Lunasia Dim Sum House

All of Orange County’s major dim sum restaurants (China Garden, Seafood Cove, Seafood Paradise) offer similar enough choices that quality – and to some extent service – are the only reasons to prefer one over others. Located just outside of Orange County in Cerritos (with other locations in Torrance, Pasadena and Alhambra), Lunasia Dim Sum House is different: it’s noticeably but not overwhelmingly more upscale, offering a larger menu of Cantonese meats ranging from suckling pig to duck and BBQ, as well as varied seafood choices, such as sliced cold jellyfish.

While there aren’t any push carts, individual items made up for that omission with fancy presentation and ingredients. Sakura egg buns are swiped with rose gold, seafood dumplings come with black squid ink wrappers, and shrimp rolls are made from delicate rice threads. Though they’re less visually distinctive, the egg tarts and mixed pork puffs are also top-class here.