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New Regent Cafe

3.4 (105 reviews)
Special Hours Closed
Updated 3 weeks ago

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NEW REGENT CAFE ATMOSPHERE

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

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Recommended Reviews - New Regent Cafe

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Jenny H.

Food - Comfort food - Large dishes - Tasty dishes Service - They are busy but servers were attentive. - Food did come slow Ambiance - Small tables fit 4 - Offered a shared large table at the back of the restaurant

TomTom M.

Old-School Hong Kong Café in the Heart of Chinatown SF Location: Located on the slope of Pacific Ave, between Grant Ave and Kenny St in San Francisco's Chinatown. Atmosphere: This is one of those classic old Chinese / Hong Kong-style cafés that's been around for decades. From the exterior signage, the worn-in interior, and the crowd of loyal older regulars, you can immediately feel the nostalgic vibe. Food: The menu offers all the classic HK café staples -- nothing too fancy or modern, just the usual comfort dishes. * My friend ordered the beef stew noodle soup * I went with the ham and egg macaroni in soup and curry fish balls Both dishes were pretty standard -- not particularly good or bad, but simple and satisfying enough if you're craving something familiar. Service: The staff were friendly and welcoming. The place was quite busy during our visit, and we did wait a little longer than expected for what should've been easy-to-cook dishes. Overall: A nostalgic stop in Chinatown for anyone who enjoys old-school HK café vibes. Come for the atmosphere and tradition, not for anything fancy or elevated.

Mary L.

Still cash only. This Hong Kong style cafe restaurant on Pacific is still legit and very good. It is worth the long lines and long wait time for the foods and value here. Decent and authentic. Breakfast hours are also very good before 11am. I like the special lunch meals after 11am. There's plenty of selections on the menu at affordable prices. Their prices haven't gone up much, but it also increased with inflation. Staffs are always hustling and bustling inside. Tips are worth giving to them. There's an older male who pays attention and details to everything. Is he the boss? We had a special two people bar seating in back by the restrooms and can see the entire staffs busy at the counter. The man kept asking if we needed anything and checked on us. Great service in back. This place doesn't usually have great service on most days. It's very street casual inside with loud noises everywhere. The bar seats were a bit odd, but it looks great for foodie photos, LoL! I usually would prefer the table seatings. Number 39: Baked garlic fillet of sole lunch with spaghetti and tea along with my iced cup ovaltine was very good. Fish was soft and tender. Not too salty. Portions were huge! This $10.95 lunch meals did come with a house soup and either pick of coffee or hot tea. Fat wallet deals in San Francisco. Meals $11-$14 each are very decent and delicious. Chicken steak with rice meal is satisfying too. Maybe we will try the chicken legs next time. Overall very good impression and good vibes. It attracts large customers/crowds and people looking for great cheap eats in San Francisco's Chinatown district. I will definitely be revisiting next time again. They never disappoint. Some long lines are totally worth it.

Chicken mushroom with spaghetti
drew w.

I haven't been back to this restaurant in 30+ years. Our friend recommended this restaurant because her mom likes the cozy atmosphere and reasonable prices. Stepping inside, you are brought back to the 90's, pink tables and teal chairs. The prices are super affordable, $10.50 for chicken mushrooms over spaghetti noodles is crazy cheap nowadays. Service was prompt and efficient. It doesn't look like they speak English in the restaurant as all the customers are older Asian people. They do have the menu in English and have breakfast at a great price. Portion size was fair, the fried chicken wasn't crispy was our only complaint being covered in tomato sauce for too long ( probably wasn't double fried)

Chicken preserve vegetables rice noodle soup.
Anna W.

Ordered. Chicken pickled vegetables rice noodle soup and a hot milk tea. . It was piping hot and pretty good .

Pork chop eggs and toast breakfast set
John S.

This is a classic Hong Kong style diner. Think the Chinese version of Denny's but a ridiculously cheap prices. They run a breakfast special on the weekends from 7 am to 11 am and it is always crowded with local Chinese doing their weekend shopping in Chinatown. It is Cash Only. The Hong Kong milk tea is some of the best to be found in the city. Recommend an egg set and the French Toast

Nancy T.

Ordered through DoorDash. Got the baked chicken in mushroom and cheese sauce over fried rice. The chicken was under cooked and had to toss it

Montage of images from New Regent Cafe
Ed U.

