Empress Pavilion - Dim Sum!

As a foodie, and fan of dives and food trucks, we planned on going to the LA Street Food Fest downtown LA Street Food Fest LA this past weekend. It looked really cool, a bunch of gourmet food trucks getting together and you can try various trucks all in one place. Unfortunately it was in a very small venue in downtown LA, and way too many people. We were there around 11:30, it started 11am, and the line was around the block and around a parking lot - approximately 2 hours. Also once inside, it looked like a crazy line zoo, and we weren't interested in lining up for 3-4 hours just to eat. Turns out it was a good idea, as later on we found out it was a bit of a disaster with too many people and not enough food trucks or space.

So we brought our hungry stomachs to somewhere even better, DIM SUM! As the day before Chinese New Year, we went and had delicious Dim Sum at Empress Pavilion, a local favorite Dim Sum place in Downtown LA. Dim Sum is cool because you sit down, women with carts of various food roll around and you point and say "I want to try that". We had an assortment of things including pot stickers, pork dumpling shiu mai, shrimp har gow, steamed and sauced Chinese broccoli, roast duck, pork shao mai, deep fried something, and other delicious delicacies. For dessert we had sesame rice dumpling balls. So yummy! The whole time you are also served a very nice hot tea.

One really really cool incident. As we were walking out, I swear that Michael Voltaggio - winner of Top Chef Las Vegas was there. We walked by him and I was like, he looks familiar. Then he sat down to eat and I could see the tattoos on his arm and it looked exactly like him. I was seriously debating to go over there and bug him and say "are you Michael from Top Chef? Can I get a photo with you?", but I chickened out plus I really didn't want to bother him or be an annoying fan, so I didn't. I just thought it was awesome that he was there and really wanted to take a photo with him, but didn't. Who wants to be bothered while about to eat. So 2nd celebrity sighting of all time. Pretty cool.

Anyway, afterwards we had Lollicup Thai iced tea boba and walked around Chinatown for a bit. Then we got some dim sum to go for my mom and sister (pictured here too). A pretty awesome afternoon.

We plan on going back quite a few times and trying different things. The white guys we were with enjoyed the food as well, especially the pot stickers and other items they didn't know what it was but thought it tasted really good. We'll have to plan more trips with more people so we can try more things :)

Life and food are good - eat up!

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Universal Citywalk, CA

Phone: (818) 753-4867
http://www.bubbagump.com/

As my husband put it, “This place is terrible for you… and delicious.” Whether you order your shrimp fried, spicy, doused in butter, slathered in cheese, or topped with rich sauces (or a combination of the above), you really can’t go wrong.

Favorites:

I'm Stuffed Shrimp: Great, big shrimp stuffed with crab, baked in garlic butter, on top of rice, then topped with cheese.

Chipotle Parmesan Shrimp: Perfect, bite-sized shrimp cooked in a creamy chipotle sauce, thrown over rice. The combination of cheese and spice was eyebrow-raisingly good. My husband hasn’t stopped talking about this entrée since we left.

Strawberry Shortcake: Lots and lots of melting ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries and sauce on top of a giant, homemade biscuit. Awesome.

Take or Leave It:

I like the drinks here, but don’t expect to get too buzzed. The lava flows and pina coladas are thick and sweet, and the margaritas are pretty good.

Chocolate Cake in a Jar: I could skip this. It was a bit burnt on the outside and too gooey in the middle, without enough ice cream on top to make it worthwhile.

Kit Kat's Reviews

Blue Hawaiian Drink - Tasty drink and a good value at $6. Quenched the thirst.

Hush Puppies - YUMMY! Appetizer of deep fried balls of crab, potato, etc and they're really good. Surprisingly not oily but crisp and flavorful. Comes in a fun pail with cole slaw underneath.

Cajun Shrimp - Really good with a really nice zing. The spice stays in your mouth mildly and doesn't go down your throat. YUM! I did enjoy this.

Cajun Chicken Sandwich - my boyfriend and I split this, yes at a seafood place. Anyway it was DELICIOUS. I was surprised but it had bacon, avocado, deliciously seasoned cajun chicken, and overall very well balanced and tasty.

I'm Stuffed Shrimp - A regular favorite of mine. Can't go wrong with garlic, butter, cheese, rice and shrimp. Although heavy and oily. Plus overall the same flavor every bite. Compared to the Cajun spices - not nearly as flavorful or savory.

Mudd Pie - Had a bite of this and it was alright. If you like chocolate ice cream you'll really enjoy it. But for me it was alright. It was huge so you could feed probably 8 people with this one cake. Good stuff.

Bread Pudding - Oh wow. It was great! Amazingly yum. Very flavorful and warm and great texture. Good size too. Can probably feed 4, but if you had a lot for dinner, could probably feed 6 or more.