBQ pork buns, har gow, siu mai, BBQ pork pastry, XLB (I know, but one of my little ones insisted), beef cheung fun, steamed ribs, etc.
The BBQ pork pastry was delicious–flaky and flavorful. The siu mai was huge. The steamed ribs were under seasoned–needed more black beans. I did not like the XLB, which were interesting because the cooks used a cross-section of a carrot to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the steaming dish.
Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s the best dim sum, but it was pretty good.
However, the menu is limited compared to other larger restaurants. For example, they did not have baked BBQ pork buns that one of my kids wanted. Most dishes were classified as “Medium” ($3.99). Standard charges for tea applied.
The decor is modern and not nearly as gaudy as Green Island was. You won’t find dragons and phoenixes on the walls. There are a couple of private rooms to the side.
Dinner dishes were pretty expensive ($16 and up). We did not get a chance to try it.