One of the most disappointing meals I've ever had, and that's saying a lot. Saw this mentioned on the San Francisco reddit so I figured I'd give it a try, especially since I love dim sum and their intuition is pretty on point. Unfortunately, I've now learned--had it cemented, the third time in two days--to never eat by touristy areas; the standards are abysmal.
Ordered some dim sum classics (chicken feet, chicken and mushroom siu mai, Portuguese egg tarts, ha gow, soup dumplings) and their Sunday features of snow candy cap pork buns and uni/scallop congee (unique, expensive). I should have known by the size and texture (sticky, flavorless, very little shrimp) of the ha gow that nothing else would be very good and to stop the rest of the service: everything came out either rubbery, dry, unbalanced in flavor and texture, flavorless, and a pale imitation of real dim sum.
The milk aroma oolong was okay, nothing special. Same with the Legend of Snake cocktail (one that had baijiu as the base, which was a first). I was very open about my distaste and kept pushing more and more food off to be collected but never had a server come to ask if anything was okay; I'm not asking for anything more than the bar minimum, but it took a few minutes (having sat at the bar as its sole occupant) before the bartender even noticed I was trying to order a cocktail.
Ambience is good. It's a clean, perfectly decorated environment, which should be your first clue in leaving and finding someplace better in Chinatown. Despite being ignored most of the time, service was cordial. After collecting the last dish that remained full, a server took off one item as a discount after I expressed my disappointment of all the food I'd received.
They do have an extensive menu of non-dim sum items, which may be better. But I'd discourage anyone for coming here otherwise.
A pricey $100+ lesson to learn.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Jessica Reynolds Nguyen
I had my wedding reception at the banquet hall and it exceeded my expectations! The food was delicious and the portions were perfect. All of my family were raving about the food. The decor and space were beautiful. We barely had to add any of our own decor. The service was amazing, they were on top of everything and were very efficient. The drinks were great. We had ~40 people of all ages and there was plenty of space for dancing towards the end of the night. They have an outdoor area with a ping pong table which was perfect for the kids to play at. Since it's located in Ghirardelli square, there's also a lot of cute stores nearby and the water is just on the other side. Their communication was great and they made it so easy to customize my reception. Overall it was 10/10 experience and it will definitely be one of the most memorable days of my life. Would highly recommend for a smaller/more intimate wedding reception!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
vue v
Was served this tumor thing when I ordered the clam dish. Didn’t see it until half way through the dish. They offered to remake the dish but didn’t answer any questions about it.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kelly T. Nguyen
Unfortunately, our experience left much to be desired. The food was underwhelming, and the initial management greeting at the door lacked warmth and professionalism. Very surprised this restaurant made it into the Michelin Guide. However, our waiter was gracious and attentive. With so many exceptional dim sum restaurants in San Francisco, there are certainly more memorable options to explore.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Tuyết Ngân Huỳnh
Not enough staff. We have to wait for someone to help us with our order, and it took too long.
Food: 5
Service: 3
m P
Good was great but Hands down worst service I’ve had in years. Nobody greeted us when we arrived. After standing by the entrance for about five mins someone finally came over and seemed irritated. We had reservations. It was 530. He sat us and then nobody came to our table for another 15 mins. Our waiter came and didn’t say hi folks thanks for coming in or any normal greeting but instead just says “are you ready to order?”. I asked a few questions he very clearly didn’t want to answer. He came back w our drinks and then did not return until well after we had been eating our meal (waiter isn’t the one who brings the food). All he did was eat all past and do a thumbs up and didn’t ask if we wanted anything. So after a while I got up to go to the bar to order my own drink. Waiter came running over irritated when he saw this despite never glancing our way or making any effort to check on us. I let him know I needed a drink and my son wanted desert. The desert was swiftly brought out within a minute despite our table being filled w dirty plates and nowhere to o it the dessert so I started clearing the table myself. What an unbelievable experience and super frustrating given the food was quite good! Good thing there’s plenty of good food w much better service around.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
Amy M
Second time coming here for dim sum, and the food is still like last time. Different takes on the traditional dimsum without sacrificing the taste. Would come here again for a third time!
The palette theme is super cute and interior decor is nice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Tim Trautman
My wife and I had our wedding reception at Palette Tea House and were stunned by how well everything turned out.
Before settling on Palette, we thoroughly researched all restaurants in SF that could host ~50 people, and Palette struck the best balance in terms of tastiness of the food, ambiance, and affordability.
Everyone we've spoken to since the wedding has commented on how good the food was. What stood out to me the most was the Wagyu Beef Potstickers and the Chilean Sea Bass (although I believe this isn't generally available without booking an event.)
