Restaurant: Capital Seafood Beverly Hills
Location: 50 N La Cienega Blvd #130, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (310) 855-1234
Date: October 10, 2018 and August 1, 2019
Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum
Rating: Good for this far west
Finding great Chinese west of the SGV has long been a problem, but the “great wall” between east and west has been cracking with lots and lots of new openings closer to (my) home.
Capital is the latest SGV place to move west, occupying the Newport Seafood Beverly Hills location that failed to work out. Not that I love even the original Newport, but Capital is fairly straight up banquet / dimsum Cantonese.
The space looks pretty Chinese, even in Beverly Hills.
Coves. Gotta have the coves!
The made to order dimsum Menu.
Sauces were great. The chili sauce and XO both awesome.
Cold Spicy jellyfish (8/1/19). Nice chew and great Szechuan-style spice flavor.
Shrimp and pork shui mai. Classic, but well done versions.
Spinach Mix Veggie Dumplings. We had a vegetarian in the house.
Shrimp Har Gow. Very nice, not too sticky either and kept together.
Tofu Skin Roll with shrimp. I like these bean curd wrapped thingies. The goji berries were a different touch.
Beancurd stuffed with shrimp (8/1/19). Great spongy textural play.
XLB (steamed pork dumpling). Solid versions of this amazing dish. A touch pasty, but oh so good.
Shrimp, scallop, and peanut dumplings. Dumplings always rule.
Baked BBQ Pork Pastry. Super rich lovely pastry and sweet BBQ pork.
Baked Honey BBQ Pork Bun (8/1/19). This is my favorite of the pork bun styles with the sweet bread stuffed with delicious sweet BBQ pork.
Stuffed Shrimp and Scallop Ball (8/1/19). The inside of this fried fellow is a shrimp and scallop cake/paste. Delicious with the provided mayo.
Steamed Cilantro Rice Noodle (Chow fun). I’ve never had it with just cilantro. A little bland but the rice noodle texture was excellent.
Minced Beef Rice Noodle (8/1/19). Tastier than the cilantro version.
Taiwanese Shrimp Egg Roll. I really liked these super hot, ultra fried, mega crispy cigarette-like spring rolls.
Deep fried mushroom egg roll.
Rice Noodle with XO Sauce. I loved these chewy rice cakes smothered in spicy XO sauce. Very soothing texture and a lot of salty umami XO flavor.
Lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice (8/1/19). Classic and filling.
Dried Shrimp and Pork Dumpling. The chewy fried bomb shaped dumplings were excellent.
Shrimp and chives dumpling (pan fried). Also greasy fried flavor.
Steamed Chinese Broccoli (8/1/19). Pretty tasty.
Roasted half duck (on the house). Really succulent and moist. Delicious.
Salt and pepper eggplant. Fried and salty and very hot (temperature) but delicious.
Seafood with Pan Fried Egg noodles (8/1/19). I’ve loved this dish for over 40 years!
On my 8/1/19 visit I brought these home-made (by me) gelati:
Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau
Cioccolato Fondente Torrone Gelato — I’ve been working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolates — a total of 22.5% cocoa by weight — extremely intense — offset slightly by Italian soft nougat (torrone) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #torrone
Overall, Capital Seafood is middling level dimsum for the SGV but excellent for Beverly Hills. Almost certainly the best west of the SGV. One of the only rivals is The Palace, which is good, but still the cart format. The manager/owner was awesome. Service was very attentive, but a little weird in that a few of the girls hovered uncomfortably close. They were trying though.
On our second visit service was clean and unobtrusive. Food was fresh and tasty. Really quite good. Not the BEST dimsum in the known world but still first rate.
For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.