Good HK style cafe w/ quite a menu. They also have specials posted on the wall. The men usually get the black pepper steak meal which comes w/ a dinner roll, soup, steak, your choice of rice or spaghetti, corn, broccoli as well as a drink for $15. read more

Pretty good pork with vegetables noodle soup (: Good deal during tea time special (3-6pm), includes complimentary coffee or milk tea. This place kinda reminds me of Abc cafe but they provide chinese magazines as you wait for your food and fruits in the end. read more

This place has one of the best baked pork chop dishes I've ever had. The pork chop actually a porkchop..i guess we'll call it a baked pork tenderloin dish. It was great! boneless baked pork loin over rice. Man I know I'm probably being lazy and all but this just makes it so much easier. I can eat all the meat instead of having to cut around the bone and leaving the bits of meat on there. I've also had the stir fried packaged noodle..its basically package noodle that has been stir fried with like chicken or spam etc. Its really simple and I've never known about it until this place. Now its something I really want to make it at home. Making packaged noodle and then taking it out before it gets soggy and then stir frying it. How neat! maybe this is old news to a lot of you buts its new to me haha. And prices, this place is pretty cheap. So cash only~ read more

My parents and I came here last night for a late dinner. Their "OPEN" sign was still lit up so we walked in. Apparently they closed at 10pm and it was around 10:30 when we walked in, but the owner was good-natured and took us in even though he was eating his dinner. Another couple came in a few minutes later and he took them in as well. My parents ordered the special (ox-tongue with a mushroom cream sauce) and the baked filet of sole with spaghetti in a curry sauce. I'm a huge fan of baked ox-tongue with spaghetti in tomato sauce but NO ONE in San Francisco can make it properly. I always order it at other restaurants (ABC, S&E, etc.) but I'm always disappointed. But when our dishes came, everything was delicious! The ox-tongue was tender and the tomato sauce had a good flavor. I'll be back for sure. This place is authentic Hong Kong Style food. Raymond (the owner) even gave us some freshly baked buns to eat in the morning. I'm just crossing my fingers that he'll make some raisin wheat molasses buns next time. read more

I decided to give this location a shot since I didn't want to deal with the long lines at the Hong Kong flower lounge. I was really surprised when I walked in how the cafe looked so modernized. This place is tucked away behind a lot with no dedicate parking lot. When I was looking at the electronic screen for ideas of what to order the pineapple prawn fried rice caught my eye. Absolutely beautifully presented, picture attached. I came with a party of 6 and I decided to try the steak combo served on a cast iron. To my surprise it came with a starter soup that the server failed to mention, but it was a pleasant surprise. The soup was amazing and seemed to be the soup of he day, a creamy corn soup. When the rest of the dishes came out for the rest of my party it seems they forgot about my steak combo when some of my party was already done eating (also I heard the server mention to the cook "steak combo still"). However even with that lapse of service they had when the steak came out it was served fresh and well done like I ordered. It was presented with a broccoli and onion topping which complemented each other in each bite. To my surprise the combo was also served with a side of spaghetti. So when my food came out I had two dishes to eat, the only comment I have to make about the spaghetti is that it was more an after thought. With plain flavors, maybe it is my carnivorous thoughts but I mean average sautéed onions with tomato sauce (no meat). Despite the spaghetti, the cut of steak was sooooooooo good. I mean this was cooked perfectly. I've attached some photos. Last critique: I ordered a coffee, and while waiting for my dish that was forgotten I was not offered a coffee refill. Keep in mind this is CASH ONLY! Small cafe shop but can accommodate large parties upwards of 10 with combining tables. 1 unisex bathroom in the back (clean looking) read more

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I used to love coming here, the food is decent and it's convenient enough for us on the weekend. I gave the one star for their service and maybe two star for the quality of their food in the recent times I've visited. The place is small and often times when we get there it's usually a wait. There's a sign in sheet int he front. But today, they let others sit down before us while I'm 9 months pregnant!!! They told us these people who cut me "had reservations". Ummm big no! They simply were their friends because this cafe simply does not take reservations! I get that sometimes, people like to get "hook up" but please don't make it so obviously especially when my party of 7 has been waiting while me standing pregnant! So you can see how irritated I got before we were seated! Then we order our usual baked pork tenderloin (amazing) and fried chicken wings with French fries. I posted a photo of our chicken wings...which consist of four wings there were extremely small and maybe 6 fries! I couldn't believe they put that on our table! The order looked like leftovers from another table! We were also with small childrens and we had to ask for forks and a small bowl three times! After today, me and my family will probably not eat here for awhile! read more

