Food here is delicious, especially the lunch special
Reviewed by:
Mike K. on:
2/15/2013 3:53:00 PM
Dinner there last night was great. Peking Duck, Scallops, the Sake was nice and hot. Wait staff is fast and efficient, but the reason for this post is that I love this place. For some reason I just enjoy this place and go back frequently. What can I say? This ain't Chinatown, but the food is just as good, the wait is way shorter, and the experience is always pleasant.
Reviewed by:
Bruce W. on:
2/10/2013 9:46:00 PM
While the food is okay-to-good, the staff and service is beyond awful. I never expect good customer service at Chinese restaurants but this was a new low. When we arrived on a very bust day, no one would give us a number to be seated--now you might think this to mean there were no attending hosts but there were actually quite a number of hosts, all of which would say, "Go see that guy" only to find that 'that guy' would send us to 'that girl' and around and around. We finally got a ticket and then realized that the ticket meant nothing because they were randomly calling the numbers, which in turn, lead to patrons fighting for open tables. The staff would literally just stand there and watch to see who the victorious diners would be--it was almost comical in a pathetic kinda way. So finally seated and waiting for our first (and last) meal here at the House of Banquet: The carts of dim sum came out in spurts--a convoy fleet and then nothing. A few minutes later, a dim sum cart driver (unlicensed, I'm sure) yelled at us to, "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!!" when her cart didn't fit between the chairs. I looked at her and said in Cantonese, 'Really, that's what you say to us, Move, move, move?' She give some dumb answer as if we were there to please her. On the plus side, they did fill up my water glass without prompting--which I don't think has ever happened in the history of Chinese restaurant dining. Most of the food was decent except for the tough steamed beef ribs which should be used to waterproof the hulls of ships cruising through the Great Barrier Reef. Another plus was the price--very reasonable for the taste as long as you can get over the service chaos.And it's been a few hours since I ate there... still full.
Reviewed by:
Amanda W. on:
2/5/2013 11:41:00 PM
I can't really comment on the food because I decided to cancel my order after going to the bathroom. Walking there I noticed the floor was filthy and covered in trash and pieces of old food. The carpet had a strange smell. Once I got to the bathroom I was shocked. Every stall had an overflowing garbage can. I mean LARGE piles of trash all over the floor in every stall. There was no toilet paper in any of the stalls and everything was dirty. I was so grossed out I couldn't bring myself to eat anything.
Reviewed by:
Aaron Y. on:
2/5/2013 11:32:00 AM
Here's some advice if you want to enjoy your House of Banquet experience:1. Go when it's crowded. The more people there are, the more dim sum is being eaten, and the hotter and fresher your selections will be.2. Be assertive. If a cart you want isn't coming to your table, wave them over. If you want something, be clear. If you don't want something, also be clear. Don't be afraid to say no.3. Order a few things that aren't dim sum to balance things out.Other than that, when you walk up the stairs and see the carts being wheeled around, you'll understand how lucky you are. Every time I've been there, the service has been prompt, the food has been fresh, and the price has been incredibly cheap considering the amount and quality of food. I'd recommend going to this place whenever possible!
Reviewed by:
Brandon L. on:
1/24/2013 8:34:00 AM
The food here is okay. But the service is so bad! There are plenty of better Chinese dim sum places in Richmond! I don't recommend it here.
Reviewed by:
Alex C. on:
1/21/2013 8:53:00 AM
The cart lady stayed on the other side of the room the whole time. Didn't roll around to ask people if they wanted dim sum. Was very disappointed about the bad customer service.
Reviewed by:
Javier G. on:
1/3/2013 10:18:00 PM
Cheap dim sum. Tastes good.
