After setting the standard for meat-free Chinese fare with Veggie House and its Chinatown follow-up, Chef Kenny’s Asian Vegan Restaurant—and also creating the city’s first vegan drive-thru spot, VegeWay—Kenny Chye set out on a new mission.
“A few years ago a friend who had come over to the vegan side was telling me how much they missed dim sum,” Chye says. “When you go to [traditional] dim sum, you can only get one or two vegan or vegetarian [options]. At that time I had VegeWay so I was pretty busy, but I said give me two years.”
Chef Kenny’s Vegan Dim Sum opened last month, expanding and upgrading the dining space at the former Liang’s Kitchen on West Flamingo. It’s comfortable and quaint, possibly the coziest setting so far from this innovative chef and restaurateur. But like his other eponymous local eatery, the new spot has quickly become very popular for takeout, too.
The new menu borrows from the most popular dishes at Kenny’s Asian Vegan, delicious stuff like spicy vegan crispy beef made with soy protein ($15) and vegan sea bass ($16) in ginger sauce. Another Chef Kenny innovation, vegan sushi, shows up here, too. But you can’t try this spot out with exploring the dim sum menu, where Chye really showcases his continued exploration of vegetable and protein blends to present magical interpretations of familiar flavors and textures.
“The shumai is already one of the most popular but also one of the most difficult [dishes] to make,” he says. “A lot of restaurants can’t make those even if they aren’t vegan.”
His vegan shumai ($5) are oversized, plump and juicy, some of the most savory imposters you’ll find in Las Vegas. The har gow, listed on the menu as shrimp dumplings ($5) , are another impressive replication, nailing the texture. The favorite selection so far might be the steamed pork bun bao ($5)—that same lovely, fluffy bread you’re expecting, filled with a unique combination of soy product, mushrooms and squash. The satisfaction level’s through the roof.
Pan-fried chive cakes ($7), crispy-chewy sesame balls ($5) and an egg custard tart ($6)—standard offerings at traditional dim sum parlors—round out Chef Kenny’s dim sum offerings. If the dumplings at those other places tend to run a little more greasy and fatty than you’d like, the lighter, cleaner food here might be up your alley.
Standout appetizers include roti with curry ($6) and a half-dozen pan-fried vegetable dumplings ($8), and the turmeric salad ($7) with oyster mushrooms, spinach and cilantro is a great complement. There are plenty of tasty tofu and vegetable stir fry dishes—crispy spicy eggplant ($14) is another must-order—plus chow fun and chow mein noodle options.
If you’re an omnivore trying to eat a little less meat who enjoys the occasional Impossible or Beyond burger, Chye’s cuisine already should be your Chinese dine-in and takeout alternative. But no matter your regular diet, everyone should recognize that his latest step creating vegan dim sum is not only difficult but rare.
“You don’t see much of this anywhere, even in Los Angeles or San Francisco,” he says. “The best part is every day someone comes in and says this food made their day.”
CHEF KENNY’S VEGAN DIM SUM 5570 W. Flamingo Road #110, 702-251-3920. Daily, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. & 4:30-9:30 p.m.
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