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NBC Seafood Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Seafood Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Seafood, Dim Sum [Edit]
404 S Atlantic BlvdMonterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 282-2323
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 8 am - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
558 reviews for NBC Seafood Restaurant
Review Highlights
"Phoenix feet (Chicken feet): yummy and delicious as always."
(in 57 reviews)
"They have the best har gow, shu mai, kai lan and more."
(in 58 reviews)
"Our favorite dish has to be their Peking Duck."
(in 18 reviews)
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558 reviews in English
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Review from Jimmy C.
Palo Alto, CA
2/5/2012
MFW this place actually has dim sum girls pushing carts
MFW they have roasted pork (with the crispy skin) and roasted duck
MFW they have luobuogao freshly fried off the cart
MFW when I realized I've consumed all my carbs for the week in 30 minutes -
Review from Ben Y.
Monterey Park, CA
2/5/2012 2 Check-ins Here
This place has been around for a long time. One of the few dim sum places to survive through the ages.
I've always felt this place is above average although the dim sum is relatively expensive compared to other dim sum restaurants in the area.
I've been coming here more for dinner then dim sum in the last few years. Dinner is pretty good...price is average and food is usually above average.
Maybe i'm giving this place more stars then it deserves due to nostalgia. I still remember going there for dim sum and playing video games at Pirates Cove Arcade when i was a kid :) -
Review from Alissa M.
Los Angeles, CA
1/30/2012
I was born with an egg tart in one hand and a lasso of shrimp noodles in the other. Raised by wolves on a steady diet of sticky rice. So yeah... I guess I take my dim sum pretty seriously.
Anyway, solid dim sum here at a cheap price, to please the belly and the wallet. And yes, mandatory tacky decor and nonchalant service: check, check. It just wouldn't be dim sum without it! -
Review from Charles F.
West Los Angeles, CA
2/7/2012 5 Check-ins Here
Good food, decent prices. Been here for dim sum and dinner. Never really disappointed. Pretty consistent. Not amazing, but not bad... We come here pretty often with my family when we're looking for semi fancy Chinese seafood. The seafood here is fresh, well at least fresh from the fish tanks!
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Review from Michele K.
Irvine, CA
1/28/2012
Thank you thank you for satisfying my dimsum craving! :D
Knowing that dimsum places always get crowded on weekend mornings, I got here at around 10am and there was no wait! :) :) Whenever I go to any dimsum place at a later time, the wait is so long and sometime places run out of food.. but today, we were in and out in no time! I read some reviews that said parking was a pain to find, but we were lucky and found a spot right away! (I guess today was just a winning kinda day)
I went with people who could order in chinese (thank goodness for them) so getting food was way more efficient. The service was pretty good and the bill came out to be about 10$ per person. We were all pretty full (or at least I was...) so I guess it was decent pricing. :) The egg tarts were really nom here! I'll definitely be back! -
Review from Flora H.
1/20/2012
This place is one of my staples for dim sum in LA. Everyone knows that if you want real dim sum (with the carts and all), you need to go to Monterey Park. The "B" in the window solidifies this as an authentic dim sum place (I am normally not OK with anything less than an A, but for Monterey Park, I know it's not good unless it is less than an A).
I've been here several times over the last decade, and I always remember having to wait for 45 minutes to an hour to get a table. I went here last Sunday at noon (prime dim sum time) fully expecting to wait, and was pleasantly surprised that there was no wait at all. The restaurant seems to have been upgraded since I was last there - the chairs are covered and the tables have nice tablecloths (if you know Chinese restaurants, this is very fancy for a Chinese restaurant). My mom's friend said that the last few times she has been there, it has been like that, with no wait. Thumbs up for that! It's also a lot less crowded and less loud than other dim sum places, so you don't feel at all rushed to get out of here, and you can hear the people who are trying to talk to you.
On the language issue, I've never tried speaking English here, but there was a table of Caucasian folks next to us this time, and they seemed to be getting by with the servers' broken English. Plus, since they are pushing the food around in carts, you can always point and look.
On to the food - classic dim sum.. exactly the quality that you expect. My favorites:
Shrimp har gow
Sticky chicken rice wrapped in lotus leaf
Any type of dumpling
Chicken Bao
Chinese Vegetables
Taro Cake
Chicken Feet *I will not touch but I hear it is good here*
Egg Custard
Coconut Bread
Definitely worth the (in my case, one hour) drive.