If you're hankering for a Hong Kong-style breakfast, and you want it for like real cheap, this workaday Chinatown cafe on Pacific Street definitely hits the mark. Prices range from $6.50 to $8.95 for full plates and bowls. Pretty darn reasonable. They split the comprehensive full-page menu between Sunshine Breakfasts available every day from 7-11AM and... Special Breakfasts that are available all day. Special Breakfasts are actually their various soups. Got it? The first challenge though was getting a formica table since there's no single-seat counter seating. I grabbed one as soon as I saw an opportunity. Scanning the menu (photo: https://yelp.to/sDuB-H_zl9), I landed on one of their top-price items. It was the $8.95 Steak and Double Pan-Fried Eggs. Now it may sound like it might be fancier but this ain't Peter Luger's. It was a decently grilled breakfast steak with a slice of toast and two eggs sunny-side up (photo: https://yelp.to/CV3RfhteKS). Together with the complimentary Hong Kong tea (photo: https://yelp.to/8rPe_6NvL2), it was a pretty good deal. FOOD - 4 stars...diner fare well prepared for a good price AMBIANCE - 3 stars...bustling amid all the formica SERVICE - 3.5 stars...not a lot of time for chit-chat TOTAL - 4 stars...this is what a Hong Kong breakfast cafe is all about RELATED - Exploring Chinatown? Here's a collection of places I've patronized and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2WoF1Z2

Menu 03-18-21
meL Z.

They always have a rush during lunch hour but have great food with generous portions. If you are in Chinatown give it a try.

hong kong styled milk tea - complimentary with special (A), too bitter
Chloe C.

Food - came here with a friend on saturday afternoon and ordered one of the specials. special (A) was baked mushroom chicken (B) was steak (c) is fish filet and (D) was ribs. I ordered the (A) and friend ordered (B). the special came with chicken (super tender and lots of sauce). a little too much sauce for my liking, but very flavorful. your choice of rice or spaghetti (the rice was well cooked and not too soggy or dry). and some brocolli which were kinda bland by itself but with the sauce it wasn't. it also came with a soup, which tasted pretty good (it was slightly sweet) and taste just like the home made ones and hong kong styled tea, which was too bitter for my liking. I think the specials was around $10.50 for the entrée, soup and milk tea. super cheap! we also ordered garlic bread, which was a little dry. Service - surprisingly not busy around 2PM on a weekend, lots of seating. Service was pretty quick. Ambiance - a bit hot inside without much circulation but hole in the wall vibes and definitely recommend checking this place out.

Satay beef rice noodle.
Karrie L.

Unbeatable breakfast set on price. Milk tea back to being good. Rice noodles and egg noodles were good. Breakfast end at 11am.

Al L.

Meeting my friend for lunch to discuss our agenda for our upcoming trip, I suggested we try this restaurant which another friend had recommended that I try. It's located on the edge of Chinatown on Pacific off Columbus. There's two dining areas, with right side room appearing to be an expansion into the store on the right. They are a breakfast lunch restaurant with a Hong Kong style menu with some Cantonese dishes. The menu is extensive with 147 items with a three item daily special. So make that 150 items. Since my friend is a regular here, he didn't have to look at the menu while I had to go through the choices. The Hong Kong style menu and specials of the day included soup of the day, rice or spaghetti with coffee, tea or milk tea. Being a cold, rainy day, I opted for curry pork chop with spaghetti with a coffee. First came the soup, which was cup of clam chowder. My entrée was served in a casserole dish, the pork chop was sliced into several pieces with potatoes, onions and slices of carrot in a curry sauce next to the spaghetti and some steamed broccoli. I spooned the curry sauce over my spaghetti. The dish was very good as the curry sauce had a good consistency and flavor. My friend ordered the baked shrimp and corn with cheese and rice daily special, which he enjoyed. If you're looking for Hong Kong style food, New Regent fits the bill. Good food with good portions and reasonable prices with efficient service.

Baked Fillet of Sole
Rani Z.

Time & Date: Saturday, 6/26/21 @ 2:30pm Crowd: 75% of tables filled Ordered: Baked Fillet of Sole w/ Black Bean Sauce (#43) If you want delicious cantonese / hong kong cafe style food for a really good price, this is the spot to go to in Chinatown. Growing up in SF, I would frequent this restaurant every Saturday & it would always satisfy my cravings. Every item I've ever tried from this spot is so good! However even after the slight remodel job recently, this still isn't the cleanest spot. It feels pretty dingy inside and the tables & chairs are the same ones from when I used to go as a kid lol. TLDR: Amazing cheap cantonese food, but not the cleanest ambiance!

