We had a reservation for a party of about 18 on a Saturday for dinner. I had actually not been here before and didn't realize the space was kind of tight, but we were able to sit banquet-style along one side of the wall. The restaurant recommended pre-ordering items so I ended up ordering two orders of the following: * Dim Sum Sampler - Bok Choy Dumplings, Blue Crab Dumplings, Taro Vegetable Dumpling, Crab Puffs, and Steamed Pork Buns * Three Delights Sizzling Rice Soup - Shrimp, calamari, chicken and vegetables in chicken broth with sizzling rice crust * Sautéed Basa Fish Filet with Ginger Scallion - Snow peas, bamboo shoot and shitake mushroom * Curry Chicken - Chicken, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, green beans, and coconut milk in yellow curry sauce * Mongolian Beef - Sautéed beef with onions and scallions in Hoisin sauce Once at the restaurant, we also ordered: * Three Delights Sizzling Plate - Stir-fried calamari, chicken, shrimp, asparagus, snow peas, mushrooms and broccoli * Four orders of steamed white rice (it would be nice to have brown rice as an option) * Cassava cake (four orders) - six dollars per order Overall, I would say the food was pretty tasty. The Curry Chicken was on the small side, though. The Basa fish was good and according to the restaurant was fresh and not frozen. Because we pre-ordered, the Dim Sum and Soup were ready pretty soon after most of our party had arrived. Would definitely consider coming here again. It's a nice alternative to Castro Street on the weekend for dinner since it has it's own parking lot. The down side might be that the staff like to close by 10PM. Also, the atmosphere was nice but it can be hard to hear people in that space. On a side note, there doesn't seem to be a lot of options for dessert except for ice cream and the cassava cake. They have a sweet dim sum menu if you're interested in that. The total bill came out to a little over three hundred dollars with tax and tip which was very reasonable for the quality of food and we didn't have any leftovers. The corkage fee was fifteen dollars and they provided wine glasses. They specialize in catering if you have a need to host in a larger space. Note: The rule of thumb in their dishes seems to be about four portions per adult. They also do take out during lunch but the price isn't that much cheaper it seems. Not sure how busy it gets so it might be worth it to check it out for dinner, instead to avoid the lunch rush. Thanks Ginger Café for a nice evening! read more

Went here for dinner with some friends last night and was pretty impressed. While the restaurant is located in a strip mall, once you walk in you sort of forget about that. The high ceilings and dark wood decor make it seem a little bit more special. My friends suggested we order some dim sum and another dish. We went with the pineapple fried rice (good, with a little bit of a spicy kick), and we ordered 4 of the dim sum (served all day). The only thing we were disappointed with were the Crispy Shrimp Puffs. They weren't bad per se, but a little boring considering the other dim sum we ordered (Siu Mai, Pork Steamed Buns, Porcupine Custard Buns). The porcupine custard buns win the award for cutest thing on the menu. They actually look like little porcupines - they're almost too cute to eat. Almost. This was plenty of food between the 3 of us (we were all very hungry and left feeling full), and ended up being a reasonable price. I will definitely be eating at Ginger Cafe again. read more

Our first time here. I chose this place to take my bf to celebrate his 33rd bday with our baby girl. We were also celebrating our 9 yrs Ann yesterday also. We were immediately greeted & had to wait a few minutes since they had to set up our table with a highchair. They gave baby girl crayons & a coloring place mat. Our waiter was nice & our baby girl waved hi & talked to him a little. He asked her age & was friendly back to her. I ordered the shanghai vegetarian noodles which I modified to order without onions, scallion, bean sprouts & mushrooms so it had noodles, tofu & eggs for me & baby girl to eat & we enjoyed it. My bf ordered lemon chicken with a bowl of rice which was good, but the portion was small esp when they put them in huge plates. My noodles was a big portion size. I asked our waiter since its my bf's bday do they give a slice of cake & he gave him a slice of coconut Casanova cake which with a candle & written in chocolate syrup happy birthday it actually was pretty good. Normally I don't like coconut stuff much but it was good. My first time trying a Casanova cake. The decor was nice & the food was great & service was good...definitely would come back & try other stuff on the menu. read more