And it's cheap like dim sum is supposed to be - $50 for 4 people - and we ate a LOT and left with leftovers. -
Review from Ticha B.
My pops hyped up NBC's Yum Cha indeed.
NBC has a good system when it comes to the wait for a table. The automatic sideways SONY flat screen displays your called number for your party. NBC is a big place also, so the turn around for tables is fast for tables..even on the weekends. We got seated in less than 10 mins for a party of 6. It was packed.
The Yum Cha (dim sum) isn't all that. It is also more expensive then the other places (like CBS in Chinatown). NBC's dim sum presentation looks good but the taste is ok. The hot carts are also abundant...which makes for fast service. Good stuff!!
I still like my CBS dim sum in Chinatown LA. I don't like to deal the with the abundance of Asian jerks that try and steal your parking spot. I swear I would of hit up that f&*#!^#! if I wasn't with my family! :) -
Review from Mo m.
Pasadena, CA
1/17/2012
First off, Good service can make a good meal great. Shout out to Kenneth for really making us feel welcomed and appreciated as patrons. Had a new year dinner here with the family. Food was good. A bit pricey for dinner, but this was for new years, so whatevs. Party of 6 at about $140 so not bank breaking.
- things I liked: canto beef steak, walnut shrimp, roast duck, rock cod 3 ways, and house special sponge cake.
Also thought the decor was just a little nicer than your usual Chinese spot. It looked like they left the seat overs and decor from a banquet. Definitely a great and memorable meal. Nice job Kenneth! -
Review from Y d.
Corona, CA
2/3/2012
Decent dim sum!
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Review from Najah Y.
1/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
The third outing of The Naughty Knife and it just keeps getting better.
I LOVE dim sum! I'd only heard amazing things about this restaurant and now I see why. I can't really review any of the food because half of the time I had no idea what I was eating. What I can say is that if it has shrimp in it, order it! It's bomb. Same for the pork stuff. And the banana thing for dessert at the end is pretty legit.
The only thing I would say wasn't good was the service. But, to be fair, we were kinda giving them a hard time with the bill. We kept asking to split it when more people from our part came in late. Whatevs...food was still amazing! -
Review from Eddie M.
Pasadena, CA
1/16/2012
This place has the best dim sum I have ever had. Even my dad who is from the HK area and is very picky when it comes to dim sum said this place has the best dim sum he has ever had. I refuse to go to other dim sum places since they pail in comparison to the flavor, variety, and quality of this place. Expect to wait about 20 minutes to get a table during the weekend. I recommend the mango pudding and congee besides the usual har gow, sui mai, and char sui bao.
Besides the dim sum, their regular menu is good but nothing special. -
Review from Bernadette M.
Studio City, CA
1/11/2012
Love coming here for authentic chinese food! Its a big place where you sometimes still have to wait in line for a table. Love their
dumplings
taro cakes
sticky rice
egg rolls -
Review from Matthew P.
Los Angeles, CA
Over the weekend, I was dying for some dim sum so planned to make a trip down to Elite for some Dim Sum. Unfortunately, I woke up too late on Sunday and due to massive traffic on the 5, I got to Monterey Park at around 2:30PM which meant one thing: Elite was packed and wouldn't take any names down. In desperation, I remembered coming here with my parents long time ago and it wasn't that bad, so I decided to get my dim sum fix at NBC.
As soon as we got here to this huge restaurant, I noticed that even at this time, the restaurant was not packed at all. More than half of the space was vacant which was questionable but at this point of hunger, I took it with satisfaction and sat myself immediately. As soon as I sat, the carts started rolling in and I started ordering.
I ordered the basics (ha cao, xiu mai, pork baos, shrimp with rice noodle, har gow). Most of the dim sum places in Monterey Park does their dim sum right and can't really go wrong but its the subtle nuances in each dish that separates from a good restaurant to a great restaurant. Although I love the fact that NBC retains their authenticity with the cart service (Elite doesn't have carts and you just order a la carte), NBC's dim sum doesn't rival the quality at Elite. I saw the most difference in flavor and texture with the shrimp with rice noodle. At Elite, they slightly pan fry the rice noodle so it gives that crunch texture along with that smoky rice flavor that most Asian kids grew up eating. Everything at NBC appears and tastes as 1 note and doesn't really scream "DELICIOUS".
