STARS: 2.5 MENU AND FOOD: Street Food Cafe serves a selection of Hong Kong cuisine such as macaroni noodle soups and baked spaghetti/rice dishes. SERVICE AND ATMOSPHERE: Service was quick and efficient. Their indoor decor is plain and simple. They have plenty of indoor seating. PARKING: Located in a large shopping plaza, they have plenty of parking. IMPRESSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: On our way back from SFO, I had the spam and egg macaroni noodle soup, which came with some spinach. We also had the baked pork chop spaghetti and the pork ribs with black bean noodle rolls. All dishes were pretty mediocre and nothing special. The iced lemon tea was good. We likely won't return. read more

Inshou Cafe - Spam and Egg Macaroni Noodle Soup, Iced Lemon Tea, and Baked Pork Chop Spaghetti - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Having lived in the Peninsula for awhile, it's always been a challenge to find a good Hong Kong restaurant/diner. Decided to give this restaurant a shot. Located in a strip mall with a Chinese supermarket (Marina), and a variety of salons, bakery, and restaurants. Plenty of parking in the lot. Online, you may also see it listed as Cafe Tsui Wah. For the type of food, the prices are a bit high. However, they do provide a 12% discount if you use cash. Baked pork chop fried rice & egg: Pork was bit tough, but overall had the flavor did provide the nostalgia that was needed. Beef brisket noodle soup: Both the beef tendon and briskets were well cooked and tender. Not sure why they used spinach though. Biggest issue is that there was very minimal beef and primarily noodles. Overall, food is reminiscent of a HK diner, but the prices are bit too hard to swallow for the food quality. read more

Inshou Cafe - Outside menu - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

A solid 3.5 stars. Spontaneously decided on a mid morning meal, never been here before, didn't Yelp the place. Picture of the wonton noodle soup on the window drew me, and Hong Kong style milk tea, both of which I ordered, sitting at one of their outdoor tables. There was no expectation which was why I was surprised after my first taste. Flavorful broth, noodles plentiful, generous number of wontons. This was enjoyed. HK milk tea, great. Recommend this place for sure. Thank you. read more

Nice hong kong breakfast here open at 9:00 am. hard to find hong kong style cafe open this early in the bay area. Good service too. Highly recommend! read more

Inshou Cafe - Love the breakfast here. The boss lady is also very nice. My new favorite hong kong restaurant for breakfast. - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

We were seated pretty quickly during the lunch hour as we were told to pick any open table. I would call this a Chinese diner and during this time, it was at 30% capacity weekday lunch hour. Being described as a typical Chinese American diner, it was quite expensive compared to other diners like Venus Cafe, ABC Cafe, etc by a couple of bucks. Food quality is a hit and miss as some dishes like the curry hamburger rice dish was pretty good and the Portuguese ox tail baked rice pretty mediocre. A tip to the restaurant: please blanch your vegetables a little longer rather than serving them raw-ier than a salad. Porridge was quite runny with water rather than being thick and creamy. For the price, I would have expected a little more but it's your typical Chinese diner serving you up quick dishes with your regular fare of local customers and locales who come back over and over. Service was pretty good as the front staff were quick to check in on our meals and take our orders. read more

Inshou Cafe - Portuguese sauce baked ox tongue fried rice - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

This place has three stars, that only means the food is delectable. Have you ever had French toast deep fried, but not soggy? Well, you can try it here first. Amazing. If the place has good chicken paws, then the place is A1. The porridge was the one-- real simple but top tier. Don't @ me.. I don't want to fight. read more

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Got the pork and preserved eggs porridge and it was really good. It was seasoned well and the right consistency. The Chinese donuts were smaller and more oily than I'm use to, but otherwise it's a great place to get porridge at prior to 11AM in the morning. Called in for take out and it was ready in 5 minutes. Very affordable also. It's located in a plaza so parking was not an issue. read more

Curry fish filets were good! Great flavor and large fish filets with vege and potatoes. Baked pork chop was tasty and a very generous portion of pork chop baked with rice and sauce. Service staff was very courteous and helpful. read more

Last night my husband and I went there to eat, we enjoyed the food very much. We used to go to San Francisco to eat those kinds of Hong Kong style food. It's convenient and pretty tasty. read more

