New restaurant brings Cantonese street food to Costa Mesa

Mo Mi Mei means … absolutely nothing in Chinese.

It’s a term of endearment that Sumter Pendergrast’s father-in-law uses with his wife, Chi-Lin.

When Pendergrast was looking to help open a new Chinese restaurant locally, Mo Mi Mei sounded just fine.

After snatching up a website and Instagram handle, the restaurant was one step closer to reality.

Guests dine on a variety of Cantonese street-style steamed rice roll entrees at the new Mo Mi Mei in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We own the word, but it’s so cute,” Chef Jo Situ Allen said. “I was joking that we’ve got to be the next Momofuku, we’ve got to have Ms in our name.”

Mo Mi Mei, which opened last month in the Mesa North Shopping Center, has a different take on noodles than Chef David Chang’s popular creation.

This restaurant treats patrons to Cantonese street food — steamed rice rolls, or “gua cheung fun” — that may not be familiar to many.

The concept was born from the trio of South African designer Stuart Dooley, Sidecar Doughnuts founder Pendergrast and Allen.

A Cantonese street-style steamed rice roll called the Farmer’s Market, at the new Mo Mi Mei cafe in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“Rice rolls, people think sushi,” Pendergrast said. “It is a new food group. I think that’s a good thing, because it’s novel. It’s not like, here, here’s a pizza or a doughnut. People need to try it to see what it actually is … It’s been fun to introduce this type of food to people.”

Mo Mi Mei offers a taste of home to Allen, who grew up in Kaiping, China, and ate shrimp rolls daily with her parents before immigrating to the United States in the 1980s.

The eatery seeks to blend Cantonese street food with a California twist, with pork, beef, shrimp, chicken and veggie rice roll offerings. Customers can choose classic entrees or “glow up” dishes that feature a different take.

Co-founder and chef Jo Situ-Allen with staff at Mo Mi Mei restaurant in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The restaurateurs are proud that they use avocado oil for the cooking. The rolls are also dairy/gluten free.

“We’re making it the traditional way here, the way it was done on the streets, which is a marble stone mill,” Allen said. “We soak the rice for a number of hours, then we grind the rice milk fresh. There’s no preservatives, no additives.”

The result can be compared to dim sum, but it’s not totally similar. The rolls can be topped with a few different sauces, including a low-sodium house sauce.

A steamed rice roll with caramelized pork, romaine, peanut sauce and thai basil at the Mo Mi Mei restaurant in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“Dim sum is mini Chinese appetizers,” Allen said. “This is very much a street food. It’s meant to be simple and served hot and made right before you.”

The California twist is perhaps best exemplified in the chicken roll offering, named the “Farmer’s Market,” which is topped with romaine lettuce, mint and dill but also features three different types of citrus — naval oranges, tangerine and grapefruit.

“I’m really proud of it,” Allen said. “It’s different.”

Co-founder and chef Jo Situ-Allen with desert tarts at the Mo Mi Mei restaurant in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Customers can also order “congee” — a rice porridge served hot — or sides like pickled vegetables or a smashed cucumber salad.

Pendergrast, who has seen Sidecar Doughnuts blossom to seven locations from its original space in Eastside Costa Mesa, is excited about his newest venture.

“Most people come in like, ‘I don’t know what this is, but I like it,’” he said. “We’re trying to get feedback. I think all of the meat flavors are spectacular. The hardest part is really the noodles, to get it right consistently everyday.”

Mo Mi Mei is open six days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and closed on Mondays.

A welcoming neon sign at Mo Mi Mei restaurant in Costa Mesa.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)