GOLDEN ISLAND, Dimsum & Asian Cuisine

Chill, friendly, good food & reasonable price.

Thank you Clark for the friendly service. So happy to have an authentic legit dim sum in San Diego. Can’t wait to be back soon!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great place for dim sum. Great place for Chinese food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Meat Dumplings, Turnip Cake, Assorted Dim Sum

Service is bad. Expensive for ok food

Parking: Easy to find parking

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 1

Have you ever wanted to see your waiter battle a giant crustacean so your wife can have fresh seafood? Well, look no further.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

There is a banner outside advertising that if you buy 4 dim sum items, you get 1 free. We asked the server to clarify this special was still going on and all he said was yes. We ordered 10 dim sum items thinking 2 items would come off the bill, however when we received the bill, we were charged for all 10. A different staff member came up to collect the bill and we asked about the special and she said it’s buy 4 items and get 1 free item TO GO and can only be 1 free item max. Had this been explained to us in the beginning, we would not have ordered 10 dishes…. We told this to the staff and she said “ok” and walked away. Super deceiving, crappy service, and below average food. Telling all my friends to stay away.

Love this dim sum place. Very traditional and great selections. I went with some friends who spoke mandarin so we got really good service and they were very attentive. Def would come back here.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Assorted Dim Sum, Chicken Feet

Great food but hardly ordered various foods, $348 dollars later for 4 people. Didnt like they said tip was automatic on the card, told them take the tip off, i wanted to pay in cash. We should’ve went to Little Sakana instead. Not returning anytime soon, gonna find an alternative and less expensive Dim-sum place.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Assorted Dim Sum

Completely ignored me. I waited in waiting area for 5 minutes , said hi to one worker, ignored me then sat at bar to see if I would have better luck there. Nope 👎

Service: 1

Okay-ish food, but don’t expect any services because there isn’t any.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

The waiters are not at all attentive with online orders, it is the second and last time I order there, they left me waiting for more than 20 minutes on both occasions and the order was already ready. Terrible service from the people who serve.

Service: 1

It good be Thanksgiving but there was no service. Waited about 30 minutes to be seated. Had to get the attention of a waiter before he waved us in. Several customers walked away.
After we were seated, we had to get attention before we were able to order. Table next to us was also upset as they had problem trying to pay their bill. Overall a bad experience.
I assume it must have something to do with Thanksgiving holidays.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Meat Dumplings, Turnip Cake, Assorted Dim Sum, Chicken Feet, Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce 香芋蒜香蒸肋排

Golden Island is hands-down one of the best dim sum spots in San Diego and a personal favorite of mine. As a huge dim sum enthusiast, I struggled for years to find a truly great spot in the area—so discovering Golden Island felt like striking gold.

A quick note on service: I’ve noticed some Google reviews mention issues, but here’s the thing—Golden Island boasts a large banquet space and is incredibly popular, especially during peak hours. It’s worth keeping in mind how challenging it can be to manage a packed house without a surplus of staff. If you’d rather not deal with the hustle and bustle, I recommend avoiding peak times. You’ll get to savor their wonderful service and enjoy their delicious offerings at a relaxed pace.

Oh, and don’t miss their Crispy Pork Belly—it’s absolutely to die for! Thank you, Golden Island, for serving such exceptional dishes.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Meat Dumplings, Assorted Dim Sum, Chicken Feet

Finally found a decent dim sum place in SD 😅 I've had better in OC, but most of their dimsum in the carts was good. Somw of the food ordered from the menu was not as good. 4+1 dimsum deal was nice :) Overall will be eating there whenever I crave dim sum from now on!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Rolls, Assorted Dim Sum

Delicious! Dim Sun after hours ❤️

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4