Inshou Cafe - Black beans with ribs and hai-nan chicken and Chinese broccoli - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Inshou cafe took over the old inshou Japanese restaurant. Maybe it's not fair to rate a Hong Kong cafe over a Hainan chicken rice but they have it on the menu so it's fair game. Hainan chicken rice: 3/5. Chicken was tender but tasted more like a Cantonese blanched chicken with the ginger scallion oil. The rice was lacking all the flavors that usually comes from rice cooked with schmaltz and spices. Baked pork chop rice: 4/5. Not a familiar taste compared to other hk cafes and this sauce was significantly less sweet compared to its usual counterpart. The sauce almost seemed like a demiglace with a darker color. Quite tasty but a lot blander (not necessarily a bad thing in a hk cafe) Will try their milk teas and congees in the future. read more

Inshou Cafe - Hainan chicken rice - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

This is the first time we have visited and surprisingly the food is good. The service was good, they prepared the table quickly for us. The variety of food is good. We tried different type of food and they are delicious. They closed at 8 pm, however. read more

Street Food Cafe has always been my go-to for comfort HK food and I finally paid it a visit during this whole craziness. Called ahead to order and was able to get the food immediately when we arrived. All the staff were following safety precautions which was nice to see. They give a small discount (10% I think?) if you pay in cash! They also gave us 2 dessert-soups (tong sui) on the house which was very nice! Food wise - still as tasty as usual :) read more

Inshou Cafe - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

I bought 2 dishes from this place yesterday. Vegetable bean curd rolls and a sesame balls. It cost about $16. I was very disappointed. First of all, they out the bean curd in a small plastic container and they're all smooshed. And the bean curd rolls were falling apart when I tried to heat it up. The portion was very small. The sesame balls were mini ones. I believed there were 7 mini sesame balls ? And it was about $6.50+tax. And the bean curd rolls was $8.50+tax. I was so disappointed with the portion of the food. I understand the prices has gone up for most of the restaurants, but for this amount of food, I definitely won't go back again. And honestly, the 2 dishes I bought were not that good either. read more

Inshou Cafe - Vegetable bean curd rolls. - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

When my friend introduced me to this place, he suggested the Baked Salmon with Cream Sauce, which came out sizzling hot and creamy and hits the spot. Every time I go back, I always order the same thing, but their menu definitely has an abundance of homey and comfort food from which to choose. read more

Inshou Cafe - Baked Salmon with Cream Sauce - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

The service was good and food tasty, but a bit pricy We ordered a table full of food, but my favorite was the Chicken and Mushroom Rice Barrel. The server was kind enough to come back to our table and let us know that we could get a $1 chicken plate since we ordered so much food (a special going on right now that you can buy after spending a certain amount) Would definitely go back :) read more

Inshou Cafe - Chicken and Mushroom Rice Barrel - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Pretty good food! Reminded me of classical Hong Kong cha chaan tengs. The only thing is that the prices are a bit high. With that aside I would say this place is really good. Beef brisket and wonton noodles -really fresh noodles. Delicious and chewy noodles -beef brisket is decent Roasted duck - a bit crispy but had a bit better before. read more

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I've heard a lot about this place from my yelp friends and even ex servers who worked there. So while we were doing some shopping on the peninsula we decided to check Cafe Tsui Wah out. The menu is a both Hong Kong and western cuisine. Business is brisk at all hours of the day but the servers get you in and out fast. We ordered the following: The BBQ pork and roast duck rice plate. 5 pcs of duck two of which were neck bones. The BBQ pork were big slices but dry and chewy. The fish ball soup was good with lots of fish balls. Although the description of the plain soy chow men did not include any other items the did came out exactly with nothing but fried chow men. I should have had the baked ox tongue but we just had some at home the day before. Probably ordered the wrong things. Service is no frills and quick. Plenty of parking in the Marina Market shopping center. read more

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Previously known as Tsui-Wah. Menu is pretty much the same, quality also remained the same. My favorite is the 白切雞飯 (chicken with rice?), It comes with lettuce cooked with oyster oil I believe, very tasty and authentic. Fast service too if you'd like to save time. read more

I'm always on the lookout for good or new hong kong cafes as I really enjoy a lot of the food and desserts. I've been to tsui wah twice and I think overall it's decent. I wouldn't say the food are amazing but it's not bad either and the portions are pretty big. So if you're nearby and starving, this is the place to be (food comes out pretty quick). * Stir fried hk rice rolls w peanut butter sauce and hoisin sauce: always a fave * Fried rice: Ok and big portion * Wonton noodle soup: not bad, there was A LOT of noodles tho * Baked pork chop with rice: Wasn't a big fan of this even though it's a popular hk cafe dish * HK milk tea: i had it with ice both time and it was good but the last time I had it, it was a little too bitter A good place for quick, affordable, and huge portion meal. read more

