California - Best dim sum place & all you can eat sushi restaurants in SoCal?

I'm going to San Diego to hang out with a fellow FT'er for a week in September :D

Can someone local suggest an authentic dimsum restaurant as well as a good all-you-can-eat sushi place?

I'm willing to drive to LA for it :)

Thanks in advance ^

Empress Pavillion is tasty for dim sum. All you can eat sushi doesn't sound all that good at all... sushi buffet? Ew. :p

The finest dim sum IMO is at gourmet(something-I forget the full name as it is also the restaurant)in San Gabriel across from the Auditorium.
I have not been to New Concept since they changed chefs-I was not impressed upon my visit.
Empress Pavillion in Chinatown is very good if you want the full big dim sum hall experience-better than anything in Monterey Park.
Also there is a place on the west side(Santa Monica)that is great-albeit a little expensive.
I can't help on the sushi buffet-I have not found one that I can recomend.Lots of folks like Todai-I find the sushi there to be totally void of quality.But if quantity over quality is your goal.
I will do some reserch and add the names of the places I am fuzzy about.

For dim sum, both Jasmine and Emerald on Convoy St in Kearny Mesa are about the best in town.

Numerous sushi shops have all you can eat lunches, but for dinner the only one I am aware of is Todai in Mission Valley, which is ho-hum, but good for the price.

I lived in SD for 5 years for college, and I found that the dim sum options were quite poor (not nearly as good as LA or SF options, but not as bad as eating panda express). As far as sushi goes, San Diego has several decent sushi options. La Jolla cove, Hillcrest and the Gaslamp all have decent enough places. My favorites, however, are far from the fancy, expensive places were people congregate.

Ichiban, Niban, Sanban (soon to open)
-its really cheap, like $5 a roll, and pretty good. This is a more of a college hangout and gets pretty lively and crowded. I prefer Niban because of the location.

Point Loma Seafoods
-the best for fresh seafood in san diego imo. the sushi and sashimi here are fantastic: extremely fresh and simple. Again, it gets relaly crowded, and the atmosphere is fish market, not Japanese restaurant.

PM me if you need more info, or other food recs

Not "All You Can Eat," but you can eat all you want for not much - SUSHI DELI (http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/87652) - nice location, great sushi for cheap, no reservations. Be prepared to stand in line with all the students and slackers, but it's worth it. ^

Somewhere in the Bargain Travel Forum, I have my recommendations for value food in San Diego, including Point Loma Seafoods. It is first and foremost a fish market, as mentioned. Back in the day, when I was a commercial fisherman, Mrs Kelly sold fish sandwiches out of a little window on the side of the building, and it has grown into today's restaurant. Back then, we called it "Smelly Kelly's," but with much affection. :D

The finest dim sum IMO is at gourmet(something-I forget the full name as it is also the restaurant)in San Gabriel across from the Auditorium.
I have not been to New Concept since they changed chefs-I was not impressed upon my visit.

Have you tried Triumphal Palace on Main and Garfield? It's pretty darn good too. Sorry to hear that New Concept's chefs have changed.

Todai's quality has dropped significantly over the past couple years. Skip Todai and go for the far better and more upscale O'Nami Seafood Buffet that offers a better experience. The fish is fresher and the portions more reasonable. There is a location in San Diego at Mission Valley Mall off I-8 and one in LA at West Covina Mall off I-10. The O'Nami location in Torrance can be avoided.

Sushi buffet will never match the quality of sit-down restaurant, but O'Nami comes close.

Also, many Benihana locations offer an "Endless Sushi" program where you sit at the sushi bar and can order anything you want off the menu (sushi, sashimi, appetizers, hot entrees), as much as you want, all for a fixed price. I frequent the location at Georgetown Mall in DC and it's the best option if you can find one out west. The price is in line with Todai and O'Nami.

Todai's quality has dropped significantly over the past couple years. Skip Todai and go for the far better and more upscale O'Nami Seafood Buffet that offers a better experience. The fish is fresher and the portions more reasonable. There is a location in San Diego at Mission Valley Mall off I-8 and one in LA at West Covina Mall off I-10. The O'Nami location in Torrance can be avoided.


O'Nami is not exactly that great either unfortunately. Agree that most Todai's have gone downhill and O'Nami is the better alternative. However, Todai in the Puente Hills mall is quite good...the one in Arcadia should be avoided.

The finest dim sum IMO is at gourmet(something-I forget the full name as it is also the restaurant)in San Gabriel across from the Auditorium.


