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| - My family and I come here often because we miss the dim sum in Hawaii. After wandering (for 2 years in Las Vegas), we finally decided to make our way into Orchids this year. I am so glad that we did! The dim sum is reasonably priced and the selection is abundant. I would best compare it to Happy Day Chinese Restaurant on Waialae Ave in Honolulu. FYI, Saturday lunches are always so busy! Expect to wait a few minutes to be seated.
If you are looking for more "authentic" dim sum, then this isn't it, although they do have their fair share of dim sum from chicken feet in black bean sauce to steamed char siu bao. My kids enjoy the shumai and the rice wrapped in lotus leaf the most. But what they really go there for is the sweets! Lotus bean jin dui (sesame balls filled with lotus or red bean) is ever so present there, just like in Hawaii (yay!). And often, but not always, they have the cart going around serving you this sweet tofu dessert. It's a freshly made silken tofu served hot in a sweet ginger-infused syrup. I'm not sure what they call it in Chinese, but the cart ladies go around asking "sweet tofu? sweet tofu?" I know it's made there fresh, because the owner (I think she is one), always reminds us (she knows us that much) that a fresh one is being made ready in 5 minutes or so.
The one thing we would love to see happen is Orchids being open for morning breakfast/brunch. In Hawaii, it is common to have dim sum for breakfast. But here in Las Vegas, not so common. Too bad.
The staff is friendly, as friendly as any Chinese restaurant staff could be...if you haven't been to a Chinese restaurant, don't expect too much in polite, unhurried style of service. They don't speak English very well, but I would still recommend to stick it out and try it, or just go with someone who knows how and what to order.
If you're from Hawaii, you will probably run into a few local residents who used to live in Hawaii. That's what I like about Orchids...feels like as if we were home again...
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