Li Wah

Came here with my boyfriend and oh my god did they IMPRESS me! I’m originally from NYC where Chinese food has always been amazing and I am soooo happy to have found this in Cleveland. The service was fantastic, food came out so quickly, atmosphere is nicely decorated. It’s hard to find good restaurants that really do impress and this is a 10/10! Get the general tso!

first time here and i did come on a very busy day and i didn’t like how no one came to offer us water or anything to drink (you do get tea when sitting down) and it was hard to flag someone down but other than that i don’t have any complaints, i was happy to be able to experience dim sum especially w/ carts roaming around the room. the people who had cookie sheets offering food was very friendly and had no problem explaining what everything was. it is in a great location because once you are done eating, it is a supermarket you can go to get everything you need to recreate the same meal but i recommend everyone to come and try this restaurant out

Li Wah Restaurant, Cleveland Ohio In Asia plaza in Asia town. Restaurant had a real Chinese banquet restaurant feel. Staff were Asian spoke both English and Chinese. They offer Asian tea in the tea pot and dim sum in the rolling carts. They had many of the favorite shrimp rolls, pork tips, sesame balls. The food was pretty authentic Chinese. The service is very quick and staff is helpful.

Great Chinese spot in Cleveland. Very authentic food. The portions are very good. My family of three ordered 5 different type of dumplings. The dim sum comes with around three or four portions. The fried noddles were very good and one plate is enough for four. The pineapple buns are a must.

Classic traditional Chinese restaurant with white table clothes and attentive well-dressed waiters and servers with an Asian-themed mall in Cleveland's Asiatown, fairly close to downtown Cleveland. The parking at the small mall is free and one can browse through the small indoor mall and check out other stores and restaurants before or after dinner. The menu options are expansive, and the food options are wide, and the dishes we ordered were uniformly succulent and tasty. The proprietors appear to be civic-minded, which is a plus, as there was a candidates' forum for local offices in an attached dining area when we were there. For authentic fine Chinese dinning in an Asian-themed mall and neighborhood, this spot deserves one's consideration.

We took husband here for his birthday today. He had sweet and sour chicken lunch portion and it was ample we took half home. Son and I had Dim Sum and it was an excellent experience everything was delicious

Inordinately busy on a Sunday morning but they are able to turn the tables very efficiently. The food itself is only adequate, it's just nice to have some dim sum around.

Authentic push cart dim sum with some unique dishes like stewed beef tripe! Prices are a bit on the steep side but worth splurging once in a while for the quality.

In general, I've been disappointed by Cleveland's Chinese food since coming here, however, Li Wah has been the one exception! You _have_ to go to Yum Cha--if you have no experience with Yum Cha, they have a video online to help you out, but, pretty much, servers walk around with carts and ask you if you want certain food items. Context: I'm Chinese American who speaks no Cantonese/Mandarin, so, if you're worried about it, take it from me that you only need English to get by here!

We went to Li Wah around noon on a Saturday, and got some of the dim sum staples: har gao, fried egg plant, tripe. Overall I would say the food is solid, but I could taste that the har gao and tripe had sat out for a little bit as it was a bit dry. Also the tea is premade, as in there are no tea leaves in your teapot, just black tea, and there's a $2 charge added to your bill that they don't tell you about. After having lived in NYC and Chicago, my standards for dim sum are pretty high. However considering we are in the Midwest, and the options being what they are, the food is decent, and I would maybe be more cognizant of the carts that come by and try to time my orders to when things are a bit fresher. Also, it was about $57 for dim sum for two people (there is an 18% included gratuity), which is probably the most I've paid for dim sum for two people. P.s. the fortune cookies are very stale which was very disappointing Overall 2.5 with the potential for 3.5/5, but definitely pricy and the stale fortune cookie is sad

The place looks promising on social media I came for soup dumplings and the ones they served were dry no liquid at all and the potstickers lacked flavor and were a bit rubbery. The home style dumplings were ok the consistency seemed a bit off I didn't order anything else as I've seen all I needed to see. They also don't have high chairs or boosters. The decor is elegant this may have been an elegant place at one point in time. Seems to be ready for a revamp and refresh.

One of our favorite restaurants to visit for dim sum is Li Wah at the Asian Market in Cleveland OH. The staff comes to your table with carts full of dim sum, wonton soup and various dessert items. You can also order off the menu if there are additional items you want to order. Service and food is Excellent and the experience is something you must try.