Reviewed by:
Jonny M. on:
1/1/2013 9:49:00 PM
We went here for dim sum on Sunday afternoon and place was packed. Duh, it's the weekend and it's dim sum and it's San Francisco. No worries though, we barely had to wait before we were seated. They keep it old school with dim sum carts.There were 8 of us so we got to try lots of dishes. Prices are pretty reasonable ($2.25ish for one). We tried:- 2x Ha gow- 2x Siu mai- 2x Green tea balls with black sesame- 2x Lo mai gai- Ha cheung fun- Cha siu cheung fun- Fried shrimp balls- Fur gow (chive/pork steamed dumpling)- Wu gok- Yong tau foo (stuffed bean curd)- Ma tai gou (water chesnut cake) - slightly different taste to it because of the chestnuts but interesting to try.- Purple taro dessert cake (not sure of the chinese name). Kind of looks like jello but it was purple. Never had it before but it was good. Light and nice soft texture to it.- Xia long bao - verdict = don't order XLB at chinese restaurants. You'll be disappointed like I was. Tasty but not what I expect. Not enough soup!Everything was good and the dishes kept on coming (we ordered way too much food). Had a box or two of leftovers and all 8 of us were stuffed by the end of our meal. House of Banquet may not be the best in SF but it's fast, tasty and you don't have to wait for long to start eating!
Reviewed by:
Mike G. on:
12/28/2012 5:08:00 PM
Went here for dim-sum on Christmas. The place was crowded, but we only waited ten minutes. The staff are friendly and helpful, but don't expect much help in English. Most of the patrons are speaking Mandarin!The food was fresh, hot, and really good! They had all the classic dishes. I especially liked their red bean agar and pork-and-peanut dumplings.The price was reasonable, too. Four hungry men ate for ~$60 plus tip.
Reviewed by:
Wilson T. on:
12/20/2012 3:00:00 PM
Great food, decent prices, no waiting because there is so much seating. The two of us are big eaters and we barely made it to $30 after tax/tips because of how much food we got. $2.25 a plate on the weekdays, no different prices.Not too many good dim-sum places that push around the food on a cart and have you order from it, but that makes it more of an authentic experience!Shrimp dumplings, Siu mai, and this green sesame dessert were the highlights for me but everything was good in general
Reviewed by:
Lawrence X. on:
12/13/2012 4:47:00 PM
Wasnt really what i expectedExpected moreWasnt a really positive energy dim sum place
Reviewed by:
Aaron F. on:
11/21/2012 2:24:00 AM
Most depressing dim sum experience ever.- Cleanliness: 0 stars. The soy sauce container was so dirty it looked like it had been there for years. Worst of all, beneath the paper in our dumpling tray was a large bone (there are no bones in shrimp).- Food: 2 stars. Below average dim sum. Everything tasted oddly alike. Food also arrived cold since the dining room was so big.- Service: Just as cold as the food.I do not recommend eating here.
Reviewed by:
Karen C. on:
11/11/2012 11:57:00 AM
Really good dimsum, and great service. My family comes here all the time.
Reviewed by:
Seth G. on:
11/10/2012 1:31:00 AM
A friend who lives in the neighborhood said this place was good so we decided to give it a try. The enormous ceramic bok choi in the lobby seemed like a good sign. We were led upstairs to an enormous mostly vacant dining room. We were led to the second row of tables from the window, where there were people and several dim sum carts. We were immediately surrounded by servers and carts, before we could sit down one of the servers was pushing the pot stickers on us. She seemed very impatient and had to be told firmly several times that we did not want the pot stickers. There was a cart of rice noodles, and after listening to the options I asked if they had pork. They repeated the options. I smiled and asked for the cilantro rice noodle. They told me loudly and firmly that it was the cilantro. I said yes I know and took it from their hands and said thank you.The usual suspects were available and we populated the table. The fried taro puffs were a huge disappointment. It tasted as if the taro had been cut with too much flour, which ruined the texture and made the flavor bland. I was also excited they offered tofu skins inmmediately, but then was a bit annoyed to find them stuffed with shrimp. Removing them was a bad idea, they were a foul gray color. The same was true of the chive dumplings. The shu mai and the chow mein were insipid. We did get a second round of sticky rice because it was the only thing our 7-year-old was willing to eat.Out of perhaps 10 items there were only two that were worth repeating. They had Shanghai soup dumplings, which had a nice balance of pork and ginger in the filling, and were filled with a simple but delicious broth.The other dish we noticed coming up the stairs--neon green fried sesame balls with black sesame filling. These looked wrong, but they offered a light crunch followed by gooey sweet and finished with crunchy richness. Freaking amazing.Both of us felt pretty ill the rest of the day, so we won't be back.
