Yum Cha Café

Let’s fast forward to 2015. I’m starving, but also craving dim sum and only dim sum. I Unilocal it and the prices are more than reasonable, so I have it in my head it’s not going to blow my socks off.
The chicken feet is not as flavorful, but yet they have the same familiar seasoning with more black beans. The egg tart, taste crazy fatty, but the egg is semi smooth and the crust still flaky as ever. The shrimp dumpling wrapper was thick and the shrimp was so-​so tasting. The siu mai was also okay and I didn’t mind it at all. The chicken bao was the worst. It had too much ginger and some nasty spice that reminded me of Chinese medicine, so I’ll pass next time. The bean curd with vegetable was not as fresh, but still tasty.
Overall, it was definitely worth a try because it saved me a lonely trip to SG, because my husband wouldn’t buy into my random cravings. If I have to compare it to anywhere it SG, it wouldn’t make it to the 3-​stars tier. Given the location, in a run down market, random whoever is next wait system, barely speaking any English workers, quick, cheap and so-​so dim sum, it’s not terrible.
My other gripe, still cash only.

Surprisingly pretty good considering it’s a food stand inside a super market. I had the chow fun, fung jao, lo mei gai, hai churn, and pai gruk all for 9.99. What a bargain. The food was hot. The selection is pretty good, you are all your basic dim sum choices with additional random selections. The flavor was legit.

Very good and very cheap dim sum. I am a big fan of the egg tart and the wings. Honestly everything we ordered tasted great. I included a pic showing all the food I got for just $ 17.

I really like this place because sometimes my family and friends don’t want to eat dim sum as much as I do, it’s a place I can go on my own grab some dishes and go home.
No one wants to eat dim sum with me. *tear* :P
It’s cheap, it’s fast and very efficient.
Don’t get me wrong it isn’t the best but to get your dim sum fix as often as I do. It’s good.
Cash only
*Stars 3 ¹⁄₂

Cheap prices for cheap dim sum. Buying $ 15 of dim sum will easily feed you for 2 – 3 meals. I think that the har gow and shu mai were not tasty and were low quality and were also on the smaller side. Each order came with 4 pieces. I would not get these again. The taro cake, rice rolls with shrimp, and chicken feet were tastier and were a better bang for my buck, so I would get those again. But in all reality, the dim sum here is much lower quality than any dim sum that you’d get at an actual restaurant. I think it’s actually lower quality compared to other fast food dim sum places too. But I guess when you consider that this place is in a super market and is dirt cheap, you can’t really expect much, right? You get what you pay for!

I have been eating dim sum since birth. Throughout the San Gabriel Valley and in Hong Kong. These are my thoughts about this place:
+ surprisingly good selection for a fast food, over the counter and order, type place
+ cheap. standard dim sum staples like har gow and siu mai were around $ 2. Most of the other dishes were also very affordable.
+ pretty authentic tasting. there are some things that are more bland, or do not taste exactly like how you’d expect, but it’s passable. In terms of the food, i’d give it a B– rating.
For the price and convenience, this is a good place for dim sum. If you want a bit better quality, want to actually «yum cha» (drink tea) and enjoy the experience that is dim sum, then go to a real dim sum restaurant.

This place is my new addiction and is one of the few reasons why I carry cash in my wallet!
The dim sum is decent for the price you pay and you can choose your selection with the worksheet they have available. I’ve gotten enough dim sum that lasted me 2 to 3 meals for under $ 15! I love bringing leftover dim sum to work the next day because it’s light and it can tie me over.
I say this place is A-​OK because it has all my basic staples: shu mai, pan fried turnip cake, and BBQ pork buns!

This place is cheap and delicious for this price range.
I will give it a pass for their sweet pastry. I had many of the typical dim sum dishes and you cannot beat this price and tastiness. I also tried the cha siu noodle soup and since they use the same soup stock for many of their noodle/​soup bowls, you cannot go wrong. The rice porridge (congee) was not bad. I had the fish congee and I shall not order this again. The fish was marinated in baking soda and I hate the texture of meat or seafood after being marinated in it – firm and slippery and not tasting fresh.