Our main points of contact throughout the process were Dennis and Yut, and they were fantastic to work with. Both were extremely thorough, great communicators, thoughtful, and just generally nice people to be around (which matters a lot when you're collaborating on the details of a high-stress event.)
We especially appreciated the fact that they were so understanding with us as we had some last minute guest count changes, due to unforeseen immigration issues. We were disappointed that some of our family couldn't join us, but the fact that we didn't have to worry about the restaurant side of things was really appreciated.
If you're considering booking them for a wedding or large event, please go in for a tasting -- that should seal the deal for you. But if for some reason you're still unsure, I can promise you that you won't regret it if your experience is half as good as ours was.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mizz Mo
We loved the dim sum at Palette Tea House. Not only was the food beautiful, but the flavors are uh-may-zing!
On top of the fantastic food, the service was warm and friendly. And the restaurant is beautiful.
We made a reservation online for dinner earlier in the day. This allowed us to be taken straight to our table without waiting.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Erin Steidley
We were excited to try Palette Tea House after seeing so much buzz online, but unfortunately, it ended up being a big disappointment. The tea selection was surprisingly limited, and one of the teas we ordered arrived as a simple tea bag, not the full tea service experience we were expecting based on the vibe of the place.
As pescatarians, we were looking forward to their vegetable and seafood options, but many of the seafood dumplings also contained pork, and even the taro puffs had pork, which significantly limited what we could order. My sister has a pork allergy and I'm so glad we asked before we ordered or else we wouldn't have known.
We tried the Impossible dumplings, but they lacked flavor entirely. The shrimp dumplings were solid, and I personally enjoyed the jade vegetable dumplings, though my sister found the earthy taste off-putting. The standout dish was the asparagus olive fried rice, definitely the best thing we ordered.
Overall, we left feeling disappointed and regretted spending the money. The experience just didn’t live up to the hype.
Recommended dishes: Palette Dim Sum Sampler, Dim Sum
Kelly Mills
We loved our experience at Palette Tea House! The service was fantastic—quick, attentive, and very helpful. The staff guided us in choosing just the right amount of food, and every dish was delicious. My favorite was the pork soup dumplings; they were perfectly cooked and packed with incredible flavor. Highly recommend for anyone looking to enjoy great food with excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bo Ma
We had the soup dumpling sampler and the Peking duck, followed by a mango pudding for dessert. After eating the sampler, if I were to come back the next time, I would go for the truffle soup dumplings, the original soup dumplings, and maybe the soup dumplings with the green wrappers.
The Peking duck came in a tray format with wrappers, scallions, pickles, cucumbers, and sauce so you could make your own little duck wraps. The skin was extra crispy and the duck flavor really shone. The cucumbers were sliced into little coins and was a good complement to the saltiness of the meat and skin. I did wish there was more duck, but I think this speaks to how good the duck was. Recommend the Peking duck for sure!
We also ordered tea. For us, the tea came in tea bags in mugs as opposed to a tea pot with small cups. I did see another table with a tea pot though, so I wonder if it was something we needed to ask for. We got the golden eyebrow tea which was pretty good as well.
It was pretty busy so we did have to flag down the server all the times we needed something (e.g if we wanted to order something else, dessert, the check, etc) though our waters were refilled pretty consistently (by a different person than the server).
Palette Tea House is a decent, if not an overrated, dim sum restaurant in the premium location of Ghirardelli Square. Given the location, of course it is on the pricey side for dim sum, but not egregiously so. As someone who has lived in China, spent years in Asia, and having previously lived in the Richmond District of San Francisco as well as in Los Angeles, I feel like it is fair to say that I have had a lot of authentic dim sum. One the positive side, I liked the atmosphere, and I also liked the fact that unlike a dim sum place that caters to a more local clientele (for example in the Richmond), we were able to make a reservation and did not have to wait in line (probably the worst part about going for dim sum on a weekend). On the other hand, the dim sum at Palette Tea House is definitely geared towards those who do not normally eat dim sum on a regular basis – for lack of a better term, it’s dim sum “gentrified.” For example the tradition cucumber salad, which is a common dish in Chinese restaurants, had tomatoes and flavors that tasted far more “European to me” which is not something I really wanted. You can see from the photos, but they try to be creative by adding little injectors of butter etc., also, not really necessary in my opinion. The service was good (better than your average dim sum place), and I truly appreciated our server making sure that we knew what the ingredients of each item were since my two companions were pescatarian. While I would never make this place my default dim sum go-to, it was not bad, and if you are in the touristy part of San Francisco on a weekend morning it is nice to have this place as an option.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Fried, Vegetarian Jade Dumplings, Dim Sum
One of the most disappointing meals I've ever had, and that's saying a lot. Saw this mentioned on the San Francisco reddit so I figured I'd give it a try, especially since I love dim sum and their intuition is pretty on point. Unfortunately, I've now learned--had it cemented, the third time in two days--to never eat by touristy areas; the standards are abysmal.