My favorite lace for shrimp and eggs. I have ordered many dishes from here, but my favorite is the shrimp and eggs. The service is Wonderfull and the atmosphere is great for date night or a business meeting. read more

I've been here quite a few times and each time I've not been disappointed. The mandarin tofu is my favorite, and it's a must have every time. I love the string bean chicken- it's a little spicy so if you don't like spicy then watch out! It's a typical dish but the pork fried rice here is the best I've ever had. I try to only review places that I'm in love with and this is definitely one. Keep up the good work guys! read more

Ginger Café - This is a porcupine custard bun. It's pretty small but it's amazing for dessert. - Chinese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

This is a great American-Chinese place. My family and I eat here every couple weeks! We recommend the chicken lettuce cups, mu shu chicken, basil chicken, steamed sea bass, mongolian beef, and garlic fried rice. I wouldn't bother with the chicken salad it's pretty generic. I've never eaten anything bad at this restaurant but there are some more bland-generic items like the chicken salad and curry chicken. The dim sum is pretty good but I've had better (except the sea bass dumplings those are unbelievably good). I wouldn't say it's authentic Chinese, but it's not super fried and heavy like most American-Chinese food. read more

My boyfriend and I came here for a well deserved lunch over the weekend. Their lunch specials menu run from 11-3PM daily. I was surprised that even on a Saturday they had them going. All lunch specials come with fried rice/steamed rice and the soup of the day. We had a very long morning so we ordered ourselves drinks as well. My boyfriend had beer while I had a glass of wine. I ordered red wine initially but they brought out Chardonnay by accident. I decided to keep it anyway and it tasted good. They give you a generous portion of wine! My boyfriend ordered the Mongolian Beef with Onions and Scallions in Hoisin Sauce with steamed rice. Meanwhile, I ordered the Crispy Tofu in Mandarin Sauce. I don't remember what kind of soup they gave us, but I remember finishing it. We decided to go halfsies on our beef and tofu. I liked both dishes but I really loved the Crispy Tofu more. It was so delicious! The sauce it came with was delicious too. The Mongolian Beef was okay, but I thought the sauce was too salty. Overall though, the drinks, food, and service was good and I would definitely come back. The pricing for lunch is honestly unbeatable. I saw the dinner menu pricing also and it seemed reasonable as well. read more

Yeah....no this place was not good. Went here with the parentals and the experience was just disappointing. To begin with, it took an eternity for someone to come to our table to bring water, take our orders, etc. And the restaurant wasn't even that crowded. And then when somebody did come, it was literally a different person each time. One person who brought the water. Another who took our orders. Another who brought our appetizer. Another who refilled our water. Another who brought our main dishes. Another who cleared our table. WTF So our first dish arrives. It's actually quite good. The next dishes didn't come for almost 20 minutes. WTF#2. We spoke with the manager and his excuse was that they were cleaning the kitchen. WTF #3. I understand that you have to clean the kitchen, but why does it have to take place while food is to be cooked? And secondly, if it's really that necessary, why didn't you just let us know so we wouldn't wonder where the hell our food was? The manager apologized and subtracted one item off of our bill, so that's why they get two stars instead of one. Overall, disappointing and I most likely won't be back. 2 stars read more

The menu sounds great and is very interesting but the execution is lacking. Sea bass dumplings were awesome, lamb buns were okay but the flavors didn't quite go together, and the beef chow fun was average. read more

Ginger Café - Chinese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

The dim sum is overall very tasty -- particularly the bok choy and shrimp, steamed pork buns, and custard buns. However, the lobster dumplings are quite gross (they have peas and corn inside, and the steaming makes them powdery). Lobster taste = 0. They should pop this item right off the menu and never serve it again. It would be a much better restaurant if the lobster dumpling went far, far away. read more

Not a fan. I ordered their pad thai which tasted nothing like the dish. It consisted of a handful of bland noodles and bland chicken and the rest cabbage. It was like eating a head of cabbage for lunch. A positive is that the staff is very nice and attentive. But i didn't pay for people to be nice to me while i'm eating mulch. Gross. read more