Located inside the My Thuan supermarket in it’s own section. Use the entryway on the side if you just want to get your dim sum and leave. There’s usually a crowd in the morning so grab a number. Sometimes the number system works and sometimes you just have to be aggressive and grab the workers attention before someone else does.
My family usually stops by after we go grocery shopping. We usually get the Baked BBQ Pork Bun (3 for $ 1.70), the Hom Sui Gok (football shaped fried dumpling), or any of the fried shrimp dumplings. Pork bun is sweet on the outside with char siu meat inside. Hom sui gok is crispy on the outside and has a mix of meat inside. I like to dip it in the sweet soy sauce that they provide you, but it is definitely one of my favorite things to get here. As for the different fried shrimp dumplings, they all basically taste the same, just different shapes.
Service is your typical Vietnamese food to-​go place. Get their attention and point at what you want, then go over to the counter and pay. They also have tables inside if you want to enjoy your dim sum right away.

I come here for a quick dim sum fix after grocery shopping at My Thuan. You have to be somewhat aggressive when it comes to ordering. lock eyes with one lady and point away. It’s not the best quality dim sum but for the price and convenience, sometimes it is the answer.
Things I would not order again: chicken feet and fried sushi
So stick to the basic shu mai, har gow, shrimp rice cakes, pork spare ribs, wonton noodle soups and you should be good to go until the next sit down dim sum occasion presents itself.

If you’re feeling frugal and like saving a few bucks at the expense of quality then this is the perfect place to get dim sum. I wouldn’t recommend eating it there. Take it home and microwave it because most of the food is not warm. It will save you about half the price of going to actual dim sum restaurant.
The food taste like how it should and you get your money’s worth. There are some cons though. It’s in a Vietnamese super market that’s always packed. So parking can be hard even on weekdays. Also it’s cash only.
Just a quick way of satisfying your dim sum cravings.

I am definitely a frequent customer. The craving for dim sum comes to me probably every other day, and if I went to a restaurant to satisfy it, I would be a very poor person (which I already am but even more so, if possible).
The solution: Yum Cha!
It’s located inside the supermarket on the right, blocked off from the rest of the market. There’s plenty of seating in the front, and each table has the necessary condiments, like sriracha and hoisin sauce.
This little food court serves up some of the more popular dim sum items, as well as hot food items like wonton soup, barbecue duck, chicken and rice porridge. I really enjoy their hot foods cause they’re 1.) cheap, less than 4 $ 2.) made very quickly and 3.) the portions are huge and delicious! You can order to-​go and assemble the food when you get home or eat at the tables. The ideal place for a quick bite.
Of course, I go here mainly for the dim sum. Even though the dim sum is highly inconsistent, it is the most accessible place to get my fix quick. Each order comes with about 3 to 4 pieces and is around 2 $. So feeding yourself to the brim will easily be under 10 $.
This is a to-​go dim sum place. So it isn’t gonna be perfect. Sometimes, the shrimp is overcooked, the dim sum may be over-​steamed and create a tough skin or you may find a bug. But hey, it comes with the territory. Also, the horrible waits and competition to get food during rush hours. THAT is the worst.
After you finish ordering, all your styrofoam boxes are put into a huge bag. Remember to always get chili packets and those sweet soy sauce containers. That sweet soy sauce is good on everything. Probably even ice cream. I wouldn’t doubt it. It usually only comes with the banh cuon (rice paper roll with shrimp/​beef), but ask for it anyway.
Besides the usual dim sum favorites, I love their turnip cake, fried taro balls, stir fried soy sauce noodles and the sticky rice wrapped in the leaf. So good.
I’m not comparing Yum Cha to any restaurants that serve dim sum. That’s like comparing apples and oranges. Yum Cha is a to-​go food counter, so the scale at which I judge them is very different.
Definitely my savior in my time of need.
CASH ONLY.

Two words: HELL NO.
I should have been warned by the open tops behind the counter, but Im a risk taker. I’ll try everything at least once. And once was all I needed.
Check your food before consuming as who knows what creepy crawlies have snuck in.
In my case, I had a spider inside of my chicken chongtzu (don’t remember the Viet name, but it’s the one in the bamboo wrapper.
Yes, the spider was not outside but lovingly mummified INSIDE of my food.
Thank you, but, no, I did not need the extra protein. Wish I could give a no star rating because that’s how I feel — empty after the purging you caused me.
Otherwise, food was cold, nothing special flavor wise (plus or minus the «extra» flavor), and greasy as all heck.
Service was ok. You pretty much walk in, mark the available menu or point at the item through the glass, pay, and eat (at the tables provided or at home).
Easy peasy, right? Right…

