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    Cousin Cafe

    3.4 (543 reviews)
    Open 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Cousin Cafe Photos

    Business Info

    COUSIN CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Cousin Cafe

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    Leftovers...
    Victor G.

    Cousin Cafe has been here for a couple of decades. Not much decor. Soft music, flatscreen in front. Tables set closed together. Couple tables outside. Lotsa parking in big lot. Service slow on Father's Day. Place packed. Waiting list. Opted to sit outside when name called. Hong Kong style food isn't considered Chinese food as it was created when it was a British colony from 1842-1997. *U.K. Didn't like their forbidden opium dumped into the sea by the Qing Dynasty. A treaty after the Opium War allowed UK to possess H.K. Another war later allowed UK to take over Kowloon.. "free trade" Western style. Offerings (H.K.): usual categories + lunch, breakfast & chef's specials. Bites: Baked pork chop & rock cod fillets with sweet corn sauce (19.95) choose rice over spaghetti. Came in 15ish minutes -baked perfecto. Thin crunchy crust, juicy moist proteins within. Creamy corn sauce added fluidity. Rice added body. Sips: Hong Kong Milk Tea. Comped. Didn't see where it was listed ... -brewed with strong black tea with condensed milk on bottom. Forgot to stir so it tasted bitter initially. -H.K. Drinks are an acquired taste. Predates boba tea. Has an earthier taste profile. 4.5 stars worthy:YMMV. Quality-very good quantity-ok for me. Busier times have higher prices...

    Bonnie C.

    Typical Hong Kong cafe to fix your Hong Kong diner craving. Quick service if you are in a rush. Note that they close the register between shift so they would require you to pay before their shift end if you are paying with credit card. This doesn't affect those who pay with cash. Portion size is worth it for the price.

    Bake chicken rice with two sauces
    Frances C.

    My kids stable who grew up eating at Cousin Now back in town with the family and nothing has changed. Food is still consistently delicious. The chicken baked rice is difficult to match from other places filled with different tangy red sauce and creamy white sauce. The beef chow fun is stirred dried with excellent aromatic wok. Great combination and will definitely return for more.

    Waffle set breakfast
    Art L.

    Our usual lunch spot... but that day, we came for breakfast or brunch at 10 ish am. Probably the only decent hk style breakfast sets in the sf South Bay. Ordered the porridge & rice noodles set and also the waffle bacon and 2 fry eyes with complimentary hk milk tea. Excellent prices. The servers are friendly and know our names. No non-sense decor with wood tables & somewhat comfortable chairs. I

    Spare ribs over rice (also came with sautéed lettuce)
    Megan Y.

    A solid Hong Kong cafe with affordable dishes! We've been here numerous times over the last decade or so, and they're pretty consistent with delivering good comfort food. My family is from HK and their black bean spare ribs over rice is pretty special and took my dad back to his childhood, though the most recent trip he said it tasted slightly different, but still good. The combination fried noodles have lots of seafood and the chow fun was huge! My only wish is that it had a little more seasoning--the wok hei was there but it was ever so slightly bland still. All in all though, great value and a no frills kind of place--don't go for amazing service, go for the comfort food.

    hainan chicken porridge
    Megan C.

    every item we ordered was delicious and good value ($25pp)! we ordered family style and got - hainan chicken porridge - youtiao (chinese donut) - salt and pepper chicken wings - black pepper beef crispy rice - baked seafood fried rice - hot and iced hk milk teas, lemon iced tea our server spoke english mandarin and cantonese and sat us at the outdoor table that got more draft wind on a warm day would return esp since not that many hk cafes in the south bay (that i know of??)

    Celina N.

    Missing Cha Chaan Teng food so I had to stop by here. This is a childhood spot of mine and it was very nostalgic eating here. We ordered HK milk tea, garlic chicken wings, pineapple shrimp fried rice, and the scrambled egg & shrimp chow fun. Love the garlic chicken wings here.

    Main entrance
    Michael W.

