I was recently in my hometown of Santa Rosa (Sonoma County, CA) and a bit of a buzz has started about a gathering of food trucks on Monday afternoons in one parking lot in town. Serving fare from their adorable airstream trailer, Dim Sum Charlie’s had the longest line by far- which of course we waited in. Definitely worth it!

Photo by Erin Gleeson.

Trailing on the coattails of Yoko’s earlier Umamiventure post to the SAME EXACT RESTAURANT in Tokyo, I am finally ready to unveil the greatness that was Din Tai Fung (DTF) in LA. The only outpost in the U.S. of this legendary Taiwanese restaurant!! As you’ll see, the dumplings look suspiciously similar to the ones they had in Tokyo… there must be some sort of International DTF Dumpling University. Sign me up!

It was on a stickysweaty hot September morning in LA that 15 of us came together from all over the city to share the magic of soup dumplings (aka xiao long bao aka XLB) at the famed DTF in The Valley. Most of us had been stuck on the Highway 10, the 110, the 405, or a combination thereof, for up to an hour as the infamous bumper-to-bumper traffic erupted–before noon, WTF?!–simultaneously with our hunger. Grrrr.

But we all made it, albeit starving, for the love of the XLB. What does this tell you? Soup dumplings bring strangers and lovers together, as do Umamiventures. Hell Yes! Thanks to everyone for making it out- per usual, this post is interspersed with comments by those who attended. Mucho love!

SARA S.
DTF was well worth the drive to Arcadia and the stop and go traffic on the 10. I was pretty amazed at how quickly they were able to seat a party of 15 considering how packed the entire restaurant was.

KAYOKO
The crab+pork XLB were tiny jewels of perfection. Look at how there is no soup on the spoon- instead, it oozes out into your mouth, all in one bite. Like oysters, they were velveteen morsels of luxury. They were like fluffy cotton pillows of goodness!

Crab+pork juicy pork dumplings.

SARAH F.
I had so much fun. It was nice to spend time with other people who have a penchant for XLB like I do. This Shanghai specialty is hard to come by and DTF has some of the best. The pork stuffing is soft and juicy. No gristle or hard bits.

SARA S.
Eater beware: if you bite into the soup dumplings too soon, you may suffer first degree burns in your mouth and throat.

GABE
Dumplings were quite delicious – the crab+pork were quite tasty, but the juicy pork dumplings were simply the best. Veggie dumplings the only bland ones.

Steamed pork and green vegetable dumpling.

Vegetable dumplings.

KAYOKO
A UM reader who couldn’t make it suggested to me to get the fish dumplings. They were also moist and had a bit of crunch from some sort of green. Note the colors- so pristine how clear the fish is, it’s as though it’s a bit raw still, although they were perfectly cooked.

Fish dumplings.

KAYOKO
Like the ones in Tokyo, the shrimp+pork shiaomai were these darling little frou-frou creations. So original and cute!!!

Shrimp+pork shiaomai.

TOMO
The bell of the XLB ball was the shrimp and pork dumplings, moist meat, perfect dough overall a yummy dumpling! Perfect hangover food.

Shrimp+pork shiaomai.

SARA S.
It was a little hard to differentiate the taste of the ginger/vinegar combo from the actual broth of the dumplings, but it was still fun to use all the sauce amenities.

Juicy steamed pork bun with vinegar and ginger sauce.

GABE
The hot sauce/mix should not be overlooked – it was instrumental in the process.

TOMO
I thought allllll the noodles were fantastic, especially the sesame noodle and beef noodle bowls, but then again, I am a noodle monster.

Sesame noodles.

House beef noodle soup.

SARA S.
The noodles were great too, but a bit challenging to share.

GABE
The noodles were good, but not great.

KAYOKO
I loved the noodles, Gabe!!! The beef noodles and the soup actually came out separately, and they poured the broth over the silky noodles at the table. Nice touch! The noodles with minced meat were totally bomb- look at the edamame! Simply gorgeous. I know my brother would agree with me on this last point- we still talk about it when we talk to this day.

Noodles with minced meat and tofu.

SARA S.
My fave dishes were the pork soup dumplings and the sautéed green beans.

GABE
The green beans are not to be missed. The rice cakes (mochi?) were also fantastic.

Shanghai rice cake with chicken.

KAYOKO
Yah, the rice cakes were a delight- very different from say, lo mein or chow fun since they were more dense. As Gabe said, like mochi.