Ordered some dim sum classics (chicken feet, chicken and mushroom siu mai, Portuguese egg tarts, ha gow, soup dumplings) and their Sunday features of snow candy cap pork buns and uni/scallop congee (unique, expensive). I should have known by the size and texture (sticky, flavorless, very little shrimp) of the ha gow that nothing else would be very good and to stop the rest of the service: everything came out either rubbery, dry, unbalanced in flavor and texture, flavorless, and a pale imitation of real dim sum.
The milk aroma oolong was okay, nothing special. Same with the Legend of Snake cocktail (one that had baijiu as the base, which was a first). I was very open about my distaste and kept pushing more and more food off to be collected but never had a server come to ask if anything was okay; I'm not asking for anything more than the bar minimum, but it took a few minutes (having sat at the bar as its sole occupant) before the bartender even noticed I was trying to order a cocktail.
Ambience is good. It's a clean, perfectly decorated environment, which should be your first clue in leaving and finding someplace better in Chinatown. Despite being ignored most of the time, service was cordial. After collecting the last dish that remained full, a server took off one item as a discount after I expressed my disappointment of all the food I'd received.
They do have an extensive menu of non-dim sum items, which may be better. But I'd discourage anyone for coming here otherwise.
A pricey $100+ lesson to learn.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
I had my wedding reception at the banquet hall and it exceeded my expectations! The food was delicious and the portions were perfect. All of my family were raving about the food. The decor and space were beautiful. We barely had to add any of our own decor. The service was amazing, they were on top of everything and were very efficient. The drinks were great. We had ~40 people of all ages and there was plenty of space for dancing towards the end of the night. They have an outdoor area with a ping pong table which was perfect for the kids to play at. Since it's located in Ghirardelli square, there's also a lot of cute stores nearby and the water is just on the other side. Their communication was great and they made it so easy to customize my reception. Overall it was 10/10 experience and it will definitely be one of the most memorable days of my life. Would highly recommend for a smaller/more intimate wedding reception!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Was served this tumor thing when I ordered the clam dish. Didn’t see it until half way through the dish.
They offered to remake the dish but didn’t answer any questions about it.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Unfortunately, our experience left much to be desired. The food was underwhelming, and the initial management greeting at the door lacked warmth and professionalism. Very surprised this restaurant made it into the Michelin Guide. However, our waiter was gracious and attentive. With so many exceptional dim sum restaurants in San Francisco, there are certainly more memorable options to explore.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Not enough staff. We have to wait for someone to help us with our order, and it took too long.
Food: 5
Service: 3
Good was great but Hands down worst service I’ve had in years. Nobody greeted us when we arrived. After standing by the entrance for about five mins someone finally came over and seemed irritated. We had reservations. It was 530. He sat us and then nobody came to our table for another 15 mins. Our waiter came and didn’t say hi folks thanks for coming in or any normal greeting but instead just says “are you ready to order?”. I asked a few questions he very clearly didn’t want to answer. He came back w our drinks and then did not return until well after we had been eating our meal (waiter isn’t the one who brings the food). All he did was eat all past and do a thumbs up and didn’t ask if we wanted anything. So after a while I got up to go to the bar to order my own drink. Waiter came running over irritated when he saw this despite never glancing our way or making any effort to check on us. I let him know I needed a drink and my son wanted desert. The desert was swiftly brought out within a minute despite our table being filled w dirty plates and nowhere to o it the dessert so I started clearing the table myself. What an unbelievable experience and super frustrating given the food was quite good! Good thing there’s plenty of good food w much better service around.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
Second time coming here for dim sum, and the food is still like last time. Different takes on the traditional dimsum without sacrificing the taste. Would come here again for a third time!
The palette theme is super cute and interior decor is nice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
My wife and I had our wedding reception at Palette Tea House and were stunned by how well everything turned out.
Before settling on Palette, we thoroughly researched all restaurants in SF that could host ~50 people, and Palette struck the best balance in terms of tastiness of the food, ambiance, and affordability.
Everyone we've spoken to since the wedding has commented on how good the food was. What stood out to me the most was the Wagyu Beef Potstickers and the Chilean Sea Bass (although I believe this isn't generally available without booking an event.)
