Sea Harbour-Rosemead
Waking my arse up on a Saturday morning is like trying to calm down a hyperactive kid after eating a box of nerds. Waking up on a Saturday to go get dim sum? Slightly more motivation.
Thanks to a recommendation by Thao L., I got here nice and early (before 11am), found street parking right in front cause the lot was full, got my # at the host, and prepared myself for a long freaking wait. We waited for a good hour and 15 before our number was called and the wait was even longer at that point with people piling up in the lobby to catch some A/C in the summer heat. We were promptly seated at a clean tablecloth table in a side room near the already small main restaurant area. Due to the small nature of the restaurant, I don’t think it’s possible and definitely not advisable to have push carts.
Their picture and text dim sum menu was very complete and we found our favorites and many new items to try very easily. The only thing I don’t like about ordering off a menu is that once you order, it’s hard if not impossible to order a second time. As a result, we ordered more than enough and took some to-go.
Everything we tried was prepared fresh and was full of flavor! The har gow was tender, the skin translucent and slightly sticky.
The sui mai and shark fin with scallop was juicy and warm.
One of my favorites was a white steamed dumpling filled with soft shrimp and chives topped with 3 multicolored peas in 3 tiny holes on top. Beautiful and delicious! The beef tripe was cut into small pieces dipped in a light clear sauce.
We also tried pork & veggie crystal dumplings and chinese broccoli which was cooked to crisp perfection, dark green and tender.
We couldn’t pass up the pork steamed buns based on other’s recommendations and they were quite tender and scrumptious.
A shot of the bean curd roll:
And a green tea mochi-like dessert special:
The prices were reasonable for the high quality of food:
Small dim sum items were $2.28/each, large were $4.25, and speciality items (like the broccoli) were $6.66. It’s not even remotely convenient for me to visit Sea Harbour, but it’s one of the few places in the San Gabriel valley worth racing to in the morning for quality dim sum.
