Quick Review of Seaworld, Rosemead CA

[jschyun]

Recently went here after reading an old Jonathan gold post.

Summary: If you want cheap, filling, but not particularly good dim sum, go here. Otherwise, go to Seafood Village on Rosemead Bl. off Valley (where we went for the eGullet dim sum lunch in Oct) I ended up regretting my choice to go here instead of going to the tried and true Seafood Village. Yeah, it's cheap but you get what you pay for.

Walking in and glancing at the "B" health notice on the door, I was not concerned. Many fine restauarants have better things to do than scrub the floor every hour or whatever it is you have to do to get an "A"

The place is quite large, about 1000 people or so can fit in the room. Prices were listed on the wall. I think it was about $1.60 per order on weekends and $1.30 on weekdays. For two people it ended up being $17.

Unfortunately the reason it's so cheap is because it's not quite up to standard. Har gau came looking tiny and overcooked, with a weird, bubbly skin. Seafood dumpling had the same strange bubbled skin around it. We lost our appetites for seafood after a couple orders.

We ordered basic stuff, heavy on the seafood and sweets, so please note the bias. We didn't try the salt and pepper shrimp which did look good.

Dan tat is dry, small flavorless. Why bother. However, haupia/taro pudding (striped) was very good, the best thing on the table as far as I was concerned. Also steamed egg custard bun was decent, if generic. Egg roll with chicken was basic but okay. Mango pudding was very strange, bubbly, looking almost like it had tapioca in it, but it didn't. Sesame balls are pretty hard to ruin, but the glutinous rice part was a bit thicker than usual though, I guess since it's cheaper than that lotus paste stuff.

[FoodZealot]

Ouch. I guess I can cross that one off my list of places to check out. Thanks for the report!

[Joe Blowe]

Yes, I implore all of you to cross Seaworld off your lists.

I went two weeks ago for a family birthday dinner, and I was sorely disappointed. I'm guessing that the food is even worse at night -- maybe a different crew, different chef, I don't know. I've had better Chinese at mall food courts!

[Please note: There was a massive wedding banquet going on (taking up 2/3 of the place), and I'm sure the staff was very busy just taking care of that nightmare crowd (it just happened to be a rowdy bunch of drunken misfits and so on).]

Anyway, all of my Chinese in-laws/extended family were not impressed and will not be going back.

[jschyun]

Other places to avoid (these are all in Orange County, serves me right for thinking there could be good dim sum in an area without chinese people.)

Seafood Paradise, Westminster: Horrible. The worst dim sum I have ever had in my life. I had a piece of har gau that I could not identify as shrimp.I should have looked before biting into it. The taste was so off, I was shocked and disgusted. The items on the carts looked very strange. None of them had the exact shape and size of actual dim sum I could recognize.

Furiwa, Westminster: the second worst dim sum I have ever had in my life. Disgusting egg custard tarts were cold, hard and dry. The shrimp was inedible. Buns were misshapen and dry.

Dragon Phoenix Palace Chinese Seafood Restaurant, Westminster: Not bad, but not good. It was edible, but there were no Chinese people in there. That's a BIG sign.

If you want to waste money and have a horrible meal, by all means, go to the above places.

[samuelsontag]

has any one been to Ton Kiang in San francisco? that's good.

[Schneier]

Isn't there some rule about using too many of those?

[mongo_jones]

when in rosemead fulfill all your dim sum needs at 888 seafood. accept no substitute.

then on your way home stop at the 99 ranch market and buy a lot of really nice fish you'd never get at santa monica seafood or any seafood counter at ralph's. oh, how i miss their mackerel and carp and freshwater prawns. not to mention all the kinds of snapper. no such luck in boulder.

[samuelsontag]

               

Isn't there some rule about using too many of those?

I don't think so