Reviewed by:
Connie C. on:
11/8/2012 5:19:00 PM
Probably one of the better selections to choose from if you don't want to wait for a seat. They have extensive seating upstairs but like most Chinese people who have the day off on Sundays, parking is almost impossible!Luckily for me, I only circled around once and spotted a car leaving! Good thing too because when we walked upstairs, there was a crowd of people waiting for a seat and I was sure we wouldn't be seated for another 15 minutes. Wrong again! People are constantly moving in and out and we were seated within 5 minutes. The servers here are pretty efficient and can quickly clean up a table for you.They serve food cart style here so don't feel too Chinese when you walk up to a cart to grab what you want, because that's exactly what I do hahaha If i wait until the lady pushes the cart to my table, I'll never get the food I want. We ordered hai gow, fong jow, sticky rice in banana leaves, shrimp crepe, fried shrimp balls, and more. My boyfriend and I had a good start of the day and when you're in a good mood, food just tastes better! Most times that I come here, its good but the cleaniless can look sketchy.Still for a decent price, the food that we two ate only came out to be $20!
Reviewed by:
Ms. T. on:
10/18/2012 10:19:00 PM
The food was okay. Not a must go place especially with so many other dim sum places here in the Richmond District. A major turn off was the place needed a lot of TLC. The place was dirty. Carpet and chairs were probably not cleaned or replaced since they opened. I don' expect most chinese restaurants to be as spotless as other types. But this place is the worst I have seen, it even beats the dives in Chinatown. As well, there was so much clutter in their prep areas, this just made the place look junky. Sorry I already know I WILL NOT BE BACK.
Reviewed by:
Ameer N. on:
9/30/2012 1:27:00 PM
This is our new dim sum spot!Clean (by comparison to our other dim sum destinations), plenty of carts and attention, no wait, decently priced.
Reviewed by:
Will P. on:
9/19/2012 7:12:00 PM
We had a terrific time here. upon the suggestion of a local pal, we buzzed over here while on our way to Golden Gate park. the people were friendly, the dining area was very nice and classic dim sum, and most of what we had was yummeh. we were served a veggie dish that I still remember - it was a green-pea leaf salad that was so good that the two of us ate nearly the entire plate even though it was huge. best: pork shu mai. worst: pork spare ribs. highly recommended. 3.5 stars.
Reviewed by:
Andrew Y. on:
8/25/2012 10:52:00 PM
Reviews on this place being tasty and affordable are spot on. Restaurant on weekends is packed with Chinese folk who come for the weekend fill of dim sum. Food is extremely affordable (we ate til we were full for $10-15/pp) and the dim sum comes around on carts fresh.The place gets packed, so come a bit early to secure yourself a table or else risk waiting in a long line. It is quite loud here and expect nothing more than standard service from a Chinese restaurant. When lines are long it seems that Chinese restaurants are never well staffed, and that's probably true here. But if you simply rely on the carts that come around they do come around often and are quick.Food is solid here. It lacks the quality of Yank Sing and nothing truly stands out, yet I would say it has very good dim sum and very good prices. Food is mostly hot and quite fresh. There is a good variety of all types of dim sum including very traditional dishes mostly only Chinese eat, but if you want to supplement with some other main dish you can do so by ordering with a waiter.This is definitely a place to come if you want good dim sum for a affordable meal.
