la.foodblogging

I’m usually one who likes exploring new restaurants. I drag friends and family out to try new places with me. Thus I was more than happy to accompany my mother to a dim sum restaurant she wanted to try. I was rewarded - this was the first time in a very long time I had gone to dim sum and left without a single complaint.

Triumphal Palace, which opened its doors June 2005, is located in a plaza in Alhambra. We arrived to a pretty empty, covered parking lot. Upon arrival at the restaurant, there didn’t seem to be much of a wait. Only a few people were ahead of us, and we only had to wait about 10 minutes before we were seated at a comfortable table. Upon entering the restaurant, a couple things immediately caught my eye. The decor was spacious and contemporary. The seafood tanks looked like portholes on a ship. The tables were relatively close together, but not so much so that you can hear every word your neighbors are saying. The only thing I was confused about was where were the napkins? Then we noticed a package on the table. Once you open it up, there are two slots filled with paper napkins. Very convenient.

Triumphal Palace is one of those dim sum restaurant without carts, but that doesn’t mean the servers won’t come by offering you specials. While my mother and I were still looking over the paper menu, deciding on what to order, a server came by with a tray. I could not take my eyes off of the huge prawns he was carrying. Apparently, this was one of the day’s specials. Of course, I had to have it. This dish was basically a take on the traditional Spicy Salt Shrimp dish you can find at most decent Chinese restaurants. I believe the prawn is lightly coated with flour or cornstarch and then fried until crisp and then seasoned. You might not be able to see it in the photo, but the prawns are skewered. This is to keep the prawns from curling up when fried. The prawns were absolutely succulent, and I loved the spices and jalapenos that accompanied the dish. Also, 8 large prawns for $8.99 seemed like a reasonable price.

In between eating the prawns, we did finally submit our menu orders. The first to arrive was the bok choy. The bok choy was boiled well, but let’s face it - it’s pretty hard to screw up bok choy. What makes this dish so good was the fish stock that came with the bok choy. It was a little salty, but extremely flavorful. The stock really complemented the plain bok choy, making this dish very enjoyable.

Dumplings are one of my dim sum staples. I tried three at Triumphal Palace - the Shanghai juicy pork dumplings, vegetarian dumplings, and the deep fried meat dumplings (picture here). The pork dumplings are pretty standard. I do think the ones here are a little more expensive (4 little dumplings for $3.98) than the ones you find at other dim sum restaurant. The vegetarian dumplings, while good, were different than how most other restaurants make theirs. I think this was the first time I’ve ordered vegetarian dumplings and found not a speck of green, leafy vegetable used in the filling. Instead, Triumphal Palaces used carrots, mushrooms, and baby corn, just to name a few ingredients. The winner of the dumplings was hands down the deep fried one. The exterior is crispy, and there is just a hint of sweetness. Inside, the dumplings were filled with pork, green onions, dried shrimp, and mushrooms. The contrast between the slightly sweet and the salty was delightful.

There were two more dishes I had that were pretty interesting. Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf is a common dim sum order. While Triumphal Palace has this on the menu, the restaurant also offers an interesting twist of this dish - pan fried sticky rice. The two dishes are basically the same. The only difference was that the pan fried sticky rice was served more like a golden rice square. The second dish I had that was interesting was the mochi filled with sesame sauce. My mother and I thought we were ordering the deep fried sesame balls filled with red bean paste. Imagine our surprise when the dish pictured on the right was placed at our table. This turned out to be a happy accident, as we were very happy with this little dessert. The gooey texture of the mochi isn’t for everyone, and I’ve known a few people who are turned off by the black sesame sauce. Also, for people who are allergic to nuts, I suspect the mochi was dusted with peanuts, so if you give this a shot, you might want to check with the staff there.

The service is fast and efficient. Don’t expect anyone to smile at you or be courteous, but it should be noted that none of the servers were rude. We did have one server who was extremely friendly and checked with us to make sure we were happy with the prawns. All in all, I was pretty happy in general with my experience at Triumphal Palace. After this good meal, I couldn’t believe how there was no crowd at this restaurant when we came in. Turns out we got there before the crowd showed up. When we left, there was a long line of people waiting, and more still arriving. The almost empty parking lot we pulled into was completely full. There were two cars fighting for our parking space as we were leaving. If that’s not a good sign Triumphal Palace is a good place to go, I don’t know what is.

Triumphal Palace Chinese Cuisine
500 W. Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 308-3222
Dim Sum Prices: from $1.98 to $7.50, specials vary
M-F - 10:30am-3:00pm, 5:00pm-10:30pm
Weekends - 10:00am-3:00pm, 5:00pm-10:30pm

By Pauline (see more of her posts).