Inshou Cafe - Baked pork chop with rice - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Last month, we went there before my brother and his friend take us to the airport in San Francisco. Me and my sister had a Spam and Egg Sandwich, my brother had a Curry Beef Brisket, his friend had a Baked Spaghetti, my dad had Pan Fried Noodles, and my mom had a Curry Oxtail for lunch. This is a Hong Kong style restaurant in San Mateo. read more

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Good food, affordable prices...and quick service! Definitely will come back! Check them out...just right off 101 North exit Hillsdale! read more

Inshou Cafe - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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I think a lot of the other reviewers and patrons are expecting quite a lot from a Hong Kong cafe in a sleepy suburban area. I met up with a friend who lives across the street and we were looking for a late dinner, and this place fit the bill. We ordered the beef chow fun and a combo dish. The portions were decent and the food was quite tasty. That being said, I can understand if people felt it was a little on the expensive side. Overall, I do think that this place is a nice restaurant to grab some Hong Kong food. read more

Inshou Cafe - beef chow fun - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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First timer here !!! I was absolutely amazed by this one, the taste and seasoning of the food was amazing. The chow mein and fried rice was amazing. Very good quality food. read more

Quiet Hong Kong CCT (cha chan teng) at the back of Marina Plaza. Not the most attractive of menus, but brings back nostalgic vibes of HK style cafe. Ordered the wonton and beef brisket soup noodles. The order came with 5 wontons and a decent amount of beef brisket and beef tendon. Noodles were thin fresh noodles with classic HK alkaline noodle taste. Also ordered a iced lemon tea which was served in a nice cold metal cup. Food, drink, and service was good. Main issue for me was the price, soup noodles with iced lemon tea came out to be $26, which is ridiculous. read more

3.5 stars In a quiet corner of Marina Plaza in Foster City is Street Food Cafe, a Hong Kong-style eatery offering dim sum, rice plates, noodle soups, sandwiches, and more! We were started with a complimentary bowl of a tomato-based soup with carrots and celery, and the dishes we ordered came in short order. The "barrel rice" with chicken and mushrooms came in a tall, narrow wooden container (the "barrel"), which itself held a metal container of white rice topped with lightly breaded chicken and shiitake mushrooms garnished with chopped scallions. The rice was slightly sticky and absorbed the savory sauce, but the best part was the chicken, which was super juicy, tender, and flavorful! The barrel rice also came with a side of lettuce cooked in a savory beef brisket sauce, which made for a nice vegetable side dish. Next, I tried the baked ox tongue with curry sauce--this was a casserole dish of fried rice topped with a mixture of sliced beef tongue along with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, and potato chunks, all in a Japanese-style curry sauce. As it had just come out of the oven, the curry and rice were extremely hot, so best to wait a little while before eating to avoid burning your tongue.. The best part of this dish was definitely the beef tongue, which was meaty yet tender at the same time, and the surprisingly spicy curry sauce added great flavor to the entire dish! Overall, this was a nice simple meal in a casual restaurant with friendly service, though the prices were on the high side for the portion sizes. read more

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I had their pork chop w/onions & spaghetti, it was good, huge portion & not oily. They don't serve their BBQ pork items anymore ! that's what waitress said which was a bummer cos was looking forward to it. Hot milk tea is good. Their menu appeared to be limited, unlike many pics of menus posted on Yelp. read more

The food there is nothing special. We ordered a spare rib rice barrel, which looks overwhelming in the pictures but when it showed in my face it's no bigger than my hands. The price for that thing is ridiculously expensive at 16 dollars. This is nothing more than a spare rib rice bowl that you can get in any dim sum place or Chinatown for 5 dollars. It did come with lettuce with some kind of brisket sauce. My wife got the pick two special with spaghetti meat sauce and baked pork chop. The serving size was for a true Chinese person but I am an American Chinese so I need my American serving size. It cost 20 dollars....I mean if they gave me American serving size that can feed a small army I wouldn't feel as ripped off. Food taste good but not for that price and portion. Oh yeah 7 dollars for pineapple bun with butter wth! I rate it a 3 star but I would never go back. read more