I believe bigguyinpasadena is referring to Mission 261. They're a bit pricey but good.
http://www.mission261.com/homepage.asp

I hear that Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant in Rosemead also has good dim sum. I've never tried it because of the long lines that form at least 30 minutes before it even opens. Dim sum here is ordered off a menu (versus off a cart). Here is a review: http://lowendrestaurants.blogspot.com/2005/07/sea-harbor.html

I forgot to mention LA area dim sum, though I'm sure its well documented elsewhere, like here on FT and aolcity guide. My favorites in LA are Ocean Star in Monterey Park, Empress Pavilion in Chinatown LA, and Sea Empress in Gardena.

I agree on the all-you-can-eat sushi places. The quality sucks.

Jasmine for dim sum and sexy hostesses ( sorry, bad boy). Onami in Fashion Valley is better than Todai but all-you-can-eat or discount are words that really don't go with sushi. Not trying to be condescending but
it's truly one of the things where you get what you pay for. In SanDiego, I highly recommend Sushi Ota....been there many times and never disappointed with the quality.....pay a little, get the quality stuff. If money's an issue, go for lunch and get the chirashi which is a large bowl of sushi rice topped with a variety of fish.

Have you tried Triumphal Palace on Main and Garfield? It's pretty darn good too. Sorry to hear that New Concept's chefs have changed.
Actually this is the third chef-and after the horrid second chef this one is getting good marks-but after my last trip there I am hesitant.

Thanks for the reviews & recommendations guys! I made a list of the restaurants mentioned so far in this thread ^

Believe it or not, I have found two "good" all you can eat sushi place.
One is in South Florida called Sushi Takara and the other one is in Richmond, BC (about 30 mts south of Vancouver).

You see .. South Florida is lacking a good selection of asian restaurants. We do have couple good ones but I was told Cali is the place to be :D (though in my experience, nothing tops the varieties in Richmond, BC!)

So because I'm staying in SoCal for a week, I'll have the chance to try the best of the best :cool:

Thanks again and feel free to keep the list going :)

...Believe it or not, I have found two "good" all you can eat sushi place.
One is in South Florida called Sushi Takara and the other one is in Richmond, BC (about 30 mts south of Vancouver).


Where is Sushi Takara located? Is it better than Kyojin in Ft Lauderdale? Kyojin used to be one of the best around, but their quality has started to slip abit.

Well, I just did a yahoo search and found two Sushi Takara's in South Florida...and the one in west Broward had reviews across the board - either people love it, or they said it's the sushi place from hell. No middle ground.

I might just stick with Kyojin and Benihana's Endless Sushi.

Yeah there are two different locations. One in Hillsborough which no longer offers all you can eat. Then the other one is the original location on University Dr, about half a mile north of Commercial Blvd.

I've been to Kyojin and pretty disappointed with their sushi. However, I'd love to try Benihana's endless sushi.

Yeah there are two different locations. One in Hillsborough which no longer offers all you can eat. Then the other one is the original location on University Dr, about half a mile north of Commercial Blvd.

I've been to Kyojin and pretty disappointed with their sushi. However, I'd love to try Benihana's endless sushi.

Thanks! The one on University is the location that got reamed with scathing reviews for poor quality (one reviewer called the fish rotten), so I am likely to avoid it. Kyojin started out as the best place for sushi, and I was a 'charter customer' after they ran the previous champ Nobi Sushi out of business (more like scared them).

The quality was superb until about 3 months ago, when it started to slide. Trying to talk to the owner about the problems is like having a root canal, so I gave up. The rice has become rock hard and tasteless, so I just go for the salmon and tuna sashimi and peel the 3" layer of breading off the shrimp tempura.

Endless Sushi is available at Benihana on a per-location basis. Some do it, but most don't. None of the South Florida locations offer it, so I go to the one at Georgetown Mall in DC.

If you can find a location that offers it, it's the best option - all you can eat restaurant quality (not buffet quality) sushi, sashimi and hot dishes in a sit-down sushi bar atmosphere.

Alright thanks for the info :cool:

To everyone else .. please keep the list coming :D

The quality was superb until about 3 months ago, when it started to slide. Trying to talk to the owner about the problems is like having a root canal, so I gave up. The rice has become rock hard and tasteless, so I just go for the salmon and tuna sashimi and peel the 3" layer of breading off the shrimp tempura.I agree with the overall slide in quality at Kyojin on N. Federal Highway (although the salmon is still good). They stopped doing hand rolls (or at least they weren't there the last couple of times I went).

Is it true (as implied above) that the location in Boca (on Powerline south of Glades Road) is no longer a buffet?

It's been a while since I've gone (and I don't eat sushi, but eat with people who do), Miyagi's in Hollywood offers an all-you-can-eat sushi option, and is supposedly pretty good.

For dim sum, call me weird but in Chinatown, I prefer Golden Dragon on Broadway over Empress Pavilion. Less traffic, and it just seems more authentic and tastier. In OC, I go to Kim Su on Bolsa/First, east of Brookhurst, in Little Saigon.