Some things were very good and others were not. THe chicken and broccoli was very salty. The mango pudding was good and some of the dim sum I liked and some was so bland and slimy. The service was mostly ignoring us, which in a way worked out cause I didn't get more items so saved me money.

Li Wah is a favorite of mine! One of my go-to orders is the beef chow fun (not pictured), but this time we got dim sum, which is another go-to! This is the only place in Northeast Ohio that we can find where they serve dim sum on carts. Pictured is wonton soup, sesame balls, shumai, turnip cake, shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, and a hot dog bun (which I think might be a special for Browns day). Definitely recommend!

I realized tonight I do not like Dim Sum. We ordered 5 different dishes. And we ordered two soups one egg drop and one wonton both were delicious. But I did not like the dim sum. Bland, no flavor. Not for me. On the flip side this place is beautiful inside. Once you walk in there is several shops inside this plaza to go inside that have jewelry and all kinds of Chinese stuff like incense and cute little toys and odds and ends. There is plenty of parking right outside the front door which is nice for being in the downtown area. The beer my husband ordered was very good. I think if I ever came here again I would just get the meat and onions sauteed with rice and noodles. But we wanted to try something different and I realized I do not like dim sum. Now let's go get some tacos!!

It had been a long time since I wanted to try Li Wah and we finally did when a friend was visiting although I was a bit disappointed after the visit. The place is great, really big with a lot of seating options and space for us to choose where to sit which I loved. The menu options were decent too, typical Chinese where you have a lot of variety to choose from but I felt like the prices were quite high for the type of food they were offering. It's being difficult to find a good Chinese spot in Cleveland. The server was very nice, he answered some of our questions about the food and menu, and the food was okay but nothing to rave about. The quality was just fine, I have had way better Chinese food but at least it hit the craving. The portions were also decent.

Li Wah Restaurant, Cleveland Ohio In Asia plaza in Asia town. Restaurant had a real Chinese banquet restaurant feel. Staff were Asian spoke both English and Chinese. They offer Asian tea in the tea pot and dim sum in the rolling carts. They had many of the favorite shrimp rolls, pork tips, sesame balls. The food was pretty authentic Chinese. The service is very quick and staff is helpful.

Love the dim sum carts and the variety of options. Servers are attentive and love the casual feel of the restaurant. It makes eating dim sum quick,easy and comfortable

I was so excited to try this place after seeing a few tik toks about the dim sum. Unfortunately we got there too late for that and what we ordered off the menu was not good. The veggie egg rolls had no taste and no dipping sauce, the boba tasted like powder and the pearls were not cooked properly and chewy, the egg drop soup had an odd aftertaste and was very thick, the won ton soup was flavorless and the wontons were just a noodle no filling, the moo goo gai pan was cold and the rice old, the pad Thai had a pink tint to it and was not very good. The hot tea was delicious and the staff was pleasant but it cost us $100 and we didn't finish anything we got.

It was a beautiful day in Cleveland sittings afternoon off and treated my husband to a late lunch here. The Asian Plaza is neat to walk around. A few shops with gifts and items from Asia. A pharmacy. Reminded me of items available when I traveled to Malaysia. The carts being rolled around d had very interesting items. We ordered a few things to share. Steamed bbq beef buns, sesame balls with red bean paste (more dessert but good anytime lol ) also shrimp dumplings that my husband liked and chicken potsticker. We also shared 幹炒牛河 Dry Beef Chow Fun - a Rice noodle dish with onions bean sprout, green onion & beef. This could've used more beef It was mostly noodle and cabbage. It did taste good. The hot chili in the condiment tray was really good. I also had a taro boba tea. Yum. Service was super. If you get a chance to talk to Ed. He will give you China and Hong Kong history. Nice guy. No extra charge. Definitely recommend !!! We will be back!

