Lunasia Dim Sum House

Lunasia Dim Sum House Restaurant Review:

Dim sum for dinner might be counterintuitive, since the cuisine traditionally appears during breakfast and lunch. However, when the restaurateurs serving the tiny dishes hail from Lunasia, don't fight too hard. This all-day dim sum outpost near Pasadena's Paseo Colorado features mauve walls, wood floors, high-backed banquettes with a wavy red and yellow pattern, and a mezzanine for overflow and private events. You won't find carts, which can be fun, but a checklist ensures food comes fresh from the kitchen. Plates range from $2.88 for "small" to $8.88 for "special," with pricier ingredients or larger portions. Strong selections include shrimp rice noodle rolls doused with soy sauce, jumbo pork and shrimp siu mai with thin wrappers, and honey-glazed barbecue pork on a bed of beans. Pricier items worth ordering include ultra-savory pan-fried string beans with Chinese olives and ground pork, and delicate egg white fried rice with dried scallops. Lunasia Dim Sum House doesn't serve alcohol, though a pot of chrysanthemum tea is a good pairing.