Seafood Cove 2 — Restaurant in Westminster

We are huge dim sum lovers, not just hubby and i but both families also love it. We can probably eat dim sum once a week if given the chance. Unfortunately for us since we live in SD and the closest thing to excellent dim sum we had was China Max. I say "had" because China Max burned down last year in an overnight fire, around when the pandemic had started and lockdowns were going into effect. Ever since that devastating day we not only lost a great restaurant but we've not been able to find a good dim sum place since then. Their dim sum was the best, even better than Jasmine or Emerald. And although Fung Fung Yuen had opened as dim sum restaurant pre-covid, they were just mediocre.

Here is where Seafood Cove 2 comes in. We travel up to LA about once a month to visit our in-laws, and quite a few times we've done dim sum takeout while there but my brother-in-law was the one who always brought it. We didn't know from where and decided to ask and he told us that Seafood Cove 2 was the absolute best place you could go for dim sum in LA. Well he wasn't wrong because on our next trip up there hubby and i decided we should try it for ourselves. We dined in for the first time in a year and a half since the pandemic started and were able to get a nice corner table far away from anyone else. Service was great! Everyone there was polite. We walked in and there is a lady standing at the podium taking names and party numbers and then you are either directed to wait outside or taken inside to have a seat. All of this depends on how busy they are when you walk in. We were lucky enough to have gone early enough that we were taken to a table right away.

Once you sit down you are not given a menu, you are instead told to scan the QR code on the wall with your phone and the menu will show up there. We did just that and while we were browsing a server came up and gave us tea, and napkins. We were approached by servers four times asking if we were ready but we took a little longer than expected so we asked them to wait a little bit and they did. After we ordered everything came within 5 minutes and the dishes were piping hot and fresh.

We ordered: Shu Mai, Har Gow, Chicken Feet, Turnip Cake, Stewed Beef Tripe with pork blood, and Spare ribs in black bean sauce. To say that everything was delicious is an understatement. Everything i tasted was just amazing. Melt in your mouth, hot, crispy, soft, juicy....you name it, it was there. The turnip cake and shu mai were my absolute favorite. The turnip cake was fried just right that it was crispy on the otuside and soft on the inside, while the shu mai just tasted straight up amazing.

For me the food was on par with China Max if not better, and definitely 100s of times better than any other dim sum restaurant i've tried down here in SD. And yes, we tried "Golden Island" what Fung Fung Yuen became after their remodel and their dim sum was not only more expensive but everything tasted awful.

Seafood Cove 2 is extremely popular and i can understand why. I remember when i saw it for the first time and didn't know that it was a dim sum restaurant i was stunned because there was a huge line outside. While they are famous for their dim sum they also have other dishes they offer like baked/fried catfish, crab soup, lobster specialty (like tang cang's), shrimp, fried rice, noodle...etc. I can't speak on their other dishes but we tried from their dim sum menu was wonderful and will happily be back again...

Loved my dining experience here and will definitely come back!

PARKING * All I have to say about this is that I wish you luck because it is TERRIBLE. I got lucky because I followed someone to their car but if you’re coming here, it’ll be hard since it’s in a busy plaza.

WAIT TIMES * My party of four arrived at 1 pm on a Sunday and were quoted 45 minutes. The wait was fairly accurate and we actually got seated 5 minutes before our quote time. You do need to put your name down by going inside so you can get a paper slip. They’ll call your number and there is a speaker outside so make sure to hang out in the hallway outside.

FOOD * Truly bummed that I didn’t look at the menu because I would have loved to order fried tofu and the honey walnut shrimp but I guess that just means that I’ll have to come back next time. Like most dim sum restaurants, you’ll have some ladies rolling carts around offering whatever dishes they have. They are NOT pushy or argumentative and are genuinely happy to help, which is very nice. They’ll also tell you what the dish is in case you are a newbie or just want to try something new.

One thing I loved is the fact that they have a cart that will bring drinks around in case you want milk tea or Thai tea. What a great way to boost sales!

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE * This sounds so lame, but I hated the taste of their tap water. Not that I’ve ever drunken out of a water horse, but the water tasted like the worst, unfiltered water ever.

I also didn’t like the fact that they brought out oolong tea and didn’t mention that it cost $2.25. I would’ve appreciated knowing it wasn’t free before just being offered and handed the teapot.

This is also not a huge thing, but I like for the server to mention some important things about their menu. I am sure they just assume that people have already dined here before but it would have been a nice touch.

THINGS I DID LIKE * They did not make us throw away our outside drinks! I’m sure they do this because of their long wait times but my friends and I had literally just gotten our drinks right as our name was called and we were worried about that.

Decent/good service. I’ve read reviews saying service sucked but it wasn’t in my case, so they’ve definitely stepped it up.

— Overall, I enjoyed my time here and will definitely come back. For a party of 4, we spent about $60 with tax and tip included so it’s a great price for...

Seafood Cove offered the best customer service and hospitality I have ever experienced at a dim sum restaurant. The staff members were attentive, courteous, and friendly. As soon as my party was seated, a possibly managerial-level staff member asked us if we wanted anything. I asked if they have vegetarian items, and he gave an answer that pleasantly surprised me: vegetarian items are somewhat limited, and the kitchen isn't open for orders until 11am, but there is a wonderful vegetarian restaurant downstairs that he highly recommends. How often does a restaurant employee openly suggest a different restaurant, just to be helpful?

Throughout our dining session, water glasses were refilled within seconds of being half-filled; staff members approached me as soon as I made eye contact, even accidentally; and within 5 seconds of me touching the payment sheet so I could call for the bill, a staff member was already next to me, asking if I'd like to pay.

I really wanted to give this restaurant 5 stars, but although the customer service was beyond that many stars, the food came in at a warm 3.5 stars. Some items lacked a bit of flavor, unfortunately. (To be fair, I am comparing the food to the many amazing dim sum restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area, not to neighboring dim sum restaurants in SoCal.)

I visited the area from San Francisco, and although there may be dim sum restaurants with food that could possibly taste a bit better in this restaurant's vicinity, I will certainly return to Seafood Cove for its customer service.

Until today, I have never felt the urge to tip more than 15% at a dim sum restaurant, but today, I tipped over 20% because the staff more than earned it - and earned my respect and...