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swallners

Joined 6 years ago

I prefer dim sum to breakfast cereal anyday. I'm a novice in a dim sum restaurant having only been to King's Land across the parking lot a few years ago. As soon as I was seated at the last table available on a Monday at 1pm, the ladies started coming to me with the carts. I wasn't sure if I would get one piece from the bamboo basket, so pointed to several. I ended up with enough left over for dinner tonight because each basket came with 3 or 4 pieces. Each was better than the other. The ladies were aggressive pushing their food just like in China, so be careful. The scallop dim sum was the best and most expensive : 3 for $3.85. The others, a meatball and the haw gaw came with 4 pieces and was $2.85 each. I also had a pork dumpling which had hardly any pork mixture and an egg roll with fake crab which came with mayo? and only so-so. My bill with tip was $18.20, but I have a leftover meal and all in all, the food was extraordinary. I know this dumpy shopping center is always in peril, but we cant let WalMart or Lowe's have it.

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den123

Joined 6 years ago

Smaller portions than King's Land, but tastier. Like Lisalee, I am of Asian decent, from LA, with a childhood that regularly consisted of dim sum on Sundays. I can even remember when Chinatown was flourishing, before it "collapsed" due to many authentic Chinese restaurants opening out in the suburbs, leaving little room to spend a whole Sunday driving to LA, then waiting an hour and a half for a table. When I lived in NYC for a while, I could never get used to the shared seating, so we barely went. When we moved here 9 years ago, Westword recommended Empress, but it was highly disappointing (any dim sum place that has a picture menu, rather than carts milling about is automatically written off my list). Thankfully, we found King's Land, which we visited regularly for a couple of years. We didn't know Super Star Asian had opened in the same shopping center until a Taiwanese friend told us how authentic it was. She was right. The portions are smaller and more expensive than King's Land, but we could never order/try as much as we do at Super Star Asian b/c of it. Servers are definitely much more personable than those at King's Land. The only thing I don't like at Super Star is that there's a lot more sugar in their baked and steamed Char Siao Bao (bbq pork buns) - so much that I'd prefer to skip it. Otherwise, all the dumplings are steamed perfectly, not oily; the egg custards are always perfectly crispy, not soggy on the bottom; the eggplant with fish cake and black bean sauce is a must-order when I go there (never had it anywhere else). What's nice is if you go during the week when there's not nearly as many options on offer, they'll make it for you if you ask. That would never happen at King's Land (where the food is cold during the weekday lunches). We make sure to either go during the week, or arrive just as it opens on Sundays. The food might start coming out at 10am, but the real variety starts at 10:30am. Also, the place really does fill up by 11am.

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memphisbleek

Joined 5 years ago

Pretty good, crowded. Its pretty good. I've had better in Metropolitan Chinatowns. I'd say get there early on the weekends or wait til after 2pm because you will wait 30min to an hour. Only thing after 2pm, they stop coming around as often and the dishes seem limited to whatever they are trying to get rid of. You can order something from the dim sum menu and i think they will make it. You prob wouldn't have to wait so long, if people actually ate and got the hell out. I think asian families spend hours socializing and slowly eating. Which is cool, but be considerate and let the rest get some dim sum. I order a ton of stuff everytime the cart comes and eat all at a good pace. Also they table arangements are stupid becuase The menu seems to vary slightly. The first time I went I had this buttery pastry w/ bbq inside, and i havent seen it since. it was the best item, so i dont know whats up. it was like 5 dollars though. u can get some stuff for 2 dollars. So pay attention if you are cheap. They also have beer, i usually get a henieken. it goes well w/ most of the light sweet flavors. All in all, I do enjoy it, but beware of bad drivers in that parking lot.

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bgdc

Joined 5 years ago

New York Style Dim Sum with nice waitstaff. This is by far the best Dim Sum in Denver. Just prepare to wait for 30 min if you show up after 11:15am on the weekends.

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the_food_detective

Joined 6 years ago

For those of you who want quality with your adventure, give Superstar Asian Cafe a try. As a native of Hong Kong, it's no wonder I'm picky about my Chinese food (My girlfriend complains about that a lot!!) Before I moved to Denver from Pueblo, everybody raved about Empress. "Oh, it's the best Chinese in Denver", "It's the only Chinese I'll have!". Well, I can't blame them, they've been surrounded by Amercianized Chinese food. Guys, there's nothing wrong if you want to try something "different", Empress would do just fine. For those of you who want quality with your adventure, give Superstar Asian Cafe a try. Try to get there when it's busy, like sunday lunch time, trust me, it's worth the wait. A good dim sum is a hot dim sum (The flavor and texture of many dim sum changes as their temperature changes); With more people ordering dim sum, the higher your chance of getting quality food fresh out of the kitchen. Their dim sum is the closest thing to what I've had in Hong Kong. hot and steamy pork buns, thin skinned shrimp dumplings, and flavorful pork hashes. Their fried rice and noodle dishes are not too greasy. My recommendations are the Yang Chow fried rice, thick rice noodle with beef and black bean (gon chow au hoh), and the crunchy fried noodles with beef (you can order extra crunchy!!). Their jellyfish actually tastes fresh! umm, jelly fish.... When you're ready to sweeten things up, try the sweet tofu (dao fu fa) or sweet egg tart (dan tat, try to get these when they're hot and fresh). The best advice that I can give is that if you see a waiter come out carrying a tray of small plates, it usually means it's fresh out of the oven, or steamer, or wok, or whatever!! Bottom line is, it's hot, it's fresh, and it's good. Go ahead, give real Chinese food a try!!! let me know what you think! TFD

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lisalee32

Joined 6 years ago

So far, the best dim sum/Chinese food in Denver. I am of Chinese descent, and I was born and raised in Los Angeles. Growing up, my family and I had a pretty steady routine of going out for dim sum on Sundays after church. I moved here last year and was a little sad at how low the standards were for Chinese food. I've tried several restaurants in Denver, and so far I would not consider them worth going to. The dim sum at Empress was dry and oily, and the dinner I had at Imperial was way too Americanized (I wouldn't even consider it "Chinese"). So I was quite pleased to find Super Star to have delicious dim sum. The place was packed with Asians, which is always a good sign, and the carts were always filled with the usual dim sum fare. I should add this one note though: Although I would probably rank it lower among the restaurants back home in L.A., I would have to say Super Star is in a league of their own in Denver. I'm still in search of more fine Chinese dining, but for now, this place definitely keeps me well satiated.

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diapizzagirl

Joined 7 years ago

good dim sum. We thought the dim sum on Sunday was very good. they were very busy and we felt a little rushed. Well worth the price. Hard to see from the street as it is in an Asian strip mall.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Chinese restaurant on Alameda lives up to its super claims.. In Short
Asian families and friends pack this rather plain restaurant--a good sign that the food is authentic. For the first part of the day, dim sum carts wheel among the tables, each small dish costing a couple of dollars. Dinner offers several delicious entrees, with the spread ranging from familiar items like Mongolian beef and chicken in black bean sauce to picks like spiced jellyfish that are more likely to be enjoyed by Chinese cuisine connoisseurs.