Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A different way to dim sum

China Max has the food, but not the fun

Delicious and smoky noodles
Delicious and smoky noodles
Place

China Max

4698 Convoy Street, San Diego

Though Emerald Chinese Seafood Restaurant is my go-to spot for dim sum, I recently decided to shake things up and finally check out China Max, a place that friends have been telling me about since forever.

Sponsored
Sponsored

As with most of my favorite Asian food joints, China Max is located right on Convoy. Unlike Emerald and Jasmine — the two major dim sum spots on the street — China Max forgoes the hustle and bustle of food carts. Here, guests order off the menu. But for me, it’s the hustle and bustle and excitement surrounding what might be coming out of the kitchen next that makes dim sum the just-as-entertaining-as-it-is-tasty experience it is. Bummed to be missing out on that sort of random food selection fun, David and I tucked into reading the extensive menu.

Shrimp shumai

We ordered some standards, such as shrimp shumai and those lightly fried footballs that contain minced pork and veggies. Here I could taste the difference between made-to-order and the food cart; the footballs were gratifyingly crispy on the outside, and the shumai was hot and fresh.

Nice and crispy footballs

The wonton soup was not very exciting. The broth was very mild, bordering on bland. We jazzed it up with some chili sauce and salt.

Wonton soup, mild bordering on watery

The potstickers, though flavorful (a bit too much ginger for my tastes, but David loves that), could have been cooked for a little longer and made to be crispier on the outside. These did not seem like they had done much actual sticking to any pot.

Potstickers, not very potsticky

By far the most interesting and flavorful dish we sampled was the noodles. These had a nice smoky flavor, and were much less greasy than all of the other versions I've tasted.

In the end, our bill was about $30 more than it would have been at Emerald. The food was fresh and flavorful and the atmosphere was quiet and relaxing, and the service friendly, but overall the experience lacked everything I love about dining out for dim sum.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Delicious and smoky noodles
Delicious and smoky noodles
Place

China Max

4698 Convoy Street, San Diego

Though Emerald Chinese Seafood Restaurant is my go-to spot for dim sum, I recently decided to shake things up and finally check out China Max, a place that friends have been telling me about since forever.

Sponsored
Sponsored

As with most of my favorite Asian food joints, China Max is located right on Convoy. Unlike Emerald and Jasmine — the two major dim sum spots on the street — China Max forgoes the hustle and bustle of food carts. Here, guests order off the menu. But for me, it’s the hustle and bustle and excitement surrounding what might be coming out of the kitchen next that makes dim sum the just-as-entertaining-as-it-is-tasty experience it is. Bummed to be missing out on that sort of random food selection fun, David and I tucked into reading the extensive menu.

Shrimp shumai

We ordered some standards, such as shrimp shumai and those lightly fried footballs that contain minced pork and veggies. Here I could taste the difference between made-to-order and the food cart; the footballs were gratifyingly crispy on the outside, and the shumai was hot and fresh.

Nice and crispy footballs

The wonton soup was not very exciting. The broth was very mild, bordering on bland. We jazzed it up with some chili sauce and salt.

Wonton soup, mild bordering on watery

The potstickers, though flavorful (a bit too much ginger for my tastes, but David loves that), could have been cooked for a little longer and made to be crispier on the outside. These did not seem like they had done much actual sticking to any pot.

Potstickers, not very potsticky

By far the most interesting and flavorful dish we sampled was the noodles. These had a nice smoky flavor, and were much less greasy than all of the other versions I've tasted.

In the end, our bill was about $30 more than it would have been at Emerald. The food was fresh and flavorful and the atmosphere was quiet and relaxing, and the service friendly, but overall the experience lacked everything I love about dining out for dim sum.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.