I still appreciated NBC thought since without them, I wouldn't have gotten my dim sum fix but if I had the choice, I would wake up earlier and head to Elite! -
Review from Laura S.
12/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
I love my Dim Sum. There are only a few places I go for Dim Sum and those are the places that you can order straight away rather than wait for a chart. They also have carts too...
I'm not a fan of carts tho. I hate waiting. I know what foods I want... just give it to me. I am not patient, but the great thing about this place is that you have a menu and tell the host what foods you want and they bring it to you. SWEET. They also have the carts for those who want to experience dim sum.
FOOD:
The desserts are good. Love my Egg tarts! Chicken feet is good. Pork ribs Yum. That shrimp noodle thing is yummy!
What to get:
Shu-mai
Ha-gao
Chicken feet
Pork ribs
cheong fan (Shrimp noodles)
wu gok (taro)
lo baak gou (turnip)
mango pudding
SERVICE:
Hit or miss. BRING A CANTONESE SPEAKER
NOTES:
* Parking is wide - lots of parking but the people cannot drive. So... park far. I always do.
* Anything past 11am, you will have to wait.Listed in: Tempted to Elope, Did someone order CHINESE?!
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Review from Vanessa Y.
Los Angeles, CA
Nothing brings me back to my childhood like NBC does.
Since the new owners have revamped everything, NBC has risen even further in my esteem for the excellent dim sum and down home service. In MPK you have 2 choices: Elite and NBC. NBC is the Godfather. Elite was ok, but had no carts...that's right, no carts. That's like a Brazilian churrascaria without the churrascos or a taco joint without the Orange Bang--it just shouldn't happen. So, below are my tips for a fabulous dim summing experience at NBC from someone who's had a decades-long relationship with those delectable tin trays.
Tip #1, Don't be bashful--raise your hand and flag those girls down like you're hailing a cab in Manhattan. Do it with a smile and get a big smile in return. Many non-Chinese might feel overwhelmed about dim summing. To them I say, don't!!! In the US, if you're ignored by waitstaff, it's considered bad service. In Hong Kong, it's considered excellent because nobody wants a server breathing down your table to rush you out.
Tip #2, Anything you see that resembles a bun or dumpling will be delicious. I'm half Chinese--the half that loves stinky/salty fish, but doesn't go all ethnic and eat chicken feet or steamed pork blood. I know this might be a concern for some, but trust me, only a very tiny percentage of dim sum offerings are "Fear Factor" challenges. Buns or dumplings will typically be brown and crispy, white and steamed or tan and wrapped in won ton wrappers or tofu. Fillings can range from shrimp, pork, chicken, bbq pork or sweet sesame. See, harmless :D
Some of my personal favorites are shu mai (pork dumplings), spare ribs in black bean sauce, tofu skin rolls filled with pork and mushrooms, chi-ma-woo (sweet sesame dessert), tofu fa (silken tofu in a sweet soup), anything deep fried and tan. Most shocking of all, the egg rolls are divine and a million miles away from the deep fried travesty sold at Panda Express. They also serve one of the best crispy squid with pepper salt. Grab it as soon as the servers come out of the kitchen and don't wait for it to arrive on the cart. The porridge/jook/congee is okay. I always get it because I love jook in general, but it's nothing to write home about.
Tip #3, Chili with soy sauce is delicious. The moment you sit down, you'll get a little plate of hot mustard (eh) and chili. Dump some soy sauce in the chili and dump everything salty you order in there. This is especially tasty with the steamed dumplings.
Finally, Tip #4, Go before 1:30PM M-F for best offerings. For a truly Hong Kong experience, go Saturday or Sunday between 11-1PM. Parking will be bleak, but the feeling of your pants getting tighter as you eat will make it totally worth it.Listed in: Year of the Dragon
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Review from Chel R.
Flavors are comparable with my picks for good chinese food.
Its a big place. Clean. And plenty of parkiing (YES!)
I never noticed this place before for I do frequent Monterey Park to eat good
chinese food (NYC). Then as I am reading reviews from my fellow
yelpers, now I have to go back to try their dim sum:)
Steam fish. Pork chop with spicy salt. Shrimp fried rice. Beef
chowmein. The usual orders were yum.
I can be back:P -
Review from Jennifer P.
Cerritos, CA
1/10/2012 1 Check-in Here
Went in for dim sum. Not bad but not the greatest I've had. It's decent and good and worth another visit or two. Difficult to lasso up attention if you're looking for something in particular, like more tea or water. 3 stars for dim sum. 2 stars for bathrooms.