I'll start with the positives: It's clean (including the bathroom), not very crowded, and the food was excellent. We ordered the dinner for two, and the two entrees we chose were the curry chicken and the orange beef. Both exceeded expectations -- the flavors were perfect. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and was served in a stew with eggplant, which was delicious. The beef was crispy and had a light amount of sauce. I cannot praise these two dishes enough, they were both outstanding. For dessert we ordered the Fried banana with banana ice cream. It sounded weird, but we gave it a try and it was superb. I never thought I would like banana ice cream but it was surprisingly good. Portions for everything were big. The negatives: The service was slow, especially considering the place was half empty. The servers were friendly and there seemed to be more than enough of them working for such a small establishment, but for some reason everything they did took a long time. We had to remind them that we had ordered dessert and then they brought it promptly. My wife was also disappointed that the crab dumpling appetizers did not come with any dipping sauce. But I am willing to overlook the slow service for the simple fact that the food is to die for -- definitely recommend for a casual evening out. read more

This is my first-ever Yelp review!!! For the service, I was served by Maria, and she was amazing. I didn't know what to order so she gave me a lot suggestions without being even a little bit impatient. Thank you, Maria! For the restaurant itself, although there isn't a wide variety of dim sum to choose, they all taste so good anyway. Definitely a place to go again! read more

They asked me to leave at 8.40pm as they close at 9.30 pm. Bad customer service. I would never recommend this place to anyone

We liked our first visit - the lobster dim sum was good. Our next order was a take out and deserved a one star rating. The Chinese chicken salad wasn't good. McDonald's style lettuce with very little, dried out hard to chew, chicken and mediocre sauce. The Dim sample was hit and miss. But mainly miss. Too greasy. We asked for a non spicy prawn dish. We got the slat and pepper prawns. It was spicy so we can't serve it to the kids. It wasn't great for the parents either The Saigon chow fon was similar. Overly spicy and, once you get over the hot feeling, bland. Such a disappointment. Ended up throwing most food. Wasn't cheap either :( read more

I've been to Ginger Cafe twice and I will probably go there again. The restaurant is much nicer looking than I had expected. It is clean and modern. The staff is also very friendly and professional. The food is good but not great. I really like the eggplant and tofu dish. However, my b/f (who is a little more critical of asian food) did not think the noodle dishes were very good. If you are not that picky about the authenticity of asian food, and you want to go to a place with a nice atmosphere, then I think this place would be fine. read more

Much love to Ginger Cafe! The dim sum appetizer started us off, and everything on it was so good, it almost turned into a monkey-knife fight for the siu mai. The honeyed quail was fantastic, as was the salt and pepper calamari. The eggplant tofu was taken to go because by the time we were done with all of that, we were both stuffed. The restaurant was comfortable, clean, and nicely decorated. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive, and the tea was plentiful and hot. I cannot wait to come back and try a few more things. read more

Best place in the world hands down you guys have to come here and a lot of free stuff but very pricey read more

Ginger Café - Chinese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

I came here for lunch and was expecting something unique because it was a fusion restaurant, but I was wrong. We ordered 4 dim sum dishes and 1 appetizer side. Scallop Puffs - where is the Scallop part? I saw puffs, some veggies and whole bunch corns which it tasted more like Corn Puffs. Corn way overpowered. Lobster Dumplings - Need me to say again? Corn... corn... corn... I LOVE corns but i didn't order Corn Dumplings... and there was barely any lobster in it.... (what is it with corn in this restaurant...) Vegetable Dumplings - Corn is a vegetable right?! Ordered this vegetarian dumplings and had mixed veggies but no corn... wow... I guess they liked to use corns to cover the expensive ingredients. Pan Fried Blue Crab Dumplings - Ok... maybe I tasted some blue crab meat and there was no corn in this one, but the dumplings were kinda flat. Wasn't dumpling supposed to be puff? Soft Shell Crab Fresh Rolls - Now this was not bad and there is no corn!! It tasted like the Vietnamese Spring Roll but with soft crab shells. PRICE: Not even worth the price. I could get this kind of dishes somewhere else and cheaper. SERVICE: meh, the waitress seemed like she hated working here and there was this guy (looked like a bus boy) walking around and trying to look for stuff to do because there were only a few people. ATMOSPHERE: i liked it. nice decoration and stuff. We were seated close to the restroom and there was another table really close to the restroom. I don't think anyone would like to sit there and watch every single person enter and exit the restroom. The screener isnt too helpful either. Their lunch specials look very generic and nothing to excite about. read more