With 3 stars, I had my expectations in check but it was the only Chinese place open at 8AM and I was craving noodle soup. You know it can't be that bad when there are Chinese elders enjoying breakfast like regulars. We had the beef brisket rice noodle soup, congee with pork & preserved egg, Chinese doughnut and milk tea. We ate everything and it was exactly the home cooked type of meal I was craving after a week of traveling. We will see how their other dishes are but the beef brisket was quite yummy, I'd recommend. read more

Used to have meal regularly almost every weekend for breakfast and other occasion but now not that often after they increased the price. For example wonton noodle soup for close to $15 with tax is considered high. The food is tasty though read more

The four of us were looking for a quick dinner and ended up coming here for the first time. Our food took a bit longer than expected to be ready, but we throughly enjoyed everything! We order two noodle soups, one with beef broth and one with fish broth, both were pretty satisfying with lots of yummy ingredients. Also ordered a hainan chicken that was VERY juicy and flavorful, definitely coming back for that! read more

The wooden bin chicken and mushroom over rice brought me to my childhood. The little Chinese street food restaurant at the corner really surprised me. Cannot believe I can find such a authentic place at foster City. The potion/price/flavor/service is so good. Highly recommended for someone looking for Chinese comfort food. read more

Inshou Cafe - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Always a lot of great options. Can't go wrong with any of them. I got recommended by staff with a hidden menu dish: fried noodles with seafood. It was great and we all enjoyed it as usual. read more

Food is ok here. The price is about $20 per item (inflation!!) but the portions are quite large which is nice. The best thing we had was the actual beef in the beef brisket crispy noodles as both the beef and tendons were very tender. Other than that the flavors were pretty meh and lots of MSG read more

Inshou Cafe - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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wonderful homestyle, cooked food like my grandmothers used to make! Great service, and large portions! read more

Inshou Cafe - Won ton mein, steamed egg with Seafood, mushrooms and glass noodles & Napa cabbage with garlic and dried shrimp. - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Came during Shelter In Place, so this is a one off review. Service is worth 5 stars, food on the other hand, it's not a wow, but keep in mind that quality and variety in SIP are not the usual. Walked in to make an order and only one waitress was working with 2 staff in the kitchen. They wore masks and had hand sanitizers available. The shop didn't turn on A/C in a hot day, so it was a bit warm inside. The waitress was very nice and polite and helped us navigate through their menu. After the order, it took us some time to get our food. When we got home, we noticed that one entry was missing. So I called back and the waitress was apologetic and friendly. I asked for a refund but she couldn't do so w/o her manager's approval. So she asked me to call back the next day to talk to the manager. When I called back the next day, the manager was well briefed about the situation and she apologized again. Since the credit card batch ran yesterday, she couldn't refund to the account. Instead, she offered to directly deposit to my bank account. I got the refund the same day, it's probably from her personal account. Maybe she had to deal with the cafe to get herself reimbursed. I'm very happy with how the issue was resolved and I felt that Eva, the manager went out of her way to get it done so quickly. I hope this restaurant can stay in business. Looking at the menu, they have an extensive list of offerings. Too bad that in SIP desserts are not available. I hope after SIP I can come again to try out the real restaurant flavors. read more

I miss going to HK cafes so I wanted to give this place a try. Unfortunately, it was a bug disappointment, and it was overpriced. I ordered the baked pork chop rice and milk tea, it came out to be $22 before tax even for lunch price. I thought the price is quite steep. The pork chop rice tasted alright, pork chop was under seasoned. Fried rice was fine but overall an underwhelming dish. Milk Tea was also just okay, my friend ordered the bbq duck rice, that was worse... I can't say they tasted bad but I just don't think they put a lot of care in their dishes. I wont be coming back. read more

I am not sure if this place is called Cafe Tsui Wah or Street Food Cafe but I came here several months ago. The Hong Kong style cafe and Cantonese food are pretty good here but I knocked it down one star because I found the prices to be a bit steep even for the Peninsula. My go to item for a HK style cafe is baked seafood rice and that is what I got here which is pretty good. We also ordered a curry beef tongue which was also pretty good. This place is worth a try if you crave HK cafe food and are ok with the prices. Parking is very easy in the Marina shopping plaza. read more

Inshou Cafe - Curry beef tongue with rice - Chinese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Food was acceptable when you crave Hong Hong style 'cha chaan teng' dishes. They offer enough options of most popular items.

