NBC Seafood - Monterey Park

I am so excited. There's a bunch of pouring rain, but I will eat real dim sum anytime, anywhere, and I don't care how soaking wet I am when I eat it! Seriously, there is no place in the world less prepared for rain than SoCal, and there is no place where you can so fully appreciate the unevenness of the sidewalks and parking lots. 

But dim sum. DIM SUMMMM... NBC Seafood has the actual carts and hot tea for every table. We didn't have to share a table with strangers, which would make the experience more authentic, but they did have at least a dozen tables full, which is impressive at 11 AM on a Monday. 

Some of their shrimp dishes aren't even out yet, which irks me a little bit. That means we end up with some dishes that we don't love, like these greasy, cold Chinese Donuts. 

But hey, these Seafood Dumplings aren't bad. I love the thick crystal wrapper, and the artificial crab kind of works with the occasional-shrimp filling. 

They don't even have the shrimp Rice Noodles, and we have to settle for the beef. Okay, fine, it wasn't really settle. The filling is savory, and the rice noodle texture is right on. I may like the beef filling better...GASP!

Springy, meaty pork Shumai. This one never gets old, and these are very juicy. 

So are the Pork Spareribs, in a simple, savory, clear sauce. The meat is super tender on these.

The Pork and Shrimp Potstickers are a surprise. The skin is thin and crispy on the bottom, al dente on top, cooked evenly despite the difficult braid pattern used to close. The filling is really well-balanced, meaty-sweet from the pork and succulent-sweet from the bits of shrimp.

The Soft Brown Sugar Cakes are not for everyone, but they are definitely for me! Air holes make these barely-sweet gelatinous triangles the best kind of interesting. I love the more delicate jelly of the Coconut Milk and Purple Rice Pudding, but I forgot to take a photo. 

The Crispy Taro Gok are my favorite dish to serve to people who aren't familiar with dim sum. Their faces always contort in confused delight, as they crunch through the crispy crust to get to the soft taro and encounter a salty ground pork and veggie filling, soooo not the sweet little cake they expected. The delight comes after the confusion, when they realize their unexpected not-quite-dessert is undoubtedly delicious.

Eggy Egg Custard Tarts. Not the sugar-loaded ones they sell in stores. I like the more-egg-less-sugar approach myself.

Shrimp Hargow for dessert! It's the last thing to come out, and it's worth the wait. I'm almost too full to enjoy them, but I'm not too full .A ball of shrimp, a crystal-clear wrapper, almost too pretty to eat, but good enough to devour!

I LOVE dim sum, and the South Bay is seriously lacking in anything good. NBC Seafood isn't the best I've had, but if you're looking for an authentic experience in Monterey Park, it's there and you should be too!