Reviewed by:
Virginia S. on:
8/24/2012 5:10:00 AM
Its tasty, its diverse, its affordable, its nearly a mystery meal if you don't speak Chinese! I have been here a few times, often as a party of two, and once as a party of three. While there is almost always a hefty group waiting to be seated, for small parties willing to sit at a family style table with strangers, we are seated quickly. The portions are big, and more ideally geared to groups of 4+ if you want to have enough room in your stomach for a lot of diversity (though we take home leftovers, which solves that problem). The dim sum is tasty, though a lot of it is loaded with shrimp, so if that isnt your thing, its probably not for you. There is a menu as well, if you want to order something more specific, but I like to grab stuff off the carts.As an English only speaker, the service is mixed - some staff are extra friendly and take extra time at your table to explain what they have on the cart, whereas others lift the lid quickly and then walk away when greeted with our confusion at what might be inside the lovely steaming buns.I have only been to House of Banquet on weekdays, and its always packed - the volume gets quite loud as a result. I imagine the wait could get pretty long on a weekend day.For about 25 bucks, my fiance and I are able to leave here very full, and with a nice selection of leftovers.
Reviewed by:
Grace C. on:
8/23/2012 6:45:00 PM
3.5 stars!Solid dim sum spot. Not the best dim sum, but pretty good. Love the shrimp dumplings, noodles, steamed pork buns, sesame balls, short ribs, & shrimp on bell peppers. Service is typical of Chinese establishments. Yesterday, we paid $36 for 4 people, and I think we ordered 10 dishes. Awesome.
Reviewed by:
Spike P. on:
7/21/2012 10:55:00 AM
Time for a new dim sum place!When they 1st open, small, Medium, and large dim sum dishes are all for $1.88/ each, then price gone up to $1.99 and now, the most recent price is $2.25/ dish.Despite the price changed, I was really disappointed with the Chong -fun (flat noodle with shrimp). The noodle wasn't cooked! The shrimp is super small and has a smell. Other restaurants would serve jumbo shrimp on this dish, but their shrimps are tiny. Most of the other dishes portion size had shrunk and I was not happy about that too.The service reminded the same. Just as crowded as usual and if you want dim sum, you'll need to be there before 11am. Of course, Tong Palace(next door) is much expensive with same service
Reviewed by:
Bad News S. on:
7/12/2012 10:23:00 AM
Not bad for ChineseWe've been going here for years for simple dim sum lunch or for "special" banquet sized dinners for a large group. It's basically pretty good for standard types of dim sum and standard Chinese dishes. There have been some times where the dishes are pretty bad (very greasy, little meat, etc) but they have been rare, and for the most part, the food is OK. Service is usually good (very good for a Chinese restaurant) -- I think it might be because this place caters to both Chinese as well as non-Chinese clientele so the service is a notch higher than your standard Chinese joint. They often change plates to clean ones after you've eaten from the first plate for a while. They often provide you with tea and a pot of hot water at the same time to let you refill the tea pot when it's low. Restrooms are ok. I've seen alot worse.You can get a banquet meal (usually for about 8 people or more) and its loaded with seafood,chicken, pork, beef dishes along with veggies. Quite filling.Sometimes, they have very large tour groups stop by for lunch or dinner, pre-arranged, so this can be very busy and noisy and you're left fighting for attention and service.
Reviewed by:
Bryan L. on:
7/9/2012 12:00:00 AM
This place was ok, but I think I would have enjoyed some better food at one of the hole in the wall places down the street.It was so busy that when we arrived there was only one table to sit at. It was way in the back and kind of dim because the only light source was the windows on the other side of the restaurant. People came by with the dim sum carts and we got some of that but after the first few rounds they stopped coming by our table. We also ordered beef chow fun but the beef tasted like cigarette smoke. Our order of seafood chow mein was soggy and the sauce was way too gooey, like old Italian pasta sauce that was left out a little too long. We tried some kind of meat ball that tasted like fish and a fish ball that tasted like meat. For "desert" they brought out some purple tofu that tasted a bit like almonds but I didn't really like it. They also brought some kind if bright green mocchi ball that didn't really taste like anything and it was just a crunchy mess.Of course we had tea but when we asked for water they gave us really skinny glasses that had some kind of purple ink on the bottom and they gave us a whole pitcher of water so that we wouldn't have to bother them for refills.After about 20 minutes nearly half the restaurant had left so the noise level went way down.I wouldn't suggest getting anything other than the dim sum unless you like confusing and smoke tasting food.
