So, has this recession got you wondering if you can still afford to eat out?

If you’re looking for a cheap meal, you could eat well, and for the unbelievable bargain of not just less than $10, but FOR LESS THAN $5 (for most people), if you happen to know where to look. Ethnic enclaves are gems for cheap eats, and as the UA Budget Gourmet, I’m always excited to share my inexpensive, yet tasty finds with others, because paying a lot of money doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a good meal, right?

During this installment of my CHEAP EATZ series, I wanna take you guys to YUM CHA CAFÉ in Chinatown. This is a dim sum café chain (other locations in San Gabriel Valley, or SGV), where you order your food at the counter, either by pointing through the glass, or by stating your choices. Then, you’re rung up, and handed your tray for eating in. You could also order your food to go, and YUM CHA CAFÉ also does catering. Check out their menu selection here (look under Dim Sum, BBQ, and Catering tabs): http://www.yumchacafe....

If your goal is to sample as many varieties of dim sum as possible, we could dine FAMILY-STYLE, where we share our food, and split the cost evenly, or if you prefer, we could just buy and eat our own selections...I’ll leave it up to you guys to decide what you want to do.

I’m having us meet at the relatively early time of 11:15am, since there’s a noontime rush, where it’s hard(er) to get a table, particularly since we’ll need about two or three of them...otherwise, you have to hover around the tables already occupied by other diners to stake one out.

After we get full on steamed dumplings, fried breads, baked buns, BBQ pork/duck, noodle soups, congees (porridge), etc., we’ll do an area crawl, checking out the many bargains to be found in Chinatown. If the group’s down for it, we could even cross the freeway bridge over to Little Tokyo and look around there, as well.

I hope you’ll join me for this delicious, bargain-of-a-lunch at YUM CHA CAFÉ, followed by a Chinatown crawl. :)

UA Budget Gourmet (a.k.a., “mo”)
MOBILE [masked]

(** If you’re running late, or can’t make it for whatever reason, please text or call me, so we’re not waiting for you...thanks!)

[ PARKING ]

You may find metered parking on the streets, as well as many lots with $4 all-day parking.

[ By METRO ]

You’re a relatively short walk away from Yum Cha Café, if you take the GOLD LINE and get off at either Union Station or the Chinatown exit.