Henderson gets its own dim sum restaurant at East Ocean

This eatery is the dim sum of its parts.

"By 5 o'clock, we're almost sold out of every item," says John Zee, owner of East Ocean Dim Sum & Seafood restaurant, which opened in late August at 9570 S. Eastern Ave. "Usually, after 3 or 3:30, people come in, we cannot provide the whole (dim sum) menu. We tell customer, 'I'm sorry, come in tomorrow' for their (favorite) items."

A style of Chinese food prepared as bite-size or individual portions but usually shared by a dining party, dim sum is pushed around the restaurant on steam carts for selection by patrons and served in steamer baskets at the spacious 300-capacity, 8,000-square-foot establishment.

Served at East Ocean from the morning until 5 p.m. (the restaurant remains open for dinner until 10 p.m.), it was once considered a light snack but is now easily a meal of its own.

"We have close to 60 items, so they take a little here, a little there and sooner or later you fill yourself up," Zee says.

Created by the Cantonese in Southern China, traditional dim sum can include delicacies such as steamed buns, dumplings and rice noodle rolls, which contain foods such as beef, chicken, barbecued pork, prawns and roasted meats, with egg tarts for dessert.

"Maybe two people have 12 to 15 items," Zee says. "The head chef of the dim sum is from Hong Kong, and there are a lot of Chinese people who are experts in the dim sum, so we take suggestions."

East Ocean is on the other side of town from Las Vegas' Chinatown, Zee notes, giving his customers a dim sum restaurant of their own without having to travel to the west side.

"On Sunday, the number of persons coming here is a lot," he says. "We tried to open at 10:30, but by a quarter to 10, people are already standing outside. It force us to open early."

East Ocean Dim Sum & Seafood Restaurant is open 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays.

Specialties: live seafood -- braised lobster in spicy sauce, market price; pan-fried sea bass with soy sauce, $16; whole Peking duck, $35

Appetizers: five flavor cold cuts, $42; honey-glazed barbecue pork, $7; spicy pig ear, $7; rainbow jellyfish, $7

Soups: Supreme seafood broth and bean curd soup, $9; minced chicken with sweet corn soup, $9; hot and sour soup, $9; West Lake egg beef soup, $8

Entrees: squid with black bean sauce, $9; sliced beef with snow peas, $10; steamed egg with seafood tofu, $10; shrimp and chicken fried rice, $12; shredded duck with salty cabbage, $9; mushroom roast pork foo young, $9

Information: 567-4800

By STEVE BORNFELD