Older "Todai" restaurants such as Todai Light House in Santa Monica & Huntington Beach have indeed gone downhill. The ones on todai.com haven't.

Not much to add here (if anything):

My fave in LA has to be Empress Pavilion, hands down. Not a great part of town, and insanely crowded on the weekends, but clearly #1 in my book.

Dim Sum in SD is (IMO) mediocre; I'd go to Emerald over Jasmine, but that's just a slight preference.

I'm going to say something incredibly unpopular amongst the SD crowd and say that I think Sushi Ota is not that great. Personally, I am a Sammy's Sushi fan (small hole-in-the-wall place in a tiny strip mall behind Pacific Honda on Engineer road). Sammy's is not cheap, though, and not AYCE.

I agree with the overall slide in quality at Kyojin on N. Federal Highway (although the salmon is still good). They stopped doing hand rolls (or at least they weren't there the last couple of times I went).

Is it true (as implied above) that the location in Boca (on Powerline south of Glades Road) is no longer a buffet?

I think some of the Kyojin old timers need to pass the word to Kyojin management to get the quality up - even if the price comes up a few dollars. They are still $6 under the west coast competition. I would rather pay more and get the quality back to where it used to be...like sushi rice instead of the oatmeal like rice they serve now. Pooey.

I had dinner at the Boca location last Friday...it is still a buffet, but less than 1/2 the size of the Federal Hwy location...and no salmon! I was not happy. The west Broward location is far distant in quality, so skip that one.

Older "Todai" restaurants such as Todai Light House in Santa Monica & Huntington Beach have indeed gone downhill. The ones on todai.com haven't.

I found all of them have become poor shadows of their previous selves...the list of before/after experiences I have personally...

san diego, seattle, honolulu, virginia - all are now rated 'poor' when compared to the original concept at its heyday a few years ago.

The aforementioned place in WLA is VIP Harbor on Wilshire - dim sum 7 days a week.

Hello guys

Just want to say thanks again for the suggestions.

I ended up going to Empress Pavillion in Chinatown.
In fact, I liked it so much that I went there for a second time.

I was staying in Santa Monica. I was going to go try VIP Harbor on Wilshire but the party I was with wanted Italian instead so we went to "i Cugini" instead.

Can't wait for my next trip to SoCal :D

Hello guys

Just want to say thanks again for the suggestions.

I ended up going to Empress Pavillion in Chinatown.
In fact, I liked it so much that I went there for a second time.

I was staying in Santa Monica. I was going to go try VIP Harbor on Wilshire but the party I was with wanted Italian instead so we went to "i Cugini" instead.

Can't wait for my next trip to SoCal :DEmpress is awesome, but, if you're right next to VIP Harbor, it's good enough, IMO, to make it break-even not to have to drive all the way downtown. Also, there is a decent Japanese/Sushi restaurant in the same complex as VIP Harbor called Asakuma.

Yeah I didn't find VIP Harbor until after my first lunch at Empress Pavillion. Honestly, it was completely by accident. I was stuck in traffic on Wilshire and saw the restaurant to my right. I told myself that the name sounds familiar so I looked at the list I have and see why (I didn't know Santa Monica is West Hollywood :p ). I was gonna go the last day for lunch but I was already near Universal Studio area (enjoying the turns on Mulholland Drive :D) and felt that Chinatown is much closer than WeHo.

The aforementioned place in WLA is VIP Harbor on Wilshire - dim sum 7 days a week.
Yes-that is one upstairs?The other one was one SMB and Harvard?guessing here :confused:
Royal Star?

There was a place on Wilshire a block or two east of Harvard, but it closed down. It was the one that was on the corner and a half level down from street level.

Yes-that is one upstairs?The other one was one SMB and Harvard?guessing here :confused:
Royal Star?

Have you tried Triumphal Palace on Main and Garfield? It's pretty darn good too. Sorry to hear that New Concept's chefs have changed.

Actually this is the third chef-and after the horrid second chef this one is getting good marks-but after my last trip there I am hesitant.

I went to Triumphal for lunch on 11/24/06. I believe this new chef is on the right track; we were very happy with the quality of the offerings.

Just an FYI...New Concept has closed. The restaurant at that location is now called Elite.

Just an FYI...New Concept has closed. The restaurant at that location is now called Elite.

There was a pretty favorable review in the May 2, 2007 LA Times Food section; in part:

Dim sum chef Zhi Xiong Tan used to work at the Kitchen in Alhambra, another newish top address for dim sum in the San Gabriel Valley. Tan's master hand shows in the exquisite delicacy and balance of the dim sum at Elite. Everything is fresh, beautifully crafted, with subtle twists in garnishes or ingredients that make even old dim sum hands sit up and take notice.