SGV: Dim Sum at Capital Seafood Arcadia

I checked out Capital Seafood in Arcadia for dim sum last month. It was a Saturday and not much of a wait. Capital doesn’t have dim sum carts but there are a few people carrying trays of stuff on offer. I selected the woodear mushrooms and smashed garlic cucumber salad.

The woodear mushrooms were so big and tender. I liked this appetizer quite a bit. And I always like smashed cucumbers.

 

I feel you can’t go to dim sum without getting the standards, particularly when trying a new spot. So I ordered the siu mai (pork and shrimp) and har gow (crystal shrimp) dumplings.

 

 

Both the siu mai and the har gow weren’t crazy big. They were well made though I enjoyed the har gow just a tad more. I generally like the shrimp dumplings better in general.

 

 

We also got the sticky rice in lotus leaves. These were compact rice bundles with a ton of meaty fillings. I would get these again.

 

 

The broth for the tofu skin rolls was fantastic. Another winner. This actually felt like a like dish. I usually get these rolls and feel a bit tricked how meaty they are (not really a bad thing) but for others who expect something wrapped in tofu, it might seem not as healthy.

 

Although beautifully pan fried, I thought the potstickers were just okay.

 

I’m a big fan of tripe and was happy with the Capital version. The curry sauce wasn’t too overwhelming and there was just so much tripe! Sometimes spots trick you with by putting a bunch of filler on the bottom and not enough curry tripe.

 

 

Like the siu mai and har gow, shrimp cheung fun is one of my standards. Some get BBQ pork but since I don’t love Chinese BBQ pork, I always get shrimp. These were okay. I felt the shrimp could have been fresher.

 

The grilled radish cakes were good. This is when I do start missing the dim sum carts. Nothing like watching a dim sum lady grill in front of you.

 

My favorite dish turned out to be the sticky rice shrimp balls. This was a new dish to me. The rice was nicely chewy and the bit of shrimp seemed like a bonus.

 

Another must-get for me is chicken feet. Capital’s version has a nice sauce. The feet, of course, are a vehicle to get sauce in your mouth.

 

I also tried the water chestnut cakes which was another new item to me. These were oddly sweet and not in the sweet section of the menu. They’re with the radish cakes. While I liked them fine, I am not the biggest sweets fan so I probably would stick to my usual egg tarts for dessert.

 

I also felt the same about the puffed pastry with almond milk. I know this is generally a popular dessert but I find it a bit odd to dunk the pieces of puff pastry in the hot almond milk.

 

And finally we had the daan taats (egg tarts) for dessert. I should order these when we’re ready for them as invariably this always comes out in the beginning and they got cold by the time we ate them. I could tell however there were many layers of pastry and this is a prized thing in competitive egg tart making.

I liked that parking was fairly low key at this strip mall as there’s a huge parking structure in the back. I don’t recommend circling the lot. There’s even some street parking. Pricing seems a little higher than average but on par with other spots where you order off a menu.

Capital Seafood Arcadia

333 E Huntington Dr., Arcadia, CA 91006  —  (626) 574-8889

 

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