Reviewed by:
Emi T. on:
6/7/2012 6:27:00 PM
This restaurant was hands-down the most... ...awkward? ...strange? place that I've dined at in a while. My boyfriend and I were trying to find a place to get dinner (after finding out that the original restaurant we were going to dine at was closed...), and found this place. The exterior looked decent, and we thought it was a go.First, we were greeted by a sign that told us to go upstairs. We go upstairs, and there is literally NO ONE in the dining hall. We sat down (since none of the waiters wanted to help us out, and they were too busy refilling condiments on the tables...), and waited. And waited. Finally, we were given a menu, and then the waiter disappeared again. While we were waiting to be served, other waiters came around to refill the condiments on our table. Very awkwardly, to say the least. While all of this is happening, they have some pop-radio on full blast, so I had to sit there pretending that Justin Bieber was my BGM of choice.The food was a-OK... We ordered duck, fried rice and dumplings. The duck was decent, but the sauces weren't that great. The dumplings weren't too special, and the fried rice was very bland. The prices weren't too high or anything, but I was expecting something with a little more... yummy.Also, one of the waitresses that kept coming around and was snappy... When we asked for a box for the left over food, she just stuffed (literally, STUFFED) everything in one box.I'm not too sure if I'll be back... Although it seems they have decent deals for dim sum :/
Reviewed by:
Jenna H. on:
5/10/2012 7:51:00 AM
I came here with a group of 8 other girls on a Saturday afternoon around 12:30pm. I was shocked to see there was no wait, considering it was a weekend at such a popular yum cha time.We got an array of things, some that were a disappointment and some that were just alright.Sub par items included:-shao lung bao: there was no soup inside and it seemed like just an ordinary dumpling. The dough for the dumpling was dry and a little tough as well.The decent/alright items included:-har gow: nothing special. edible-shimp fun noodles: nothing exceptional but it was good.-pai gwut (steamed spare ribs): i thought they were tasty-seafood hk style chow mein: tasty with a good amount of seafoodDidn't try the chicken feet.Most of us felt disappointed when we left, but still couldn't beat the price. For $11 per person (including tax and tip!), it was a cheap place to get sub par dimsum. We didn't have to wait for a table which was a plus, but parking was a bitch.
Reviewed by:
Diana W. on:
3/31/2012 3:10:00 AM
I usually come here with my parents whenever I'm back in the city, and most of the times it's on a weekday so all (S,M,L) dishes are $1.99. Be weary of some of the larger dishes like the rice noodles in XO sauce, which is considered a specialty item and therefore priced differently.For 1.99 a dish, I honestly can't complain about the quality of the food. I would say about 80 percent of all the dishes I've gotten here have been pretty hot and fresh. The tip is to look at what's being wheeled around and if you see something new the next time the carts come by, it's probably fresh out the kitchen.Also try to avoid arriving right before they close because they usually sell out of certain dishes, and what you do see on the carts is most likely leftovers that have been through many many circles around the floor.Recommended here: ha gow (shrimp dumplings), lo mai gai (sticky rice wrapped inside the banana leaves), fried taro, pai gwut (pork spareribs)
Reviewed by:
Amy C. on:
3/11/2012 3:54:00 AM
Depending on the time of your arrival it can be attentive service to being largely ignored.Coming in early morning is better, but that's also when crowds are coming in your their daily fix of breakfast or "yum cha" (dim sum). After the large early morning crowd, the restaurant is silent. Bustling activity of waitresses in trolleys are at a stand still and than NOTHING.If you can beat the crowds of the early mornings and wake up, kudos. If not, you're in for some minimal service from staff.I regret to say I've come here later in the day at 1pm. Yum cha (dim sum) usually begins at 930am and doesn't halt until 2pm everyday. "It should be fine" says my family so we went in. Immediately we were seated and asked about tea preferences and that was it for awhile. As we waited for trolleys to pass by offering a wide array of foods, we were served about three small baskets of food then nothing. The same trolley would circle our table four times offering the same foods we had already eaten and finished. The one trolley with new kinds of food would service the table next to us and skip our table more than three times. "Hey women with the glasses! Stop ignoring our hungry table!" I thought.That day, for the first time in a long time, I left a restaurant hungry...