I'll keep this relatively short and sweet... as it's been 3 weeks since I tried this place. But you know what? I really liked Ginger Cafe. Having eaten at Fu-kee Restaurant many, many times (off of Bernal in South San Jose) where the food is QUITE good for a quasi-fast-food restaurant... we kept hearing about other, slightly more upscale restaurants the owners run -- the two Ginger Cafes (this one in Sunnyvale; and they have another in Gilroy, which is actually closer to where I live-- so I will try that as well soon). The cool thing about Ginger Cafe/Sunnyvale (and I assume the Gilroy location will be the same) that in a world of cookie cutter eating establishments, GC does just enough to feel unique.. without being too pretentious. It also doesn't try to be too many things to too many people. Yet, the Asian-fusion flair allows it to be more than just a Chinese, a Vietnamese, a Japanese, or a Korean restaurant. It takes the better parts from several culinary cultures... and melds them quite well into a very nice, very tasty menu (hence the word "fusion", eh?) But it goes even further... for it does away with the fairly typical, understated look of many Asian eateries (you know, clean, white table-clothed venues with a bit of cultural arts scattered about). At Ginger, the decor makes a statement... and a rather GOOD one at that. You have to take notice of it while in the dining area; and you feel good being part of it. Quite comfortable. You feel like you're dining in a place where the owners have taken great care working on the meals served and the comfort, attractiveness and design of where you eat this good food. Cute even how they offer up these fun "specialty" cocktails, like you're on a mini-vacation somewhere. I will definitely be back... well, probably back to the one in Gilroy, since it may be closer. But other restaurants should take note of this successful formula. The food was very good, I felt like I was eating somewhere very unique, the service was very good... and I wasn't hit over the head with a huge bill in the end. Gong xi ! Omedetou! Selamat! Chuk ha hae! Kam sà-daeng kwaam yin-dee ! and.. Mazel Tov! read more

Love their crispy tofu in Mandarin sauce. Simply amazing. Also the lettuce wrap is pretty good. Must visit for good Vegetarian food!

The sweet sour dish I ordered was too peppery (which took away from the taste). I'm not a big pepper fan so I didn't enjoy it as much. However, I will give them some credit for creativity. They had this dim sum dish (tasted like a fried donut with custard - yummm), that looked like sonic the hedgehog ( I think its a porcupine). It was fun to eat it. :) read more

This is my go to place when I'm feeling like Dim Sum after the morning time. They have this appetizer dim sum sampler thats really good! Parking is good and I have never had to wait for a table. They do have an easy reservation area on their website- they use Open Table. Its funny how this place is right across the street from PF Changs. Its like.. which Asian Fusion place do I want to go to today.. eennie meenie minue moe! Every time I come its fun to do it family style so everyone can have a taste of the other one's food. Its not authentic by any means but there is a very good variety and its tasty! Can't go wrong with that! read more

Ordered Baked Honey Miso Chilean Sea Bass and Lemongrass Lamb Chop. The BEST I ever had. Food was excellent, service was good as well. Highly recommend you all to try. read more

This place fills a good niche spot. It's definitely modeled after PF Changs--Full list of drinks, chic atmosphere, professional wait staff, solid menu and consistently good food--but you won't have to wait for 45 min. to get your Americanized Chinese food. Plus Ginger Cafe ventures into Malaysian and Vietnamese cuisines, too. The Lemon Grass chicken was great (next time I'll ask for a side of peppers, though) and the appetizers (Vietnamese egg rolls and shrimp puffs) were both excellent. My only complaint was that the produce (mint leaves) and the wilting basil I saw accompanying a co-diner's plate look like they'd spent the weekend in the sun. But none-the-less, it's a great place that shouldn't disappoint. read more

Coworkers and I came here for a dim sum lunch. It wasn't bad--it just wasn't particularly great when there are so many dim sum places in the area. Thick skins, moderate selection. The porcupine pineapple buns are awesome, though. Not to be missed! read more