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Review from duke c.
11/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
For the dim sum!
I used to come here a lot as a kid with family and just recently got a chance to go back during lunch for some dim sum goodness! It's still the old school push cart service, which I do like, since it is nostalgic. However, with that push cart service, there are some inconsistencies...
Some food items are great, especially when fresh like the fried items. Egg rolls, sesame balls, and the salty dumpling are a few of my favorites here, but when they have been sitting in the carts for awhile, it gets cold and it is just not as enjoyable. If you want fried items, make sure to grab them when you someone carry fresh-fried items out!
As for the steamed, it's always solid here at NBC. Chicken feet and lotus-wrapped sticky rice with chicken are always a must at our table, as well as the usual dumpling offerings! Really can't go wrong with any.
Some of the specials items can't be found since a table might get it before you. You can order via a waiter but do prepare to wait for the item. Most of the time for push cart services, it makes sense for restaurants to make items in batches.
Also, it is hard to flag down a cart. There have been times when we've been waiting for a cart but it just never came to our area. It's not just NBC but a common problem with all push cart services. It is best to sit in the center area where you can get a bird's eye view of everything, but that's hard to do when it is so packed and you just want to sit down!
Even with all the inconsistencies, NBC has a very very solid dim sum and it is a huge reason that after all these years, it still gets packed, especially on the weekends. Prepare to come a little early!
Parking lot is a huge mess sometimes. Just do a little bit of a walking and park further away! I know I need the walk after eating here haha. -
Review from Ed L.
11/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
I was really surprised at my dinner experience here on a Saturday night. So this review is for dinner and not the dim sum, which appears to have been reviewed ad nauseum. When my dad said he wanted to come here, I was feeling tired, and I did not want to sit in a large, loud, crowded room with rude servers. It was nothing like that.
The place is really clean, brightly lit, spacious, with the requisite round tables. Our server spoke English well and gave us an English menu, answered our questions patiently, and gave us good suggestions.
Above all, the food was great. The stand out dishes were the soft noodle beef chow mein, the honey walnut shrimp, the kung pao chicken, and the beef with chinese broccoli. The food tasted really clean, not greasy. It was flavorful, but not salty. All the vegetables tasted fresh as did the shrimp. The soft noodle chow mein has bean sprouts and leeks mixed in and was a hit with the whole family.
4 adults and 3 kids(but 3 kids who eat like horses..horses eating me out of house and home) were stuffed silly with 7 dishes. It was $110 before tip, but we had so many leftovers we could have stuffed ourselves with 5 dishes and a soup. This place will see my family again, probably sooner than they wish. -
Review from Minerva T.
Garden Grove, CA
I can't believe it's already nearly been a year since I last went here. That's the travesty of living away from home in SoCal for so long - no good dim sum. I've got to say that this place is still the best place I've had dim sum before. I don't know if that will still hold true after I take a trip to San Francisco in January but it sure as heck is still delicious. This time was also probably the fastest our family's eaten dim sum because we just ordered everything all at once despite my mother's protests. Oh and of course, pastries were first!
So we snagged the taro filled pastries that look like shredded pork on the outside, a new bun that tasted like an inverted dan ta had a child with melon pan, and dan ta itself. SO GOOD. We basically ran the gamut of our normal dishes and then tried out a few new ones we hadn't had before. I'll just post up all the pictures of everything at once.
Again the har gow was not as superb as it could've been but it was still pretty dang good. The shu mai can't be beat here with its perfect wrapper and juiciness. My favorite dim sum dish, the ha cheong fun, would've sated me completely had I just ordered only that. Of the new things we tried, there were these soft pork meatballs that were quite delicious as they had cilantro inside and plenty of bean curd. I also really enjoyed the "shrimp ball lollipops" which were fried shrimp balls stuck onto sugar cane.
The service was pretty great surprisingly. I guess it was because we ended up being in a room in the back where the customers probably get ignored a lot by the carts which are pushed around the main room. The restaurant gets PACKED for dim sum but we surprisingly got a table right when we walked in. Great eats - how could I say no? Besides, it's always fun to see what new dishes they have in store for the day!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/27/2010
I went during the Friday before Christmas for dim sum, and the place did not disappoint once again.… Read more »
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Review from Julia P.
