On not particularly busy night, slow and confused service. Soup dumplings were good but buns were lacking as was a spare ribs entree that tasted like it came from your usual average American Chinese takeout. And I’m almost certain that there was at least one dead fish in their tanks in the front. Sad and inhumane display. Avoid.
Carolyn W
Busy and bustling at lunchtime on a Friday afternoon. Clearly a place where locals bring their family for high quality dim sum and other Chinese specialties. Don’t be put off by the unassuming shopping center location. This is a ‘find’ for tourists and regulars alike.
Kima Hmar
I don’t think I have ever been disappointed going to the Koi Palace whenever I am in the Bay Area. A family favourite and probably the best dimsum place around. You can go simple with just a few dishes or go all-out elaborate chinese banquet style and they are always spot on. Love their har gao, and any of their seafood preparations especially!!
Edward Hsieh
We had a very poor experience here. Pros: food was ok/good. Cons: 1) automatic 18% gratuity for 2 people, which was also taxed. 2) We paid cash and we're stiffed on the coin change. I know it's not a big amount, but it's like we're being nickel and dimed. 3) nice sign out front saying only service dogs, but there was clearly a dog inside sitting on a chair.
Not coming back. Not going to their new location.
Vivian Wei (Vivian)
A classic Cantonese restaurant. Staff is very friendly, they treat you like old friends. they can speak 3 languages which is so impressive (Cantonese, Mandarin, and English). Food is the best in the bay area, you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. They even have a free desert (Tang shui) at the end
Redc c
Had dim sum there and food was excellent. Service was good but prepare to wait for table.
William Heikkie Dean Mills
Came for dinner because the menu was so intriguing. Huge selection with lots of daily specials, and wow oh wow are they special. Great service, wonderful and delicious dishes, excellence for your enjoyment.
Wolfgang Fernandez
The food was very much below average.
rachelyc314159
I am giving this place a 2 star review mostly because of their service. My cousin made a reservation for 18 people over a month ago. On the day of the reservation, they called her at 10:50am (our reservation was for 12pm), and said, "Can you guys come now?" She responded, "It will be very hard to get 18 people to show up an hour early at a moment's notice. They responded, "Okay, we will see you later." When we arrived, they did not have a table ready, and did not seem at all apologetic that they were not honoring our promised reservation, made over a month ago. Furthermore, we noticed 2 tables close together that easily could have accommodated our group of 18 that seated a party that arrived after we did. We ended up sitting down at 12:45, instead of 12pm. A reservation for lunch should mean just that, and I was rather unimpressed that the restaurant didn't seem to care that they weren't honoring their promise. The food was good, but it wasn't noticeably better than other dim sum places in the Bay Area.
Reservation system does not work well since the receptionist seemingly take on walk-in’s excessively such that everybody needs to wait. The good news is that food is good. The bad news is that the experience is horrendously terrible:-(
Jimmy Cheng
I used to think this place was overrated. But after trying others in the peninsula and beyond. I believe this restaurant is the best in the area. Both dim sums and dinner.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Dim Sum
B. Wai
This particular location used to be a good place for Chinese food or dim sum. However, their quality of dim sum has become mediocre with high prices. Some dim sum were room temperature, sometimes slightly cold. But a few of them were hot freshly made. A big part about dim sum is gotta hot. They can't be room temperature or cold. Their services were decent. I had to wait 45 mins for a table of 4 on a Saturday which was not bad. One thing they allow us to is to book a table for dim sum at least 1 day in advance.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Dim Sum
East Bay Area Resident
Still quite popular after 30 plus years, Koi Palace offers upscale and expensive Cantonese dim sum and seafood dining near Serramonte mall.
Dim sum is one of their claims to fame, but I found the wrappings too soft and they fell apart when picking up a dumpling with chopsticks. Perhaps they added too much water to the four mix. Picky.
The savory dishes were sweet, and the sweet items were too sweet.
The recessed lighting and darker atmosphere adds a little sophistication, compared to the bright white LED lighting you find in most Chinese restaurants. The central dining area has nice lighting and higher ceilings. The area off to the side has lower ceilings and makes the noise level very high. Everyone has to yell to be heard.
Many tables ordered their more expensive seafood items such as Lobster noodles, steamed crab, crab noodles, abalone noodles. Maybe that's the ticket.
Service was good. Our waiter was quite friendly and accommodating. We weren't bothered by the rude and pushy guys in the dark suits with the earpiece.
