Ding Sheng

It was busy and we had two not so well behaved children with us. The waiter was fantastic! I asked for some rice to quell the kids for a bit and it appeared immediately. The food was great and I introduced my oldest sun to pork buns.

I believe this place used to be Lao You Ju, but recently changed hands (so no Lao You Ju Groupons accepted here as they make explicit on a taped piece of paper on the menu).
You enter via the large entrance near the plaza, and it’s a pretty nice sized restaurant with pretty décor and staff that immediately greets you. The staff move very quickly and efficiently and anything we needed taken care of was done immediately. Definite props for the fast service.
We came for dim sum, and they had the picture menu that typically accompanies most dim sum places nowadays. Ordering was easy, the food also came out pretty quickly. We were pretty impressed by their dim sum options and food. The one qualm we had was about the roast duck noodles that came with only a couple of tiny slivers of roast duck (but I guess that’s why it’s only $ 6). Their dumplings and baos had good flavor, would definitely do dim sum here again.
If you’re looking for a nicer looking place with decent dim sum (that’s not as packed as some of the other restaurants on the strip), this is a good place.

I tried Ding Sheng for Dim Sum on a Saturday afternoon when I went to the restaurant intending to go to Lao You Ju. It seems the restaurant has changed hands without much news or information to go along with it. Much of the restaurant (wait staff, decorations, etc.) seems to look about the same and they are still using the old Lao You Ju plates and cash registers (although the menu is updated with different choices and photos of each dish like MingHin). The prices are pretty similar to Lao You Ju, as is the presentation of many of the dishes. However, when it comes to the food — this is where the similarities end.
Lao You Ju was expensive, but the portion sizes were decent, food was creative, seasoning was perfect, and ingredients were top quality. Ding Sheng is a bit small on portion sizes (especially considering the price), the food has no personality, items are generally underseasoned (and if salty, rely heavily on sauce), and ingredients are of the standard quality used by most restaurants in Chinatown. The food is really probably 3-​stars (generally forgettable, not offensive but not something you’d make a special trip for — very average), the rating is knocked down due to portion sizes and price. The prices are only slightly lower than a Michelin recommended restaurant like MingHin or fine dining restaurant like Cai, but the execution is nowhere near the same level.
Here’s some quick thoughts on some of the dishes:
— Xiao Long Bun: Not much soup in the bun, the soup itself was not very flavorful and the pork was too lean.
— Shui Mai: Lacked the «bounce» that I look for in the meat, which was once again too lean. Not much flavor at all to the meat, very uneven distribution of fish roe.
— Chicken feet: Texture was too tough, should’ve been braised longer.
— Egg custard pineapple bun: Both the custard and top really lacked flavor (should’ve been sweeter as well). Couldn’t get much of an egg or cream flavor and the bun could’ve used an additional element of flavor like brushed honey.
— Red bean sponge cake: Sponge cake was a bit dense, lacked much of any flavor. The red bean paste was also not very aromatic or sweet.
— Three color taro bun: Nice presentation but the taro flavor was not strong at all.
— Seafood congee: Rice was clumped together too much, not creamy in texture. The entire dish lacked flavor, even with adding in all the side items.
— Crepes: The skin isn’t very bouncy, but acceptable. Wished they’d used a sweet soy sauce instead of salty one as this did not mix well with the dish.
— Steamed shrimp ball: Nice and colorful presentation — the dish itself is pretty tasteless though and the vegetables could’ve been fresher.
— Cantonese fried cake: Crispy exterior, decent glutinous texture to the rice although could’ve been a bit softer and more chewy. The peanut filling isn’t very flavorful.
— Portuguese egg tart: Probably the best dish I tried here. The crust was puffy, the custard filling did have a good texture and was served very hot although it should’ve been more creamy.
Overall, nothing special about the food — in general a bit on the light side for seasoning and could use additional layers of flavor complexity. A new restaurant though, so the food could improve with some tweaks and a bit more experience.