Dimsum is such an integral part of my food culture and the nostalgia of carts being pushed around and random dishes being peddled is something hard to find now. Li wah captures that old feeling of dimsum restaurants with the loud clattering, various offerings of food, and the fine hustle and bustle of trying to let you enjoy your time but also trying to get you out so another customer can dine. Dimsum here was decent, I got a lot of my normal suspects and all were good. Having fried taro dumplings and lao sao bao were highlights as I tend to have difficulty finding those. Because there are carts being pushed around, you can order what you like by poitlnting so you can easily get what you want. Of course, for those dishes that aren't available or haven't seen come by, you can also put in orders with the wait staff and they'll bring it out. I will say that latter part tends to be easier if you speak some form of Chinese so service may be different depending on language barriers. Overall, I'm surprised such a restaurant exists in Cleveland and hope to return soon for that hint of nostalgia.

While planning our trip to Cleveland it was my job to find an exquisite meal for dinner on our first night out. I found a lot of places but Li Wah was at the top of the list because of the many good reviews on Yelp and Google. The restaurant is connected to the Asia plaza which houses another Vietnamese Pho restaurant and several other Asia themed shops. I haven't eaten at a real sit down Chinese restaurant since I lived in upstate NY more than 20 years ago and the dim sum looked amazing so I thought let's go here. As other reviewers noted the restaurant is beautiful and the staff are really friendly. The restaurant and bathrooms are clean which is an added bonus. To start our order I chose the Tsing Tao beer ($5.50) which was delicious. For our meals we chose the wonton and egg drop soup and they both were delicious ($4.50 each). We selected 5 dim dum options to share - steamed BBQ pork buns ($5.75), sesame balls ($5.75), shrimp and pork dumpling ($5.95), shrimp rice rolls ($5.95), and the Shanghai pork dumpling ($5.95). The dim sum is cooked fresh and presented beautifully but just didn't have a lot of flavor and as the food cooled the worse the experience became. For me the experience wasn't as bad as it was for my wife and her sister but honestly I wasn't crazy about all the rice flower taste and consistency of the appetizers. There wasn't a lot of meat filler in the dish and it has a weird texture in the mouth that just isn't appetizing. I think that we would have all been happier if we chose a regular dinner item instead. I was the only one who could actually finish all of the dim sum. Unfortunately, this really wasn't enough food for me. Later in the evening we were all hungry again so we stopped at The Barrio for tacos which was great so I made up for this bad dim sum experience. I want to give this restaurant 4 stars because it has that authentic Chinese restaurant feel, but our dim sum meal was 2 star at best and killed our overall dining experience, so I am going with 3 stars for now. I'm sure if we went with one of the many other menu options we would have been much happier. I would definitely give this restaurant another chance if I'm back in the area one day. My recommendation is to definitely give this place a try if you're looking for an authentic Chinese dining experience in a beautiful setting. If you do order dim sum it might be best to try one or two options versus going all in like we did. Then purchase a meal you might be familiar with such as Mongolian beef or pepper steak so you have a back up should the dim sum dish fail your expectations.

TASTY CHINESE EATS IN CLEVELAND! I don't know what the demographics are of Cleveland, OH but this Asia Plaza, that Li Wah Restaurant is located in, certainly gives a worthy comparison to what we have in Los Angeles, CA. The first thing when we walk into Li Wah, that strikes me, is how friendly the staff is! Everyone is smiling! Even the crabs in the water tanks are!!! I coulda sworn one of them gave me a "tip your cap" gesture as I walked by toward the bathroom! Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles RARELY smile, so this is a BIG plus! The second thing noticed was the scent of Honey Walnut Shrimp in the air! How could you NOT walk into this place with an aroma like that?!? We were visiting Cleveland to watch my son compete in a Volleyball tournament at Cleveland State University and after a long day Da Kid was craving sustenance! Smelling that scent just sucked my son in like a vacuum and made his stomach growl like a lion! Luckily Li Wah was open later in the evening because Chinese dim sum is his jam! Pleasant atmosphere, spacious dining area, AND a whole buncha Asian folk inside confirming the foods' authenticity lol! Alrighty... let's eat! WALNUT SHRIMP with CREAMY SAUCE: HAD to order this just because of that aroma in the air and it did not disappoint! Slight carmelization yet still creamy as well, made for some really tasty shrimps that were plump & juicy. Ample broccoli florets as a border for the dish were perfectly steamed and complemented the dish perfectly. This did not last long. SHANGHAI PORK DUMPLING (their Xiao Long Bao): Comes 5 pieces per order. Not a rival to what we can get in Los Angeles or New York City, but for Cleveland, I am pretty happy with the quality of XLB that we got here. Smaller in size but the wrapper held strong when pulled from bamboo container with chopsticks. Meat inside had some flavor to it and definitely a juicy explosion when you bit into each dumpling. Not bad, Cleveland... not bad at all. SPICY SALT & PEPPER SQUID: Yummy YUMMY!! Big plate of squid pieces perfectly deep fried, that had nice flavor and heat to it. Not gummy at all. I'd order this again! HONG KONG STYLE VANCOUVER CRAB: Big dish of shelled crab pieces battered, flavored, and deep fried. Pretty big serving, probably better to be shared, than eaten solo. VERY GOOD FLAVOR TO IT! Not sure how they can flavor the meat inside the shell but it was. My mom's loved every bite! They provide all the appropriate tools to get the meat fyi ;) PEPPER STEAK HO FUN (their Chow Fun): Another large serving here! This wide noodle dish is has a really good taste to it. The noodles are well prepared, not soft & squishy but more of a chewy gummy texture. Big chunks of steak are cooked just right so it's not chewy at all. Solid stuff. BABY BOK CHOY with GARLIC SAUCE: Had to get some fiber in so we decided on something a lil more unique than what we are use to. The garlic sauce is flavorful but garlic-ness is subtle. The Bok Choy is crisp. Big dish, good for a group of people or 1 vegetarian who wants one dish ;) VERY EASY RECOMMENDATION! A solid option for Chinese dim sum and traditional entrees in Cleveland, OH. Enjoy ;)