12/5/2011
Standard dim sum place. Make sure you can speak Chinese or else you won't get the whole experience.
Different dumplings and buns. Some little cakes. "Meatballs". It's all made well and tasty. Super good prices too...ordered 6 dishes for 30 bucks.
And to be complete, it has all the fobbiness you can ask for - the mothball smelling old grandparents, the loud Asian kids with ADD, the loud Asian parents that don't know what a normal voice is...and of course the token white guy that only likes Asian girls creeping around the place. Oh and the big fish tank with the ever so unhappy creature swimming around. -
Review from Ron F.
Santa Monica, CA
1/22/2012
If you want the real "Chinese" experience... go here. Long lines, abrupt waiters, filled with noisy families, gaudy decor, inexpensive and great food! Couldn't get any better if you were raised in this type of delicious chaos.
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Review from jax j.
Culver City, CA
1/18/2012
Pros:
- Delicious, delicious dim sum
- Cheap, as far as dim sum goes ($30 for 2 + left overs for another meal)
- Good for groups
Cons:
- Do NOT come here on a weekend + expect to get seated in a timely manner; everyone and their great grandma is here on Sat/Sun
- Non-dim sum go-ers might be intimidated by the carts & fast paced activity
- Hard to get attention of the waiters; take off the top of your tea pot and they will come rushing (even if your problem isn't with your tea)
Don't sit in one of the ballrooms or smaller room, sit in the larger, main area; you'll get more hardcore cart-pushing dim sum action this way.
My Dim Sum favs...
Tofu pudding with double sugar - there's a cart dedicated to a whole vat of this stuff
Taro - looks like tan rectangles with fried crispies on top in a cupcake paper
Custard Bun - the one with the extra baked custard on top, NOT the plain bun looking one
Mango Mochi- if you get there before 1pm you may be able to snag this bad boy
BBQ Pork pie - triangular shaped with sesame on top
Dumpling with Pork and Shrimp - triangular shape and see through
Gailong with Oyster Sauce - Chinese broccoli, a cart dedicated to this; one of the more expensive items -
Review from t c.
Fountain Valley, CA
12/8/2011
Great dim sum! They offer the basics (ha cao, xiu mai, etc.) and all are great; they also offer some other unique dim sum dishes I can't get in OC (too many to list). It's best to get there before 10:30AM on the weekends; otherwise you'll be waiting awhile. This place uses MSG - but it's not overwhelming like some other comparable places. Beware - the parking can get a little hairy. The interior is always decorated like a modern-day chinese wedding (white damask chaircovers, etc.). They even have a menu which lists the price and name of each dim sum offering (and the different types of teas also!) and also contains pictures (!!!). It's my current go-to dim sum place in the LA-area (technically, it's located in Monterey Park, I think).
Other important info: everything is nice and tasty, MSG used, menu with pictures and prices, get there before 10:30AM on weekends to avoid waiting, interior is bright with white damask chaircovers, prices a a tad more expensive than comparable dim sum places. -
Review from Hyunsu L.
Los Angeles, CA
1/16/2012
No waiting and good service !
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Review from Cecilia d.
Los Angeles, CA
11/11/2011
You've got a craving for dim sum but don't wanna fight the lines at Empress Pavilion in Downtown, 888 in Rosemead, or Elite in Monterey Park? Come here, get seated quickly and fed generously for a pretty good price. My family always opts to eat here after suffering through long lines elsewhere. We could be a table of 10 (which we often are) and we're seated right away and everybody gets what they want.
For me, sticky rice in lotus leaf is a must. And they do a pretty good job here with big chunks of meat and shrimp. Shrimp noodle is a big hit with the kiddies in the bunch; I guess it must be large pieces of shrimp in the slippery noodles that make it fun. And the sweet tofu as well as the sesame seed balls are always a good ending. The mango pudding, however, was disappointing as it was hard, cold, and kinda dry. But everything else was decent.
Now is this the best dim sum in town? Not by a long shot, especially in the SGV, which has pretty much been taken over by scrumptious Chinese restaurants and cafes. But will you be sorry for coming here? Nope, because if you're like me, dim sum is made for instant gratification and there's nothing more gratifying than having your whole party seated at once and eating up good steaming food lickity-split! And all 10 of us were patting our bellies and drinking the lovely tea when the $100 bill came at the end of it. Not too shabby. -
Review from Ani P.
11/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
Prices are ridiculous. Cheap.