Reviewed by:
Akiko I. on:
3/9/2012 7:14:00 AM
- Locale Destination -It's on Clement St and 11th Ave in San Francisco.It's in a new Chinatown. Many dim sum places were around here.It's a bit weird. Once you enter the restaurant, nothing but fish tanks were there. You need to go upstairs. It's a very very big banquet space. You can find bathrooms on the left side - tacked away. It's a simple yet classy "Chinese" decor. A bit outdated but good enough to feel "China" ;) They also speak Chinese mostly, so it trips you to "Chinese" atmosphere quickly. They speak so fast, loud, and sounding busy. Many of the customers seemed Chinese. I'm sure you got an advantage if you speak Chinese.It was quite busy. You get a piece of paper with the number for waiting the line. Make sure you get the number since they are so busy. But waiting time wasn't bad at all.I'm not sure that's the reason why they don't clean the table nor change the table cloth for the next table or not. The server brought like 6 papers and put them all on the table to cover all the left-behind (sauce, stains, crumbs etc.) from the last guests. That's the way to rotate the table fast and clean (?!) the table fast... That's very Chinese thing.... If you minded about hygiene issues, Chinatown isn't for you.There were several carts that carried various kinds of dim sum. If you didn't like what the cart got, just wait for the next one. It carries something different items. One cart was dedicated for sweets. Once you pick the item, the server stamps on your bill so that they know what you got. I'm sure there are several price ranges.- Gluttony Expedition -Shrimp Fun noodles: Not bad. Shrimp was very meaty. Nice noodle texture.Snow pea stems: LOVED it. It was so tasty. Tons of garlic, for sure! It's huge but I ate tons ;pPai gwat: Black bean short ribs. It's very very oily and stinky. Not my thing.Shu mai: It was OK but lacked in flavors.Dumpling: This got an peculiar flavor - cinnamon or all spices... It's very unusual to see the dumplings with those strong spices. Interesting.Chicken feet: I've never had this before, so I tried it. It got only little meat to eat - you chew it to pull off what it got. It's not like a meat. It's kinda like a gelatin thing...A bit chewy texture - as you imagine. The seasoning nor the feet itself wasn't tasty. I don't know why people like this.It looked very gross (especially the nail part) and little "meat" you get....I know Chinese eat everything. So as Japanese (but not the levels of Chinese).I might eat this if I was left alone on the isolated island and had nothing to eat...I don't understand the beauty of chicken feet...At least I tried it.- Conqueror's Deduction -The snow pea stems were awesome, but everything else was pretty bland...Though I had a great company, Wanugee, this place wasn't impressive.
Reviewed by:
Wanugee N. on:
2/22/2012 3:36:00 PM
Came here for Dim Sum recently with my friend from Orange County, Akiko, after a beautiful Sunday morning taking pictures out by the Sutro Baths, Ocean Beach, and near Lands End.House of Banquet serves Dim Sum in their large second floor room. This is classic, old school Dim Sum (Yum Cha for you non-Americans.) No, they don't stack the plates to count them later for your bill like the old, old days, they use the the coded rubber stamp on your bill like most places have been doing for the past 3 decades. (Saves on plates!, Plus you can't hide the plates like the old days to lower your bill!)I was surprised we didn't have to wait too long, maybe 5 - 10 minutes, because this was peak DIm Sum time, Sunday about noon.We started with ordering snow pea stems, which were a big plate of greens in a tasty garlic flavoring, we both loved it. We also had Shrimp Fun noodles, a couple of steamed dumpling selections, Shu Mai, and Pai Gwat (Black bean short ribs).We finished off with the dish not everyone likes....Chicken Feet!Usually they serve this dish with only 3 feet, so I always picture one chicken hopping around on 1 leg, which is better than his mate, who lost them both. But this time they gave us 4 feet. Tasty, but some work spitting out all those little bones. Of course we were served tea and it was refilled when I inverted the top of the teapot, the universal signal in Chinese restaurants to bring more.I was telling my Japanese friend that one way to say thank you when I poured her tea is to tap her index finger on the table near her tea cup. She thought this was rude and demanding, and I said it isn't, as long as you do it AFTER the pouring starts, NOT BEFORE! Now there are many varying ideas of how this custom of thanks came into being, the history, regional differences, etc. I'll let you discuss this amongst your Chinese friends.This place is really 3.5 stars. There were only 3 or 4 servers with carts, and a lot of the same thing was going around. Plus they hid the Taro Dim Sum, one of my favorites, in the back! And nothing unusual or special, like crab balls or the like.But it had the feel of a Dim Sum place, with perhaps 90% of the patrons Asian, and the servers limited in their English. Good thing I know the names of most things, but if not, one can always point!I don't know, I think the old days of DIm Sum in Chinatown were much better in San Francisco. Now you have to go to the Avenues (like here!), or to the Burbs! I used to go every Sunday around 1 or 2, with the same friends I had partied with the night before in the City. I think it is hard to find really good Dim Sum nowadays, and when you do, it is usually a 2+ hours wait, like at Koi Palace or Mayflower.
Reviewed by:
Berna T. on:
2/2/2012 9:04:00 PM
One of my best friends and I would come here at least twice a month to get our late morning weekend dim sum brunch on. Most recently, I invited said bestie to a weekday brunch here with my visiting sister and her husband, and my other half. The wait was excruciating - pretty much an hour - and there is no order to the way they call you (also, they call out the numbers in Cantonese which can be aggravating if you don't speak Cantonese).But once you are seated, it becomes pretty much a free for all on the ordering front. Point, point, point. You can ask what things are too, they're pretty used to explaining. Their har gao (shrimp dumpling) is pretty good, as are their chive dumplings. I also recommend the gin doi and the green fried balls with black sesame paste. TOTALLY addicting. It's not the most outstanding dim sum in existence, but it's consistently good, and I like that.Lunch for 5 = $50. Can't beat that with a stick.
Reviewed by:
Annie S. on:
1/25/2012 5:42:00 AM
DIM SUM? Me likey sum.My boyfriend and I came here for our dim sum date that we've been talking about for half a year now. We both like to sleep in so by the time we got to the restaurant, it was already 2:30pm. Since they stop serving dim sum at 3pm, we both had a feeling that the selection would probably be slim and the food would be served lukewarm. To our surprise, neither of those situations happened.We ordered siu mai, nai wong baos (egg custard buns), egg tarts, two orders of chicken feet, hai gow (shrimp dumplings), fried sesame balls, perserved duck egg and pork porridge, and mango pudding. Everything was delectable; there was absolutely nothing to be complained about. Most orders came in an order of 4 besides the obvious. We're both big eaters and we tend to order too much food for the both of us. Hah, yeah, our visit here was no exception. 40 minutes and $40 later, we were full beyond means and could barely walk to the car which was only parked across the street.Extra pluses: the waiters and waitresses didn't rush us to finish our meal and the tables are spaced out! No elbow-smashing or eaves-dropping.