— Locale Destination —
It’s on Westminster Blvd and Magnolia St in Westminster.
It’s in «My Thuan market» (supermarket), located in relatively big shopping center. It’s a to-​go dim sum place. They offer not only dim sum, but also noodle soup, noodle, congee etc. But they have tables if you wanna eat there! Décor is nothing fancy and outdated for sure. Cash only! Plenty of parking. Unlike SF Chinatown dim sum places, the staff can say «this is chicken, shrimp etc.» :) You just point your fingers to get what you want — there’re signs for the items but they aren’t there in front of the items… ;(So you don’t know which was which well. lol
— Gluttony Expedition —
Everything is like $ 1.69 (3 pieces for smaller items) to $ 4.
Shrimp dumplings: 3 pieces. It has only a whole shrimp inside. Tasteless.
Chicken Shu my: Chicken was stinky. Pass!
Pork Shu my: Not bad, but not as good as the ones in SF.
Deep fried shrimp dumplings: 4 pieces. Shrimp, chives, and egg were inside. Not bad!
Pan fried pork dumplings: 3 pieces. Lots of meats and chives. Good!
Soy bean curd: You see this on «Com Tam» (Vietnamese broken rice dish). Not bad.
Sesame ball: I wish it were fresh. This is really tasty when it’s fresh.
— Conqueror’s Deduction —
Very cheap yet decent for to-​go dim sum place. It’s not as good as dim sum places in San Francisco, but decent. Many table service places in OC offer lesser quality and more expensive tags than this.

For the price you get what you paid for. Its not bad and for those on a budget, out for a adventure, needing a Dim Sum fix this is your answer. I had the BBQ pork steamed buns and sadly they were not really worth eating. They were chewy and very dry. Everything else I tried was ok. I ordered the shrimp rolled in rice paper, ha gow, and taro cake. I mean I only paid $ 1.15 for each item I ordered so who can complain? Like I said its dim sum on a budget so dont expect some high quality stuff. There are tables inside for you to use but they are often taken up. If you dont mind table sharing with others you will find a spot easily. The grocery store that this place is inside of didnt smell the best and took away from the experience. But like I said its an adventure right?
Would I be back probably not. I rather just pay a little more and get better food.

After discovering this place through Unilocal,I decided to give it a try…
We were pretty disappointed. I wasn’t expecting high quality food, but almost everything was cold =(. Shoot, I have even tried other Dim Sum places in other supermarkets and this place was the worst one (Ranch 99, My Thuan). The chicken feet was insanely spicy, like ridiculously spicy. The steam items were cold. We asked for one order of fried shrimp balls and they tasted stale and were teeny tiny. Many of the other items came with stuff I call «filters». For instance, their pork spare ribs container were filled with pumpkin to «fill» the container. Same with the tripe, it came with a bunch of melon pieces. So yes it is cheaper but you are actually paying the same. And worst of all, we were unsatisfied and definitely not worth the parking.
I find this place to be okay if you are already in the supermarket shopping for groceries. It is convenient to grab some for the house on the way. Otherwise, go elsewhere.

What people need to realize is this isn’t a sit-​down and get served type of dim sum place. This is a dim sum to go café, so if you’re expecting high quality food, head down a few blocks to Seafood Paradise on Newland/​Westminster — but the prices are higher — nearly 2 or 3 times the cost of a entrée over there than here. If you’re wanting to pay top dollar for high end dim sum, go for it, but at the prices and the speed of the service and food here, it’s not that bad at all.
Anyway, on to the actual review.
Yum Cha Café is located inside the My Thuan supermarket — just walk in, and turn right, walk past the cellphone vendor.
You can essentially start ordering/​waiting in line at either end of the counter — although from my experience, it’s best to wait on the far left end and move to the right. There isn’t really a numbering system here, so make sure you make eye contact with one of the servers behind the counter, so someone else doesn’t cut in line. Also, it helps if while you’re waiting, you’re eyeing what items you want. If you take too long to decide once you get a server’s attention, don’t be surprised if they «pass» on you and help someone else.
The selections here start off at $ 1.19 per «serving» and go as high as $ 3.00 per serving. Each serving usually contains 3 or 4 pieces, depending on the item, or could be a small bowl of something (like the meat + tofu dish). They have all your basic «favorites» at a typical dim sum place — rice rolls with your choice of bbq pork, marinated beef or shrimp, pork/​chicken dumplings (siu mai), shrimp dumplings (har gow), steamed buns (lotus seed, bbq pork, combo), tofu, and a bunch of other stuff I don’t normally eat so I don’t know the names for. They also have chinese egg tarts.
For the English-​only Unilocalers, there are English translations for each item, although it helps if you’ve had Dim Sum before so you already know what each item is like. If you don’t know the name or can’t pronounce it, pointing excitedly at a item works just as well.
I ordered 4 items (as you can see from the picture I took and attached to this review) — Rice rolls with beef + rice rolls with shrimp, pork siu mai and the egg tarts. Had enough to share with my roommate — total was a little under $ 8.
Rice Rolls — anyone who’s had dim sum at multiple places know that this is a pretty hard dish to mess up, that being said, a lot of places fail at this — including the fancier sit-​down dim sum places. Yum Cha’s rice rolls have a nice thickness to it, and the flour is dense, fresh and chewy. I also like that they don’t skimp on the fillings. $ 1.49 for 3 pcs — choice of filling.
Pork Dumplings (Siu Mai) — these were a bit smaller than your typical sized dumplings, despite that, these tasty morsels packed a lot of flavor! Texture of the wrapper was consistent and chewy, while the filling had a good amount of pork and other fillings in it. $ 1.19 for 4pcs.
Egg Tarts — I tried these at this location for the first time today — all other times I’ve visited, they were already out. I can see why — at such a bargain price, you get 3 of these tasty tarts — the buttery flaky crust literally melts in your mouth as you bite through the egg-​custardy center. $ 1.49 for 3 pcs.
Overall, a great place if you’re looking for a quick — grab and go type of dim sum place. Understand that the quality is not going to be the best, but for the price and speed of the service (short wait even if there’s a line), you can’t get a better deal anywhere else.
Cash only. Parking is a nightmare since its in the My Thuan shopping center, so avoid going on the weekends. If you must go on the weekends, park in the lot with the bank building (corner of Magnolia and Westminster) adjacent to the lot, since no one is there on the weekends and it has a separate entrance/​exit, and you can just walk over to the supermarket.
Check out the picture I attached to this review!