Cafe Orchid - No joke! This was my order of chicken wings and fries! Like how can they even present this!?! - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

Folks and I went to Cafe Orchid on a recommendation from mom's friend. She was told that they have authentic HK milk tea there. Other than that, we were just thinking we'd go for some HK cafe style lunch. Cafe Orchid is adjacent from HK Flower Lounge, if you're familiar with the Millbrae area. CO is located in a tiny building that houses a tattoo parlor next door. They don't have a parking lot in front, so you have to park in the small strip mall parking lot next to their building. CO itself is a tiny tiny little eatery. It consists of a main dining room with about 8 at most tables all crammed together. My suggestion is sit there or wait for a table. Otherwise, you will have to sit in this narrow hallway (where we were seated) and it's near the unisex restroom. I have a bone to pick with the waitresses there and I will start here. First, there was a table for 5 in the hallway but closest to the dining room. The table was unoccupied and the waitress would not let us sit there bc there were 3 of us so we got sat at the third table (which sat 4) in the hallway which was close to the restroom. Later on, we saw that she had seated one person by himself at the table for 5. After receiving the menu and the waitress returned to take our order minutes later. We weren't ready to order and she told us to go get her when we were ready. There were 2 waitresses and they were both inattentive and only served the regulars there. Eventually, we decide what we want to eat and my dad has to walk over to the waitress to get her attention. She follows him back to the table and takes our order. Mom ordered a hot milk tea, which she agreed was quite authentic and brewed well. We also notice a prawn and egg chow fun on the menu which we had never seen on any menu before so gave that a go. This was actually the best dish out of the 3. The prawns were cooked perfectly and the chow fun wasn't greasy. The dish was pretty unique and tasted good. However, it was served in a small tin wok dish and the dish just kept spinning around or tipping bc the bottom was unsupported by any type of stand. Maybe they tried to go for some presentation points but utter fail! Other two choices were the wonton noodle soup and beef tendon noodle soup. The wonton noodles were all overcooked and were on the cusp of becoming soggy. Wontons were just fair and the soup was nothing to rave about. The beef tendons were good but other than that, again nothing to rave about. Portions were quite large but all three dishes were really all mostly noodles. For cha chan tang, prices seemed a little pricey for what we got. Total bill was $27. Continuing to pick the bone with the waitresses....we had to ask for everything while we were there. I walked up to the waitress to ask for plates bc she never brought us any even after she served us the chow fun. They were being too cheap to turn on the AC, so the waitress goes to fire up this huge fan on the ground which was next to the restroom. That wouldn't have been such a bad idea except that the fan was blowing up all this dirt and dust from a nasty rug that was in front of the restroom. In addition we got all this wind just blowing on our legs. We tell the waitress we don't want the fan on bc it's blowing on us and the dirt is going to get on our food. She explains that it's hot but we insist that we don't want it on. She reluctantly turns the fan off. 10 minutes later, one of the chefs comes out and turns the fan and again, we have to explain that it's blowing the dirt and dust in the air. Just horrible! Eventually, I can actually feel some AC coming on while my folks and I are rushing to eat our food bc we just want to get out of there. When we are ready to pay, it's impossible to flag either of the waitresses down. They seemed to be busy chit chatting with the regulars. Finally one of them sees us and comes over and says "What?" Nice attitude lady....just bring us our freaking check. She finally does, we pay and we walk past the waitresses on our way out. Not one thank you or goodbye. Surely, we will not be coming back. I'll be opting to go to Fat Wong's Kitchen down the street next time instead. read more

