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    Orchids Cafe

    4.2 (254 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 8:30 pm
    Updated 3 weeks ago

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    ORCHIDS CAFE ATMOSPHERE

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

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    Recommended Reviews - Orchids Cafe

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    Emily L.

    Just had dinner here and it was amazing!!! We ordered some hk milk tea, the salted egg yolk calamari and fries, chicken cutlet with curry, and a baked pork chop with fried rice. Everything was really good. We came around 7:50pm and was quickly seated. The man that was working(the owner maybe) gave great service and made the experience even better. 10/10 would recommend everyone to try this hk cafe! Vibes are your typical hk cafe in sf. Great for a chill dinner and yap session with friends!

    Hong Kong milk tea
    Janny W.

    I've had their Thai basil pork rice countless times over the years, and it still tastes just as good! The quality has never gone down. This time, I also got to try the tomato & egg over rice. It was a little sweeter than expected, but still really tasty. The eggs were soft and silky, the beef was incredibly tender, and they even gave us two complimentary drinks, which was such a kind gesture. Will be back soon! Cheers!

    inside
    Jeff H.

    Another good meal at Orchids Cafe. No wait on a Sunday at noon. Since the restaurant was slow, I chatted with Kevin, the owner. He is a nice guy and grew up in SF just like. He remembered me from my last visit and gave me another free lemon ice tea. I'm not used to receiving free drinks and therefore tipped accordingly. My curry pork chop spaghetti $18 tasted good. It was a lot of food. Good times.

    Thai basil pork
    Bubu N.

    Pork chops crispy and good portion. Thai basil pork perf amount of kick, not too spicy! Service was good. The owner is very helpful and making sure everyone is taken care of. Glad to stop by this hidden gem. Solid food and def hit the spot!

    hot cup of ling cha (honey lemon tea) on a cold SF day - bliss.
    Michael Y.

    These are legit, giant pork chop steaks grilled to perfection in the classic, HK-style fashion on a bed of tomato sauce and egg fried rice. It was perfect with a warm cup of ling cha (honey lemon tea) on a chilly, foggy, and rainy SF day. The salted egg calamari was also a unique treat that I have never seen anywhere else and was good - large slabs of meat! This was a taste of the O.G. HK style cafe right here in the heart of SF! They were not skimping with the portions and were very generous! First thought was that I would spread the word to family and friends who would enjoy this authentic taste. They take credit card and Apple Pay! They even had the sports games on tv - basketball, football, you name it. There was plenty of room too in this spacious restaurant also with clean, spacious bathrooms - a godsend. It is also nicely situated right across from City College CCSF and right across from Whole Foods, so it is perfect for walking and checking out the local businesses. They do have a student discount on weekdays! Parking is a bit tight as you may need to just park a bit farther.

    Hand Shredded Chicken with Hainanese Rice
    Alisa B.

    Their Hand Shredded Chicken with Hainanese Rice is probably the most popular menu item! I can see why! Tender chilled chicken with very tasty rice, steamed cabbage, and ginger sauce. My only gripe was the saltiness... Shanghai Soup Dumplings were decent! Lots of soup. The pork filling was just average. The Pork Dumplings With Yellow Chives were better in my opinion! Juicy seasoned pork and the wrapper was a good texture. Definitely come here for a hearty meal and big portions! A hidden gem in the area. The owner was really kind and gave us complimentary Hong Kong Lemon Tea too!

    Winnie K.

    Amazing restaurant! Loved the vibe and service. The food was absolutely amazing. We ordered the Thai style minced pork with rice. The jasmine rice was cooked right on point and the minced pork was seasoned with right amount of spices and chilies. definitely recommend for people who love spicy and Thai style! The pork chop over spaghetti was also delicious with decent amount of cheese and yummy tomato sauce. The taste is decent and very HK style. Will recommend this place to anyone who wants great Hong Kong or Cantonese style food!

    Lynn V.

    Stumbled across this hidden gem randomly and it was a hit! We had a large party of 10 and they accommodated us wonderfully on a walk in basis. This family owned business really strives for excellent customer service and treated us so well. The owner was very attentive to our kids table and went above and beyond to make sure their needs were met. He even brought us extra beverages on the house. Food portions were huge and generous. I had their shredded hainan chicken, scallion pancake, and HK milk tea. All were delicious! My father in law had the beef tomato dish and that looked really good too! Highly recommend for some solid HK eats

    Millie K.

    This is a perfect spot for HK Milk Tea and HK style cafe food. We dropped by often on weekend for lunch. The interior was comfortable and service was fast and attentive. Milk Tea 5/5 Beef and Runny Egg Chow Fun 4/5 (slightly too salty) Baked meat spaghetti 5/5 Chicken wings and fries 4/5 Mapo tofu over rice 5/5 (nice and spicy) This is becoming our weekend go to lunch spot when we crave some HK style cafe food.

    Honey Lemon Tea
    Christina L.

