Cathay House

Was out there this past weekend and took my boyfriend out for his first taste of Dim Sum on Sunday. Uuugghh… so not what I was expecting. I see the dollar value and it wasn’t worth what we paid. They didn’t have the spicy mustard and their red chili sauce tasted old. Their sticky fried rice costs $ 4.99! That’s expensive for something so little. Everything we ate was barely warm to cold. I saw they heated some items up in the microwave from their cart because obviously it was sitting on the cart long enough to have cooled down.
Their fried stuff was the worse. I got my favorite taro wrapped meat that is fried to this lovely brown flaky crust but it was cold. Then my second favorite which is fried shrimp in sugar cane. That was cold and so disappointing. Their service was good so unfortunately, that’s all I have to say about this place. I’ve had better and would not recommend this place to anyone nor would I come back again.

Not bad! The pot stickers really stood out to me as the best item.
A wide variety of options. This is true dim sum. The rice was a bit to oily for my liking, and I believe ended up giving me a stomach ache after.
The staff really pushes food on you, so make sure you come hungry! It is to the point where the waitor will place an item on your table… and you have really say no!

I have had dim sun and Also Authentic Chinese style dishes from Many restaurants in San Francisco Phoenix also Las Vegas the cathy house was Recommended to us we were Excited to try but wow the Excitement didn’t last long this was some of the worst dim sum we have ever had I am a chef myself and I do a better job of cooking Char Siu it sad that there is such a large Asian community that support these local restaurants the owners Should make it top Priority To make the best authentic Asian cuisine possible Quality product is will always bring repeat business

I have been to this place many times. Reasonable prices and good service. Close to my work where I can meet for a quick lunch.

Cathay house’s dimsum is always good but what i’ve noticed is that their servings have become smaller. The steamed rice cake has become thinner. The egg custard wasn’t great. The crust wasn’t thick, it lacked a few more minutes in the oven. The custard itself wasn’t firm enough. So far the egg custard that I’ve liked is the one from Chang’s.

This place defies my usual rule that when imbibing in ethnic food and I am the only round eye or caucasian in the joint, the grub is gonna kick out the jams! Not so here.
Very average chinese-​american food.
Great service, clean with drinkable wines by the glass but nothing to really get you coming back for more.

just reading the reviews and trying to get in the other day was hopeless, as they have one line for both restaurants, which is lame and the here being in the Palm’s, they cater probably for the celebrities. Cathay House is behind/​inside 24/7,which is crazy, so you have to deal with the help for both places, which is unorganized from my stand point, seeing all the massive people standing in line to get seated?
I am undecided to try this place as i know what good dim sum should taste and was thinking on using the promo coupon, but it seems the Unilocalers here think go elsewhere. I find the most of the staff at this casino, are unfriendly and not helpful.

I grew up eating dim sum since I can remember. But service seemed to have lacked over the years. I don’t know why. There food is still delicious, but they need to retrain their staff because I know of the old staff who are great, but its the new staff that need to learn how to keep loyal customers WHO ARE NOT CHINESE to keep coming back. I know PALMS opened a Cathay house by their café. Terrible experience over there. I had to talk to the manager several times because my mother, grandma and I waited over 30 minutes to get our dinner served. And on top of that, they accidently gave us somebody else’s order of MP shrimp, and then took it back after it was sitting in front of me for a few minutes; and then served it to the next table. Very disappointed.

Not the best ever but not too bad. I’ve always randomly dropped into the ²⁴⁄₇ café so when I heard they started serving Cathay House food too, I was pretty thrilled. I’m used to the limited dim sum menu at night and just be warned, this is SUPER limited. Luckily it included most of the usual stuff (my friend was a dim sum virgin) so it still worked out okay since that was the stuff I wanted to order anyway (except I really really really wanted my custard tarts). Everything tasted fine, the server was really nice, it was a tad bit crowded. Would probably not come back here specifically for dim sum unless I was already here but would happily bring my friends who want a Chinese food fix in a familiar casino setting (without the super insane casino price tag).

The space is very nice, once found. A friend in town and I were wandering around the Palms while our guys played blackjack, and figured it was a good idea for a cheap afternoon snack, especially in a casino. First, we were seated in the ²⁴⁄₇ café, and did not see dim sum on the menu. We got up and found Cathay House, and moved in there. The hostess never asked us what we wanted, and we had seen the dim sum menu on the flatscreen… silly misunderstanding on my part.
Once seated, we saw the small dim sum menu with the larger Chinese menu. There were plenty of cheap items ($ 2.88 and $ 3.88) on the menu and we wanted like 2 – 4 to snack on. However, when it was time to order, the waiter said after 3 the dim sum menu is limited to 3 or 4 items, all which had pork except for one. This was not on the menu or any sign. If it was listed that way on the flatscreen or on the menu, we probably would not have wasted our time. So we ordered the one, shrimp dumpling listed at $ 2.88. I was disappointed, and mentioned I don’t eat pork, but he didn’t offer an alternative.
We got the dumplings, 4 total, and they were fine. We decided to get the bill because there were no other options, and of course we we charged $ 3.18 for it. I decided not to argue because I imagine we would have been told that after 3, it goes up 30 cents or something. But that is sketchy nonetheless. Not in a rush to go back — I know dim sum is not really an afternoon thing but if Cathay House, which is known for dim sum, is open long hours in a casino, I would think their whole dim sum menu would be available or something should tell patrons that it is not.

Too bad I can’t give a –5 star. We were told that we can’t eat there because we both have to order from the same restraunt (²⁴⁄₇ café is where I usually eat at.). I rarely every want asian food. The wife loves it. So we were really mad at them. This is all very sad because last time we ate there we spent almost $ 80 on us. Oh well their loss.