Great value Authentic Large number Asian customers Some waiters speak Minimal English Dim sum is outstanding

Love the dim sum here. It's not the best I've ever had but it's solid. A little pricey but won't break the bank. Big fan of the jellyfish and crispy pork. Dim sum is typical dumplings, chicken feet, steamed ribs .... Located in Asiatown plaza. Nice place for lunch.

Honestly this place was my stomping ground for years. The service is just fine, but the food is the real deal and the prices are very fair! I've also never had to wait more than a few mins because it's spacious inside with lots of tables. I always leave very full with my dim sum craving satisfied. I don't live in Cleveland anymore but now that I'm gone I really miss this place - it's hard to find good dim sum for a good price!

Went for lunch, and let me tell you, phenomenal!! The food was so fresh hot! Tea was excellent. Just all around a great place, definitely will be back! Service was great, they roll around every couple minutes to make sure you're good on your drink and your food. Ambiance is just as you would think, being in a very nice upscale Chinese restaurant.

I have been coming to Li Wah for over 30 years. As usual, the service and the food were incredible. We went Christmas Eve (an annual tradition) and our party of seven was seated right away. The food arrived very quickly and as always - was delicious! 10/10

We did the dim sum brunch here today and it was really good. I am (mostly) vegetarian so I was nervous about finding things I could eat but the staff was really awesome about making sure they brought me every veg option! I also ordered veggie lo mein. - veggie dumpling (5/5) - I've never had a dumpling with a rice paper wrapping but it was amazing. The veggies were super crunchy and tasty, especially with a little spicy sauce - lo mein (4/5) - fresh and tasty but not super different from other lo Leon's I've had elsewhere - scallion pancake (4/5) - the pancake itself was perfection but I wish it came with a dipping sauce! - sesame ball (5/5) - a perfect way to end the meal, although I'm a sucker for anything with red bean paste The place is huge so it would easily accommodate large parties, just be sure to come early because they get busy by like 11am.

Christmas lunch (dinner)! We placed an order over the phone and saw the limited menu for the Holiday. They didn't allow for substitutions or split checks-which was understandable. They told us it would be a 30 minute wait, and unfortunately it was much longer due to the holiday. All the meat options come with white rice (in case anyone was wondering haha). My brother waited there for an additional 30 minutes and was able to pick everything up! Food was hot and ready and very delicious. Would come again:) Merry Christmas!!

This is the worst dim sum I've ever had. Dry soup dumplings with little flavor, undercooked pork dumplings, undercooked or unset custard buns.... The food is inedible. We weren't given water or tea, had to ask for water, and we stopped eating after a couple of bites. They asked us if we wanted boxes for all of the untouched food which seemed odd rather than asking us why we didn't touch most of the food. They charge an automatic 18% service charge which is smart on their part because they wouldn't have gotten anything otherwise. Stay away from this place.

