After the HO Down at West Lake last month, we moved our monthly dim sum group from Crown Palace to West Lake this month. They were not as taken by it, and I also saw some drawbacks.
West Lake has no fry cart; the items one would get off the fry cart are made in the kitchen and put on carts, meaning they are not as piping hot as one might want them. They also have only hot peppers stuffed with shrimp, not mild, and several of our group prefer the mild.
The Salt & Pepper Squid are tentacles only.
The Clams in Black Bean Sauce seems to have fewer clams, and the plate we got had what I considered an excess of empty shells.
There are some items not available at Crown Palace (what is the name for that fried thing that has “crispy ribbons” all around it?), but apparently the people in our monthly group want whatever Crown Palace has, so we will be returning there for the future.
(We can go on our own to West lake, but dim sum for two is not nearly as good.)
Crown Palace had its detractors on CH at least some of whom are transplants here. We go every month or so for Dim Sum only and are generally pleased with the offerings. Some visits are better than others, but on the whole we find the offerings quite good.
Hey to each his own! That’s what makes the world go 'round. I remember going to a very highly acclaimed dim sum spot in Brooklyn once and my honest response was “eh, they’re not materially better than Crown Palace,” so clearly it’s not like they’re doing anything poorly.
Just curious, what do you guys usually get from the fry cart? I had eggplant for the first time the other day and it was great! It’s crazy how you can go to a restaurant and eat their food for a decade+ and still never have tried basic things like that.
We usually get hot peppers stuffed with shrimp, mild peppers stuffed with shrimp, lo bak go (turnip cake), and sometimes eggplant stuffed with shrimp. We tend to skip the water chestnut cake, since it’s a dessert-type thing and we always get Mexican bun. (We are usually about 8 people, give or take.)
Just went for dim sum here for the first time in years!! Everything was fine, it seems like they trimmed down the menu a little bit, for example there was no jook/tripe cart (but brought out on trays) and they didn’t have the thin white tripe dish either.
A bit of sticker shock too, the tab came to like 35 bucks a person! That clam dish by itself is like 25 bucks now. I’m gonna sound old but I remember when it was basically impossible to clear 15 bucks at dim sum.
I got sticker shock just reading your post! The most expensive thing on their on-line dim sum menu is Salt & Pepper Squid at $11, but I have no idea how old the menu is. Crown Palace shows Clams in Black Bean Sauce for $9.25, but that’s from about a year ago.
When we went to Maine recently and got seafood at a place not unlike the Keyport Fishery, but with seating, I definitely got sticker shock: a 10oz clam platter was $36, a 10oz scallop platter $34, and a 10oz shrimp platter $20. The clams were whole clams, not just strips, but still, when did clams become more expensive than shrimp?
Post Covid, i think i only went to West Lake once for Dim Sum. Don’t really recall what the price was or whether the menu was trimmed down. I think I am just kind of glad the restaurant is still surviving.
$35 per person does sound like a lot but then again I am seeing a bowl of Pho is almost $20 in some places so i guess that’s the cost of eating out these days.
After going to Crown Palace for dim sum yesterday, I gotta say Crown is far far superior in dum sum over West Lake. Granted we didn’t order as many premium items but everything was delicious, far better selection, and we left for slightly above 20 a person. I’m excited to go again.
And for people who like pork buns, their pinapple buns are the best version of pork bun! Absolutely delectable.
