Los Angeles Dim Sum

New Mission: Try out all the well known LA County dim sum places.

First effort: NBC Seafood, Monterey Park.
Rating: 1 Tray out of 5
Summary: Cold, greasy, "ran out" of bbq pork buns, way too much MSG, good tea. Big disappointment.

Second effort: Ocean Star Seafood, Monterey Park.
Rating: 3 Trays out of 5, but considered 4.
REVISION AFTER THIRD EFFORT: 2.5 Trays
Summary: Big step up from first effort, and only about 1 mile down the same street. Enormous place, even less English speaking than NBC. Great curry broth with fish balls and pork skin (tried but then let go of the pork skin, focusing on broth). Slippery (word stolen from Jonathan Gold) beef noodles were good. Shrimp balls were good. Cold roast duck; think I need to get away from that. No pork buns, but chicken buns were good. Beef ribs pretty good. Definitely had more things available I did not know about than items I did (did not see shumai, for example, or fried dumplings).

Third effort: The Kitchen, Alhambra
Rating: 4 Trays out of 5; but briefly contemplated 5 in the after-meal delight; however not every dish inspiring enough to warrant more than 4.
Summary: Inspiring dim sum. Ordered mostly a la carte, delivered in even spacings. Incredible value at $35 all-in for a lot of food for 3. Superb dishes included baked bbq buns (the steamed bbq buns being slightly above average, but the baked being among the best ever had); normal but fresh green seaweed; shrimp shumai; scallop rice noodles; crab dumpling in soup. Also had beef balls, green tea dumplings (somewhat disappointing, though very different; a sweet sticky concotion inside that tasted somewhat like honey peanut butter); egg rolls; country style tofu with shrimp/fish balls; may be missing 1 or 2 last dishes. Not much English spoken, but not much need when everything is written in English. And not many English speakers eating; I think we were the only ones today. I did notice that eating dim sum with 3 people was much more pleasant than by myself. For next time, which I suspect will be soon, hope to order more specifically from the review by Gold in LA Weekly, including salt and pepper tofu and the pork back something.

Fourth Effort: Elite Restaurant, Monterey Park (formerly New Concept)
Rating: Three trays
Summary: Just changed ownership and name two weeks ago according to the girl upfront. Excellent tea. Very reasonable prices. Ordering off the menu rather than carts. Experience better than the food. Macau Roasted Pork the highlight; thin slices served room temperature with near-perfect marbling of fat and meat and a touch of skin, salt and plum sauce on the side.