Publication Date: Friday Nov 5, 1999

Restaurant Review: Practice makes perfect

It's just plain hard. The basics of crepes, souffles, even sushi rolls can be conveyed in just a few cooking classes. But trying to make any of the intricately folded dim sum dumplings is like attempting a scale model of the Lucitania made from fresh earthworms. The dough wriggles, it slips, the filling squirms out. It prompts invective and spitting vituperation, preferably in Chinese, but any language will do.

Cho Yu would tell you, if he were inclined, that the secret to success is just like that joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice. He should know--his little place on California Avenue has been the Carnegie Hall of dim sum for more than 20 years. That makes him the maestro, or maybe the impresario.

Most dim sum fans are familiar with the minuscule storefront near Kinko's, but for those who are new to the area or just a little slow: Cho's is the place to go for all your potsticker needs. It ain't pretty, and you might be inclined to do takeout, but Cho's offers Mandarin-style dim sum frozen or freshly steamed and fried. And it's cheap. Really cheap.

The slow accretion of hand-lettered signs in recent years has made it more difficult to place an order at Cho's. You stand at the little counter and scan the menu, then the walls, then even the front window for recent additions to the Cho's oeuvre. You finish ordering only to realize he also has shrimp dumplings and vegetable chow mein (after 3 p.m.). In a gluttonous panic, you add them to the order.

Then you stand around and watch Yu hop to it in the partially visible kitchen. The hiss of dumplings in hot oil and the scrape of wood against thin metal is audible over the scratchy Chinese radio. If you sit down in the adjacent dining room, you can view the Yu children's artwork, which is slowly being obscured by more hand-lettered signs ("No skates or skateboards," "Do not move tables" "No other food or drink allowed"). There are only four tables, most equipped with folding metal chairs and a few sections of soy-spattered newspaper. These you read until the food arrives.

In a nod to the big burger chains, Cho's offers a couple of "super value meals" (this, despite everything on the menu being under $4). It's a good place to start for the neophyte--one eggroll, two pork buns and three pork potstickers for $3.25. The potstickers are the best, with their crisp fried side contrasting with the rest of the slithery dumpling and a savory, gingery pork filling that shows some variation visit to visit. (Here's how to eat them: Bite the head off one, pour in a few drops of soy, wag it in the vinegary hot sauce and bring the chopsticks carefully to your lips.)

The eggroll is prototypical, featuring crunchy cabbage in a golden fried wrapper. And the pork buns are airy, sweet white bread cradling a sweet, electric-pink barbecued pork filling.

The vegetable potstickers (six for $3.50) and the chicken potstickers (also six for $3.50) are good, but not up to the pure genius of the pork version. Shanghai pork balls (six for $3) and small steamed dumplings (six for $3) are variations on a theme: different wrappers, different fold jobs, similar ground pork filling. Wonton soup ($2.75) brings a delicate chicken broth crowded with similar slithery dumplings filled with either pork or chicken. Hot-and-sour soup is a murky broth with a real hot-and-sour kick, stippled with egg, tofu, bamboo shoot and other usual suspects.

For dessert there are fortune cookies; beverages are limited to sodas (75 cents) and Crystal Geyser waters (75 cents). Unlike so many dim sum houses, Cho's isn't about an endless procession of choices and temptations. But how many masterpieces do you need?

Cho's Mandarin Dim Sum,213 California Ave., (650) 326-4632

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sun.

Atmosphere: The interior is a lot like the gritty restaurants in the post-apocalyptic L.A. film "Blade Runner." The teeny storefront has been decorated organically over 20 years with signs that date back to the beginning. What it lacks in comfort and beauty Cho's makes up for in edgy charm.

Highlights: Potstickers are at the top of the list, but all of the pork dumplings are masterful.

About the owner: Cho Yu has been an institution on California Avenue for more than 20 years. Reservations - no Credit cards - no Parking - street Liquor - no Takeout - yes Banquet - no Wheelchair access - no Highchairs - no Outdoor seating - no 

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