Dim Sum Truck

Introducing...Dim Sum Truck!

One of Alex's helpers

Sunday, the Husband and I were invited to attend a sneak peek of Los Angeles’s newest food truck, Dim Sum Truck!  I had tried a couple of their items at the Food Fest and liked them, so I was looking forward to tasting more of their menu.

Founded by Alex Chu, a young entrepreneur and graduate of USC, the Dim Sum Truck seeks to bring this classic Chinese cuisine to the streets of Los Angeles.  Those familiar with the food scene in this city know in order to get the “good stuff” when it comes to dim sum, one has to trek all the way to the San Gabriel Valley.  Not an easy thing for those who live on the west side, like me.

When we got to the truck, there was already a small crowd.  Not a problem as Alex and his crew already had food ready to go.

Har gow, shu mai, shrimp n' chive dumpling

First up were dumplings – har gow, shu mai and shrimp n’ chive.  Right off the bat, I noticed that these pieces were a little bigger than what I was used to getting at the restaurants.  The taste of each was on par with what you get at the restaurants, too, though.  Not a surprise given that Mr. Chu started his food career at a dim sum restaurant….

Baked BBQ pork bun

Chicken and ginger steamed bun

The sauce served with the trio of dumplings was salty and garlicky but lacking in the heat for me.  I didn’t mind because it complimented the flavors very well.

Next up was a duo of buns – a steamed bao filled with ginger and chicken and a baked bbq pork bun.  I tried the bbq pork first.  Stuffed with familiar sweet porkiness, this bun was quite good, though personally, I prefer the steamed version better because I like the texture and flavor of the steamed bread more.  I thought the bao was going to also be filled with bbq pork since char siu bao is a classic dim sum dish, so I was surprised when I tasted chicken and ginger.  The flavors were really good; I loved the ginger. But it was a little skinny in terms of the filling as you can see.

Zongzi - sticky rice with pork, sausage and mushroom

Dim Sum Truck was also serving up zongzi, a dish consisting of sticky rice with various fillings steamed in lotus leaves.  This version had pork, chinese sausage and mushrooms.  There was a nice earthy flavor infused into each bite from the leaves.  The pork was a little dry, though.  I did love the one piece of chinese sausage, juicy and intense.

Egg custard tart

Sesame ball

For dessert, there were egg custard tarts and lotus paste-filled sesame balls.  To caramelize the top of the tart, Alex broke out the kitchen torch.  The filling was smooth and perfect but the crust was not as flaky as I would like; it was a little soggy.

I’m used to the sesame balls being filled with a red bean paste.  The lotus version was a little less sweet but it was still good.  The shell was not oil-saturated and had just the right amount of chew to it.

Based on their website, Dim Sum Truck will also be offering up dim sum-Mexican fusion dishes like a roast duck taco,  which I tried at the Food Fest (yum yum yum), and a spicy tofu mulita.

Dim Sum Truck info

All in all, this was some good eats and I give them 4 NOMs!

Congratulations to Alex Chu for starting up a great truck!  I’m looking forward to encountering Dim Sum Truck often on the streets…

China Max

A couple of coworkers and I went out to China Max for lunch yesterday. I had been to this place a few years back for dinner but never got around to returning, even though it was a great Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant.

I had read from Mmm-yoso’s review that dim sum was available and that’s what I and one coworker ended up getting and sharing, along with an order of their Beef Chow Fun.  The other coworker ordered a spicy chicken off their “Recession” menu ($9 for the entrée plus rice and egg drop soup).  While that may sound a little steep for a “Recession” menu, this was not a skimpy sized lunch special.  A large plate with the chicken over crispy noodles appeared and you could see the pepper seeds in the sauce denoting that this was not spicy on an American scale.  I tried a piece and yup, it had a kick to it.  Also, the chicken was nice and moist.  I don’t know if it was worth the $9 but it sure beat Panda Express.

China Max does dim sum a little differently.  Instead of ordering off carts that pass your table, you have a picture menu (handy for people not familiar with dim sum or know what they like but don’t know the name of it) and a sheet where you check off what you want.  The waiter collects the sheet and then a few minutes later, dim sum starts appearing on your table.  A lot easier and simpler than the cart places, in my opinion.  The selection of dim sum at China Max is decent and a lot of the classics like shrimp har gow (shrimp dumpling) and char siu bao (steamed bbq pork bun) are on the menu.  The cost is based on the items which are marked Small, Medium, Large and Kitchen.  Small dishes were priced at $3.75, Medium at $4.something, Large at around $5.75 and Kitchen varied from $8-11, if memory serves me correctly.

We ordered:
- shrimp har gow
- char siu bao
- pork and shrimp shumai
- fried potstickers
- bbq pork cheung fun (bbq pork wrapped in a rice noodle topped with a sweetened soy sauce)
- pork spare ribs
- turnip cake
- egg custard tarts

This coupled with an order of beef chow fun ended up being quite a large order for 2 people and we ended up with leftovers.

Some of the dishes like the pork spare ribs were a little milder in flavor compared to the other dim sum restaurants I’d been too.  Most of the dishes were steamed so they were not heavy or oily.  The fried potstickers were quite light and had a good crispy skin and moist filling.  The pieces seemed to be a little bigger than what you get at Emerald or Jasmine.  I really enjoyed the bbq pork cheung fun; I think that was my favorite. The beef chow fun was also quite good.  Altogether, the meal ended up a little less than $40, not counting the spicy chicken dish.

The only downside is the service.  I guess it’s not really that different from other Chinese places I’ve been to but they aren’t attentive and it’s really hard to flag people down to get something as simple as a water or tea refill.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the food experience and would come back for the dim sum.  It was a lot quicker coming here for a workday lunch than it was going to a cart place.

I give China Max 3 NOMs.

China Max
4698 Convoy Street #C101
San Diego, CA 92111
(858)-650-3333
http://www.chinamaxsandiego.com/