We've never noticed this restaurant, but my brother suggested it for dinner the other day. We came here on the early side at 5:30pm because we had a toddler with us. Despite the atmosphere, the restaurant was suitable for kids - they used a creamer to store a bunch of crayons - that was a hit because it was different. And, they had some coloring paper as well. Now, if your child is loud, it will be noticeable because the restaurant is so quiet. A lot of different dishes to choose from. It was hard to narrow down our order. We ordered: - dim sum sampler - Bok Choy Dumplings, Blue Crab Dumplings, Curry Scallop Puffs, Shrimp Puffs, and Steamed Pork Buns. This was pretty good and fresh. My favorite was the blue crab dumplings. - fongsa soft-shell crab - great dish - very tasty. You can take all of the loose panko crumbs and mix it in with rice to finish off the dish. - lemongrass chicken - my husband really enjoyed this dish. - twice cooked pork tenderloin - one of my favorites of the night. The pork was so tender. - pineapple fried rice - this was OK. Nothing special about the rice. - garlic noodles (from kid's menu) - I had ordered this for my daughter since it wasn't spicy. I was not as impressed with the noodles. They were a little on the oily side. - porcupine custard buns - came out piping hot. This was good, but it was a little strange because it was in the shape of a rodent, complete with "eyes" (sesame seed). The portions are a good size. You can ask for less or more spiciness in the dishes. I think this restaurant will be a regular place in our rotation of restaurants. read more

Since our last review this place has improved, and so it was time for an update. Maybe because we are ordering different dishes now, or maybe because the menu has changed, but we like the dishes here now better than before, and we have become regulars at this place. Our favorites are the Potstickers starter dish, Orange Chicken, Kung Pao chicken, Mongolian Beef, and Saigon street chow fun. They also have a good selection of vegetarian dishes. We took several vegetarian friends over, and they all loved them. Their lemon cassave dessert is awesome. Something I have never had anywhere else, but I'm a big fan! As I mentioned in my previous review, prices are good, they have a large selection of yummy cocktails, and nice, modern decor. Overall, I now would recommend this place, especially if you find that PF Changs on the opposite side of the street has a long waiting time. read more

I have been here for both lunch and dinner, and I like it. I would rather come here than PF Changs, it is tiny and the staff is very nice. This is an americanized restauarant, so don't come here expecting to get what nana cooks at home for you ok. Walnut Prawn-B Calamari-A Mango Chicken thingy-C Tamarind Prawns-A read more

This place is okay, food is pretty good and prices are reasonable. Service though sometimes can be slow which is not okay when I'm super hungry! lol Anyway, I have been going here for 5yrs with family and friend. I like this place better than pf changs, it feels more family oriented. Cheers! read more

1 star for service. I came here today feeling in the mood for chinese. The waitress was so rude! When i asked if i could substitute the spicy soup for something else because I can't handle spicy food she just said "no". and i was like well, i can't eat that so isn't there anything you can do? "NO". OK lady, well can you at least GO ASK someone? She went to ask and came back saying she could substitute fried rice. That shit sucked. and also the salad sucked. The only thing that was good was the dim sum i ordered, pork buns. Friend's dish was ok too, veggies and shrimp-can't really mess that up. 1 star for service, 3 stars for food. read more

I was really disappointed with the food here. I chose to try this place because I wanted to avoid getting fast food. The restaurant is big and well decorated with a bar. So I expected their food to be very authentic and flavorful since they appear to be a "fine-dining" restaurant. I ordered the Kung pao chicken to-go and It took about 10 mins to prepare. When I got home to eat it, it already looked really bland and had no color besides a few bell peppers. It tasted worse that it looked. No flavor at all, it was just brown mush. Kung pao chicken is supposed to be spicy right? This had no taste at all. For $10 I expected a lot more and was very disappointed. I would chose Panda Express over this place any day. read more

Go for the Dim Sum and stay for everything else. I've been a few times and haven't tried something that did me wrong. The dishes are creative but hearty, and the only server I've ever had there was super helpful. The ambiance is nice if you ignore how much it is trying to be elephant bar. Don't bother with the cocktails. I'm docking one star because the menu lacks brown rice. read more

Excellent little restaurant in Sunnyvale. We had the orange chicken and caramelized prawns for lunch and they were both delicious.

