Chinese

The Kitchen - Overrated Dim Sum

There has been a lot of buzz lately about a fairly new player in San Gabriel dim sum scene, The Kitchen. The Los Angeles Times has featured this place twice - once in March, then again just one month later. As a huge dim sum fan, I just had to go see for myself what all the commotion was about. All in all, while some items were real hits, the misses show just how The Kitchen fails to live up to the hype.

So let’s start with the positives. The first thing that arrived at the table was the fish and spring onion congee. The fish in the congee (rice porridge) was very good and delicate. Along with the spring onion, it provided plenty of flavor to the congee. Other restaurants tend to give thick pieces of fish that you can tell was frozen right before making the congee. This is definitely not the case at The Kitchen. Also good was the juicy dumplings pictured here. I wasn’t really clear on the fact that they would be served in plain congee. The Chinese side of the menu used a different term than congee - described it as a type of soup (rice soup as it turns out). The English side of the menu simply said Shanghaiese crab dumplings. The reason why they serve bland congee with the dumplings is because they are very juicy and just a tad salty. You definitely need a couple spoons of the plain congee to go with these dumplings. Finally, there were the pan fried buns. The dough was soft and chewy. The filling was made of pork, but I think I caught a glimpse of part of a shrimp, too. The buns were well done, and the fact that it was pan fried on both the top and bottom sides was an added plus.

There were some other menu items that were overall good or mediocre. Next up is the nothing special section. I thought the shredded daikon pastry would be the traditional ones I grew up with. I give The Kitchen credit for trying something different, but it should have left well enough alone. The original is more like a bun with slightly crispy bottom. What was served is what is pictured here - a deep fried pastry. Also, the daikon was not really shredded - more chopped if anything. This is important because in the original recipe, the shredded daikon comes out with a fine, soft texture. Using The Kitchen’s recipe, the daikon flavor is there, but the texture isn’t. If you can overlook the original recipe and accept this new version by itself, this isn’t a bad dish to order, though I wouldn’t really recommend it. The shrimp in rice noodles were just okay here. One thing they tried to do differently is adding sugar snap peas in the noodles with the shrimp. I felt that this was pointless, as the sugar snap peas added nothing to improve this dim sum staple. The custard tarts were good, but I’ve had better. The Kitchen serves both the traditional custard tarts and the “Macau” style. (In Chinese, they call it the “Portuguese” style. I don’t know why the English side of the menu says differently.) Also safe to order, but again, not impressive, were the sesame balls and shrimp and chives dumplings.

Now for the misses. By far the most disappointing item ordered was the daikon radish cake in XO sauce. Daikon radish cake is usually my favorite at dim sum. As soon as it arrived at the table, I lunged for it and popped a piece in my mouth. First of all, I was unhappy that the piece was practically cold. I guess the servers left this sitting out for a while before bringing it to my table. Secondly, because of the XO sauce and perhaps because the radish cake was sitting for a while, by the time I got to eat it, the radish cake wasn’t crispy in the slightest bit. Also, it’s called daikon radish cake for a reason - it’s supposed to be filled with daikon radish! Compared to other dim sum restaurants, The Kitchen was really stingy on the daikon. Finally, I think the reason why I’m most upset about this dish is because after finding my favorite dish to be the least satisfying one, it turns out to be the most expensive thing I ordered - $6! Based upon the photo and my description, do you really think this is worth $6? Other misses include the steamed egg custard buns. The inside is supposed to be sweet, gooey custard. What I got was grainy custard in a completely liquid form. There was also some deep fried taro dish that was not very appealing. The filling was mashed taro with some pork and green onions, but all I could really taste was the taro. It was just overpowering.

The April 22, 2007 article on The Kitchen by David Pierson is more about the quality of the ingredients used and focuses on the kitchen menu instead of the dim sum one. Since I didn’t have anything from that menu, The Kitchen might still be worth checking out for a good dinner. The March 21, 2007 article by S. Irene Virbila specifically states that dim sum is “the Kitchen’s strong suit.” Don’t buy it.

Miscellaneous Side Notes:

1) One more possible correction for Ms. Virbila, who says the shrimp and chives dumpling is made with rice flour in her article: this dish is typically made with wheat starch. It’s safe to bet on wheat starch if the dumpling skin is pretty translucent, which was the case for me when I ordered the shrimp and chives dumpling.

2) The parking lot is pretty small. If you’re lucky enough to get a spot, congratulations. If not, check out the side streets.

3) Cheapest items on the dim sum menu are $1.88. Majority of what I ordered were $2.80. Most expensive items are $6.

4) The menu shows a website - http://www.thekitchenusa.net - but it’s not currently working. Maybe one day it’ll be up.

The Kitchen
203 W. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-4828

Dim Sum Hours: M-F: 10:30am-3pm, weekends & holidays: 9am-3pm
Kitchen Menu Hours: Daily 11am-3pm and 5pm-1am

By Pauline (see more of her posts).

© 2007 la.foodblogging.