Koi Palace is a good place to go to if you want to splurge and or impress your family or friends with an expensive Chinese lunch or dinner. Just go on a weekday...if you want to be heard or even hear yourself talk.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Dim Sum
Marcelo Wong
I have been going to this restaurant for a while and I like that they maintain traditional dim sum without changing and modernizing the concept too much like other restaurants.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Deluxe Whole Abalones over Chow Fun, Soup, Fried, Fish, Dim Sum
Food was very good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
On not particularly busy night, slow and confused service. Soup dumplings were good but buns were lacking as was a spare ribs entree that tasted like it came from your usual average American Chinese takeout. And I’m almost certain that there was at least one dead fish in their tanks in the front. Sad and inhumane display. Avoid.
Busy and bustling at lunchtime on a Friday afternoon. Clearly a place where locals bring their family for high quality dim sum and other Chinese specialties. Don’t be put off by the unassuming shopping center location. This is a ‘find’ for tourists and regulars alike.
I don’t think I have ever been disappointed going to the Koi Palace whenever I am in the Bay Area. A family favourite and probably the best dimsum place around. You can go simple with just a few dishes or go all-out elaborate chinese banquet style and they are always spot on. Love their har gao, and any of their seafood preparations especially!!
We had a very poor experience here. Pros: food was ok/good. Cons: 1) automatic 18% gratuity for 2 people, which was also taxed. 2) We paid cash and we're stiffed on the coin change. I know it's not a big amount, but it's like we're being nickel and dimed. 3) nice sign out front saying only service dogs, but there was clearly a dog inside sitting on a chair.
Not coming back. Not going to their new location.
A classic Cantonese restaurant. Staff is very friendly, they treat you like old friends. they can speak 3 languages which is so impressive (Cantonese, Mandarin, and English). Food is the best in the bay area, you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. They even have a free desert (Tang shui) at the end
Had dim sum there and food was excellent. Service was good but prepare to wait for table.
Came for dinner because the menu was so intriguing. Huge selection with lots of daily specials, and wow oh wow are they special. Great service, wonderful and delicious dishes, excellence for your enjoyment.
The food was very much below average.
I am giving this place a 2 star review mostly because of their service. My cousin made a reservation for 18 people over a month ago. On the day of the reservation, they called her at 10:50am (our reservation was for 12pm), and said, "Can you guys come now?" She responded, "It will be very hard to get 18 people to show up an hour early at a moment's notice. They responded, "Okay, we will see you later." When we arrived, they did not have a table ready, and did not seem at all apologetic that they were not honoring our promised reservation, made over a month ago. Furthermore, we noticed 2 tables close together that easily could have accommodated our group of 18 that seated a party that arrived after we did. We ended up sitting down at 12:45, instead of 12pm. A reservation for lunch should mean just that, and I was rather unimpressed that the restaurant didn't seem to care that they weren't honoring their promise. The food was good, but it wasn't noticeably better than other dim sum places in the Bay Area.
Restaurantji Recommends
Reservation system does not work well since the receptionist seemingly take on walk-in’s excessively such that everybody needs to wait. The good news is that food is good. The bad news is that the experience is horrendously terrible:-(
I used to think this place was overrated. But after trying others in the peninsula and beyond. I believe this restaurant is the best in the area. Both dim sums and dinner.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Dim Sum
This particular location used to be a good place for Chinese food or dim sum. However, their quality of dim sum has become mediocre with high prices. Some dim sum were room temperature, sometimes slightly cold. But a few of them were hot freshly made. A big part about dim sum is gotta hot. They can't be room temperature or cold. Their services were decent. I had to wait 45 mins for a table of 4 on a Saturday which was not bad. One thing they allow us to is to book a table for dim sum at least 1 day in advance.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Dim Sum
Still quite popular after 30 plus years, Koi Palace offers upscale and expensive Cantonese dim sum and seafood dining near Serramonte mall.
Dim sum is one of their claims to fame, but I found the wrappings too soft and they fell apart when picking up a dumpling with chopsticks. Perhaps they added too much water to the four mix. Picky.
The savory dishes were sweet, and the sweet items were too sweet.
The recessed lighting and darker atmosphere adds a little sophistication, compared to the bright white LED lighting you find in most Chinese restaurants. The central dining area has nice lighting and higher ceilings. The area off to the side has lower ceilings and makes the noise level very high. Everyone has to yell to be heard.
Many tables ordered their more expensive seafood items such as Lobster noodles, steamed crab, crab noodles, abalone noodles. Maybe that's the ticket.
Service was good. Our waiter was quite friendly and accommodating. We weren't bothered by the rude and pushy guys in the dark suits with the earpiece.
Koi Palace is a good place to go to if you want to splurge and or impress your family or friends with an expensive Chinese lunch or dinner. Just go on a weekday...if you want to be heard or even hear yourself talk.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Dim Sum
I have been going to this restaurant for a while and I like that they maintain traditional dim sum without changing and modernizing the concept too much like other restaurants.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Deluxe Whole Abalones over Chow Fun, Soup, Fried, Fish, Dim Sum
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