It gets super crowded on the weekends for lunch/brunch. Be prepared for a 20-30 minute wait.
There's a lot of food options, kinda ridiculous amount. In order to really try everything, you need a group. 3 people is not enough. I'd recommend a group of 5-6.
There maybe communication issues, everyone did not speak great English. But you can totally make do.
This may not be the place for if you if you are veg or have gluten issues.
So why only 3 stars? I suppose 3.5 stars. I loved the variety, which is why I adore dim sum. I'm the kinda girl that likes to have a bite of everything. With that said, no one item really stood out for me in terms of food quality. So I can't exactly justify 4 stars.
Would I come again? YES. -
Review from Sam T.
11/8/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Competition is pretty rough in this dim sum infested area of 626. When you think bang for buck dim sum places you go with Ocean Star, New Capital, 888 seafood and etc. When you think of high end dim sum you go with Elite and Sea Harbor. Well NBC is a combination of good food and good quality topped with a very presentable environment and good service.
Food:
I come here often with my girlfriend's family. Dinner is pretty good...though I always fail to remember what I've actually eaten here. My more recent visit involved their dim sum menu. Not the best in the area but seriously move this restaurant to LA Chinatown, San Diego, SF Chinatown, Oakland, etc...it will easily be ranked the best in the area. Most memorible dishes include the crispy piglet (expensive though) and Shrimp dumpling.
Service:
Look around at the decor. Check out the new design outside. Look at the people around. Everyone seem to be pretty happy in here. Manager recognized my girlfriend and gave us free tea. Thank you sir!
Environment:
For dinner it is a very presentable restaurant (for Chinese families). Definitely would rate it more on the higher end of the spectrum. The place is a lot bigger than I thought it was because there are hidden rooms in the back! I sat there for the first time for dim sum. Felt a bit confined in there. I was pretty pooped out after 2 hours of loud noise and dim sum ladies trying to sell us their goods (clean thoughts please).
Price:
Not as pricey as Elite and Sea Harbor. Ended up paying about $15 per person (even with the crispy piglett which is like $30-40 an order)for dim sum. Dinner here looks very pricy. I have yet to pay for dinner here...so I wouldn't know the exact cost but I'm sure a party of 10 here for a special occasion can easily rack up a $400-$500 bill.
Got here at 10:30am and it was pretty packed already. Come early or don't come at all. If you're one of those people who like to spend their weekends waiting around for food go knock yourself out.
Food: 4
Service: 5
Environment: 5
Price: 4 -
Review from love to eat l.
Newport Beach, CA
1/10/2012
the real food is not the same what you order from the menu.
We ordered the "Jelly fish fry with chicken".When the food was served, we are very disappointed. because there are only four piece of Jelly fish on the plate. and the price is not cheat. What a big fat lier! -
Review from Allisa B.
Canyon Country, CA
2/6/2012
Have to say, i've been here many times on weekdays but never on a weekend. I avoid dim sum places on weekends because of the crowds. Parking is easy (on weekdays). The place has a B, but that is good for a chinese restaurant (i've eaten at places with a C before and haven't gotten sick). The dim sum is very tasty!! Great selection and the price is reasonable. The carts come around alot. I've seen other reviews on places that the carts don't come around. There are ladies with carts at your table arriving while you are sitting down. I haven't had anything that I haven't liked. We try to eat something new each time. The only thing I won't try are chicken feet. The cart ladies english is a little hard to understand at times but you can usually figure it out. (Even though i'm part chinese, I only speak english). The bathrooms are clean (don't laugh, have you been to places in chinatown!!! GAG!) Try the coconut taro pudding and the coconut cocktail buns for dessert. YUM!
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Review from Antho L.
It's really difficult for me to be discriminating when it comes to dim sum because I think it all tastes the same. However, I do think NBC seems to have a larger assortment of offerings to choose from.
I came here for a PYE hosted by Tim C. (good job Tim, everyone had a blast!). 13 or so of us converged upon NBC to partake in the ritual of swirl-and-grab of the tasty dim sum off the large glass Lazy Susan in the middle of the table. I enjoy dim sum tremendously and so I agreed to make the trek way out to the SGV from Redondo (ugh) but it was definitely well-worth it.
NBC is remarkably one of the largest dim sum restaurants I've seen as I was impressed by it's looming presence as I turned into the driveway. We met at 10:00 am so there was plenty of parking in the lot, which was a good thing because I had visions of frantically trying to find parking as is customary in these types of situations and especially, in this area.