Just landed, checked in, made up, and craaaaazzzyyy hungry. Dim Sum? I’m in like sin.
The late night dim sum menu is considerably smaller than the dayside one– but I can vouch for the Hot and Sour Soup! Large and delightful soup for about 8 dollars. I tasted hints of chili paste and Siracha sauce in it, but it sure gave it a nice kick.
I observed a burnt out worker order a bowl of hot and sour soup for herself, and slurp that thing down like it was no body’s business.
The Shu Mai ain’t bad either– a happy middle between frozen store bought kind and legit dim sum. I’m thinking the daytime food is probably much more fresh.
Service was alright– nothing stood out. Food took a few minutes to come out, and water was replenished.

The food was disappointed :(The service was much better than in spring mountain. They can speak english yay!

This is one of the restaurants I must visit every time I come to las Vegas. Food and the service always been great (always a plus) ! However, this visit (October, 16^th 2011) was such a disappointment and I probably won’t be going there again anytime soon. We were there around noon time for dim sum. We picked all the items we would usually get at Cathy’s house, the flavors were off and it looks like has been sitting out for a while and looks awful. One of our item was dry and cold, we ask one of the male server if we could exchange it to a fresher one, he just looked at us like we are crazy without saying a word and just walked away. After the meal, we went to the front desk to pay our bill. I ask the cashier lady if they have changed their chef (apparently, most of their old crew went to their new location in palms casino) she seem wasn’t very interested in talking to us, just want us hurry to pay and leave. We were just in shock and disappointed by the way we been treated and how awful their food was. How could one of the best Chinese restaurant in las Vegas become one of the worst in less then a year. What a shame!

I’m giving this 3 stars b/​c i’ve had better dim sum, but if placed in the context of Vegas, this place probably deserves 5 stars b/​c i dont know of any other dim sum places in that city.
The people here actually speak Canto and push around the carts — major kudos.
As far a variety goes, they have the basics. If you need a quick dim sum fix, this place is very decent and again… this is Vegas so Cathay House is quite a gem.

It’s kinda standard that tea is charged per person at a dim sum place regardless of how many people drink the tea. It is just standard practice. If the entire table doesn’t drink tea then that’s fine, but if even ONE person drinks tea, then the whole table is charged — that’s how it is in Asia, that’s how it is in dim sum places all over. I think it’s unfair to give a restaurant a bad rating because you don’t understand the way things are in these types of restaurants.
Having said that, I was skeptical at first when I was in Vegas for a reunion, however, my classmates and I attended school in Hong Kong and everyone was well-​versed in how REAL dim sum is supposed to be. Some of the non-​Chinese people even spoke Chinese so we got seriously good service. They even went to get freshly steamed/​prepared items for us.
They have a good selection of dim sum, not terribly extensive, but good enough with har gow, cha siu bao, chicken’s feet, tripe, pork spareribs, seen juk guen, cheung fun etc. They also offer a menu of a la carte items on top of the dim sum.
I just didn’t expect to find decent dim sum at the Palms, that’s all. If you are staying at the Palms this is as good as any a place to get your dim sum on. If you’re having to drive anyway then go to Chinatown.

As far as Las Vegas dim sum restaurants goes, this one is high on my list now that I know about their relatively more extensive menu selections. Plus, there was hardly any wait during the weekend, which is typically prime time for dim sum.
The food is good, flavor is not over powering, and the service is fairly good as well. Price is reasonable, especially considering that it is a dining spot inside a casino. $ 2.18 (small), $ 2.88 (medium), $ 3.88 (large), and higher prices for specialty items. $ 1 per person for tea, as going to eat dim sum is usually known in Cantonese as going to «drink tea» (pronounced as «yum cha»), as tea is traditionally served with dim sum.
The highlights of what I have tried thus far:
* Fish Paste & Golden Mushroom Crêpe (it is not European crêpe, but the steamed cheong fun). Their varieties of «crêpe» is slightly higher than what you find at typical dim sum, but the gourmet combination of ingredients surpasses anything you will find at those restaurants.
* Baked Chicken and Asparagus Pot Pie — if pot pies get a Chinese makeover and are served in petite bite size appetizer portions, these would be it.
* Baked Durian Pie — If you don’t like durian then don’t order this. I personally enjoy durian, but it is mostly a love it or hate it kind of affair. Why it is on my list of recommendations? I don’t think you can get it anywhere else in the valley, and I have never seen it in San Francisco or Los Angeles for that matter. It is a pot sticker sized baked pastry with flaky dough that surrounds the creamy durian filling.
If you want to check out Cathay House at The Palms, ask the employees for direction to the café (we asked some for directions and they didn’t even know about Cathay House). Cathay House is located in the rear half of the café. There are no direction signages in the casino, and aside from a relatively non-​attention getting name printed vertically on the wall next to the café, its basically a restaurant hidden in plain sight. Finding Cathy House is almost like trying to find the path of illumination, except no cardinals are murdered on the hour and hardly as thrilling as a Dan Brown novel.
Price: ⁴⁄₅ Very reasonable.
Location: ⁴⁄₅ Right inside the casino, perfect for those staying at the Palms or across the street at Gold Coast. If you can find it that is :)
Service: ⁴⁄₅ Pretty good service from the dim sum cart ladies. Not so great at refilling water or tea (needs to be prompt) from the male servers.
Food: ⁵⁄₅ Awesome selection (until 3pm, after that it is a very limited dim sum menu), the food for the most part is as good or better than other dim sum restaurants.
I would totally go back so I can try more unique items that are not served at other dim sum restaurants.