SARA S.
At the end of the meal, I accidentally ordered the steamed pork buns, when I meant to get more soup dumplings, but they were also delicious.

KAYOKO
Here’s our well-oiled check– we were all seriously foodcomaing by meal’s end. Man, we ate like kings. But it came out to only $20/head!!! AMAZING!!!

SARA
I also loved that they had directions written on the chopsticks on how to eat a dumpling. Great touch.

SARAH F.
Everything is so easy to order, even when the line is out the door you don’t have to wait too long, and they are on top of it there. It’s not a traditional dim sum restaurant so don’t expect that environment (but it’s close). I mean to try different places out in the San Gabriel Valley but always end up back at DTF. One day when I go to Tokyo I will for sure go to that one.

GABE
Service was impeccable. Felt a bit like a factory, but the price is tough to beat. If you want a more homey feel, go to Mei Long Village.

KAYOKO
I have to agree- the service was unlike I have ever had at a dimsum/Chinese joint. Plus the quality of all the food was exceptionally note-worthy. Here are the folks making dumplings in the open kitchen. Pretty neat slash creepy with the protected window.

KAYOKO
LA Umamiventure #18 LOVERS!!! Thank you so much to everyone for coming out!!

PS- There are two locations of DTF now, one around the corner from the other. I have a hunch the kitchens may be connected. We went to the snazzy, newer one.

DIN TAI FUNG
1108 or 1088 South Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia, CA
T: 626.574.7068

*Umamiventues are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find good, cheap grub off the beaten path.

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Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009

It’s coconut jelly, lined above with a chrysanthemum tea jelly, encasing bright red jewel-like goji berries. Flavor explosion! A really weird combination, chrysanthemum and coconut, but it was refreshing, and I was really into it. Hideko was not down.

If you ever see this on the cart the next time you’re at dim-sum, give it a whirl!

Whenever I go home, I gotta get my dim sum fill. My mom thinks this is so bizarre, cause she knows I always go to dim sum in NY. But it’s just different in the Bay somehow- dare I say better? I don’t know what it is- but I will say that dim sum hasn’t gotten any better for me than since we went to Ocean Jewel in Queens. That was almost a year ago.

So there’s this little place in Cupertino called Joy Luck Place in this all-things-chinese mall where there’s a Ranch 99. There’s a serious cult following- you wait a minimum 30 minutes for a table. That’s minimum. And ridiculous. But worth the wait.

Here she comes…

All my must-haves:
Shiu mai-

Meatballs- kinda a new obsession I share with my dad. Hideko is not into this.

Shao lom pao (soup dumplings)-

Pan fried shrimp and chinese chive dumplings. YUM.

All time favorite- pork spareribs.
Congee

Shredded chicken chow mein with chives and bean sprouts, American style.
Pea shoots.

Gotta catch the dessert cart-

Hideko’s favorite- Rice cake filled with black sesame soupy deliciousness, powdered with this soy bean flour (kinako, in Japanese)

This place is Hua and Wangster’s SPOT. I personally might like Dynasty, in the late Vallco Mall more. But basically whichever you choose to go, you won’t be disappointed. I never thought I would be someone who would say this, but: they’re just so CLEAN!

Joy Luck Place
10911 N. Wolfe Road
Cupertino, CA
T: 408.255.6988

In the five years I have lived in NY, I had never gone to Chinatown in Flushing, Queens, so a dim sum adventure seemed like the perfect choice. After some hard-core research, I finally decided on Ocean Jewel Restaurant, a place highly recommended to me by my co-worker Wayne, who grew up on the streets of Flushing. Nothing more real than word of mouth, wouldn’t you say?

With my fellow UMers, Troy Division and Tmonkey in tow (Hamamama, my Queensgirl, couldn’t make it), we set out for what was to be an awesome experience, from start to finish. Take my word for it when I say that the Flushing Chinatown is FAR superior to its Manhattan cousin: it is more spacious; less inundated with people, hence it is actually bearable; and the dim sum was the best I have had in all of NYC (In Manhattan, I generally go to Sweet ‘n Tart and Ping’s on Mott and Golden Bridge on the Bowery).

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves– let the droolfest begin!

About every 15 minutes, several little vans like this leave from Confucius Plaza in Manhattan Chinatown, whizzes you over the Williamsburg Bridge, speeds its way down the BQE and drops you off in Flushing in about a half hour. The best part? It’s only $2.50!!! There is no excuse NOT to go to Flushing!