    Awesome Hong Kong restaurant (Cha Chan Teng), the food has some much flavor! The menu has a lot of variety, from baked dishes, rice plates, and noodles. The baked dish($17/$18 for meat, $21 for fish/seafood) takes about 15 minutes which is pretty quick for baked dish, the pork pieces were large and tender. The tomato sauce is not too acidic, tastes great and cheesy flavor. My favorite dish was the XO sauce stir fry spaghetti with seafood ($21), great peppery flavor, and quality seafood items. The restaurant can get busy, but the restaurant is really clean. Overall, great variety of items that taste super fresh and like a home cook meal.

    Baked Fish in Cream Sauce Over Rice Salted Egg Yolk with Fried Calamari
    Lynne E.

    I'm glad to see this spot has not changed over the years. I came here once with my cousin and I decided to come back as I was craving this particular dish. It definitely did not disappoint. The server was very nice and gave me this yummy spicy sauce when I asked for chili. A nice cozy spot for a solo lunch or break from studying as it's right by City College. Definitely try this place out. It will not disappoint you!

    Chicken noodle soup

    It's a great place for Hong Kong style dishes. Kevin, the owner, does everything except cooking. His HK milk tea and HK lemon tea hits the spot. Anything that's salt and pepper style are delicious such as tofu, chicken wings, and fish fillets. If you love salted egg yolk then try his salted egg yolk chicken wings. His restaurant is the only one that I know serves thai basil pork chow fun with some heat. His baked pork chop in tomato sauce over spaghetti is also our go to. It's on the same block as Beeps Burger.

    Salted Egg Yolk with Chicken Soft Bones
    C. Z.

    We came by for a lunch to try their baked rice. One of my favorite items was the salted egg yolk fried chicken cartilage, a dish I haven't seen elsewhere. The HK milk tea was very tasty. The baked rice with fish came in a pretty generous portion and was very garlicky and tasty. The owner(?) was super nice and attentive. He noticed my son watching the tv and changed it from basketball to a kids movie. Would definitely come back here again and try more things!

    Salt and Pepper Pork Chop with Rice

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    7 days ago

    Family owned restaurant with good food and good service. Large portions and fair prices. We are regulars here

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    2 months ago

    Just to be honest this place is super good ok orchids but the chicken wing is big and it has a lot of blood but it s good

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    Page 1 of 7

    Orchids Cafe Reviews in Other Languages

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    4.2(469 reviews)
    5.6 miChinatown
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    I've had this spot bookmarked for ages now and my boyfriend was able to snag a birthday…read morereservation!! Unless you're a party of 1, I highly, highly, recommend a reservation. While we were waiting for our table, we saw 2-3 couples get turned away. The restaurant is small, but the interior is well-decorated. It pays homage to HK posters, music, and culture. They offer two complimentary small bites of smashed cucumber and peanuts. - XO Escargot: a must order, the dish only comes with 6 pieces but it's so worth it. The sauce is garlicky, buttery, and each bite with the milk bread is so good. The bread also has a crispy outer layer while the inside is super soft. - Eggplant: at first, we thought the dish was good, but the pieces on the bottom that soaks up all the sauce makes the eggplant full of umami flavor. This paired so good with rice. - Mapo Tofu Spaghetti: just as you imagine, but very yummy. I wish there was more of a numbing spice personally! - Black Pepper Steak: The steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare and the sauce was very yummy. This dish did not blow me away like some of the others but was still good nonetheless. I really wished we could have try the Singapore Chili Crab, but that would have been too much food. Our server was also fantastic and so kind, I wish I caught her name. Will def be back!

    Instagram will send your expectations soaring to the stars, but dining here will humble those…read moreexpectations. I loved that the restaurant teleports you to 90s Hong Kong from the posters to tunes. It's not the biggest restaurant so it feels a little tight and a line forms quickly out the door. Food was consistently ok and salty. We ordered the fried squab, black bean clams, green beans, etc. Portions run on the smaller side but the price goes in the other direction. Next time I'm around, you'll find me at R&G Lounge which is the uncontested king and a much more authentic showing of Cantonese food.

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    Four Kings 四大天王 - View of kitchen

    View of kitchen

    Four Kings 四大天王 - Sichuan cabbage

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    Harborview Restaurant & Bar - Dim sum much?