Overrated and overpriced. Everything I tried was terrible. Get out of the city if you want something tasty at a reasonable price. Try dragon gate or china jade.

Taste: 1 Freshness: 1 Service: 1 "Tea": 1 Price: 1 Loud ass jets suddenly flying over: 1 Flies everywhere: 1 State of the bathroom: 1

I learned a very valuable lesson with this order. I ordered through UberEats... the food came as ordered and the fried chicken was still crispy! However, I almost died, it is so spicy. Complex depth of flavor, with simple ingredients. It took several times to finish it with all the breaks I had to take. It's good, very good. However, do to my skill set with heat, I will not order this again. But, I will always take some bites from someone else's plate. If u like spicy and full of flavor... this is for you!

Traveling the country trying out dim sum restaurants, I decided to try this restaurant while out in the Cleveland area. It was still the first dim sum restaurant that shows up on a search even after searching several years later from my first experience. I came on a Saturday and was excited to see them pushing carts. Overall the food quality was better than what I previously remembered. The dishes not on the carts that I wanted came out very fast after requesting them, and tasted excellent. Overall an improvement from what I previously remember, and was excited to see a dim sum restaurant still open after trying it several years earlier.

Ended up here after another restaurant was closed, but it was a blessing in disguise! My work team came to celebrate a birthday lunch and the food was delicious. The general tso's chicken was great. We tried veggie spring rolls and dumplings too - also really good. Staff were friendly and nice atmosphere!

Been going to Li Wah for decades since there aren't any authentic/decent dim sum places in Pittsburgh. Dim sum has had its phases of ups and downs but today's dim sum was on point for Chinese New Year! Keep up the great work, dim sum chefs!

Yummy dim sum in Cleveland! My friends and I drove all the way from Pittsburgh, PA for some dim sum. It's the most authentic in the region. The restaurant has carts filled to the brim with steaming dumplings, buns and other classic dim sum dishes. All listed on the menu. There are also fried dishes, including sweet and savory pastries. The quality of the dim sum does not compare to that of NYC/NJ/CA, but satisfies a craving haha. Overall a little pricey for what you are paying for. My family and I also went for dinner in the summer and ordered a bunch of dishes like sautéed green beans, roasted duck, black pepper beef, shrimp and walnuts, west lake beef soup, chicken with broccoli. All were very average. The wait staff speak both English and Chinese. Many of which speak a dialect of Cantonese - Taishanese/Toisan. There is plenty of parking in a parking lot. Tldr Food 3.5/5 Service 4/5 Interior 3.5/5

We had Sunday lunch at Li Wah. I was very excited to have Dim Sum as there are not many places in Northeast Ohio that have it. I was disappointed as the only item served that was hot was wonton soup. Dumplings, bbq beef, egg rolls were at best, warm. It was a busy day as it was Christmas Eve so perhaps that might be why? There was a good assortment of items available. Food taste was fine. I was disappointed that there were no dipping sauces served with dumplings and egg rolls. I don't think I'll be going back. It was difficult to have a conversation as the cart pushers really push the food! No thank you doesn't mean know. Prices were fair.

Came here with a group of 20 and they were very accommodating. Dim sum was solid and everything hit the spot. If you're ever craving Chinese food or dim sum, this will do the job. The manager (i think) was super friendly with his incredible smile and all the servers definitely made sure we had enough food. Food: 7/10 Service: 7/10 Vibes: 6/10 Value: 5/10

This place is awesome for dim sum! Try to go with at least 3 people so you can try several items. "Plates" usually feature 3-4 pieces of the item and are meant to be shared. You are greeted with a pot of tea. Several staff go around with fresh items from the kitchen- just give a wave and they'll come right over. Food is constantly being rolled through so you'll be eating right away. The service is lightning quick! I loved almost every dish. Maybe the pork bun (top right) wasn't great, but you can't expect to hit on 100%. These aren't common foods for the average Clevelander, so you need to be step outside your comfort zone (you can do it!). I wouldn't recommend this place if you are vegetarian or don't eat pork. I have had several great meals here with friends and family. My parents in their 70s LOVE this place. Afterwards go get a taro bubble tea from somewhere else nearby and smile because today, LIFE IS GOOD!

