Pushcart-style dim sum.
The good thing with Full House is that most of the dim sum items averaged $2.
From center top: har gow (Chinese shrimp dumplings), fried shrimp balls, Steamed Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) with Oyster Sauce, spare ribs with black bean sauce, and pan-fried turnip cakes.
Egg rolls, roast pork, and braised tripe and blood cubes. Obviously, the roast pork was more than $2. I just can't remember any of the individual prices.
Shu mai (Chinese meatballs).
Hom sui gok (Chinese sticky rice dumplings).
Shrimp cheong fun (Chinese shrimp rice noodle rolls).
Calamari.
I think the total came to about $12 per person? Cheap and pretty good dim sum. I put it on the same level as the old dim sum restaurants. OK to good dim sum, nothing spectacular. Old pushcart-style of service.
Who else ate at Full House Seafood Restaurant?
Eat Travel Eat says the low prices and good service make this his dim sum restaurant of choice.
Other dim sum restaurant posts:
Bon Marche Bistro/B Village Cuisine (Dim Sum) - Monterey Park
Capital Dim Sum & BBQ - Monterey Park
CBS Seafood Restaurant (Dim Sum) - Los Angeles (Chinatown)
Dim Sum Express - Monterey Park
Elite Restaurant (Dim Sum) - Monterey Park
Lunasia Chinese Cuisine (Dim Sum) - Alhambra
Ocean Star Seafood Restaurant (Dim Sum) - Monterey Park
Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant (Dim Sum) - Rosemead
Seaworld Seafood Restaurant BBQ & Dim Sum To Go - Rosemead
Yum Cha Cafe - San Gabriel
Seaworld Seafood Restaurant BBQ & Dim Sum To Go - Rosemead
Yum Cha Cafe - San Gabriel
Full House Seafood Restaurant
1220 S. Golden West Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91007
626-446-8222
*****
1 year ago today, Banh Mi Thit Heo Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Sandwich).
2 years ago today, Brussels sprouts stalks and pupusas at the Farmers' Market - Alhambra.
WC,
ReplyDeleteYay, a post on an Arcadia restaurant :). I was thinking you would do so after stumbling onto your photostream yesterday, but I was wrong back then on Bamboodles or some other place. Prices are now 1.58 or 1.98 during weekends/holidays. Used to be 1.98 and 2 something which was low also compared to other places. Me likey the roast pork. Just had it this weekend in a unfortunately poorly executed dinner at Full House. :( They fail serving good food during holidays! Any other day, they are fine though.
I'm tickled again to find out I am a she and not a he according to two bloggers now :).
Full House sadly doesn't do much calamari or fried tofu these days. People like to eat healthy...but there's plenty of cubes of fat hidden in dishes like siu mai, meatballs, et cetera.
I can't really recognize the server in the photo but I think it just might be one of the two servers that recognizes me and likes to chat during dim sum hours.
ETE,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I meant to blog about Bamboodles back in April? Haven't gotten around to it then either. And there's still old and new Din Tai Fungs to post.
Umm, so which is it? She? He? I thought she, but I'm wrong? :P Some people think I'm a he, and I thought it was fairly obvious that I'm a she. :)
WC,
ReplyDeleteI am a he :). I've always thought you were a she from the first time I visited your blog though!
ETE,
ReplyDeleteBwhaha! All this time, I thought you were a she! I'll correct that right away. :P
I've never heard of this place! I like push carts. I'm old-school.
ReplyDeleteWeeMo,
ReplyDeleteIt's next to the 99 Ranch.
I'm a she with a he - and if Wandering Chopsticks say's this is okay, I will check it out! : )
ReplyDeleteOddlyme,
ReplyDeleteHave you been to Lunasia? That's my favorite.
WC -
ReplyDeleteI have not been to Lunasia. But if you say it is good, I will check it out!
I have friends who've lived in LA for 30 years and still have not had dim sum. Had to find a halfway point and ended up at King Hua. Seeing their faces as they had their first shu mai (sp?) and har gow - such fun! They are now complete dim sum fans.
