Yue Huang
Yue Huang is a Chinese restaurant in Natomas that has a bit of notoriety. It has Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition - which means it is recognized as a restaurant of high quality in the area. It has also been placed as one of Sacramento’s top 50 restaurants, so there’s a lot of hype surrounding Yue Huang.
I’ve been to Yue Huang a number of times for both lunch and dinner so I’ve been able to see first hand the quality of food offered here. Yue Huang is a top notch restaurant with flavors, presentation, and decor that all add up to an excellent dining experience. It’s no wonder that this restaurant is always brimming with activity during their peak hours.
If you’re into dim sum, Yue Huang is a legitimate spot for it. If you don’t know what dim sum is, here’s the skinny. Dim Sum is a Cantonese meal where you choose little plates to eat. There are many types of traditional dim sum items - from sweet egg tarts to the popular BBQ pork buns. The dishes are typically served on carts that roam around the restaurant. See something you like and ask the server to stop and hand it to you. It’s sort of like tapas. Each item has a certain cost and at the end of the meal you just tally everything up and pay at the end.
On my latest visit to Yue Huang, there were no carts going around the dining area. Instead, we were given a dim sum menu to select the items we wanted from there. After turning in the menu with our selections, the dishes would be brought out to us. I’m not sure when this change occurred, but it’s definitely not as fun as the carts roaming around. Maybe it’s a COVID-19 thing. I really don’t know.
In any case, the menu method is fine and the food comes out pretty quickly. The dim sum overall is above average and all have the taste that you’d be looking for in each individual item. Some dim sum places are excessively greasy. That’s not the case here. I found the dim sum items to be clean tasting and well done.
As indicated by the amount of people eating in the restaurant, I’d say that a lot of people agree with that sentiment. Yue Huang is a great choice for a nice mid morning to lunchtime dim sum meal.
As for dinner, the menu is very traditionally Cantonese. Cantonese cuisine is delicate and has a very refined flavor. Typically nothing is overly spiced, but at Yue Huang I found that most of the dishes kicked up the flavor profile a bit.
The dinner menu is quite vast and you can order favorites like Peking Duck. Lots of Asian vegetable and tofu dishes are also on the menu.
This restaurant does a great job of serving fresh food and giving its customers exactly what they expect from a nice Chinese restaurant. It’s certainly nice to have a place such as this in Sacramento as there aren’t many like it.
Yue Huang is on the pricier side of Chinese restaurants. Dim sum for four can be upwards of 80-100 dollars with the same being said of dinner. The nice environment and authentic cooking allow them to charge what they do.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Yue Huang to anyone looking for a traditional Cantonese style restaurant. They do a great job and they show why they are so recognized in the city.
Website: www.yuehuangdimsum.com
Address: 3860 Truxel Road Sacramento, Ca 95834
Rating: A
Yue Huang is a restaurant that shows how much Sacramento has grown in the area of Chinese food. A decade ago, you’d have to go to San Francisco to get something close to what they offer at Yue Huang.
