Hong Kong Palace

In Rowland Heights, CA, there are a plethora of Chinese and Korean resturants to choose from. Hong Kong Palace is a Chinese restuarant. They serve Dim Sum during the daytime and family style dishes for dinner. It is one of the few resturants that have people pushing carts with dim sum items around during dim sum/lunch/brunch hours while many other dim sum places have started using menus to serve dim sum items.

I used to come here for dim sum many years ago, but stopped for who knows why. I wasn't into food photography at the time either. I hadn't been here in such a long time that I didn't know this place got burned down a few times! I don't remember coming here for dinner before, but I came here last month for the dinner service as my cousin made reservations to host his baby shower here. So I can only tell my experiences on the recent visits that I made here.

There wasn't a separate room for parties, so the wait staff closed off a small section and put up dividers for my cousin's baby shower. We reserved four tables with ten seats. The wait staff was friendly and the food came out quickly. The place looked generally clean and the staff cleared off the emty plates at a reasonable time. I don't know the Chinese or English names to some of these dishes.

Shrimp
Shallots with mixed vegetables
Mushroom on bed of vegetables
Steamed Fish
Lobster
Fried Rice
Mango Pudding

I also recently came here for Dim Sum with some friends. I didn't realize how "crowded" and close the tables were until I came here for lunch. It was almost like you were sharing a table with a group of strangers. The aisles were a bit "crowded" too, so the carts would run into the back of people's chairs or run over someone's toes rounding the corner. The customer service was typical for a Chinese restaurant. The servers looked unhappy to be there, but they were generally ok. They seemed ok with one friend who was opening the lids to see what was being served at each cart. While they were pretty good at refilling the tea, they kept forgetting to refill our water, even after we asked for it.

Beef Meatballs
Shu Mai (pork dumpling)Shrimp and Chives Dumplings
Har Gao (shrimp dumpling)
Flat Noodle With Shrimp
Steam Pork Bun
Fried Shrimp & Chives Dumplings
Shrimp & Fish Stuffed Bean Curd
Chinese Broccoli
Egg Tarts

Irvine China Garden - Chinese Cuisine

China Garden in Irvine, CA serves Dim Sum and dinner and is open everyday with long hours including major holidays. For Orange County where there aren't that many Chinese residents as it seems, the food here is pleasantly delightful with good customer service. Just beware that the wait for a table can be long and parking can be a bit of a hassle.

I have been going to Dim Sum since I was five years old...unfortunately, I don't know the English names to most of the items and my friends who were with me didn't know the names either.

A few Dim Sum items:

Dim sum is a Cantonese term for a type of Chinese dish that involves small individual portions of food, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. Going for dim sum is usually known in Cantonese as going to "drink tea" (yum cha, 飲茶).

Dim Sum is usually linked with the older tradition of yum cha (tea tasting), which has its roots in travellers on the ancient Silk Road needing a place to rest. Thus teahouses were established along the roadside. Rural farmers, exhausted after working hard in the fields, would also go to teahouses for a relaxing afternoon of tea. At first, it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food, because people believed it would lead to excessive weight gain. People later discovered that tea can aid in digestion, so teahouse owners began adding various snacks.

Phoenix

After dinner at Din Tai Fung, my friends and I went to Phoenix for desserts which was located in the same block as the restaurant. Here were some of the items that were ordered, however, we ordered more than what was photographed.

Mochi Rolls with Mango

Black Jello, Taro & Red Bean / Taro & Red Bean / Black Jello & Red Bean / Red Bean & Milk

Din Tai Fung

I went to dinner yesterday evening with some friends at Din Tai Fung Dumpling House  in Arcadia, CA. I actually forgot that I had gone here before with my family...earlier this year! However, I wasn't interested in food photography at the time.

Din Tai Fung is a dumpling house that serves Chinese Cuisine. In Arcadia, there are two stores within the same block. The main store gets very busy and crowded with a one (or more) hour wait which is why there is a second one in the same block. Both stores have modern decor and you can eat well for a good price when you go with friends and family as you can order several items to share.

 

 Appetizer

 Scallops with spinach


 Chicken Fried Rice


 Shrimp Fried Rice


 Vegetable Dumplings


 Shrimp Dumplings


 Fish Dumplings


 Wonton Soup