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New Regent Cafe Reviews in Other Languages

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4.2
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I saw online that this place is one of the most sought after reservations on Open Table. I tried my…read moreluck at getting a reservation and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to get a reservation! Reservations open 3 weeks in advanced at noon. Walk ins are also welcome. One note is that parking can be a bit challenging so get there a bit early. The inside is lively and filled me with so much nostalgia with the decor. The staff is really attentive and friendly. I also appreciate the free peanuts and cucumber salad that you get when you're seated. My boyfriend and I ordered a lot of food because we wanted to try so many things! The lamb skewer was super moist and had a nice flavor. The XO escargot with milkbread had a nice buttery, garlic taste. The milk bread was fluffy and when dipped in the sauce it tasted very rich. We also got the clay pot rice and it reminded me of when I had it in China. The rice was crispy at the bottom and well seasoned. My favorite dish of the night was the squab. It was cooked excellently and the skin was really crispy. The five spice powder on the side really brought out the flavor of the meat. The eggplant was cooked well and portion was good but it didn't stand out as much as the other dishes. Overall, I would visit this place again. It definitely lives up to the hype. The squab and and clay pot rice were the stand outs to me but all the other food was really tasty as well.

I saw a random 9:15pm reservation for 2 available, so I snagged it, excited for this very hyped…read morerestaurant. Was it worth it? Honestly, I think I have to readjust my expectations for the SF food scene. If there were no wait/reservation, I would think of this as a very solid restaurant (hence the 4 stars). The beef chow fun is on par with ones I'd get in NYC Chinatown, and was actually not very overpriced. Our server was very sweet but only recommended things that my friend did not love (seafood/spicy food). I was excited for the spicy cabbage, hoping it'd be comparable to the addictive spicy cabbage at Uluh (NYC). I was disappointed. The popcorn chicken was a bit dry; I would not get it again. The mapo spaghetti had heat, but not much flavor, and it was okay for me - worth getting because it sounded intriguing, but fell short of my expectations, especially since I've made mapo udon, mapo ramen, and mapo pie at home that were better. The escargots with milk bread was definitely my favorite; sourcing escargot alone is a plus and it was very well-executed. The milk bread was fantastic, pillowy and soft. Our server was very nice and offered to move us to the cute window seats after we were already seated at the counter, which I really appreciated. However, would I spend energy trying to get a reservation here or waiting in line? Absolutely not. It makes me sad to think that this is the pinnacle of Cantonese food in this city full of Cantonese people, but I guess it makes me extra appreciate food in NYC.

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Harborview serves premium food and their dim sum are seemed to order; always fresh and super tasty…read more I've been here numerous times for yum cha (dim sum bunch) before, and trying their HH (Happy Hour) for the first time today.. and it was just simply excellent!!! The quality dim sum that we've come to expect.. plus two delightful bonuses: Excellent Margarita and their OMG - so Tasty and Addicting Tofu Fries!! YUM yim yummmmy!! Service is excellent and their wait staff checked on us every now and then, and everyone is always friendly and helpful. Nicely located in EC4; the restaurants is always super clean and comfy for hanging out. Their balcony seating also very nice, weather permitting. Bonus: they also validate parking, at (I think ) $6 off your parking rate at the Embarcadero's. Great good + Great service! Recommended!!!

I'm posting this review a little later, but this experience happened during a visit about a month…read moreago and it has stayed with me. One thing that stood out was the restaurant's mandatory 18% gratuity, which is automatically added to every bill. While I understand and respect service charges, I also believe they should come with a reasonable standard of service. During our meal, we politely asked our waitress, Lily, if she could please bring us some soy sauce whenever she had a moment. In response, she audibly sighed, turned her head, and rolled her eyes, which felt unnecessarily rude and unprofessional. Throughout the rest of the meal, whenever we thanked her for bringing our dim sum, she didn't acknowledge us, and simple requests like refilling our water were ignored while she happily chatted with other coworkers and the table immediately next to us (which appeared to be people she knew outside of work). The rest of the staff seemed normal-friendly, which made this interaction stand out even more. Had the gratuity been optional, I would have tipped based on the service we received. Because it was mandatory, paying an 18% service charge for an experience that lacked basic courtesy and attentiveness felt particularly unfair and disappointing. This was my second visit here, but it seems bad service is not uncommon based on other yelp reviews.

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