SGV: Dim Sum at Tang Gong

 

Tang Gong recently opened in Monterey Park, taking over an old dim sum palace space that had been closed for less than a year. The renovations include a rather gaudy looking dining room with fake gold everywhere. Surely this is a sign it’ll be good? I do love the red/silver gothic vampire thing Shanghai No 1 Seafood has going on so why wouldn’t I like the Chinese Versailles? Also, note the crazy neon Vegas thing Longo has or the more beautiful and well done Tong Tak… everyone needs a decor motif.

I gathered a group to start my dim sum life– I’m trying to make dim sum twice a week a thing (or perhaps, at least once a month). My group ordered all the classics to get a feel for the place.

 

Is it really dim sum if there are no pork dumplings? Or shrimp dumplings?

The siu mai are very plump and well-made.

 

I wasn’t into the pea sprouts dumplings as much (perhaps needed more tender greens). The shrimp were okay. What I found interesting were the sizes were not gigantic. Sometime in the 90s the dumplings grew larger. I’m glad these are more traditionally sized.

 

 

The last five times I’ve gone to dim sum, I’ve only gotten one bite of shrimp cheung fun. This is a total disaster as it’s one of my favorite dishes. I take one bite to be polite and and then it’s all gone. I will have to order my own dish next time. These were fine. I felt the shrimp could have been a tiny bit fresher.

 

 

The real winner were the duck rice rolls. Packed with a ton of shredded duck, people were initially put off by the bright red color but then got into it.

 

 

I’m always looking for a good bowl of porridge. This congee/jook with pork and century (or 1000-year-old) egg was good. It wasn’t too thick or thin.

But I could have used chunkier bits of the pork and egg.

 

What I’m not showing are all the orders of chicken feet we got. Instead, I am showing the spare ribs and the tripe. The tripe had the right amount of chew.

 

 

My favorite may have been the radish cake though. Delicate, freshly griddled and nice flavor from the dried shrimp.

 

 

We also got the egg tarts. Again, these were more of the normal sized ones I had growing up but after they got bigger, these seem almost delicate and small. The crust could be a little flakier. You should be able to see the individual layers.

Overall, I would rate this spot a 3.5 out of 5. It’s very good but I have other favorite dim sum houses.

Tang Gong

111 N Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park, CA 91754  —  (626) 888-5188

 

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