International District restaurant owners are unlikely to wish their menu items sold like hotcakes, since it turns out the breakfast dish doesn’t sell well at all in the neighborhood.
Last month, Tim Lee introduced an omelet-and-pancake buffet at China Club Bistro (609 S. Weller St.), the second declared fusion restaurant to open in the ID this year. “I think fusion is going to be the future,” Lee told Voracious after the restaurant’s grand opening, complete with dragon dance. “Even the Chinese from China are trying to get away from Chinese food.”
But not on weekend mornings, apparently: Lee recently suspended China Club’s Westernized brunch service. “We tried the brunch promotion, but it was not very successful,” Lee wrote in response to an e-mail asking for more details. “We are doing Dim Sum lunch instead. Thank you for calling. Please come try our Dim Sum.”
China Club’s dim sum doesn’t include any pancakes—of either the scallion or syrup-drenched variety—but the menu features steamed lotus-seed buns, chicken feet, pan-fried turnip cakes, and barbecued-pork rice noodles.
