Lam Kwong Deli & Market — Restaurant in Sacramento

First of all, this place is CASH only. They have no ATM. So be prepared. Also another thing to note is that even though the name of this place states it’s a market. Not so much now a days. They have a cold case of drinks and sell Chinese newspapers, that’s about the extent of their “market”. The focus is the deli… Chinese dim sum and hot food. They sell the classic Cantonese dim sum and old school Americanized Chinese hot lunch plates. I enjoy the dim sum and hot food. The place is not fancy, very simple setup. CASH only, just repeating that again because that is an important nugget of info.

They open at 8 am. That is when I usually drop in. At that time, they are stocked with the baked bbq pork buns, cocktail buns, hot dog buns, har gow, and sui mai. The other dim sum trays will fill up for the day. At times, I luck out and they already have pork filled glutinous fried dumpling, sesame balls, egg custards, and fried chicken (thighs and drumsticks). Yup fried chicken… ohhh I luv me a breakfast of fried chicken. Mmm. I enjoy all their dim sum. Like I said, it’s classic...

Had this place "save" for awhile, finally decided to go. Came around 11am, there were only 2 customers in line. Place is pretty straight forward & small. There are some foods that already pre-made in the hot warmer. There were still some buns, siu mai & shrimp/pork ha gao left. Ordered half dozens of siu mai & ha gao. Beef chow fun (dry), fried rice over general chicken & steam rice with black bean zucchini chicken stir fry. After the order was done, realize it ●TAKE CASH ONLY!!!● 😟 Embarrassed had to tell them I will be back for my orders. Went to safeway on R street which it was only 4 minutes away. Got cashed pulled out. Came back & paid for my orders. They packed with lots of foods. Sui Mai & ha gao were huge. Ate 3 & I was already stuffs. Will come back again when it super early to try their buns. Don't forget...

Lam Kwong has the best bbq pork bao in the Sacramento region. The baked bao is the highlight here. Yeasty, soft, pull apart baked bread stuffed with a healthy portion of bbq pork. The bbq pork filling here is so much better quality than bbq pork from other Chinese bakeries in the region. The pork is enveloped in more of a savory, rather than sweet, oyster style sauce than the sweeter fake red dye pork found in other establishments. The pork has the right amount of fat, leaning on the side of being mostly leaner little chunks. Buying a small bag of these before work or going here on a rainy late morning or early afternoon is a highlight for me. It's a quant little shop with limited street parking and and is cash only. A true gem of the Sacramento Region that slips by a lot of dimsum/bao enthusiasts....