Dim Sum in a Storage Closet

While Mr. Monkey went to his college buddy's place to watch their school dominate the first game of the season, I had dim sum with Brother Monkey, Torry, and Mama Monkey. We have no ties to any college with a decent football team.

Happy Harbor Restaurant (1015 Nogales Street, Rowland Heights) is always very crowded. I'm not exactly sure why. I guess the food is decent, but there's really nothing special about this place. See?

Today we didn't even sit in the real dining room. We sat in a storage closet because "no four table [sic]." Ohhh-kay. Note all the boxes in the back corner. Unbelievable. Hysterical.

Here is the lovely air-conditioning unit above our heads that whirred noisily under the harsh fluorescent lighting.

Atrocious ambience aside, the dim sum offerings are tasty enough. Rather than picking from carts, you peruse a menu, tally your desired dishes, and hand your list to your server.

Shao mai (steamed pork dumplings in a wheat wrapper topped with roe).

Lotus leaf sticky rice.

Jie lan (Chinese broccoli).

Fried bacon fishcake. Blech. Don't get this.

Three-flavor chang fen (steamed wide rice noodles stuffed with shrimp, cha sao, and beef).

Xia jiao (shrimp dumplings).

Steamed cha sao bao (barbecued pork buns).

Fried glutinous rice dumplings filled with pork and shiitake mushrooms. Excellent.

Xiao long bao. A far cry from those served at specialty xiao long bao places like Din Tai Fung, J&J, and Mei Long Village.

Dan ta (egg tarts). Burnt but still rather delicious. My family loves these. Mr. Monkey's family doesn't.

After dim sum, we went to Lollicup next door. Boba for a buck!

Yeah, that's a "C" health rating. We live on the edge.

Hours later, I still have no gastrointestinal problems. Phew.

I love my cutie boba-loving family.