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The Alameda Guide to Dim Sum

There is a vibrant and delicious world of Chinese food in Alameda that is unknown to many residents. Pork buns, turnip cakes, chicken feet, egg custard tarts, shrimp dumplings—none of these dishes are available at a standard Chinese takeout restaurant and can only be ordered where dim sum is served.

Alameda Post - a pork bun

Dim sum is traditionally served for lunch on weekends. Waitstaff pushing carts stocked with dishes of bite-sized delicacies visit each table, where diners make their selections. These small dishes of food originated at Chinese teahouses, which served dim sum as a snack companion to tea. Some say that dim sum translates to “touches the heart”—while others believe it translates to “little heart,” or small dishes.

Now, dim sum is served every day at lunch at five restaurants here in Alameda. Diners may order items directly from the menu, although cart service is available on weekends at East Ocean. In the evenings, these restaurants serve regular Chinese cuisine and dim sum is not available.



The number of items available at dim sum can be overwhelming but a few standards I would recommend include:

  • Baked barbeque pork buns—sweet, lightly sauced meat inside a hamburger-like bun.
  • Steamed barbecue pork buns—sweet, lightly sauced meat inside a dense yet fluffy white dough.
  • Shumai—open-topped pork and shrimp dumplings.
  • Pan-fried shrimp and chive dumplings—shrimp and veggies inside a rice dumpling.
  • Shrimp rice roll-–flat rice noodle with shrimp inside.
  • Savory turnip cakes-–a pan-fried glutinous rice flour slab.
  • Lo mai gai—sticky rice with little bits of meat wrapped in a lotus leaf.

If you’re really up for trying something new, order the chicken feet. Yes, chicken feet.

For dessert, there are fried sesame balls, egg custard tarts, baked egg custard buns, and mango pudding. I quite frankly have never had a bad sesame ball and would highly recommend trying one at all of the restaurants listed here.

Most of these items are served in groups of three. It’s like ordering a bunch of appetizers, and it’s best to go to dim sum with at least three people so everyone can eat a little bit of everything. Ideally, you would go with six or more people. Each item should be about one or two bites. If they are bigger, you can request your server to cut them in half with scissors. If you don’t speak Chinese, you can make eye contact with the server and make a scissor motion with your fingers over the dish.

Dim sum is definitely pork- and shrimp-heavy and is not vegetarian friendly at all. If there is someone in your party who is vegetarian, they can order a veggie dish a la carte off the regular (non-dim sum) menu.

In many parts of the country, even in major metropolitan areas, dim sum is hard to come by. It’s amazing that our small town of Alameda has five establishments serving dim sum, four of which are situated within a few blocks on Webster Street. For this guide, my family and I ate at the following restaurants in November and December of 2024. Prices include tip and tea.

Alameda Post - various pieces of dim sum
Chef’s Wok. Left: Pan-fried shrimp and chive dumpling, steamed bbq pork bun, and turnip cake. Right: Shumai that have been cut in half. Photos Jean Chen.

Chef’s Wok – $22 per person

1821 Webster Street

From the outside, Chef’s Wok looks like a hole-in-the-wall takeout joint, but once you pass through the doors, you are transported into a banquet hall that feels more like Oakland Chinatown than Alameda. This popular restaurant was packed with entirely Asian diners and had two large screen televisions mounted on the wall, one of which was broadcasting KTSF, the independent Chinese TV station based in San Francisco.

The service was slow due to the large lunch crowd on a Friday at 11 a.m. I also got yelled at by a waiter who seemed to be channeling Ronny Chieng in Interior Chinatown.

Chef’s Wok has great baked pork buns and pan fried shrimp chive dumplings. The baked egg custard buns were tasty but the steamed pork buns were a little too dense. The shumai were large and had to be cut in half.

This is my parent’s favorite place. If you don’t mind being jostled a bit and can handle some chaos, this is the place to go. I wouldn’t recommend it for your first dim sum experience or if you are intimidated by new experiences, cultures, and non-English speaking environments.

Alameda Post - a boba tea next to a pork dumpling
Dim Sum Best of Taste boba tea and a bun. Photo Jean Chen.

Dim Sum Best of Taste – $14 per person

1540 Webster Street

Dim Sum Best of Taste is more of a boba place which also serves dim sum. The walk-up counter service is a great way to sample dim sum items without having to commit to a sit-down restaurant. They were playing a mega-mix of exclusively Taylor Swift songs when I was there on a Saturday for lunch, so that’s either a bonus or a turn off, depending on how you feel about Tay Tay.

The dim sum itself is not as good as the other restaurants mentioned in this review, but I really enjoyed having a steamed pork bun to go with my Signature Milk Tea Boba, which was one of the best I’ve had. Do you like Taylor Swift and bubble tea? This is the place for you!

Alameda Post - a photo of toasty golden brown buns and a cart of dim sum on plates
East Ocean. Left: Baked bbq pork buns (front) and baked egg custard buns (back). Right: Dim sum carts. Photos Jean Chen.

East Ocean – $30 per person

1713 Webster Street

With 380 seats, East Ocean is by far the largest restaurant in Alameda, possibly even Oakland. The bright, modern interior is shockingly huge and has hotel banquet vibes. On Saturday and Sunday at lunch every table is filled, with carts of food winding their way between tables. Diners can peek at the carts and then point to their selection of food to indicate what they want. A small army of waitstaff with mics clipped to their shirts ensures that service is swift. Weekdays are more chill, when diners order from the menu and there is no wait for a table.

East Ocean has the best baked pork buns. The chicken feet are excellent and their baked egg custard buns are a warm, sweet delight. Everything else is on par as well.

East Ocean is my favorite dim sum place and I would recommend it as a first-time experience. You will, however, pay a bit of a premium compared to the other dim sum places in Alameda. Don’t expect to park in the lot at the back of the restaurant—getting a spot there is a small miracle.

Alameda Post - various dim sum on small plates at a restaurant table
Kitchen of Alameda. Left to right: baked bbq pork bun, steamed bbq pork buns, turnip cake, pan fried shrimp and chive dumplings, and chicken feet. Photo Jean Chen.

Kitchen of Alameda – $18 per person

1727 Webster Street

This no-frills restaurant was fairly empty on the Thursday we ate here. It was chilly and a bit dark inside, and an episode of “Judge Judy” was playing on the large TV mounted on the wall. But aside from the shady back-room ambiance of the place, the food is decent.

The steamed pork buns were excellent, with little solid bits of savory pork on the inside. The baked pork buns were good too, and the turnip cake had little tasty bits of dried shrimp properly flecked throughout it. My parents were completely smitten with the fried smelt, which was packed full of roe. The chicken feet were good if you like a heavier sauced dish. The pan fried shrimp and chive dumplings, while packed with shrimp, were too large and needed to be cut in half.

I would recommend this place if you don’t want to spend too much on lunch, enjoy “Judge Judy,” and want easy parking.

Alameda Post - small plates of food at a restaurant table with a view of a marina
Pacific Lighthouse. A great view of the marina with shumai, egg custard tarts, and pan fried shrimp and chive dumplings. Photo Jean Chen.

Pacific Lighthouse – $18 per person

1051 Pacific Marina

Views, views, views. That’s the main draw of Pacific Lighthouse, which is situated right on the water next to the Oakland Yacht Club. The food and service are OK, and diners order from the menu. If you go on a weekday, you will most likely be able to get a table that looks out onto the water.

The shumai was great and the baked pork buns were good. Come here if you want to impress your lunch dates with views of the marina.

Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen.

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