Lunasia Dim Sum House — Restaurant in Alhambra

We ordered the following items:

Portuguese Egg Tarts (葡撻) - The first item brought to our table which indicated sequence and order of consumption is not of interest at this upscale restaurant. These tarts have to be eaten warm but they arrived lukewarm. The sugar level of the custard was just right. The crust is crispy and layered, it does not crumble over time. A solid choice. The plating was obviously copied from Tim Ho Wan, a Michelin-rated dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong.

Golden Egg Yolk Buns (金沙飽) - Lunasia's egg yolk buns had the essential "lava effect" which means upon penetrating the bun's skin, egg yolk filling bursts into your mouth like a flowing molten lava. The bun's spongy and soft texture was another highlight. However, the yolk-coconut milk ratio in the filling was skewed towards the sweet side.

Choy Sum w/ Chinese Pickled Vegetables (冬菜鹽水浸菜芯) - A very ordinary Guangdong vegetable soaked in brine. The pickled toppings were nearly tasteless so they did not add additional flavor to the already bland vegetables. Skip this and cook it at home.

Shanghai-Style Five Spice Smoked Fish (五香煙熏魚) - Lunasia serves dim sum from the various areas of Guangdong province and also other parts of China. This is a Shanghai-style smoked fish with a crispy skin and a lot of tiny bones in between the meaty flesh. The sweet seasoning overpowered most of the taste of the five-spice marinade, but it was a light sweetness that I enjoyed when I took a break from savory food.

Spinach Dumpling with Fresh Shrimp (鮮蝦菠菜餃) - This is the most visually appealing item on the menu, a play with decoration and colors. There is fish roe sprinkled along the tip of the dumpling. However, the taste is just average. The description is misleading since there is actually no shrimp inside the dumpling. Shrimp was substituted with a chopped scallop and chewy Chinese green mixture. The dumpling skin was moist and firm to hold a large quantity of filling, but the filling was too salty and there was hardly any seafood flavor.

Handmade Beef Ball Congee (手打牛丸粥) - The beef balls in this congee are hand-constructed from scratch and they taste a lot lighter than the refrigerated versions found at supermarkets. It has some subtle orange peel flavor. Lunasia's beef balls have a soft gelatinous texture that blends in with the smooth white congee. The congee base is very plain and not overdosed with salt which is common at even high end dim sum restaurants.

Macau Roast Pork Belly (澳門燒腩仔) - Lunasia sure knows how to present their dim sum artistically while cutting costs. Macau roast belly is well known for its crispy skin and pork fat layered between the meat. It's often cut into cubes, but Lunasia slices the pork belly into strips as thin as sashimi so the quantity appears to be large but it actually isn't. Although the pork belly meat was high quality and the crunchy skin was first-class, it wasn't worth the special price order for the quantity given.

Shunde-Style Chicken Wrap (順德大良雞卷) - Shunde is a region near Guangzhou where the dim sum is top notch. Lunasia's product is not close to being a replica of what is found in China as each piece is too thin, especially the crust, but it has the same concept of chicken encased in fried bean curd. This "chicken wrap" was very greasy and salty, and although Lunasia paired it with a sweet dipping sauce, I think it would better be washed down with a beer.

My opinion is that Lunasia ranks in the middle of the pack of dim sum restaurants in LA, trailing behind Sea Harbour, China Red, and King Hua. The quality and quantity of food do not match the prices charged, which is probably marked up to help pay for the...

They don't have DIm Sum carts rolling around here. Nope, you have a menu which you check off what you want. This kinda kills the fun for me because I love to look at the food before I order.

Recommended Food: Har Gow (Shrimp dumplings): 5 stars Much, much bigger than other places. Very fresh, came to the table steaming & tasty.

BBQ Pork Bun: 4 stars 1 of the better things her eon the menu. Tasty & yummy, not mushy like other dim sum restaurants.

Spinach & Shrimp Dumpling: 4 stars Explosion of shrimp, spinach, water chestnuts all wrapped up in a dumpling with ma-sago eggs sprinkled on top. yummy =)

Portuguese Egg Tarts: 4.5 stars Crust was very light & flaky (my fave type) & middle was sweet & eggy. so yummy. This is a must try if you love egg tarts =)

A-OK / Not recommended Food: Crispy shrimp wrap: 2.5 Stars (just ok) Crispy & flaky fried noodle casings with very small bits of shrimp on the inside. Bot of a let down I'd say. =(

Mushrooms w/ Tofu: 2.5 stars On the salty side but mushrooms & black fungus added a good flavor & texture to the tofu.

Chicken Feet: 2 Stars Very bland, had no flavor at all. Very disappointed. =(

Pork ribs: 1 star (do NOT order) Very bland , had no flavor at all & had no sauce on top like other Dim Sum restaurants do. Overall: Food: C Most of the foods were very bland & had no taste at all. This is definitely OVER priced for bland food. =(

Service: D Very very slow, had to keep waving them over to ask for things. And when we did ask for things, they'd forget to bring us it & we'd have to ask for it again. Ugh, what's up with all these waiters & they can't even get a request correct?

Took us forever to get a table too.

Decor: B+ This is probably why this place is packed because it's trying to look nicer & fancier than all of the other 1000 dim sum places in SGV. This doesn't make up for the lackluster overpriced food that's being served here.

Women's bathrooms here are gross, it seems like they never take out the trash / clean the bathrooms here. Eww.. =(

*TIP: You can RSVP over the phone, BUT you have to do it 1 day ahead. wth??!

Parking: They have their own parking structure & there's also parking around...

Updated review:

If you want authentic and good quality dim sum this is the place. Michelin awarded the restaurant Bid Gourmand and highly recommends its dim sum selections.

It has been more than a year since we’ve been here. Once I heard the restaurant has reopened for dine in, we were amongst the first ones to come and indulged ourselves in the decadent dim sum and tea ritual.

The restaurant puts in a good effort to provide a safe and comfortable dine in experience. All tables are insulated with wooden glass panels, providing a safe yet pleasant and comfortable dining environment.

The tea selections are still enormous. I love the jasmine tea and the cast iron tea pot that keeps the tea hot. The dim sums we had were still very good. The only thing I noticed that on the steam turnip cake and steam noodle with shrimps were not as good as before the pandemic. The texture of the turnip cake very coarse and not as smooth as I had expected. Same for the noodle, the skins were think and not smooth. Maybe they need a bit more warming up as today is their first day of reopening.

On the other hand, the steam BBQ bun and the sticky rice in lotus leaf wrap were divine. I didn’t remembered these items tasted that good.

Their dinner dishes are equally good. Now that they are open for dine in, we will be back to re-trying out their evening food.

Unlike before the pandemic, parking is plenty in the parking garage.

End of the update.

One of three best dim sums in LA. Whenever I have friends from China, I would them here to get authentic Chinese dim sum. The dim sums here are comparable to the ones in HK. They also offer a lot more varieties then other dim sum house in LA. Must order their Bolo bun and cocktail bun. These are two of my favorite. The buns are so soft that just melt in your mouth. Should also try their dinner as well. They have many delicious dishes including their famous Alaska king crabs and...