The San Gabriel Valley's dim sum tradition, elevated and expanded — Lunasia moved to a larger stage because its handcrafted har gow deserved a room that matched the ambition behind it.
About Lunasia Dim Sum House
Lunasia opened in 2009 at a time when the San Gabriel Valley's Cantonese dining scene was already internationally recognised as one of the finest concentrations of Chinese cooking outside Greater China. The restaurant established itself within that competitive ecosystem by applying a distinctive approach: the handcrafted dumpling as the unit of culinary ambition, each piece receiving the attention that more conspicuously prestigious cuisines reserve for plated fine dining. The jumbo shrimp har gow — large enough to demonstrate the kitchen's confidence, thin-skinned enough to demonstrate its skill — became the calling card that drove the restaurant's reputation beyond its immediate neighbourhood.
The Pasadena location relocated in 2026 to a larger venue at 865 East Colorado Boulevard, a move prompted not by underperformance at the original address but by the opposite: the demand for Lunasia's dim sum had outgrown its physical constraints. The new space introduces a stage for live entertainment, an addition that gives the restaurant a festive dimension appropriate for occasions that want the energy of celebration built into the room rather than manufactured at the table. New menu additions including braised black pepper short ribs and beef brisket expand the kitchen's range beyond the traditional dim sum programme without compromising its identity.
The dim sum programme remains the heart of what Lunasia does: Xiao Long Bao with the gelatine-to-broth ratio that distinguishes careful from careless preparation; the truffle and caviar Sui Mai that signals the kitchen's willingness to apply luxury ingredients to traditional formats; scallop dumplings that demonstrate a sourcing commitment unusual in the category. The QR-code ordering system, which replaced the traditional cart service, improves accuracy and pace at the cost of some of the social ritual that pushes dim sum from meal to event — a pragmatic trade-off that regulars have largely accepted.
The value proposition at Lunasia remains one of the most compelling in the Pasadena dining landscape: the quality-to-price ratio at lunch and weekend dim sum service is difficult to match anywhere in the city at any level of ambition. For groups that need to satisfy a range of preferences while maintaining a sense of shared occasion, the Cantonese sharing format is inherently well-suited, and Lunasia executes it with the discipline of a kitchen that has fed serious diners for fifteen years.
Why Lunasia is Perfect for a Team Dinner
The dim sum format is, structurally, the ideal team dinner format: multiple small dishes arrive in sequence, each one prompting discussion and negotiation, the table organised around shared interest rather than individual isolation. At Lunasia, the quality of the dim sum is sufficient to make those discussions about the food genuine rather than performative, and the value proposition means that the host does not need to calculate the bill with anxiety. The new venue's scale accommodates larger groups without loss of atmosphere. For a team that wants to eat together rather than simultaneously, and where the evening's purpose is the people rather than the occasion, Lunasia provides exactly the format and quality that this requires.
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