    I like the food at Cousin Cafe. They have my favorite Hong Kong-style Chinese dishes. I can only try a few items this time. I'm sure I will come back soon to try more of their yummy dishes. I love their fried rice The dining room is not the best, but it is comparable to most restaurants in Hong Kong. It is not very big but clean, and the service is very fast.

    Lemon Iced Tea
    Winn H.

    Pro Tip: Bring cash for a discount, and don't underestimate the size of that barrel (rice)! - - - - - - As the advice goes, a 3.5 for a Chinese restaurant means it's authentic, good - and this holds true, too, for Cousin Cafe. On a Sunday afternoon, the wait was no more than a few minutes for a table for two, and of course, I was more than tempted to get the chicken and mushroom barrel rice. We also shared a fish filet porridge, and of course, it was too much food for two people! The lemon iced tea (light sweet) was the perfect level of sweetness - and I wouldn't recommend it any other way. The fish filet porridge was pure as porridge should be, and there was a light hint of fish taste as well. With a few specks of white pepper, this was yummy yummy. The chicken and mushroom barrel rice was nostalgic of my childhood days at dim sum, except the glass bowl was replaced with a barrel. Aside from aesthetics and the deception of size, this was a great dish. From top, it looks quite small, but the barrel holds quite a bit of rice, so don't underestimate how much there is! The rice itself was fairly bland, so soy sauce is recommended to add a little flavor. At the end, we only but made a dent on the fish filet porridge, and there is a small fee for takeout containers. However, they also offer a discount if paying in cash, so cash is recommended over card here. All in all, service is as you'd expect at an authentic Chinese restaurant: efficient, tasty - and at times absent.

    Menu
    Dang L.

    Busy and quick service. I came at 10:30 and the place was 2/3 packed. Pretty casual restaurant. Food came out quick. They do offer hot tea and do not charge but it doesn't taste that good. 4 stars so my preserved eggs and fish porridge. Plenty of protein. Liked the green onions and shredded ginger pieces. The rolled rice sheet was good too. It came with a peanut buttery sauce and hoisin. Interesting combo.

    Hong Kong Milk Tea
    Tim G.

    Very authentic Hong Kong style Chinese food. The environment is welcoming and the staff tries their best to be attentive and they are very friendly. There could be times when they are busy and less attentive which is completely acceptable. The food quality is probably the BEST amongst other Hong Kong style cafes nearby in terms of value/quality ratio. We come here on a weekly basis. There is a strong sense of local community restaurant and very delicious and authentic food!

    Wonton Noodle Soup
    Alex C.

    Came here for lunch after running some errands nearby. We arrived around 3:30pm mid-day during a Saturday, and were able to get seated right away. Service here is pretty efficient, and we were able to get our food shortly after ordering. The wife opted for a Curry Beef Brisket with Rice, while I went with a more traditional Wonton Noodle Soup. They were both ok in taste, although nothing overtly amazing nor memorable about either dish. There is plenty of indoor seating, and they seem to get a consistent stream of foot traffic during our meal. A discount is offered if you're willing to pay your entire tab with cash.

    Fried donut

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    4 months ago

    Love their family style entrees. I usually get to-go for dinner. Very convenient. I like their Hong Kong style milk tea too.

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    Cousin Cafe Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Cousin Cafe

    Do they have outdoor seating on weekends?

    Yes, but there are only 3-4 tables with seats for 4 each.

    Do they open indoor dining now?

    Last time I went (last week) they allowed dine-in.

    Are they open? No one's picking up and ends up with the fax. Update: and today is Wednesday. How is…

    Yes, they are open. They are only off at Thursday.

    Are you reopen for indoor dining?

    They will be reopen for indoor dining at July 16th.

    So we've trying for weeks to call. Anyone else getting a constant ring and then a fax number sound at the end?

    We have no problems calling. I think they close on Thursdays during covid.

