sea harbour dinner

sea harbour dinner
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

because i found the dim sum at sea harbour in rosemead to be one of the better ones in the san gabriel valley, i was looking forward to a big dinner there and wanting to find out if it would be on par. with a large group, i sampled what we thought would be characteristic cantonese style dishes.

sea harbour hand-ripped boneless chicken recommended by the waiter, this consisted of pieces of shredded chicken meat and skin that tasted like it had been cooked in a light soy sauce and was accompanied by a white pepper, salt & oil dipping sauce. the chicken was tender and had plenty of flavor so actually didn't need the dipping sauce, although the white pepper went nicely with the meat.

fresh prawns sauteed green scallions the name says it all, and though the shrimps were plump, fresh and tasty, this dish was one of the more boring of the ones we tried.

braised egg tofu w/ dried scallops in abalone sauce a delicate soft tofu made with egg and fried such that the outside was crispy while the yellow inside remained soft, sauteed in a flavorful light brown sauce with bits of scallops, this was my favorite dish of the evening. you could taste the care that went into the preparation of this dish, and the lovely sauce is good ladled over white rice.

braised rock cod, mushrooms, pork slices, & bean curd from the live seafood menu, this fresh fish was cooked in a gigantic clay pot with an interesting assortment of delicious ingredients that were great at absorbing the flavors in the broth used to braise the fish. however, the balance of fish and accompanying sides was off. though tender, the fish meat was scarce, and i felt like we were picking through the bones, which were difficult to see since they were smothered in stuff. i like whole fish, but i couldn't taste much of it here.

stewed eggplant w/ spicy fish sauce eggplant is like a sponge, and here, it sucks up the subtle smokiness from the chilis of the spicy fish sauce. the bits of pork were a nice accent that added to the flavor.

braised bamboo pith w/ greens the light broth and fresh greens were a nice contrast to some of the more earthy flavors of the other dishes. i love the crunchy texture of bamboo pith.

stewed pork belly w/ greens not worth the life of the pig, this dish was too sweet. the lack of typical flavorful fat and slight dryness of the meat was disappointing.

assorted seafood fried crispy noodles a typical dish, the sauteed seafood and veggies over pan fried noodles was on the bland side. it wasn't bad, just not very flavorful.

with the exception of a few uninspired or off dishes, the food was tasty, though flavors overall tended on the subtle. i don't think the dinner equals the dim sum. with the fancy damask table cloths and place settings and higher than usual prices, they seem to be aiming for elegant dining, but i didn't think the quality of the food was quite there for the price. another disappointing thing about the price was in regards to the amount of food. it looked like plenty, and we ordered one entree for each person, but that barely seemed like enough. most chinese places, you order that much, and there are plenty of leftovers. it seemed like each dish had about 20% less food than what is typical of these places. not sure if i'd come back for dinner.(3.5 out of 5 stars)