East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant: Redefining Dim Sum Value [CLOSED]

  • Home
  • California
  • East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant: Redefining Dim Sum Value [CLOSED]
Chinese Restaurant Los Angeles

Twin dragons stand watch over East Gourmet's dining room.

For some people, 20 cents can mean the difference between value and a splurge. That seems to be the case in the San Gabriel Valley, where competition for dim sum business is fierce. East Gourmet Seafood Restaurant, a sprawling dim sum parlor in a Rosemead shopping plaza, drew large crowds during our meal, and delivered some solid renditions of dim sum classics, for about $2 a plate or steamer. Since them, they raised the prices to $2.20, and even though the family that took us to East Gourmet still vouches for the quality, some locals have left for cheaper pastures. I have an outside perspective, since I don’t live in the SGV, and still consider East Gourmet a good value, with some dishes that are worth a detour.

I generally prefer checklist dim sum palaces, since the food tends to stay hotter for longer, but since East Gourmet was high volume during our meal, found pretty good luck.


Dim Sum Los Angeles

Burnished pork buns had less gristle and sweetness than a lot of versions.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

It’s been tough for me to appreciate Chicken Feet ever since my first tussle with the bony claws in the mid ’90s. However, East Gourmet served a fairly flavorful version, with braised skin, little meat and savory, black bean and sesame-studded sauce.

Chinese Food Los Angeles

Morning Glory, partially submerged in garlicky likker, was fresh and crunchy.

Chinese Food Los Angeles

The real coup was being able to snag a plate of Lobster Noodles. East Gourmet sells as many as 150 orders per day on weekends, though that number may be down now that they upped the charge from $5 to $8. The plate held plenty of crisp scallions and some noodles that bathed in gravy, which made them softer than we prefer. Really though, that was a whole lot of lobster meat for a small price, and that it wasn’t overcooked was a boon.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Pork Spare Ribs arrived in cartilage-laced nubs, coated in black bean sauce and jalapeño.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Rice Noodles with XO Sauce were more my speed, with crusty strips, crunchy bean sprouts and scallions, and an underlying funk from the sauce’s dried seafood.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Shrimp Rice Noodles were fine, with a typically high ratio of slippery noodles to shrimp, and a liberal dousing of soy sauce.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

One of the plates that looked best to me on a passing cart, Shrimp Taro Rolls, definitely turned out to be the worst dish of our meal meal. The rolls sported good crispy sheathes, but what was up with all the mayo? Even bombing it with red vinegar didn’t help.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Siu Mai in thin egg noodle wrappers were juicy, but not special.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Tripe was fairly innocuous, arriving in a heap of mild, crunchy strips.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

East Gourmet excelled with sweets. Fluffy Cocktail Buns were excellent, served hot and sticky, filled with shredded coconut custard and studded with sesame seeds.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Egg Custard Tarts were equally awesome, hot, with rich custard and flaky, buttery crusts.

Dim Sum Los Angeles

Sesame Lotus Balls were crisp, glutinous and hollow, filled with earthy paste.

Our meal ended strong and sweet, and since we got in under the $2.20 and $5 wire, we experienced the plates for an exceedingly small fee. Other restaurants provide better versions of basic dishes like bao and siu mai, but very few offer such good value, even after the “price hike.”

Tags:

Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

Blog Comments

A-Ok is being generous given. Food is cheap but bland.Ya. There’s quite a catch cheap dishes. $4.99 lobster noodlesOrdered at least (7) dishes plus the Lobster E-Fu and the bill still came up less than $30. Quite a bargain… most dim sum are huge in size but lack on taste. Disappointed at the Lai Wong Bao… dried. But on the other hand the baked pork bun was quite good.Parking was difficult, tight parking lot, lots of shops and very little spaces.Although, there’s a huge wait outside the restaurant. Maybe because the cheap deals they offer attract mostly older generation chinese.

Leave a Comment