They had our table all set up which was nice with the white table cloths and the chairs were even covered. We were approached instantly by a few cart-pushers but we had to decline until most of our party showed up.
Servers would come around and with their carts and demonstrate what they had available. As more and more of us showed up, we began to order several things and that's when the fun began as it got somewhat frazzling as the servers started quickly placing the food on the Lazy Susan since they just seemed to push a few of us aside who were lucky enough to be sitting by the aisle. We had a laugh about this and it was all good fun and part of the experience!
We ate so many things from chicken and BBQ pork steamed AND baked buns, to pork shiu mai, fun guor, shrimp har gow, rice rolls, fried shrimp balls, roasted duck, chicken feet, steamed greens, baked egg tarts, sticky rice just to name a few.
Some stand outs for me was the deep fried seaweed-wrapped shrimp dumpling called the Seaweed Shrimp Roll. This was the first time I had ever seen or had something like this and it was delicious. I also liked the sweet tofu dish which you top with sweet syrup, that was very tasty too.
It seemed like our bill was going to be humongous but we were pleasantly surprised that it only came out to $13 per person which was pretty amazing for the amount of food we ordered.
I really had a good time and enjoyed chatting with old and meeting new Yelpers! I look forward to eating here again and would highly recommend this place if you are looking for a dim sum meal.Listed in: Kickin' It with the Yelpers
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Review from Jo E.
Huntington Beach, CA
9/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
I know nothing about dim sum other than I have to go with asian friends to help me decipher what's on those carts, and that most items have shrimp or some kind of seafood in them, which I do not like to eat. Luckily, today's journey to Monterey Park was a good one- the friends were fun and helpful, and I only tried one thing with a slight shrimp taste to it. I was even able to use my chopsticks for some of the items; another non-asian trait I possess... I am still learning how to use chopsticks properly.
The water and tea refills were on point, and the carts didn't stop coming around until we were full. I liked the egg custard and some kind of fried ball with sweet stuff in it, coated with sesame seeds. Too bad for the B health code rating- why do all asian restaurants in LA have B ratings?!?! It freaks me out. -
Review from Joan S.
10/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
I always enjoy dim sum, especially when going to a restaurant that you know is famous for it.
First of all, this place is located in Monterey Park, which is highly populated with asians, predominately chinese people. So, of course this place is good!!
Location: in a plaza.. Building of it's own. When you come in the plaza area, it is on your left side.
Parking: large parking lot, but during the prime times, it is hard to find parking.
Tip: If you do go during the prime time, just drop off a member of the family to get you seats in advance while the driver is finding parking. Beat the crowd.
Interior decor: typical chinese restaurant with large round tables to feed a lot of mouths! The entrance is nice and fancy with a water fountain. I do really like the monitor they have that announces your number so that you could visually see if they are calling you. (they earned one star for just that).
Food: Dim sum style. Carts that come around and you pick. Some carts did not come to us, so luckily we were able to order it from the waiters and they fetched it for us. My favorites: garlic spare ribs, shiu mai, shrimp dumplings, BBQ pork buns, lotus seed buns, haim sui gok, turnip cake, sticky wrapped rice, meat rice roll, mushroom wrapped roll. The rice roll was okay..
Service: It's okay.. You really have to hunt them down to get what you want. The wait isn't as bad as I would have thought.. they have many tables ..
Price: pretty cheap.. came with a group of 6 people. We ordered a lot of food.. and it only came out to be $65... very cheap.
I would come here again.. -
Review from Monica L.
Rosemead, CA
12/27/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I always come here for dim sum! Not as crowded as most places with decent quality food. Everything is pretty good...not the best, but definitely not the worst by far. Can't go wrong with the har gao shiu mai, and there really isn't anything that I dislike so...good job NBC :) A good "safe" (aka consistently okay) place to go to.
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Review from John L.
San Jose, CA
12/28/2011
Good food and the Manager was really nice.
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Review from Vivian J.
9/10/2011
To be completely honest, I don't know dim sum very well. I only started going to dim sum places in the last few years, and my friends usually order for me.