    Harborview Restaurant & Bar

    4.0(1.9k reviews)
    5.9 miFinancial District
    $$
    Outdoor seating
    Happy hour specials

    I want to give a great shout out to Harborview Restaurant for hosting a luncheon / dinner for my…read moredaughters wedding day activities. There was only 8 of us and we wanted a luxurious Chinese meal to celebrate the wedding. We've eaten at Harborview before and were extremely pleased with their culinary quality and service so we chose to celebrate here. We made a reservation for a patio table for 10 even though we were only 8. We chose their banquet meal plan C which had an abundance of seafood. Plus we also ordered a couple extra dishes for our guests to enjoy. Surprisingly we got a phone call from Angel who questioned our order. Why so much food for 8 people? We knew we had too much food but we were okay with it. Long story short, she suggested some alterations to the "C" banquet and gave us the additional dishes at the same overall cost as the original banquet price. This was super nice and appreciated. We still had a ton of take home and everyone was full. Let me say the food was excellent and some of the best I've ever had. Yes it is a bit pricey but it wasn't the most expensive plan they have. We chose "C" because it had all the dishes we really enjoy and seldom get to eat. The restaurant is simply gorgeous especially the entryway on the ground level of Embarcadero 4. You can park in EC4 garage and get some validation at the restaurant. A quick overview of the dishes.... BBQ Combination Platter. Not sure if BBQ describes it well, its more like a cold appetizer delicacy plate, Fresh and crisp seaweed, cuttlefish, baby octopus, BBQ pork and tofu. A super tasty and refreshing starter Dried Scallop, Fish Maw and Sea Cucumber soup. Hot seafood flavored soup with plenty of julienned seafood. Rich, thick and warming. Salt and Pepper Dungeness Crab. This was hands down the surprise of the meal. TWO huge crabs deep fried with a delicate battered crust. Served piled high with the crab shell on top. Make sure to enjoy the crab butter in the shell it is the best. If you know... you know! Peking Duck with Steamed buns. Hands down a family favorite served with 12 buns, shredded scallions and plum sauce. Crispy duck skin carefully dissected from the soft and juicy duck meat. Really good. Stir fried Scallops and Prawns. Served on a bed of snow peas. Honestly, how often do you get to eat sea scallops? Perfectly cooked soft and tender. Prawns fresh and firm texture. Steak Cubes & Broccoli. Sounds plain but the beef cubes with a glistening sauce simply melted in your mouth. Oh man this was fantastic! Broccoli cooked al dente with a nice crisp texture. Baked Black Cod. Can it get any better? Super tender, flakey, moist, juicy fish steamed to perfection. man!!! Sautéed Pea sprouts with dried scallops and Mushrooms. Pea sprouts are expensive but well worth the price. Topped with the mushrooms and sauce was a great pairing. Golden Supreme Fried Rice with XO sauce. Some of the tastiest fried rice you will ever encounter. Fine grains of rice seasoned with a ton of flavor and enhanced with XO sauce Black Sesame Mochi in Ginger Tea. Soft moist chewy Mochi balls served in hot Ginger Tea. The black sesame is delicious and pungent. The ginger tea warming and aromatic. so good! FYI corkage is $25 per bottle and cake service is $1 per person. They take the cake and put it in the fridge during your meal. All that being said the meal was fantastic. Servers came around several times to change out our dirty plates. Some of us ordered drinks a few times which they served quickly. It was a wonderful day and capped off with this special meal. Thank you Harborview!

    This is nestled within a bunch of shops and restaurants with the back part of the restaurant right…read moreon the water making for really nice outdoor seating with a great view. The inside decor is very fancy and upscale. This restaurant can make for a great date night or even a casual hang out, but they also have great Family Style tables which are typical for Asian restaurants seating for like 10-15 people. Overall, I would say that this restaurant is pretty good, but perhaps a bit expensive. If I'm honest, I was kind of hoping for a wow moment eating each dish because of how expensive and fancy the place was (plus sporting that Michelin star). So TLDR; good but underwhelming. Let's start with what was good! Pork buns or char siu bao: 5/5! Wow this was amazing! Like actually amazing. The crust on that bun added like a sweet outer layer was fire, the meat was super tender and great! Prob the best dish we had! The spicy wonton: 2.5/5 this was just okay imho, lacked depth of flavor and that ma la you'd want in the spice, honestly just okay and wouldn't order again. The roasted pork/charsiu: 3.5/5 pretty good overall! I do feel like some parts were a bit tough but mostly tender pieces of meat. The shu mai: 3/5 it was good, a little too chewy for me but was decent. XLB: 2/5 probably the most disappointing, lacked depth of flavor and the broth was just okay, average at best, Honestly expected more. Prob wouldn't order again. Deep fried crab claw and shrimp ball: 3/5 good crab and good seafood taste. The dipping sauce was just okay, wanted more flavor. Overall all, service was super fast, food came out in no time, could've been better with water refills. I wished that some of the dishes had a richer flavor profile that made me say wow, but unfortunately most of the dishes fell short. The char siu bao however was the star of the show! Cute place but a bit overpriced for an underwhelming flavors. Made it a four star because of the bun and the service and ambience.

    Photos
    Harborview Restaurant & Bar - Black Sesame Mochi with Grated Peanut

    Black Sesame Mochi with Grated Peanut

    Harborview Restaurant & Bar - Enjoy dining or Happy Hour on our spacious patio!

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    Harborview Restaurant & Bar - Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust

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