This in one of my favorite restaurants in Sunnyvale. The decor is nice and it's got ample parking. Good starters are the lettuce cups, cream cheese crab puffs (I'm a sucker for these). My favorite dishes are the (forgive me if I don't get the name correct that's on the menu) potato beef, salt & pepper shrimp (make sure you say no head or tail) the Catfish, Filet Mignon Luc Lac, the Peking Duck, & the Mongolian beef. Every time people come to visit from out of town, I take them here and everyone has loved it. Better than PF Changs (which I feel is now over priced and under portioned). menu: http://gingercafe.net/index.php/menus/dinner/ read more

This was the third time that we came here and they have very good service. This isnt a typical chinese restaurant but it is close enough. I like the set up and it is a great place if you want to meet a group of friends for lunch read more

I do not recommend Ginger Café. After a few bites I told the waiter that I did not care for the lunch. The waiter replied that the next time I should order it less sweet; what he should have done was to ask me if I would like a new lunch selection at no additional price. He did not think of that. The restaurant played a radio station with commercial advertisements that customers could hear. I do not care to hear commercials; I thought that was insensitive. They should play soft music with no commercials or they should have no music. On the brighter side: the soup was good. I will probably not return. read more

Ginger Café is ideal for Asian food lovers like myself. When it's hard to decide dim sum or curry, rice or noodles, fish or meat, why not have it all under the same roof? And what a beautiful roof that is! I like everything about this place - the easy to find and park location, the airy, spacious, and tastefully decorated dining room, the attentive friendly service, the creative cocktails (try Tokyo Tea) and of course, the food. Dim sum all day? Sign me in! Creative, original, very well executed, with every ingredient defined and pronounced in a steaming fresh wheat starch skin - these little dumplings are the best I've had in years. Plus, tender fried taro shrimp cakes - mmm! Vegetable chow main, steamed sea bass, basil chicken, and shaking beef are just a few favorites, and of course, eggplant and tofu in oyster sauce. A nice dessert - fried banana with pineapple/coconut ice cream. read more

We found ginger cafe based on a recommendation from someone who had their appetizers at a wedding, and when we stopped in to learn more about their catering wedding options one of the serving staff mentioned that the food quality doesn't change from a serving a party of two to a serving a party of 200. And this we found to be so true! My husband and I both love good food, and we had guests from all backgrounds that are familiar with Chinese food and not so familiar. When we went through the tasting with Bo and Tuyen they were great to help us figure out what was going to make the most sense for us and our guests. They were extremely patient when we were trying to figure out the finalizations on our menu. At our wedding during the passed hors d'oeuvres, multiple people approached me to congratulate me and also tell me 'best food at wedding and we haven't even eaten yet.' Additionally when figuring out our timeline and what was going to make sense, Bo and his experience with weddings wanted to make sure nothing was going to take away from anyone's moment. If anyone is considering Ginger cafe for their wedding or event do not hesitate. The cocktails, food and service were all amazing! read more

I brought my 9 year old daughter here for Valentine's Day! We LOVED it! We started with the crab/cream cheese wontons, a.k.a. crab rangoon. They're VERY good...and I'm always on the lookout for the best. We also got the sticky rice in a lotus leaf. My daughter ordered it which I thought was pretty adventurous for a 9 year old! It was also VERY good....it had mushrooms (shitake, maybe?), some kind of meat (I didn't read the menu on this one), and a salty sauce.... GOOD! For our main dishes, we got wonton soup (another surprise order from the midget) and my FAV, the vegetarian sesame chicken. The soup was AWESOME! A good broth is hard to come by, and this was perfect. They don't skimp on the wontons which I appreciate, and the bok choy wasn't at all bitter. The veggie sesame chicken is TDF (to die for)! I don't know how they get the consistency of the tofu (or whatever they use) that way, but it's like really tender chicken. The sauce is perfect...I don't know why I continue to order rice...I never eat it. At the end of the meal, we got a complimentary dessert (for Vday, maybe?) that I NEVER would have ordered on my own, but now I can't wait to go back and order it again...it was 2 little squares of gelatin with coconut cream on top and a little sprinkle of crushed peanuts. The gelatin was red and white striped...don't know the flavors, but it was sweet and tart and SOOO good! read more