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    One Piece Lamian - Signature beef bone

    One Piece Lamian

    4.5(354 reviews)
    4.2 mi
    $$

    One Piece Lamian specializes in Chinese noodle dishes, all with an efficient QR code ordering…read moresystem and super quick service. We started with the One Piece Mixed Salad (tofu skin, vermicelli noodles, woodear mushrooms, carrots, celery, seaweed, and peanuts, all mixed in a savory, acidic, and spicy dressed ) and the Shredded Potato Salad, both of which made for nice appetizers. We also had the Cold Skin Noodles (Liangpi), a bowl of wide, chewy noodles mixed with a savory sauce and topped with tofu puffs, shredded cucumber , bean sprouts, and a creamy sesame sauce. Hailing from Xi'an, the Braised Pork Pita Burger was fatty pieces of pork braised in a savory sauce, served in a dry round of "pita," but even better was the Spicy Cumin Lamb Pita Burger, which contained a tantalizingly spicy, flavorful filling of tender spiced lamb. The Signature Beef Bone Noodle Soup came with noodles in a simple broth, topped with three bone-in beef ribs. The meat on the ribs was rather tough and sinewy, and the soup on the bland side, but the presentation of the dish was definitely impressive. Finally, the House Special Braised Dry Noodle was a bowl of noodles topped with a savory sauce with lots of different dried ingredients including tofu, s mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and red bell peppers. For each noodle dish, you could select from a variety of noodles, but my favorite by far was the 2cm "General Wide" noodles, which had an amazing chewy texture. Overall, this was a great restaurant for authentic Northern Chinese noodle dishes and other eats. Everything came out from the kitchen in just minutes after we ordered. The tasty dishes came at a good value, and the service was super friendly too!

    Was going to another noodle place but it seems it was no longer there so we decided come here to…read moresince it is in the same plaza. This is not our first time here. There seems to have some menu change since the last time we came. We ordered 2 dry noodles and a cold spicy pig ears appetizer. The pig ears were piled up with no fillers - something hard to find these days. You can select the type of noodles so I picked the widest while my husband picked the middle one. I love the el dente texture of the noodles giving it a bit of chew. My braised pork belly dry noodles was not dry... very watery which was not to my liking. I want my dry noodles with as little gravy as possible. The flavor was light despite all the gravy, but the veggies and one egg made it up. The house special dry noodles had just the right amount of gravy for taste but not enough ingredients. I was wondering why the restaurant is called One Piece... I guess the entire bowl of noodles is one piece noodle as it was hard to eat as all the noodles are tangled. No complaints here just need to be careful with the splashes on your shirt. Overall the food was good, service was decent as we were offered actual menu instead of only using QR code to order. The place was not small with plenty of table. A bit noise as with all Chinese restaurants.

    Photos
    One Piece Lamian - Inside

    Inside

    One Piece Lamian - Spicy wontons (not spicy at all)

    Spicy wontons (not spicy at all)

    One Piece Lamian - Tomato beef

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    Tomato beef

    Ox 9 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles - Features on San Francisco Chronicles in 2022- Best Day Ever in San Mateo

    Ox 9 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles

    4.3(323 reviews)
    2.8 mi
    $$
    6 years in business
    Family-owned & operated

    I can't wait to go back! I thought there would be a wait like the Campbell location, but we were…read moreable to get a table immediately. We ordered by scanning a QR code and chose the noodles with pickles and spicy dumplings. The dumplings were so good when doused in the chili oil! The soup was comforting also. I don't want to keep talking about how delicious it was because I'm going to start craving for it again and I live over an hour away. Definitely recommended!