Great service and the staff was super friendly. We ordered a dish, but it came out as we were paying the bill and they ended up giving it to us for free without us having to ask. They were super apologetic and understanding. The food tasted great and I would definitely come back!

Vast variety of great Dim sum! Staff were extremely helpful in getting the cart we wanted. Thank you!

Great atmosphere and delicious food. Excellent dim sum on weekend mornings, go and try a bit of everything!

We came back for another round of the Dim Sum! This time we brought a group -- there were seven of us -- so we had a chance to try lots of different types of Dim Sum and it was great! We all enjoyed ourselves and we're making plans to return soon!

We've been here multiple times and love that they offer the push cart service. We make the drive from Pittsburgh every few months. This time we arrived right when they opened and not everything was done so we had to wait around for a few items (egg tarts and roasted pork) some items weren't steamed long enough so it was barely warm. I love their fried rice. It's simple but so delicious. No many places add bean sprouts to their fried rice. This is the first time we ran into that problem where the food wasn't up to par. My husband order this beef tripe soup thing and it was awful. The cilantro shrimp crystal dumpling wasn't good either. There was no cilantro in it and their wasn't a lot of shrimp in it and lacked any seasonings. It was mostly a under cooked dumpling wrapper. The service is always ok but it is a traditional Asian restaurant so that has to be expected to an extend. It's not bad service but you do have to ask for water refills or if you want something off the menu you have to wave them down. The waitress don't always come check on you. They also add an automatic gratuity no matter the size party. Restaurant is pretty big and they have multiple large table to fit 8-10 people. It's typical Chinese decoration and tons of plants at the entrance of the restaurant. I think some of them are fake and need to be rid of because it looks dirty.

My friend and I had been to Li Wah and really enjoyed it. Prior to the pandemic, we would drive from Cincinnati to visit Cleveland and eat at Li Wah. What happend to this place? This weekend, we were in town and thought to eat at Li Wah--having had such nice meals in the past. We arrived at 3:30 Saturday. The greeting was not very welcoming. Despite many open tables, we were placed right near the kitchen entry. We were given water and within two minutes, the server wanted our order. We were very disappointed they had stopped dim sum at 3pm (how about putting at on Google?!). We finally gave our order to a very impatient server. We ordered several dumplings from rhe dim sum appetizers and a pu pu platter. What happened to this place?! We should have had the courage to get up and walk out when we realized the dim sum stopped at 3pm. Anyway, the food was nasty. The pu pu patter was NOT good. The egg rolls were burnt, the "crab rangoon" tasted like none we had ever had before. It was filled with a ground chicken filling. Not good. The two battered shrimp were saturated with oil. Nasty. Moving on to the few dim sum we ordered. We ate it. That's all I can say. We went most of the meal with no water refill, although many servers passed our table often. In fact, OUR waiter cared enough to immediately snatch empty dim sum containers off the but was oblivious to our empty water glasses. And, they charge a mandatory 18% "service fee"! For what? In our opinion, this automatic collection of 18% of your bill ensures they get a tip and gives them permission to give lousy service. We will never go back. This place has changed in the most negative of ways. I truly hope they can turn things around.

Great dim sum lunch!! Just happened by this palce and decided to pop in to try their dim sum. Very good and recommend. A bit overpriced ($60 for 2 people before tip). But we did eat until full to be fair. Likely to return to see how their crispy duck and entrees checks out based on dim sum exp. :)

Nice people! Nice food! This is one of the few authentic Chinese restaurants in Cleveland! Check out their dim sum menu on the weekend easily the best dim sum in Cleveland!

Their dim sum is amazing, so many dishes to choose from, they have many carts going around at all times and a cart immediately showed up at our table after we sat down. They tell you what is on their cart so you know if you want to get it or not, there wasn't a single dish that we got that I didn't like, they were all unique in their own way, but all delicious. The tea was very good too.

The food is very high quality and the takeout service is very quick and efficient. Th

I had higher expectations. Although the service was fast and the food tasted decent, the price and the pushy selling of the dim sum was a bit of a turn-off. Like that the idea of dim sum is that you get warm food right away but it's not a must visit.