Oddlyme,
ReplyDeleteI went to King Hua almost a year ago? The whole time I was eating, I kept thinking the food was just a bit better at Lunasia. And it's just a few minutes away too.
But if you want traditional push cart-style dim sum, I like Capital Seafood in Monterey Park. Bonus, you can shop at Wing Hop Fung afterward for random dishwares, tea, and wine.
There's also an nearly blind old Chinese man who sells herbs and veggies from his backyard usually standing to the right of Wing Hop Fung's entrance. I always buy something just to help him out. He doesn't speak much English, except for numbers. I just bring what I want to his hands, he feels it, and then tells me how much. Usually $1, unless it's something big. I bought a giant long winter melon recently because the thought of him lugging three of them to sell about broke my heart. Then I had to tell him which bills were $5 and $1 so he could keep track of them in separate pockets. I hope no one tries to cheat it because that would be just too cruel.
WC -
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, you just about broke my heart with your story of the almost blind herb seller. Life can be so spotty in it's gifts versus challenges for folks, it does make you think a bit more about reincarnation. At least that would explain Some of the stuff! I wish him deeply well and I am so glad you honor him with respect, appreciation and honesty. (Like you would do anything less!)
We've had a nutty winter here with family stuff, so our schedule is a bit off. Normally we'd make the 30minute-ish drive to Rowland Heights on Christmas Day for dim sum, but after challenges of our own, we were just too busy catching up with friends. We figured we'd do it the day AFTER Xmas. But gosh the drive seemed long. And maybe not as much fun as it normally is.
Then I got an idea and looked at my husband. "Why don't we take tomorrow and go to Lunasia? Wandering Chopstick's favorite place? It's closer and, it will be fun as it will be a different but still well thought of place."
He's in!
So unless we wake up to a surprise or new challenge of our own, fingers crossed, tomorrow we will be off to a new happy adventure. Thank you for helping to make it happen.
Merry Christmas, WC. And good health and joy to all.
Oddlyme,
ReplyDeleteSo how did you like Lunasia? You must be meeting someone halfway in Rowland Heights because it's quite a drive for dim sum! Happy New Year to you!
Wandering Chopsticks,
ReplyDeleteWe very much enjoyed Lunasia, the quality was excellent!
But oh my goodness, is there such a thing as portions being too big? The pieces of dim sum were so large, we could not try as many items as we normally would. However, if that's our only complaint, that's a good one to have.
As for Rowland Heights - it is indeed a drive, we are not meeting anyone there. But the dim sum is so nice there, and the place we go to is by a "good" 99 cents only store, so the drive is part of the entertainment/commitment. Still, the distance is what keeps it to once or twice a year!
And Happy New Year back at you : )
Oddlyme,
ReplyDeleteWhich restaurant has you driving all the way to Rowland Heights? Hmm. Which items did you order at Lunasia? I can't remember anything being too particularly large?
WC,
ReplyDeleteWe go to Hong Kong Palace. This is the review that first led us there... I guess it's had it's ups and down but for us - it's been dandy each time we've been.
But we are certainly open to trying new places! Especially ones that are closer : )
Anyway, at Lunasia, the har gow were larger than I am used to (but no complaints!) and the su mai (sp?) were also significantly bigger.
So's you know what I am used to, for close by dim sum, or to go, I'll hit CBS Seafood. Cheap thrills - Ho Ho Fu BBQ Dimsum in Chinatown. And yes, HHF BBQ's servings are a bit smaller but for a dash in, dash out treat - handy.
Oddlyme,
Sorry! Meant to reply to this sooner. I had to delete your comment because of the link, so I just posted the rest of your comment above. I wish Blogger had a way to just remove links from comments without having to delete the comment...
From the looks of it, Hong Kong Palace sounds like Capital Seafood in Monterey Park, so that's definitely an option if you don't want to drive as far. I've blogged CBS and it was better than I expected. I've never even heard of Ho Ho Fu, but I admit I hardly ever eat in Chinatown.