When you get dim sum by women pushing carts, they tend to try to push items on you. Here, where you order at the counter to take it to go, it’s kind of the opposite. I feel I have to be pushy to get everything I want, and they never offer anything else by responding with «and then, and then, and then…»
Part of it is a language barrier, for sure. But they probably hear the words one, two, and three all day long so thought that part might be easier. I have to keep saying «and» each time they put something I ordered in a container.
It’s convenient (except for the parking lot situation — may wanna try curbside and just walk further) and cheap, I can get 4 things for about $ 6, since most items are $ 1.50 and come with 3 or 4 of what you’re ordering. Sometimes I have to heat them up a bit, but not always.
The har gow is a bit better than the siu mai, as that tends to be smaller and thus less filling. I recommend you get some dumplings. Cha siu bao here is ok. I didn’t like the chicken feet. There’s enough things here to still try but I usually keep it to the basics. If I wanna go all out, that’s what the sit-​down dim sum restaurants are for.

AGAIN, i am reminded that when it comes to asian places, go ahead and disregard everything they taught you in elementary. single file line? no. please and thank you? optional. wait your turn? not if you want to starve. no need to mind your manners, just push your way to the front, elbow people in the ribs if you must (just kidding, kind of).
all this for warm, inexpensive strofoam boxes filled with dim sum goodness. DO NOT FORGET TO ASK FOR THE SWEET SOY SAUCE! it’s 4 598 437 9845x better than regular soy sauce.

I’ve been here MANY times. It’s pretty nice. Food can be a bit lukewarm at times, but they can also be steaming hot. Things do tend to be a bit inconsistent, but cold or hot… it’s still pretty tasty. Btw, they have buy 2 get 1 free specials too! There are signs on the tags.
I would recommend anything on the menu, but for new dim sum people:
pork shu mai ($¼ ct)
fried/​baked pork buns ($ 1.39÷3 ct)
I would NOT recommend:
chicken shu mai ($¼ct and buy 2 get 1 free)
+1 Star: Right inside the supermarket, so it’s an awesome location for you to eat then shop or vice versa or whatever you want!
+1 Star: They cook constantly, so you’ll be able to get fresh batches of the dim sum. Plus, they’re ridiculously generous with their condiment packets.
+1 Star: Yay to seating availability… it’s kinda small, but pretty nice considering that it’s inside a Vietnamese supermarket!
+1 Star: Yay to incredibly inexpensive dim sum ($ 1-​$ 1.39 an order. some come buy two get one free! Also an order generally has about 3 – 4 ct)
–1 Star: People who go here are often rude, have tendencies to cut, and annoy the workers… in turn, the workers aren’t very happy with their jobs and show it when they get you food…(make their day and put some $ in the tip jar)
TIP: Speak up and tell the lady what you want to order… and if anything’s unclear just point to it and with your fingers, indicate how many orders you want.