I love Lomita. So many tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and they pop up suddenly, unexpectedly, like a rainbow after a storm. And finally, a Shanghai restaurant, promising dumplings without the line at Din Tai Fung.
The dumplings are made to order so the Steamed Chicken with Spicy Sesame Sauce boosts my blood sugar while we wait. I get what the were trying to do here, but they really could have done much better. The sauce tastes like a combo of sesame and peanut, and t's thick and smooth and sweet. Not at all spicy and in a quantity that is so excessive. Still, it didn't cover up the pieces of chicken that felt a little slimy, a weird, slippery texture that skeeved me out a bit.
I was super excited to see Shanghai Sticky Rice Shumai as well. There, however, are gross. The rice is sticky, but some of the appealing adhesive is negated by a muddy flood of soy-sauce overkill. Highly disappointing.
The XLB are the opposite. Not quite as juicy as Din Tai Fung, but the broth is sweeter and almost as savory. Tender, flavorful filling, the very definition of this Shanghai staple.
These are the first Shanghai Grilled Pork Buns I've seen in LA. The steamed-bun wrapper is soft comfort-food, and the bottom is sesame-coated and seared to a just-right crisp. The filling is the same as the XLB, and it's perfect. Unfortunately, there's a weird coat of oil all around the outside, which turns a good thing greasy.
I don't love them, but it's worth going for the XLB. Won't be ordering much else next time, but the dumplings do hit the spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment