Small, family-style Cantonese restaurant (without the dim sum) offers well flavored, skillfully prepared dishes that surprise and satisfy.
The Basil Tofu (with veggies) infused the senses with fragrant basil while waking the palate with just enough homemade pepper sauce - THE best tofu dish I've ever had. The Salt & Pepper Fish Filet was equally amazing - it didn't look like much, with fried fish filet (skilfullybdone, not greasy at all) on a bed of finely chopped raw green peppers & cabbage but... the restrained use of salt & pepper with truly tender filets made us stop & say, "Oh, interesting!" The Chicken & Mushroom Rice Claypot was good - aficionados would appreciate the burnt rice at the bottom of the pot (Guo Ba). Put the Basil Tofu's sauce in the rice in the claypot, and you've got a winner. The Stir-Fried Eggplants came reasonably firm (nice surprise) in a rich sweet flavor. I would've preferred a savory approach, but combined with the other dishes, the eggplants provided another flavor dimension.
I'd give the Pan-Fried Noodles a pass. Workman-like, and the noodles didn't have the 2 scorched sides one has come to expect of Cantonese cuisine. Many other better options.
Portions were indeed generous as commented by other reviewers - in fact, I overheard the server advise other diners of this fact so they wouldn't over-order. Knowing this fact, we nevertheless added another dish to our order, so that we'd have take-home boxes. In the event, we made 3 meals out of this one dinner.
Although the operation was mainly digital, from managing the line (there was a line as early as 4:30 pm!) to ordering to payment, the servers were surprisingly responsive. Hot tea was hot and strong, and free.
This place can stand some expansion. Only 7 tables + 2 banquet-style round tables. Lines outside the entire (Saturday) evening.
Vegetarian options: Every one of their Tofu dishes are good, but the vegetarian Basil Tofu really stood out.
Parking: Shared lot with other businesses. Pretty full already at 4:30 pm on a Saturday.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rachel S.
Limited parking spaces around the area. We arrived at this place around 5:30pm, and a lot of people were waiting outside. It took us an hour and half to get the table. Honestly, it was not worth the wait after we tried out the food.
We ordered the Salt Pepper Chicken Wings/Spicy, Shrimp Wonton Soup, Egg Yolk Pumpkin and Shrimp, Chinese Sausage and Bacon Clay Pot Rice, Yellow Eel Clay Pot Rice, Iced Lemon Tea and Milk Tea.
The owner told us that the chef made a mistake on the shrimp wonton soup, and they would just gave us the extra meat for free and we were fine with that. In addition, when I was eating the Chinese sausage clay pot rice, I found out that there was a little piece of steel wool in the rice. When I told the owner about this incident, he apologized and said that he would not charge for this item. The owner was very courteous and we were about to go, so we didn’t wanna make a big deal here. Overall, the food was not surprisingly good but decent and generous portion of food. Friendly staff, but the wait time was way too long.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Pat Wong
Short hours, closed between lunch and dinner. Very small restaurant with limited seating and hours. Few parking spots as the spots are in a shared strip mall. But the food is well worth the effort to get a table.
The menu comprises of old fashion food from the surrounding villages in Canton, the majority of immigrants from China from before the exclusion act ... the railroad workers!
Delicious food that is difficult to find in restaurants nowadays. Especially bittermelon that seemed to be everywhere in San Francisco Chinatown eateries, according to parents, back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
The clay pot salted fish and minced pork was the other highlight for lunch.
We saw the line out front before the restaurant opened, and that was a great indicator for what to anticipate.
Parking: The restaurant is small with limited seating. The strip mall has few spots available.
Kid-friendliness: Give kids a chance to enjoy this "homestyle" cantonese village style foods. Simple and good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salted Fish Minced Porkclay Pot Rice, Sauteed String Bean with Chicken, Beef Stew Lunch Plate, Salted Fish, Claypot Chicken Rice, Beef Chow Fun, Scrambled Egg White w Dry Scallops
charles chen
We had a reservation at 6 for 7 people.
We arrived there at 6 but the host told us: you have to wait until one of the big tables finish their food.
Whats the point of having reservations then??
Service: 1
Cherry Mai
Such an amazing restaurant!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wil Tse
A small family style restaurant. The clay pot rice is excellent, but it takes 20 minutes to get ready. The prices are low, with most dishes under $20. Wait time can be long. Mostly small tables with only 2 that can seat 6 people or more. Suggest ordering the clay pot rice before you get seated to minimize the wait time.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sauteed String Bean with Chicken, Uage Clay Pot Rice, Peking Spareribs, Claypot Chicken Rice
Ming Huang
Very bad service - put myself on the waitlist, waited for 40 mins and asked for an update, then they ask me I don’t need to wait anymore because there are people who booked in advance. If you can’t accept waitlist, then don’t put it over there and make people wait for like 40 mins???
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Marianne O
A relaxing cafe that serves wonderful Hong Kong style and Cantonese dishes in San Mateo/Belmont. It is always full but the service is quick. Food is authentic and delicious with large portions. We ordered the baked fish and pork chop over rice and cabbage with thin rice noodles. Lots of people orders the salt and pepper pork!fish (?) I also noticed the clay pot rice is huge!
This restaurant is great for family and couples!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Robert L
Get there early to line up before open otherwise you’ll have to wait for a long time. Claypot rice is delicious!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Amanda L
Always very bad attitude and super super slow. Avoiding this store if you want to have a happy mood.
Small, family-style Cantonese restaurant (without the dim sum) offers well flavored, skillfully prepared dishes that surprise and satisfy.
The Basil Tofu (with veggies) infused the senses with fragrant basil while waking the palate with just enough homemade pepper sauce - THE best tofu dish I've ever had. The Salt & Pepper Fish Filet was equally amazing - it didn't look like much, with fried fish filet (skilfullybdone, not greasy at all) on a bed of finely chopped raw green peppers & cabbage but... the restrained use of salt & pepper with truly tender filets made us stop & say, "Oh, interesting!" The Chicken & Mushroom Rice Claypot was good - aficionados would appreciate the burnt rice at the bottom of the pot (Guo Ba). Put the Basil Tofu's sauce in the rice in the claypot, and you've got a winner. The Stir-Fried Eggplants came reasonably firm (nice surprise) in a rich sweet flavor. I would've preferred a savory approach, but combined with the other dishes, the eggplants provided another flavor dimension.
I'd give the Pan-Fried Noodles a pass. Workman-like, and the noodles didn't have the 2 scorched sides one has come to expect of Cantonese cuisine. Many other better options.
Portions were indeed generous as commented by other reviewers - in fact, I overheard the server advise other diners of this fact so they wouldn't over-order. Knowing this fact, we nevertheless added another dish to our order, so that we'd have take-home boxes. In the event, we made 3 meals out of this one dinner.
Although the operation was mainly digital, from managing the line (there was a line as early as 4:30 pm!) to ordering to payment, the servers were surprisingly responsive. Hot tea was hot and strong, and free.
This place can stand some expansion. Only 7 tables + 2 banquet-style round tables. Lines outside the entire (Saturday) evening.
Vegetarian options: Every one of their Tofu dishes are good, but the vegetarian Basil Tofu really stood out.
Parking: Shared lot with other businesses. Pretty full already at 4:30 pm on a Saturday.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Limited parking spaces around the area. We arrived at this place around 5:30pm, and a lot of people were waiting outside. It took us an hour and half to get the table. Honestly, it was not worth the wait after we tried out the food.
We ordered the Salt Pepper Chicken Wings/Spicy, Shrimp Wonton Soup, Egg Yolk Pumpkin and Shrimp, Chinese Sausage and Bacon Clay Pot Rice, Yellow Eel Clay Pot Rice, Iced Lemon Tea and Milk Tea.
The owner told us that the chef made a mistake on the shrimp wonton soup, and they would just gave us the extra meat for free and we were fine with that. In addition, when I was eating the Chinese sausage clay pot rice, I found out that there was a little piece of steel wool in the rice. When I told the owner about this incident, he apologized and said that he would not charge for this item. The owner was very courteous and we were about to go, so we didn’t wanna make a big deal here. Overall, the food was not surprisingly good but decent and generous portion of food. Friendly staff, but the wait time was way too long.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Short hours, closed between lunch and dinner. Very small restaurant with limited seating and hours. Few parking spots as the spots are in a shared strip mall. But the food is well worth the effort to get a table.
The menu comprises of old fashion food from the surrounding villages in Canton, the majority of immigrants from China from before the exclusion act ... the railroad workers!
Delicious food that is difficult to find in restaurants nowadays. Especially bittermelon that seemed to be everywhere in San Francisco Chinatown eateries, according to parents, back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
The clay pot salted fish and minced pork was the other highlight for lunch.
We saw the line out front before the restaurant opened, and that was a great indicator for what to anticipate.
Parking: The restaurant is small with limited seating. The strip mall has few spots available.
Kid-friendliness: Give kids a chance to enjoy this "homestyle" cantonese village style foods. Simple and good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salted Fish Minced Porkclay Pot Rice, Sauteed String Bean with Chicken, Beef Stew Lunch Plate, Salted Fish, Claypot Chicken Rice, Beef Chow Fun, Scrambled Egg White w Dry Scallops
We had a reservation at 6 for 7 people.
We arrived there at 6 but the host told us: you have to wait until one of the big tables finish their food.
Whats the point of having reservations then??
Service: 1
Such an amazing restaurant!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A small family style restaurant. The clay pot rice is excellent, but it takes 20 minutes to get ready. The prices are low, with most dishes under $20. Wait time can be long. Mostly small tables with only 2 that can seat 6 people or more. Suggest ordering the clay pot rice before you get seated to minimize the wait time.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sauteed String Bean with Chicken, Uage Clay Pot Rice, Peking Spareribs, Claypot Chicken Rice
Very bad service - put myself on the waitlist, waited for 40 mins and asked for an update, then they ask me I don’t need to wait anymore because there are people who booked in advance. If you can’t accept waitlist, then don’t put it over there and make people wait for like 40 mins???
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
A relaxing cafe that serves wonderful Hong Kong style and Cantonese dishes in San Mateo/Belmont. It is always full but the service is quick. Food is authentic and delicious with large portions. We ordered the baked fish and pork chop over rice and cabbage with thin rice noodles. Lots of people orders the salt and pepper pork!fish (?) I also noticed the clay pot rice is huge!
This restaurant is great for family and couples!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Get there early to line up before open otherwise you’ll have to wait for a long time. Claypot rice is delicious!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Always very bad attitude and super super slow. Avoiding this store if you want to have a happy mood.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Awesome food!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very longggggg line… waited 1.5 hours
Food very good
Drinks are alright
Approved as a Hong Konger
Will return
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
too busy to order
Excellent food and service
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
You have to try their crispy green beans and minced pork over rice.. taste out of this world!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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