Commentary: Think there's no good dim sum in L.A.? Start here

"Collectively, we have spent several decades in the grand Cantonese palaces of the San Gabriel Valley in search of the precision that nudges dumplings from fine to sublime and the attention to ingredients that ignite the senses like daybreak. One gleaned the proper thickness for dumpling wrappers and bounce-back softness of a superior bao under the discerning eye of her grandmother, Tina Wong, who was raised in China's southern Guangdong province, the capital of dim sum."

"What never falters is the euphoric chaos of the experience. The San Gabriel Valley has been the center of L.A.'s clamorous, communal style of dim sum dining since the area's propulsive growth in the 1980s and '90s, tied to a surge in immigration from all over China. Servers tear through vast, thronged rooms, teetering stacked steamers made of bamboo or metal, pausing only to calmly place them in front of you and mark a piece of paper that keeps track of what's been delivered."

Two diners spent decades in San Gabriel Valley Cantonese restaurants seeking dumpling precision and ingredient clarity. One learned wrapper thickness and bao texture from a grandmother raised in Guangdong; the other retains memories of savory-sweet taro cake and shrimp-asparagus rice noodle rolls. After extensive visits, consistent excellence proves harder to find and L.A. dim sum shows signs of a slump. The San Gabriel Valley remains the communal epicenter, with frenetic service, stacked steamers, and shared plates. Diners experience fluctuating quality as promising restaurants open and close rapidly, amid rumors of chef poaching and opaque staff turnover.

Read at Los Angeles Times