Best Noodles and Dumplings, Los Angeles
704 W. Las Tunas Drive #4
San Gabriel CA 91776
(626) 282-8695
Parking: in shopping center parking lot
Last Visited: February 22, 2004
Food: 4 to 5 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $
Luscious Dumplings is located in a crowded shopping center, but is worth every effort and the wait. When The Lee’s brought us to Luscious Dumplings, there was already a crowd forming for lunch, and it’s no wonder. I would call them Scrumptious Dumplings if they let me name them.
The décor is simple with light colored faux wood panels and matching wood tables and chairs. The decorations are simple and the overall restaurant is bright with light streaming in from the windows. There is capacity for about 40 to 50 people at most.
The restaurant is run by a father and three sons. During my visit, I only caught a glimpse of the father, and the two sons were serving the guests. Service is not excellent, but you’re really visiting for the dumplings and noodles. The young men are fast and furious, but not sloppy - it’s just not the gentle service you might expect of a five star restaurant. You might even catch the brothers playfully do a kung foo fighting stance toward one another during off moments. It’s a family restaurant run by family and for family.
Tea is served in teacups for small tables and Styrofoam cups for larger tables. The servers fill your cups as they check on the tables. You get a sheet of paper with the menu choices written on it and you can select the quantity and size you want to have. Food arrives quickly after ordering. While waiting, you’ll receive a small appetizer dish that contains chopped celery, boiled peanuts, and other vegetables that have been marinated with a slightly spicy sauce.
- Sliced Beef Tripe with Chili Oil Flavor - Tripe is very very thinly sliced. More thin than I’ve ever seen tripe sliced before. This helps each piece to absorb the flavor of the chili oil and chili flakes as well as the chopped cilantro. A lovely presentation of tripe with red and green. It’s a great tasting dish. $3
- Flavors Stewed Bean Curd – Dried bean curd is stewed in a five spice marinade. The bean curd is warm and infused with so much flavor. It’s another great dish. $3
- Minced Pork Noodles with Mushrooms – This dish came without soup. Pork is minced and sautéed with mushrooms and poured over noodles. The flavor of the mushrooms is delicate and the combination goes well with the noodles. Good.
Noodles in Soup with small Bok Choy– Many flavors/choices were available. We tried four of the six. All the noodles are uniform in length and diameter. They’re absolutely positively fresh and you can taste the difference. All the noodles are made al dente to just the right texture. Noodle soup is available in large bowls ($5) or regular bowls ($3.50).
- Salted Pork Slices with Noodles in Soup – Pork is thickly sliced and marinated in a salt/fish sauce. It’s a simple recipe, but it’s difficult to keep the pork tender. Luscious Dumplings does an excellent job with this recipe. The pork is served with the noodles and bok choy in a light broth. The flavor of the pork is distinct, but it doesn’t engulf the delicate broth. Very good.
- Flavors Stewed Beef with Noodles in Soup/Stewed Beef Brisket with Noodles in Soup – Both of these two flavors seemed very similar to me. After trying one after another, I still couldn’t distinguish the two. Both are very good with tender beef and a savory broth. The beef is stewed in a strong five spice flavoring so that its completely infused. Again, the noodles are great as they absorb the flavor of the meat.
- Beef Tendon with Hot and Sour Sauce on Noodles, Soup Separate – Well, we never got the soup with this one, more than likely because we had so many soup dishes already. The beef tendons are tender and succulent. The hot part of the sauce is a dollop of Chinese chili sauce, and the sour is light. Since one of the people at our table couldn’t eat spicy food, we took out the chili sauce, but there’s still a subtle hint of spiciness which combined with the sour makes a unique flavor that combines well with the noodles.
Enough about everything else – now onto the dumplings. Each dish contains ten dumplings.
- Chive, Pork, and Shrimp Dumplings – The pork is ground and shrimp and chopped chives are added to create the dumpling filling. The flavor of the chives is strong, but it doesn’t overpower the dumplings. The meat in the filling is loose and tender (not dense like other places) and the filling is juicy. The wrapper is just the right thickness. The combination of ingredients creates wonderful dumplings.
- Cabbage, Pork, and Shrimp Dumplings – The flavor of the cabbage is less distinct than the chive as above. Otherwise everything else I said about the dumplings above applies here. Great.
- Fried Dumplings with Napa cabbage, pork and sole – These dumplings are a little different looking than what I expected. They’re pan fried until golden brown on one side. They’re so juicy inside and the heat from cooking the dumplings stays in the dumpling for a while. Excellent.
Luscious Dumplings also has combination meals available – dumplings and noodles together. They’re a great bargain at only $5 each.
The only thing I would change is having teapots at each table. This would be much more convenient. The other thing I would like is for Luscious Dumplings to offer more locations. The food is so excellent that I wish I could go more frequently. It’s oh so good – unforgettably fresh and wonderful – this is a must try!
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