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When it comes to comfort food. This is my place to go to relax and have a good meal. Although I only get the same few dishes here, they always satisfy my cravings. What I love most about here is their Hong Kong style milk tea. The consistency and smoothness of the tea here is just perfect for me. And it also has just the right amount of sweetness to it. When it comes to food itself, I've always gotten to baked pork chop or the baked chicken chop, with the tomato or the Portuguese sauce depending on my mood. These baked dishes are definitely a must try for all people because I believe this is probably the best place in the bay area for these kinds of dishes. Recently, I've gotten the crispy skin pork chop with corn sauce and noodles. That is now my new favorite dish. It comes out faster and it does not feel as heavy to eat compared to the baked dishes. Also the crispiness adds a really nice kick to it! Also a must try! Bring your friends and family, because this place is definitely a nice place for a meal or snack. read more

There are so many positive reviews for this place and I got sucked in to give this place a try. I stopped by on a Sunday afternoon and ordered an iced milk tea with a baked seafood spaghetti. First, CASH ONLY, so make sure you have cash. (Not really an issue, just make sure you know). The milk tea was super watered down even before the ice melted. The baked seafood spaghetti had zero taste. I had to add a lot of black pepper so that I could taste something. The seafood is frozen, like most other HK Cafes. The shrimp and mussels tasted very fishy and the shrimp they use are tiny. After the initial top layer of cheese and cream sauce, it just looks like a pool of watered down sauce. Completely disappointed with this place. read more

I am a sucker for good family style HK cafes / restaurants, so I thought I would give this place a try. I ordered the Hoi Nam Chicken rice - very disappointing, the chicken has no flavor, the rice is not cooked with the chicken broth. My friends ordered the curry chicken fried noodles, and curry beef over rice, again, nothing special, mediocre at best. What irks me the most is this brain dead waitress. Me: Excuse me, I ordered the "special lunch", it is supposed to come with the milk tea, I never got it. BDW: You didn't order any milk tea. Me: Please look at the menu on the wall, it says it comes with milk tea. BDW: OK, let me check with the kitchen Five minutes passed, she came back with the milk tea. Me: Excuse me, my friends ordered the lunch special also, they didn't get the milk tea BDW: They didn't order any milk tea ! Me: Ahhh, please look at the wall, it says it comes with the milk tea Ten minutes passed, she came back with the milk tea We also ordered a lunch special to go, and guess what? No milk tea, Me: Excuse me, there is no milk tea with this lunch special BDW: Oh, you order to go, you don't get the milk tea. Me : Where does it say that? Please look at the wall where you have your specials - this lunch special comes with milk tea. AWWW, never mind. Someone must have performed a lobotomy on this lady, we won't be back there anytime soon. read more

I really recommend their pork chop rice. Is really good. It taste just like the one in Hong Kong. The milk tea and lemon tea is also delicious just like Hong Kong. They have tea time from 3-6 pm which their portion is smaller but it comes with a free drink but if you want it cold, you have to pay $1 just like Hong Kong. I love their foods. I would totally go there again. read more

Food is pretty good, except their chicken slivers taste fake for some reason. A lot of sauce (red or white) menu item which made some dishes taste alike. read more

I been regularly going to Cafe Orchid for many years for lunch and dinner. My favorite dishes are Baked Pork Chop and Curry Lamb with Hong Kong style Milk Tea. I give five star for combinations value of price, cleanliness, services, and tases. There are parking at the back which the entrance is easy to miss the first time. read more

Dropping a star... Food got much more boring after several times of visiting this place. They use some horrible meat for their onion pork chop... Bunch of FAT and BONES. sorry, but i hate to drop that star. read more

Finally got a chance to visit Cafe Orchid after seeing it here for the past year. I like the food at Cafe Encore so I didn't feel the need to try this place, but tonight the itch needed to be scratched. Walking in my wife immediately recognizes the owner as the previous owner of Cafe Honolulu in Chinatown. At least I know she has experience in running a HK cafe. Ordered a black pepper rib-eye steak on sizzling plate, a chicken steak with Malay/Indian sauce, a macaroni in soup with ham, and to drink: a HK milk tea and a HK iced lemon tea. The complimentary soup was cream of corn and it was hot and pretty tasty, not watered down like other places. So far so good. My steak was decent, i.e. not too tough. The sauce was a bit disappointing as it was more like a grown gravy than a black pepper sauce. My wife enjoyed the chicken steak with Malay sauce, which was very, very similar to HK style curry sauce.It's just a bit of a 'heavy' dish but overall she enjoyed it. My son's macaroni in soup was very tasty. The macaroni was cooked perfectly al dente and the broth was seasoned right. It tasted really good, one of the better versions I've had in SF. My HK iced tea was just average. The tea flavor wasn't strong enough and the waitress poked my lemons for me which normally is really cool/sweet, but the lemons had a slightly bitter taste that affected the whole drink. Granted it would have been the same if I poked the lemons so no real difference there but still... Wife's HK milk tea was excellent (she said). Very smooth and not bitter at all. I'll take her word for it as I didn't try it. [Ken K., ready for another visit?] Overall I'm still a Cafe Encore fan but I definitely wouldn't hesitate to come here as the vibe is pretty relaxed here and the food has it's high points. read more