I remember when this place use to be the Malaysian restaurant - Langkawi. Really like that place and was sorry to see it go. Tsui Wah took over this location and is now serving H.K. style fare. I've been here a few times but always leave feeling underwhelmed. This last visit prompted me to finally write a review. Although the food was okay the service can certainly be more attentive. We were tossed a stack of menus by the waitress and was about the only overwhelming thing about Tsui Wah. The menu prices was a bit higher than what the food was worth in my opinion. I mean, pineapple buns were about 3x what Sheng Kee charged a few doors down. The only other plus is ample parking in the strip mall that it's located in. read more

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My friends are regulars at Café Tsui Wah and I always see their check-ins on Yelp. Despite this, I never had much motivation to go because of their low ratings. I know, what Chinese business doesn't? Last month, I was at Super Cue Café in the same plaza getting some milk tea when I noticed that Café Tsui Wah had dog-friendly outdoor seating. SOLD! I rarely visit a restaurant more than once but I've been back to Café Tsui Wah three weeks in a row so they're doing something right. Be forewarned, the menu is extensive/daunting and your experience will greatly depend on what you order. They have everything from American breakfast to jook to hot pot to some dim sum items. Also, their prices are high for an HK Café, i.e. $12.95 for spam and eggs. Damn son, those are nearly SF hipster housemade spam prices! It's a good thing they take credit cards. On my three visits, I've tried the following: *Baked Ox Tongue in Tomato Sauce ($12.95): http://bit.ly/2ARfTn5 Large portion of properly cooked [nicely separated] fried rice topped with a generous amount of rich, tender ox tongue and tomato sauce with a sprinkling of melty cheese. As others have mentioned, their tomato sauce is not that great. I prefer a sweeter, more tangier version but nonetheless, this dish hits the spot. The second time we ordered it, the tongue was chewy so they have some consistency issues. *Steamed Rice Noodles w/ pork spareribs, black bean sauce ($9.95): http://bit.ly/2BHYZ7X Soft, supple rice noodles. The pork spare ribs are tender and flavorful without being overly msg-y but portion of protein is quite small. *Beef Brisket & Tendon Lo Mein ($11.25): http://bit.ly/2BBnanG Off the menu request, the beef brisket and tendon were meltingly tender and the thin egg noodles had a good chew. *Hainan Chicken Rice w/ lettuce in beef brisket sauce ($14.95): http://bit.ly/2jgKzUH I love Hainan chicken and this is a very solid rendition. While the chicken is served cold, it's very tender and smooth with the quintessential layer of gelatin under the skin. I appreciate that the ginger scallion sauce wasn't overly salted and loved the peanuts for crunch. The chicken rice was just ok. The cooked lettuce still has a good crisp with a savory beef gravy. A piping hot bowl of hot & sour soup was also provided with the Hainan chicken. Perfect balance of hot, spicy, and sour with bean curd and tofu. Not msg-y. *Black Bean Pork Spare Rib Rice Barrel w/ lettuce in beef brisket sauce ($12.95): http://bit.ly/2imZvQ4 Too salty and the rice was mushy. Not sure if it's a consistency issue because the steamed rice noodle version was good. Would not order again. *Ha Gow: Shrimp Dumplings ($4.95): http://bit.ly/2AxoBnT My friend likes this and has ordered it three times in a row. Two out of the three times, the skin easily broke and there was a lot of empty space in the dumpling. *Siu Mai: Steamed Pork Dumplings ($4.95) It doesn't look like it but in person, these are quite large. Tender pork and a sprinkling of roe for texture (didn't see or detect shrimp). *Iced HK Milk Tea ($4.50): http://bit.ly/2AsDgT3 I can't ever remember paying more than $3.50 for this at any HK café but I love their HK Milk Tea here. Strong tea flavor and nicely creamy. A little on the sweet side though but the ice helps. The owner also owns Crème Brewlee (dessert café) several storefronts away. Their Iced HK Milk Tea is only $4 there so I will just buy it from there after my meal at Café Tsui Wah. Most of the ladies that work here are super nice. The younger lady is especially friendly and offers to bring Tater Tot water. As with any Chinese eatery, service can be spotty/inattentive and we usually have to go inside if we need something. No-frills ambiance with seating for about 35 in their main dining area. They also have two private rooms for larger parties. Although it's located in a shopping plaza, parking can be a complete clusterf*ck with bad drivers during peak times. Overall, Café Tsui Wah is a pretty solid HK Café (albeit having some consistency issues). The prices are high but the portions are pretty generous and the food for the most part, is good and satisfying. If you're craving some HK comfort food, give them a try! read more

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