    I found myself in Fremont recently and, in classic Angela fashion, had a violent craving for noodle…read moresoup. I actually have one of Ox 9's other locations bookmarked but when I found out there was a branch in Fremont, I detoured to try them out. I came on a weekend for early lunch, and the restaurant was quite empty and spacious. There is a window that allows you to see where the sausage (noodles) get made (pulled). Located in a strip mall, there is ample parking. Two friendly women told me to sit wherever and order via QR code. I deliberated for a hilariously long time over the width of my noodles but ultimately decided on the beef and pickled veggie noodle soup with the thin flat noodles, as well as an order of the lamb skewers. The food came out reasonably fast, given that the noodles are hand-pulled, and the portions were HUGE. The lamb skewers were highly rated online and I can see why. They are perfectly spiced and so flavorful, without being so coated that the texture changes, and they have the PERFECT fat to lean ratio so they were unbelievably succulent, but not cloying. An order is 3 decent-sized skewers and I absolutely housed those. Next I was served a huge bowl of steaming, fresh noodles. The small flat noodle was the perfect size for me, as they were already quite wide. I was not looking to chew through literal dough sheets so I am glad I didn't opt for any wider noodle size. The texture of the noodles was sublime, so QQ so springy, you can really tell that they are hand-pulled. The slight imperfections and difference in thickness between noodles gave each bite a unique chew that was so addicting. I wish the physical dimensions of the bowl were a bit bigger because the noodles were a bit tangled and clumpy and I would have liked a bit more room to mix and spread them out. The beef noodle soup broth was just ok, I think the flavor could have been a bit deeper and stronger, but I could appreciate a savory beefy flavor. The pairing of pickled vegetables and tender beef is a classic though, and I do appreciate the clean, soothing taste. There is chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar at every table so I added a bit more salt and spice to mine. Portions were HUGE and I was already getting full from the lamb skewers, so I took a good amount home. I packed the noodles and soup separately, and the superior gluten formation of fresh noodles held up to a day in the fridge, and were still quite tasty when reheated on stovetop. I loved this place and would absolutely return to try the other noodle dishes and noodle dimensions, as well as get more of their fabulous skewers.

    Photos
    Ox 9 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles - Features on San Francisco Chronicles in 2022 when San Mateo location was opening.

    Features on San Francisco Chronicles in 2022 when San Mateo location was opening.

    Ox 9 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles - Features on EATER SF in April 2023- 25 Essential must try restaurants in South Bay.

    Features on EATER SF in April 2023- 25 Essential must try restaurants in South Bay.

    Ox 9 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles

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    Hinodeya - Newark - ZEN Ramen (Vegan)

    Hinodeya - Newark

    4.4(439 reviews)
    1.7 mi
    $$

    The HAMAGURI "Clam" Ramen is definitely a huge standout on the menu! A light but punchy broth. So…read moreflavorful and tastes super clammy (in a good way). They even have a cold version during the summer. How refreshing!! We also really loved the appetizers here. I love how reasonably priced everything was. I recommend the Umami Brussel Sprouts and Takowasa especially.

    We came here with some friends, the decor looked nice inside. You can tell they've definitely used…read morean interior designer for the store. We were led to our seats and once we were given the menu, we started studying it meticulously. I got the HINODEYA "House" Ramen, my wife got the Beef Bowl "Gyudon", and our friend got a ramen with katsu in it. They asked me if I wanted my ramen mild, medium or hot in spiciness. I went with the medium option. I enjoyed my ramen. The broth was well made but I didn't notice much difference between the wheat noodle they've used versus normal noodle used in other shops. The portion was not big for its price and I was about 80% full from the bowl. When I tasted a bite of my wife's beef bowl, boy was I disappointed. They added way too much sauce and honestly I can't say this dish is good. The beef wasn't cut in the traditional way in how a gyudon should be and it turned out a little bit thicker which is a little weird for me. I would compared it to a Yoshinoya and the irony is that I actually like the beef bowl from Yoshinoya better at half the price? lol. Our friend shared a little bit of her katsu with us and we thought it was way too dry. Perhaps it's been sitting at the heat lamp for way too long... Overall, what I feel about Hinodeya is that they've definitely have some unique ideas in their dishes but the execution and consistency still needs to be worked on. I noticed that there were 4 different spicy level and I was a little curious as to what they were. It wasn't until I asked the waiter that they explained them to us. I was a little puzzled because this seems to be what they wanted to push but we just weren't told to us in our visit until way later... It's a 50/50 whether I'll come back or not. I think there are definitely improvements for a good ramen spot that people would crowd upon in the bay area for sure.

    Photos
    Hinodeya - Newark - Inside

    Inside

    Hinodeya - Newark - Edamame

    Edamame

    Hinodeya - Newark - Very nice presentation for the sake

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    Very nice presentation for the sake

    Cousin Cafe - chinese - Updated August 2026

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