I had the worst experience there! The service was extremely poor (pretend not seeing you when you raise your hand)! Don't order any bake rice dishes because they will miss/delay up to an hour at least for your order (actually giving your order to somebody else on purpose because other table complained for their missing order). The pork chop was not as good as how the other reviewers described! The pork chop I had was bad. There were only 4 tables of customers on the weekday and my food took 1hour and 15 mins. I asked a few times about my food but no follow up. Kept telling me wait! The worst thing was the person who came after me got my dish! If you want to spend a whole day waiting for your food and the food is not even good, please go ahead! If there is a choice of minus 5 stars, I would pick that instead of 1 star! read more

Bumping this up to 5 because this place is way underrated. A year later, this is still by far the best HK Cafe in the area, especially the quality & quantity for the price. I'm usually here if I'm craving some Western/HK food or just back for my fix. Find me here with the baked pork chop over spaghetti/rice and an iced milk tea. Seriously. read more

BY FAR THE BEST HONG KONG STYLE MILK TEA I'VE EVER HAD. They make their tea super strong, which this ABC girl has grown up on basically tea, which makes it tastier. I'm not a fan of HK Cafe style food. I think it's the idea of so much tomato sauce baked, basted, drizzled, sprinkled, sinked, etc on my food. But the Baked Pork Chop over rice is pretty good. read more

This place is definitely underrated like my pal Jen T. said. The food is actually really great, quality and quantity. I ordered the tomato fish and spinach baked dish and I was expecting maybe 2 small pieces with a ton of spaghetti. They gave THREE HUGE pieces with a handfull of spinach on top of a good portioned size spaghetti dish. Some may say they wanted more carbs, but I think it's good for....you :) I was belly poppin' full after this meal. Other dishes we tried were the porkchop curry baked dish which was very good and the Portuguese Chicken from the specials menu. DELISH! I love the sweetness of the sauce but it was also kind of like Thai curry. We were really satisfied and pleased with our meals. The specials also come with a drink of your choice. The price is average, about $10 a dish but it's definitely a great portion. HK style food is known for its baked dishes. I would go for those! If you were displeased with your food, perhaps they have listened to your complaints and improved. This place is definitely an orchid in the rough. read more

This is a Western Chinese Restaurant, which means it is a fusion type of restaurant, but homestyle. Hence the baked items, french fries and the macaroni/ramen afternoon-style items. My husband and I love the baked items, like the baked tomato sauce casseroles of chicken, fish, porkchop, etc... You can get them either with spagehtti or rice, both are good with either. Small place with service being hit or miss. One time we came and they were decent and another time the chef couldn't get his ducks lined up, a total of 6 people with 1 dish each, half the dishes came out first and the other half came out 20 min later! But that was one time and it was afternoon-tea hour. Maybe he was just a little crazed during that hour then. I have yet to try their milk tea or afternoon tea drinks. read more

Or 2.5 stars. Another HK style Cafe in Millbrae. They have a few chef specials including the curry over rice, baked pork chop with rice and Hainan chicken. Not a big fan of Hainan chicken in SF since not single one can compare to what I have had in Singapore and we are talking about the thick soy sauce alone. Ok focus... Baked pork chop rice is decent. Very large portion on pork chop, milk tea is ok. The disappointment comes from the wonton and beef brisket soup noodle. Wonton is dry and the beef brisket is tough. Guess I won't be back. read more

