Dim Sum Inn — Restaurant in Salinas

So, when a place calls itself Dim Sum Inn, I'd expect the dim sum to be pretty good, right? Well, I ordered a pretty iconic dim sum, BBQ pork buns, and let me tell you... they did not live up to my expectations at all.

First off, I placed the order for takeout over the phone and was told 10 minutes. I got there in 8 and the food was already ready. That's a good thing! What wasn't so great was when I went out to my car and snuck a bite, it was already lukewarm. The food could only have existed for 8 minutes! It should've been hot! However, given how the bun had this weird texture that reminded me of a frozen, microwaved pretzel, I think the buns are made in advance and then reheated as needed. Possibly in a microwave. I don't know about you guys, but I don't pay restaurants for what is essentially leftovers. To be fair, though, the bun had a pretty good flavor. Just that texture was... off.

If it was just the texture and warmth that wasn't great, I'd still have given the place a mostly positive review. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only problem. The BBQ pork filling was laughably minimal. I'm a fairly big guy with a pretty big bite, but it still took me two chomps to get to the filling. The buns themselves are about the size of a saucer, but the filling took up a space the size of about a quarter. Not a quarter of it, /A/ quarter. As in, 25 cents. It was probably teaspoon's worth of filling in each one.

I guess that's sort of a blessing in disguise, though, given how sickly sweet the BBQ pork filling actually is. It barely tastes like BBQ and doesn't taste like pork at all. Just super sweet with nothing else to it, really.

The last issue I had was I ordered the stuffed mushrooms and it turns out they're stuffed with shrimp, which I'm allergic too. Not deathly, thankfully, but that did ruin them for me. That's less the restaurant's fault and more mine for not asking what they were stuffed with. I just wasn't expecting shrimp from the picture. Oh well, I can't blame the restaurant for that one, but more clarity in the menu...

This place looks like it would be small from the out side but when you walk in the place is big and nice. The tables are huge so are great for big parties. Service was nice and the food delicious and big servings. The food arrived quick and was reasonably priced. I had the Peking Duck with buns the duck was was delicious the skin had a light crunch and the meat was tender and the buns were super soft. It came with a nice sauce, sliced cucumber, carrots and lettuce all together was very nice and delicious. We also shared the Supreme Soy Sauce Chow Mein with shrimp which I never had and was very surprised. The noodles are thinner than normal chow mein this noodle was different but some of the best chow mein I've ever had. It didn't come with a lot of shrimp but they were giant and cooked just right with a little chile sauce it was perfect! My wife ordered the Ox Tail Noodle Soup I wasn't super impressed but it was okay. I think the ox tail was cooked before being put in the soup. It was a little over cooked and a little rubbery but had a good flavor to it. The soup was good it had a nice flavor but it wasn't enough for the meal. The noodles were okay they didn't have much flavor and were a little mushy. I think Saigon Noodles has the absolute best Ox Tail soup! I'm definitely going back the menu it's huge and i want to keep...

Used to be a great place for won ton soup, dim sum, but after today, not sure I want to go back. The won tons in the soup were chewy, as if the filling was not completely cooked, yet the pasta surrounding it was as if the pasta was days old, had been in the soup way too long, not fresh. Even the boc choy was slimy, as if it was not fresh, left in a soup that was days old. The broth had a slight taste of dish soap, which was either indicative of a freshly washed dish or a soup that really was going bad. The other dim sum items ordered were the stuffed jalapeños, which was covered with a teriyaki sauce that was overbearing, vegetable spring rolls and turnip cakes, both of which were perfectly cooked, very tasty.

Service was ok but we had to ask for napkins, no silverware or plates were offered when food was brought out from the kitchen, and we never was approached by a waiter or waitress to check if we were happy with our food or needed something else. They really need to up their service here or I definitely will...