Message: | I like the Empress Pavilion Dim Sum - its very inventive - but truly, my favorite dim sum is Ocean Star, which is in Monterey Park, on Atlantic, right above Garvey. Second story of a little mall-plex.
For pure Cantonese dining:
The first time I ate at the Empress P, I was utterly destroyed. It was really great. I've back a bunch of times and it struck me as... spotty. Sometimes spectacular, sometimes less than that, verging on mediocre. Has that been other's experience?
Favored dishes:
Dungeness crab with fresh noodles
Beef filet (which is a texture like I've never had before)
Minced squab in lettuce cups
Mixed seafood soup
Magical dried scallop with mushroom soup (truly a fine, fine soup)
Duck fried in taro (a favorite dish for me in general - this is the best I've had it)
I've eaten once at Ocean Star for dinner, and was very impressed. The duck was less than fabulous, but all the dishes were very fine to great. Especially the bean curd mixed seafood hot pot. From my one experience, I would put it above Empress.
If you're new to LA, and haven't experienced much beyond cantonese, look for an Islamic Chinese thread from a month or so back.
-thi
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