Solid place. Satay beef rice noodle on point at 8.25. Look at the wall for specials that includes drink. Wonton beef brisket solid. Lots of noodles though. Could be good thing if you're hungry. Overall, an average hk style cafe joint in the milbrae / burlingame area. read more

Standard HK cuisine cafe. The food was ok if you order the right dish. I got the ham macaroni with egg. The portion was pretty small. The taste was standard. My friend got the baked chicken with spaghetti. It took over 30 minutes for his food to come out. The chicken was tender but lack of flavor. The service was kinda slow, especially the wait time for the food. Hummm probably not going back because I've experienced better. read more

Found this place on yelp- ordered take out today at 3:00 Baked pork chop over rice 3 stars. Average nothing to rave or complain about. Baked spaghetti with meat sauce 3 stars. Average. Lots of cheese, very mushy. 1 order of chicken wings. SERIOUSLY???? 5 anorexic pieces???? I love my chicken wings. Please- well I think they thought, by throwing in 18 pieces of yesterday French fries would disguise their anorexic wings. Fail. Epic fail on portion size. Really. read more

Lots of options and variety. Daily special is a steal so make sure you ask what's written on the wall cuz I think it's in Chinese. Most customers here are regular customers so chit chat, can get uncomfortable if you're visiting at first, but no regret once you tried any dish. Free parking as long as you can find the entrance that is a small alley plus is one way! read more

I've been to this cafe numerous times, usually for breakfast. This cafe offers very good deal for breakfasts. Good portion, pretty good taste, and very cheap. Breakfast is offered till 11am, perfect for people like me who want to sleep in on weekend. Service is ok for the price it charges. My only complain is the bun that comes with breakfast, it doesn't always taste very fresh. I also tried their regular menu (lunch and dinner). Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Baked pork chop with rice, rice is not fried rice. Cutlet pork chop with black pepper sauce, the sauce tastes off..... Parking lot is located behind the cafe. It is small, and the entrance is very easy to miss. I usually park in the lot next to the cafe on weekend, when the other business is closed. read more

My go to cafe if I am craving Hong Kong style foods. I lived closed by so very convenience for me to order take out or eat in. I like their Nice pork chop baked rice and curry items. read more

This is properly the worst experience I have ever had in a Chinese restaurant. Food were never serve after 38 minutes wait time just because either the cook or waitress forgot about the order. And come up to me saying, "excuse me, forgot about your order, do you want to re-order?" Dang! Are you serious? Should you say Sorry instead or Excuse me? Should you offer some free snack or drink just because of your careless? I am not greedy asking for free stuff but most of the Chinese restaurant offer that as a courtesy when there is their mistake that they admitted. And I will feel being respected by the restaurant. read more

Cafe Orchid is a mediocre HK-style restaurant in a hidden corner of El Camino Real in Milbrae. The store front is really hidden but the space inside is quite large and spacious. Everybody that comes here seem like they're regulars and knows the waitstaff well already. I ordered baked chicken with spaghetti but got w/ rice by mistake. The food is very similar to all the HK cafés I've been to in SF so I wasn't wowed by anything. Their HK-style milk tea is pretty good tho. I would probably return for their milk tea but I'm in no rush. read more

Bad service but tase is good. They only offer good service to Hong Kong Chinese people, for example: the HK people got a sweet tofu as a dessert. NOT TO ME, even I've visited there many times DISCRIMINATING NON CANTONESE SPEAKING CUSTOMERS!!! read more

Not sure how long they've been opened, but we just recently discovered this little HK style cafe in Milbrae near Bart station. They have a small parking lot in the back of the restaurant. Depends on the time of the day, they get pretty packed on weekend breakfast and dinner hours. Everything we've tried were pretty decent. The milk tea is very good. For breakfast the congee and soy sauce fried noodles is a very good deal and very tasty. I've also tried their beef stew in red sauce, Delish!! They gave me so much sauce, I packed it to go and had it with some noodles the next morning. My son got the rib eye dinner combo. The steak was kind of tough and lots of gristle. The girls working there are always nice and accommodating. read more