Hmmm, sad to post poor reviews as the restaurant business is extremely challenging. On the positive side, this place deserves credit for attempting to provide authentic Cantonese food and dim sum in a city that may not have a large demand for this cuisine. The dim sum was not the most fresh with mushy shrimp in the shrimp rice rolls and shrimp dumplings (ha gow). The recommended garlic spare ribs were greasy rib cartilage and/or fatty, all large clunky chunks. The twin lobster with ginger and scallions were very small, greasy and over coated with corn starch. Probably our fault for ordering them as the live seafood tanks were filled with cloudy, murky water. The stir fried Chinese broccoli was the best dish. We ate about 20% of what we ordered. Maybe being Cantonese with origins in Hong Kong, NYC and LA created a high bar, but I would recommend almost any of Cleveland's other venues and waiting to have dim sum in HK, NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, Houston or another city/town that's up to post 2000's Chinese cuisine standards. Sadly, Li Wah brings back memories of small town Chinese food in the 70's...or from looking at all their other positive reviews, maybe we just happened to come on a weekday day when they were off their game.

I've been eating here since 2004 when I was new to Cleveland I'll say this again... one way to figure out if a Chinese restaurant is authentic is if they serve braised chicken feet or beef tripe. Also, no forks! The service style is "different" not like say, Applebee's with the greeting and the whole programmed dance of words and key phrases that come after, just wave your hand up and there's enough staff to get you what you need.

I visited Cleveland for vacation to visit family. One of the places I visited was Li Wah restaurant. Their dim sum is satisfactory for Asian food in the Midwest. I went on a weekend around 10 just before the lunch crowd arrived because IT GOT PACKED. At this dim sum house, food is wheeled out in carts for you to see and order. Stamps are applied to the food you order which you pay for at the end of the meal. Like always, I got my go-to dim sum staples.   Har Gow -Steamed shrimp dumpling with ginger in a rice dumpling. -This is a must-eat when at a dim sum house. Li Wah did an incredible job with this dish and tasted similarly to other shrimp dumplings from other dim sum houses.      Shu Mai -Steamed pork dumplings in egg wonton wrapper -This is another classic. The Shu Mai here was average size and quality (I've had larger and juicier/tender pork dumplings at other locations).   Sin Jook Goon -Beancurd wrapped ground pork and vegetables. -I liked the Sin Jook Goon here at Li Wah because it had a good ratio of filling that tasted great!   Ngau Paak Jip (tripe) -Ginger scallion beef stomach -Things to look out for when eating this dish is the texture of the tripe and the flavor of the ginger scallion sauce. Li Wah's tripe was well cooked. It had a tender and moderately chewy texture but not overcooked to the point of chewing on rubber. For the ginger scallion sauce, there was the perfect amount of seasoning that I am accustomed to from other dim sum houses.   Pai kuat -Steamed pork spareribs in black bean sauce -My favorite dish at Li Wah. Their spareribs are exceptionally tender and fell off the bone. Other locations can overcook it making the meat dry and difficult to eat. The black bean sauce it was cooked in tasted fantastic and reminiscent of the flavor from my hometown dim sum houses. I would highly recommend this!   Overall, I am always excited to visit Li Wah Restaurant for dim sum. They had good quality of dim sum dishes. Of note, each one of those dishes are $5.95 or higher. Sadly, dim sum prices have been getting more and more expensive! If you live in Cleveland and need your fix of dim sum, Li Wah is a great place to visit!

Above average dim sum restaurant. A nice variety of dishes. It's good enough that we drive in from Pittsburgh when we are in the mood for dim sum. Way better than any dim sum in Pittsburgh.

Dim sum on Sundays at Li Wah is super fun! When my friend said she wanted to do an early dim sum, it seemed like a unique idea. Authentic dim sum is hard to find in Cleveland, and Li Wah certainly made my first experience memorable. Located in a plaza in AsiaTown, you'd be silly to not try Li Wah, a true institution, at once. When you sit down for your dim sum, you're going to be immediately overwhelmed by the organized chaos of sites, sounds and smells. So how does dim sum work? Food comes served in steam table trolleys stacked high with bamboo or metal steamer baskets. They get pushed around the restaurant from table-to-table, and you order by pointing at the dishes you want. Each table gets a card that's stamped with the number of dishes ordered (price can vary by dish), and you pay when you leave. It can for sure be a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, my friend really knew her way around the dim sum. To be completely honest, just have the mindset to go and experiment. You might be pleasantly surprised! Desserts, appetizers, soups, dumplings... just try it all.