Reviewed by:
Christopher L. on:
1/8/2012 11:54:00 AM
This place is pretty similar to Tong Palace, next door, for its cheap dim sum. If you want to get a table, either be there before 1130, or be prepared to wait.Most of the dim sum is decent, but don't kid yourself into thinking it's anything special. You're here purely for the price.The place is pretty big, so it's a good idea to bring your stamp card to the carts and grab your own food because if you wait for them to get to you, they may have already run out of what you want.Service is being run at a very fast pace and the servers will encourage a faster turn around time per table. Knowing this, don't expect great customer service unless you're paying (aka ordering something off the menu).Important tip: If you're sitting in a seat that's in the aisles where the dim sum carts pass, it's a bad idea to hang anything on the back of your chair. They ladies will not hesitate to bump, rub, and/or squeeze past.
Reviewed by:
Steven B. on:
1/5/2012 3:15:00 PM
For a dim sum place, it's pretty awful. Starting off from the beginning. Asked for Jasmine tea and got regular tea. One of the plates wasn't washed well and had like stuck old sauce still on it. The server exchanged it immediately without a word. One of the other plates were chipped in many different places. There isn't that many pushcarts going around with dim sum stuff. The servers would ignore you as they pass by trying to fulfill their menu orders.Siu Mai was good. This was the best thing out of all the dishes.Beef and Salted Egg Congee was pretty bland.... it tasted like congee, but there was no other flavoring to it. Also what happened to the salted egg...?Mango Pudding seemed to be sloppily made with mango pudding sticking off on the outer side of the bowl. The pudding on the other hand tasted good though.Salt and Pepper Tofu was tasty. It was fried perfectly and covered nicely with pepper and salt.Overall, the dim sum food was pretty decent. Their service totally sucks and cleanliness isn't there also...
Reviewed by:
Peterchan on:
2011-06-10
We always go to the city on Tuesdays to eat here. It is good Dim Sum and it is cheaper during the week days.
I beleive they have new owners now and it seems like they are trying to cut corners on expenses. I hope they do not take the changes too far and make the food or service there unacceptable. I would hate to lose a good place to eat like this one
Reviewed by:
tropicy on:
2011-04-24
AMAZING. Love this place. Fresh food. Big space. Nice people. Very good.
Reviewed by:
fpuma on:
2011-04-20
I can see why this place is like a ghost town on a Sunday brunch!
Dim sum is not awful BUT I've never encountered a place that uses the same meat ingredient for ALL the dim sum. The only difference between all the plates were the skin!! Pork, shrimp, MSG, over and over and over!! I even got tired of ordering from the cart because I know I will end up with....... YUP, pork, shrimp and MSG.
They have an AWESOME venue/site to host a Chinese WEDDING, no poles to obstruct the view, open space, plenty of room and even a dance floor!! ALL THEY NEED IS A BETTER CHEF AND MAYBE NEW MANAGEMENT!!
Reviewed by:
chengjohn53 on:
2011-04-20
San Francisco, CA
1/23/2011
My grandma says this place tastes great which is why I agreed to go. First off, they honestly do not mind serving you cold food. Their chicken feet tasted old and their short ribs, you you really get short ribs. No meat.
They asked us what tea we wanted. Grandma told them. We didn't even get the correct tea type. And our pot was practically black!
Grandma says that the dishes are $1.99 each Monday-Thursday.
Charge $1 tea per person.
We waited about 10 minutes for the lady to bring us our bill. Instead paying at the table, we walked over to the cashier.
After eating at Yank-Sing its hard to find a place that can relate.
Reviewed by:
Benjamin T. on:
2011-04-15
Very good dim sum. Probably the best custard buns I have ever tried. The pork buns were very good, though took a while. Service was polite and came around about how often I expect carts to come for dim sun. My wife and I will definitely go back.
AVG:(4.9)