WC,
ReplyDeleteGosh I'm sorry! If I knew the link would cause you all that trouble I'd never have done it!
If we are not doing a formal dim sum day with friends, we are now solid fans of CBS. Just over 10 minutes from our house, with their own parking lot, an easy "to go" section, we now buy lots and have friends meet us at our house to simply eat and enjoy.
I will definitely put Capital Seafood on our list to try - it sounds great! Thank you so for your advice on that : )
P.S. If you ever do get back to CBS seafood, on a weekday or a sunday, check out Skyline Beauty Supply, just down the block, on Spring. I'm not a big fashionista, but I took a girlfriend to CBS, she saw the signs for Skyline and got giddy.
It was fab for nail polish, I'm not denying that, but I'm more a St. Vincent de Pauls gal. The one downtown has great prices on housewares!
Happy summer tomatoes to you, O.M.
Oddlyme,
ReplyDeleteOh no! Don't worry. I delete anonymous or linky comments to cut down on spam and self-promotions, so I figured it was best to make it a blanket comment policy. Normally, it's not a biggie, but since we've been talking back and forth, I just wanted to let you know why.
I was just in Chinatown last week to check out the Bruce Lee statue. That beauty supply store has been around for ages, but I've never been inside!
I'm a bit sensitive to MSG so I haven't been back to CBS. BTW, if you didn't see my CBS post, they do restaurant . com coupons so if you're going with a lot of people, it's worth it for the discount since you have to spend $50. You can't use it at the to-go counter, but they let us order a roast duck at the table and added that to our bill to get us over the total so it's the same.
Wandering Chopsticks -
ReplyDeleteHowdy!
This am, wanting to mix things up a bit, we went to Full House for dim sum.
It was a hoot.
Packed (I guess cuz it's a sunday and a few folks like us there for Bunny Day) but the servers were cheerful and laughed as carts or folks got stuck in corners due to the chaos. We went at 10 and discovered (upon chatting with our neighbor towards the end) that we should go closer to 11 - that's when the "good stuff" comes out. And indeed, we tried many new things but, when we asked one gal for har gow or shu mai, she said "Later." We'd resigned ourselves to just not getting it today, when she appeared, cartless, with a stack of the dumplings she'd brought straight from the kitchen! Not only had she remembered, she'd done something about it. I was impressed.
Definitely not on the same level as Lunasia or King Hua - but better than CBS. (We got dim sum to go a few months ago and I felt it had gone downhill, from when we've gotten it to go before.)
Next on our list, really! - Capital Seafood.
Thanks again for your great posts.
Oddlyme,
ReplyDeleteLove how you're slowly making your way through the dim sum houses in SoCal. I still have several that I haven't tried still! I think 10 might beat the crowds, but 11 is prime time for all the crowds, so that's why they save the good stuff for later.
Capital Seafood in Monterey Park has the carts, but Capital Seafood in Arcadia has the tray service like at Lunasia.
Wandering Chopsticks,
ReplyDeleteSlowly but surely, that's me!
This town has such an embarrassment of riches with Dim Sum, how can I not explore?
Regarding Capital Seafood, how interesting that the same family of restaurants has a different service in different location. Maybe it's what works best for the folks in that location? I like both ways of serving, I'll probably choose my location by drive time : )
And thanks for the thoughts on the timing, it makes much more sense now!
Oddlyme,
ReplyDeleteDon't overthink it. It's really just a matter of space. The Arcadia location is much smaller, so no room really for pushcarts. :P Although, one could argue Arcadia is a snazier zip code than Monterey Park so that plays into it too.
I'm surprised you haven't hit up Elite or Sea Harbour, which are the other upscale dim sum joints. Although, Lunasia ranks above those two for me simply for less wait time. The slightly better quality at Sea Harbour doesn't make up for the long wait, and I'd say Elite and Lunasia are neck and neck.
But if you want to go old school dim sum, after Capital Seafood, you should go across the street to Ocean Star.