That said, I thought NBC Seafood actually had very good dim sum. I'm still not sure what makes SPECTACULAR dim sum, but each dish had lots of flavor and I was very full by the end of my meal for $12 after splitting the bill with a group of about 8. The waiters appeared to ask us what we wanted even though they didn't have those specific carts and tried to help us. Also, when we settled the bill and had 6 credit cards among us, they didn't have any issues with it.
My friend is obsessed with NBC Seafood and claims that she came here at least 5 times in one month. I'll take her word, my taste buds, and the huge line out the door that this is a good dim sum place for the weekends. -
Review from Sandy K.
10/10/2011 7 photos
Compared to the last place I ate Dim Sum in San Diego I really appreciated NBC's quality, variety of dishes and service on a Sunday late morning. The restaurant was was quite full but I was able to get in without a wait!
I get a rush picking various entrees from carts that serve up the steaming hot Dim Sum dishes and NBC Seafood does it right! There was a huge selection of your traditional Dim Sum but also I saw offerings of roast pig, Peking Duck, stuffed bitter melon with fish cake, clams with ginger and platters of chow mein.
The food was so good especially the Har gow - the outside wrap is just perfectly firm, steaming hot and tasty, Lotus wrapped sweet rice was packed with pork and Chinese sausage and the Ha fun (shrimp noodle) was delish I could go on but I might be writing for a while.
Anyway you get the picture, check this place out and you won't be disappointed. Arrive early or you'll be on the waiting list! -
Review from Matthew T.
Los Angeles, CA
12/28/2011
Been here several times with big groups. Great dim sum. Super fast, cheap, and efficient. Be careful though, the little ladies WILL run you over with their food carts.
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Review from Julie Y.
La Canada Flintridge, CA
I swear-- In my previous life, I had to have been a Chinese person. In any case, every time I step into a restaurant for dim sum, I always wish I knew how to speak/undestand Cantonese. But that's where my boyfriend and my awesome Hong Kong international friends come in handy :D TEHE.
*disclaimer: a lot of the things I mention in this review are also things my boyfriend has told me and I happen to agree with*
I'm no dim sum specialist but I can tell you from my many recent trips to this huge establishment that the dim sum is always consistent in quality. I just recently came here today for lunch with some good friends and they had us seated very quickly. #winning!
I know a lot of people know what dim sum is and what you can order since most of the food choices are the same any dim sum establishment. I'm just gonna list it anyways and tell you why THIS restaurant is just that good :)
Things we ordered straight from carts that kept wizzing by our table:
-Chicken Feet *fave! love that marinated cartilage goodness*
-Steamed Sticky Rice Roll - it's kind of weird... Mixing rice and bread doesn't appeal to me...
-Wrapped Sticky Rice- *fave! i love the mix of shrimp, pork, egg yolk, and sausage bits in this :)
-Steamed Egg Custard Bun - first time having it and I surprisingly like it. If you haven't had it before, think of it as an Egg Tart in the form of a steamed bun... and be super super careful! The contents are HOT and they spill out as soon as you bite into it.
-Steamed BBQ Pork Bun- always a good one :)
- Deep Fried Pork Dumpling- interesting how it tastes. The dumpling skin is actually slightly sweet and chewy-- reminds me of red bean fried dumpling things I used to eat at home.
-Baked Pineapple Custard Bun- *fave! Can't get over this sweet delicacy. The bun has this flakey pineapple crust to it and the yellow custard inside it is addicting!
-Baked Egg Custard- *fave! warm sweet egg goodness.
-Baked Cocktail Bun- fist time trying this as well. not too fond of it.
-Baked BBQ Pork Bun - I love how there is this sweet glaze to it. Apparently it's honey?
-Steamed Shrimp Har Gow- YUM! :D
- Steamed Pork Siu Mai- MORE YUM! :)
-Steamed Salted Egg Yolk Bun
-Cruller Rice Noodle Wrap- take the Chinese donut, wrap it in rice noodle, and dunk this into a sauce made of peanut= good.
- BBQ Pork "Cha Siu"
- Boiled Chinese Broccoli -- healthier choice? :P
I am always going to want to come whenever I crave dim sum.
ps- there is ALWAYS free parking here since there is a huge lot available for the plaza. That's always a plus no? And best of all, it's cheap QUALITY food! -
Review from Hugh N.
Corona, CA
12/24/2011
My daughter had her wedding here several years ago. I must say that it has lost some of it's luster. We mainly go here for dim sim nowadays, and it's pretty good. Parking on the other hand, is terrible. The good news is that the wait time seems much less now.