Cafe Orchid - Fried noodles that came with my jook. $5.75 for the combo! - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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I ready like the baked pork over rice. It is really close to the one that I tried in Hong Kong. I have been so many Hong Kong cafe in the bay, and I think Cafe Orchid is the best Hong Kong cafe restaurant. Will come back again. read more

I have been to Cafe Orchid for at least ten times and would give it a solid 4-star review after so many visits. The food quality has always been consistent and service is good, day in and day out. By now the ladies recognize me whenever I go there. They are not the most proactive but are nice and friendly enough, which honestly, one can't expect too much in a "$" restaurant. The only 1 star deduction is that you have to bring cash as this is the only method of payment--NO CARDS accepted, which is sort of typical, unfortunately, in some Chinese restaurants...... @_@ The portion of their afternoon tea set is decent for the price of $5.95. I am a loyal customer of Cafe Orchid because it has repeatedly demonstrated the consistency and quality that I can always anticipate. :) read more

Baked Beef Tongue with Marinara sauce over Fried Rice Salty Fish and Chicken Fried Rice These are my usual staples. I love to mix their hot sauce with it...super spicy but so delicious. It's basically a hole in a wall place... the prices aren't exactly super cheap compared to other HK cafe's. The food is decent though and I can't complain about the portions. This is the only place where I like beef tongue over rice--it doesn't have that awkward grainy taste and the meat is actually quite tender. I just don't like how this place is cash only and how the floor is always so damn slippery. read more

HK Style Ham Omelette. With Fries and Red Cabbage. Not a fan of red cabbage, it kind of creeps me out. But the omelette was pretty damn good. I liked the white sauce they used because I used to always eat my omelettes in red ketchup sauce at ABC. The fries were pretty good too, not crispy but not mushy. I'd probably come here if I was in the area waiting for my flight at SFO. But it's not worth the trip over just specifically for it from the East Bay. We actually came here only because Ramen Dojo was closed. read more

Cafe Orchid is one of my favorite places to come when I need my HK food fix. I love their baked porkchop with spaghetti. Yummmm! But lately my sister and I have been going here on a weekly basis for their afternoon tea time specials!! They have a bunch of options for $5.95 that includes food PLUS milk tea :). What more can you ask for! We always get the pork with preserved vegetables and the mini-size baked porkchop. I'm drooling and awaiting the weekend already as I type this. I also like their macaroni soup a lot. I know its easy to make but this place definitely makes it better then most of the other HK cafes. read more

I ordered their club sandwich and I was actually very disappointed. It didn't taste as good The chicken was dry and they didn't have enough mayo or something in their. Will not get that anymore Haven't tried anything else but I've seen my coworker order the Hainan chicken rice plate several times, so maybe that might be good. read more

Baked Pork Chop over rice is the perfect comfort food. It's pretty yummy and cheap here. I know its simple but the lemon coke is also good! Obviously its just lemon wedges in coke.. but mmmm read more

Yeah I think I'm a HK Cafe connoisseur and I know my curry and baked pork chop dishes. I had the curry pork chop rice. The rice was a bit dry and hard. The pork chop was small and there wasn't much potatoes or curry sauce. The sauce actually had good flavor and spicyness was pretty much on the money. My kids had the minced beef with raw egg over rice. Sauce not rich enough. Parking is in the back. Not sure if we will be back soon. The HK cafe spot on broadway behind here is better. And of course VIP in SF chinatown is the BEST. read more

I guess you can say I have a soft spot for HK style cafes and I mean cafe in a literal sense. To me there's a huge difference between a Chinese restaurant and a cafe. These are the types of spots I frequently visit every time I'm in HK or Macau, I like the western touch to it I suppose. I also enjoy a good baked dish which for such a large Chinese community in the Bay Area, we severely lack these types of cafe or quality cafe. I honestly believe I'm giving this place a better rating due to the lack of quality HK style cafes in the Bay Area. I've been coming here frequently since working in Millbrae, and I don't have anything bad to say about it. I like their Saturn pork chop, their curry chicken isn't bad, and their baked pork chop is good. As for drinks, their milk tea is good. As far as service is concern, it's a non-issue. Actually, the rating has more to do with the fact that this place reminds me of what VIP on Broadway used to be and I'm sure there's some connection there with the owners. It's not the greatest, it's not the best, but it's a quality HK style cafe. read more