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Dim Sum Box versus All That 'N Dim Sum

There’s been a spate of new dim sum restaurants in and around Rowland Heights, an area I lovingly refer to as SGV-East, the edge of the frontier as Chinese business creep closer to the Inland Empire. 

Both aren’t typical dim sum restaurants. There are no roving carts. There’s not even any service staff to refill your water or tea. At All That 'N Dim Sum, you order first at the cashier, pay, then stake out a table. 

At Dim Sum Box, you tap in your order on a touch-screen kiosk, insert your credit card, and then wait at any table as your dim sum is prepared. 

Though they are similar in the way it eschews old school dim sum restaurant service, there is a difference in the way the food is prepared between the two restaurants–at least in the way the end product tastes. 

The food at All That 'N Dim Sum has the consistency and character of something that was reheated. The skin on the har gow stuck to the basket, and the cheong fun was thick and not particularly delicate. 

Dim Sum Box, on the other hand, seems to take particular care in preparing everything to order. 

A pan fried bun was scalding hot and possessed a crisped brown bottom. And an order of tripe, though not the usual kind you’d find in dim sum menus that’s heavy with ginger, was flavored with chili and soy, tasting as though it was freshly wok stir-fried. The egg custard cups were delicate and not too sweet. 

If I had to choose between the two for a return visit, it would be an easy decision to pick Dim Sum Box since what I haven’t mentioned is that the price points are nearly identical at around $5 per dish. 

While I’m on the subject, when did dim sum get so expensive? 

 

All That 'N Dim Sum 

8518 Gale Ave, Rowland Heights, CA 91748 

Dim Sum Box 

3648 Nogales St #A, West Covina, CA 91792

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