Dim Sum Café — Restaurant in Summerlin South

Ah... dim sum in Vegas post-covid era. After finding GIGANTIC lines at the 2 fav places on Spring Mountain/Chinatown at only 10:30am this July 4th, we were on our way home without getting the "dim sum fix" we were hoping for. Almost home, we passed by Dim Sum Cafe, which I had heard not great things about. Plenty of parking & no line. Heck, they get 4.3 stars, couldn't be too bad, right? I noticed most of the clientele is Asian, which I often take as a good sign. No carts, only 1 waitress covering most orders, but plenty of food to table "deliverers." The good: all dishes are made to order, so you'll get things hot; several options (classic dim sum & a full menu of Chinese plates); the pea shoots with garlic from the main menu were quite fresh & piled high. The less than great: the quality of the dim sum is rather mediocre--I've enjoyed dim sum from the north to the south of CA for many decades & this just doesn't quite meet the standard (tiny amt of cha siu in the bao, soggy rice noodles on the dumplings/stuffed rice noodles, and filling in dumplings lackluster); always sad to see a pot of jasmine tea made with 1 lonely teabag rather than leaves; the prices are rather steep, the categories start at $3.70 & go up to $5-6 for dishes that are standard grade for dim sum houses & $15 for the aforementioned pea shoots was a surprise. $50 for 2 ppl eating not that much was a surprise. After being already not that happy, the coup de grace: the waitress changes our jin dui (sesame balls with red bean paste) order to sesame balls with lotus seeds "just as good & the others will take 2 hours!" as she was putting the dish down. No request to switch, just this is what you get. While it may work for some, especially the Chinese dishes and/or takeout, if you really LOVE good dim...

If you're looking for Dim Sum in Las Vegas, you know there's literally nothing west of Jones. Dim Sum Cafe is on Hualapai between Flamingo and Twain so it's a super alternative for people living in Summerlin or on the West side.

Disclaimer: I understand and appreciate that part of the experience of dim sum is to order from the carts while experiencing the lively conversations going on around you. But if you're looking for a change of pace, DSC is it.

Think of it this way - I love going to bars with live music, beer in hand, having to yell at my friends because it's so loud in there. But I also is like going to a lounge to have a nice Scotch on the rocks. It's all about what you're up for on a particular day.

What I really like about Dim Sum Cafe is that everything is made to order so you always get exactly what you want. No more of the sadness you feel when all the chicken feet are gone. Any of you that are like Adrian Monk will appreciate the fact your food isn't getting breathed/sneezed/coughed on before it finally makes its way to your table.

The selection/prices (see pics) are basically identical to the two or three other dim sum spots I frequent. Keep in mind that because everything is made to order, you'll wait 5 or 10 minutes before everything makes it to your table.

The restaurant itself (and the restrooms) are clean, the staff is friendly, and you can usually get seated immediately. There are tables, booths, and a couple large-party tables in the back. I forgot to mention this earlier but another nice thing is that you can get dim sum all day... it's almost as if they're a...

Very good option if you don't want to go to Chinatown. Most of the classics are here and they are very good. Seasoning is a little lighter than what I'm used to, for example I think they use low sodium soy sauce and either don't use MSG or much less of it in their dishes. This is not a bad thing, but something to keep in mind. I ordered mostly the dim sum dishes at dinner time. Everything came out hot from the kitchen--there are no servers pushing around dim sum carts like in more traditional places--so expect a longer wait for food. The weakest dish was the pork bun. The roasted pork was a little under-seasoned and the bun itself was a little dry. The best dish was easily their stir fried pea shoots with garlic. It was simply amazing. The daikon radish dish was surprisingly good, and the chicken feet were solid, but don't include the peanuts that I'm used to. If you're a fan of beef tendon, they have a good dim sum option--highly recommended. They also have a decent 'regular restaurant menu' and offer traditional Chinese-American options for people with more limited palates. But don't order something like orange chicken, and take a chance on a dish off their specials menu. I'm telling you, the pea shoots and a protein dish off their real Chinese menu and a bowl of rice is all you need to be happy! Definitely worth...