Ocean Jewel is located in the heart of “downtown” Flushing. Right around the corner from the 7 train, and the little shuttle stop.

The restaurant is in a typical banquet hall style so it’s pretty huge. But despite it’s size, it was not so rowdy, well lit, the servers were all very friendly, we got our own table (I was fully expecting to share with strangers since there were only 3 of us, but they gave us our own!), and all very clean (I’m not such a stickler about “dirty”, but the cleanliness was a noticeable trait).

Such cute little critters. Now GET IN MY BELLY!

Allow me to start with my MUST HAVE dim sum item of all time, the siu mai. Steamed pork dumplings (sometimes they have shrimp in them or a scallop, but these didn’t) topped with roe. For me, these are the deciding factor of how good a dim sum place is, and on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best), I give these a 5! Seriously, they were perfectly salted, perfectly steamed, simple and not overloaded with other stuff. They were excellent.

Pan fried turnip cake- I love these. Packed with bits of carrots and chinese sausage, the turnip has a smooth potatoey texture, which mushes in your mouth wonderfully.

The three of us talked about how the best part of dim sum is getting to order random things on a whim- it’s always an adventure! Troy sporadically pointed to these steamed buns, with absolutely no idea of what was inside. We were delighted to find sweet egg custard inside. GENIUS! It was the perfect combination of creamy and fluffy. From now on, I will be ordering them every time. Good call Troy!

I always order shrimp or beef filled rice rolls (you know the one drizzled with special soy sauce that comes on a plate?), but when I cut into these, they were filled with all kinds of other goodness. Bamboo shoots, ground beef, carrots, oozing in some special sauce (I think I remember some vinegar bite). I had never had anything like it, it was truly yummy.

You can always tell how good a dim sum place is by their hot chili sauce (much like how I rate other restaurants by their butter). This stuff was spicy, but the sesame oil undercut the heat, so it wasn’t crazy or anything. EXCELLENT!

Ah, the beloved char siu bao– tangy, sweet bbq pork nestled inside fluffy white doughy goodness. Tmonkey flipped out upon his first bite- he thought it was the best thing ever. Like the siu mai, these are pretty standard, but when it’s special, you feel like you’ve hit the jackpot.

Another Troy selection- and it was another good one (he has just the right dim sum instinct- you just have to aimlessly point and go with it). These were fried shrimp cakes– really satisfied that craving for something deep fried. I get those cravings pretty often.

This is something I’ve only started getting recently, warm tofu seeped in sugar water. Really comforting and simple, a good palette cleanser and dessert (along with the egg tarts, of course!).

Some of my favorites– shrimp and chinese chive filled dumplings in a transparent see-through skin. They usually come as round balls, but these were gyoza style. Mmmm…

Shrimp cake filled eggplant, in black bean sauce. I LOVE eggplant- pair it with shrimp, and you can’t go wrong.

Another dish I had never had before- these were basically the siu mai without the skin. They never did come around with my other favorite, steamed pork ribs, so these satisfied that void. Fantastic creation!

Har gow are little shrimp filled jewel pieces. Ain’t she a beaut? And these had something magical inside along with the shrimp (they are usually just shrimp)– celery! GENIUS! Now, I really am not a fan of celery (it’s one of two things that I never eat voluntarily), but they added just the perfect crunch with the shrimp. Oh so delightful.

So there it is, our meal in pictures– Ocean Jewel was fantastic, Wayne was spot on. Dim sum is perfect for big groups (you would have a tough time getting the bill to go over $15 per person), and for when you have a hangover. I’m serious, there is nothing like a Tsing Tao and a char siu bao to make the night before go away. The next time you NYers are planning on dim sum, I HIGHLY recommend skipping out on Manhattan, and taking the 7 or the convenient shuttle to Flushing. It’s so easy and a great excuse to explore!

Side note: My parents and I went to this great place for dim sum in Cupertino, CA, last weekend (I was hungover! I could eat dim sum every weekend, no joke), called Dynasty. Inside Vallco Fashion Mall! The only reason I went there is because my absolute favorite dim sum joint in the area, Canton Delights, has closed for good!!! I was horribly upset. RIP, Canton Delights. Anyway, I recommend Dynasty to all you Bay Area folks.

*k*

Ocean Jewel Seafood Restaurant
13330 39th Ave
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 359-8600

7 train to Main Street (end of the line)

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