Our main points of contact throughout the process were Dennis and Yut, and they were fantastic to work with. Both were extremely thorough, great communicators, thoughtful, and just generally nice people to be around (which matters a lot when you're collaborating on the details of a high-stress event.)
We especially appreciated the fact that they were so understanding with us as we had some last minute guest count changes, due to unforeseen immigration issues. We were disappointed that some of our family couldn't join us, but the fact that we didn't have to worry about the restaurant side of things was really appreciated.
If you're considering booking them for a wedding or large event, please go in for a tasting -- that should seal the deal for you. But if for some reason you're still unsure, I can promise you that you won't regret it if your experience is half as good as ours was.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We loved the dim sum at Palette Tea House. Not only was the food beautiful, but the flavors are uh-may-zing!
On top of the fantastic food, the service was warm and friendly. And the restaurant is beautiful.
We made a reservation online for dinner earlier in the day. This allowed us to be taken straight to our table without waiting.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We were excited to try Palette Tea House after seeing so much buzz online, but unfortunately, it ended up being a big disappointment. The tea selection was surprisingly limited, and one of the teas we ordered arrived as a simple tea bag, not the full tea service experience we were expecting based on the vibe of the place.
As pescatarians, we were looking forward to their vegetable and seafood options, but many of the seafood dumplings also contained pork, and even the taro puffs had pork, which significantly limited what we could order. My sister has a pork allergy and I'm so glad we asked before we ordered or else we wouldn't have known.
We tried the Impossible dumplings, but they lacked flavor entirely. The shrimp dumplings were solid, and I personally enjoyed the jade vegetable dumplings, though my sister found the earthy taste off-putting. The standout dish was the asparagus olive fried rice, definitely the best thing we ordered.
Overall, we left feeling disappointed and regretted spending the money. The experience just didn’t live up to the hype.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
WiFi password "fortune1"
Nice place for dinner after a long day walking
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Palette Dim Sum Sampler, Dim Sum
We loved our experience at Palette Tea House! The service was fantastic—quick, attentive, and very helpful. The staff guided us in choosing just the right amount of food, and every dish was delicious. My favorite was the pork soup dumplings; they were perfectly cooked and packed with incredible flavor. Highly recommend for anyone looking to enjoy great food with excellent service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had the soup dumpling sampler and the Peking duck, followed by a mango pudding for dessert. After eating the sampler, if I were to come back the next time, I would go for the truffle soup dumplings, the original soup dumplings, and maybe the soup dumplings with the green wrappers.
The Peking duck came in a tray format with wrappers, scallions, pickles, cucumbers, and sauce so you could make your own little duck wraps. The skin was extra crispy and the duck flavor really shone. The cucumbers were sliced into little coins and was a good complement to the saltiness of the meat and skin. I did wish there was more duck, but I think this speaks to how good the duck was. Recommend the Peking duck for sure!
We also ordered tea. For us, the tea came in tea bags in mugs as opposed to a tea pot with small cups. I did see another table with a tea pot though, so I wonder if it was something we needed to ask for. We got the golden eyebrow tea which was pretty good as well.
It was pretty busy so we did have to flag down the server all the times we needed something (e.g if we wanted to order something else, dessert, the check, etc) though our waters were refilled pretty consistently (by a different person than the server).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Palette Soup Dumpling xlb Sampler
Palette Tea House is a decent, if not an overrated, dim sum restaurant in the premium location of Ghirardelli Square. Given the location, of course it is on the pricey side for dim sum, but not egregiously so. As someone who has lived in China, spent years in Asia, and having previously lived in the Richmond District of San Francisco as well as in Los Angeles, I feel like it is fair to say that I have had a lot of authentic dim sum. One the positive side, I liked the atmosphere, and I also liked the fact that unlike a dim sum place that caters to a more local clientele (for example in the Richmond), we were able to make a reservation and did not have to wait in line (probably the worst part about going for dim sum on a weekend). On the other hand, the dim sum at Palette Tea House is definitely geared towards those who do not normally eat dim sum on a regular basis – for lack of a better term, it’s dim sum “gentrified.” For example the tradition cucumber salad, which is a common dish in Chinese restaurants, had tomatoes and flavors that tasted far more “European to me” which is not something I really wanted. You can see from the photos, but they try to be creative by adding little injectors of butter etc., also, not really necessary in my opinion. The service was good (better than your average dim sum place), and I truly appreciated our server making sure that we knew what the ingredients of each item were since my two companions were pescatarian. While I would never make this place my default dim sum go-to, it was not bad, and if you are in the touristy part of San Francisco on a weekend morning it is nice to have this place as an option.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Fried, Vegetarian Jade Dumplings, Dim Sum
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