I'm not experienced with soba, so I'm not sure what makes a good vs great soba, but everything we…read moregot was very yummy imo! I liked the flavor of the dipping broth for the kamo zaru better (it had duck), but I liked how the ten zaru dipping broth was cold. The tempura that came with the ten zaru was very crispy and yummy. I really like how their assortment was very unique. For example, it came with scallop, tamago, and brussel sprouts. The duck meat that came with the kamo zaru was SO TENDER and flavorful. The agedashi tofu was solid, but nothing special that special. Portion size was good! Lots of noodles, but as usual, soba places don't have much protein options. Servers were very nice, and place was very cute and clean :) Great experience overall.

Yikes! Did I go to the same restaurant as these 5 and 4-star reviews?!…read more We arrived mid-day on a Saturday. A few others were at tables but it was a mostly empty restaurant. There were a few staff running around keeping the front of the house so it wasn't a matter of work force but it took almost an hour to get steamed broccoli as the first of our order to come out. Not sautéed or cooked with finesse. While we were waiting for any food to come out, a couple of tables were seated after us but served their whole order while we waited for a dish to arrive at ours. Then came beef pan fried dumplings which were burnt on the bottom after waiting almost an hour for anything to come. We got a couple more dishes before we finally called it and just got the check. Flavors were bland, nothing stood out as delicious in flavor, texture, or overall bite. Even the vinegar used for soup dumplings wasn't the right type of vinegar. Service was slow, the food was subpar especially for the time it took to get anything on the table. Total waste of time, energy, and opportunity. Never again. The whole vibe felt like a quick service fast food experience rather than what we hoped to get out of it. Not for me clearly.

SOOOOO good! Came here with a group of friends--I recommend coming with at least 3-4 to get a good…read moreassortment of skewers. We ordered - cucumber salad - enoki mushroom - lamb skewers - beef skewers - scallop vermicelli - lychee and wagyu - bacon and enoki mushroom - eggplant - a choy - spicy potato noodles - korean cold noodles Like I said, go with a group! The food was all really delicious. The Korean cold noodles are a bit sweeter than the typical naengmyeon but still yummy Service is fast, and they bring the skewers out on a special plate on the table that keeps the food warm.

Didn't have to wait on a Sunday at 5:30 but once we settled in and started getting our food at 6…read morethe waitlist started. We were hoping to be seated in one of the tables with the curtains but all were taken :( would have been cool though! The wooden aesthetic of this place transports you to Asia and the servers are both canto/mandarin speaking. Definitely recommend the beef and lamb skewers and enoki mushrooms. Beef was tender, lean, and nicely charred with their signature spicy cumin seasoning. Lamb was not gamey and tender as well. Mushroom also had the spicy seasoning but still light enough to cleanse our palate. We also ordered the Taiwan sausage, chicken gizzard, beef tongue and salad. It was the perfect amount for the 2 of us and fairly priced at about $30pp. All the skewers were cooked for us yet still stayed hot since it was placed on the hot plate. Dynasty BBQ definitely satisfied our skewer craving and we'll come back or even try their other 2 South Bay locations!

Hands down the best Cheung Hing around. Dining here is good because the location is a fair size,…read moreclean and bright. Service is always consistent and the servers are friendly. Recently I stopped to pick-up dinner with the plan to have leftovers. I called my order in and was quoted 40 minutes for my order to be ready. My order consisted of salted fish and chicken fried rice (this location has the best around SF and the peninsula), bitter melon beef, chicken chow mein, Thai style fried vermicelli (my favorite dish here), salt and pepper chicken wings. We also received a complimentary bbq pork fried rice. Everything was fantastic and we had plenty of leftovers for a few days.

San Mateo location, my usual favorite Chinese food…read more Won ton soup - might've been the first time I've ordered it here. Felt like having won ton soup to help a cold and cough. Big won ton filled w pork and shrimp. Bok choy Broth not much flavor, in a separate container since this was a take-home order. Curry Beef Stew I've never had Curry beef stew before, prefer chicken, curry, but for some odd reason, I decided to order this dish. It was underwhelming and I won't order it again. The Curry sauce itself was OK but the big long pieces of beef were somewhat gross, lots of fat. They added plenty of slices to onions and a few pieces of green pepper and Julienned carrots, but that's about it for being called a stew. So I learned my lesson by not sticking to my usual order, and won't order wonton soup or curry beef stew again.

This place is consistently good and always has at least a couple people waiting outside of the door…read moreif not more. If you feel like a nice warm hug for your tummy, then get the Langzhou hand pulled noodles. The clear broth and light spice is so comforting for your stomach and it doesn't feel too heavy. You can choose your noodle thickness based on your preference. I typically go for the small rounds while my boyfriend gets the belt noodles - the complete opposite from each other! You can get out of there less than $20 a person, which is so rare in downtown San Mateo. Quick and easy meal for lunch or dinner.

Heard good things about out this noodle spot. Came around 11:30am and got seated right away. Around…read more12pm there was a line and the restaurant was filled. Ordered the chili oil noodles with beef. I was surprised it was not spicy at all. I even added the chili oil on the table and it didn't make a difference. The noodles were perfectly chewy. Just wish it was spicy!

I found out this is the owner of another very popular restaurant in Belmont which currently still…read morehave long line every time we visited. So we decided to try his new restaurant. The location is off the busy part of San Mateo which is awesome. Plenty of free parking and no wait at the restaurant. People walked by would second thought on coming in. Clay pot rice - Hands down the best I've had in many famous clay pot rice restaurants in the Bay area. See the pictures on how crunchy they made the rice without too much oil. HK style sweet and sour spare ribs - 生炒骨 very good. The flavor is very authentic to me like those I had in HK. Crunchy batter. I really liked it. Seafood clay pot - That one was fine, like the flavor, but nothing particularly special. Shredded chicken salad - it's good but I've had better. The main thing is the 沙姜粉 is not as strong. The quality of chicken is fine, decent yellow hair chicken flavor. It's too bad that the location may not be a visible location but this place is truly above average. I mean I'm happy because I never have to wait 45 minutes to get seated and parking is convenient. Just hope they will stay in business.

This place is way underrated restaurant. Food is great here and great price!…read more Mapo tofu is so good

Eat here. Thank me later. Excellent Szechuan food in the Peninsula at reasonable prices (in 2023…read moreno less)! Our typical order is the fried chicken with chili peppers, mapo tofu, dry fried string beans, and fish filets in peppercorn soup (it's a green soup with mushrooms). Service is "efficient" which is hopefully exactly what you want if you are looking for a Szechuan restaurant that has good food. IYKYK. If you want good service in an establishment like this, I have a bridge to sell you... Great local business that we have patronized many times over the years, and will continue to do so!

Wow, pleasantly surprised by how good the food is here. Ordered takeout over the phone and food was…read moreready by the time I got there (15min). Spicy bullfrog - generous with bullfrog servings and taste was on point Lamb skewers - minimum 2 skewers per order with a good amount of meat per skewer. Spicy cold jelly - The cold jelly was a good refresher after all the spice. Love the texture. Duck blood curd - a little stingy on the duck blood curd. Probably pass on this.

Amazing always Comfort food…read more Service is typical cantonese chinese fare . Can be busy at times. It's easy to over order you can't go wrong with anything on the menu really . Parking can be difficult when it's busy times. And they don't open until 11am.

Food: Authentic and flavorful, with a great wok hei. The 醃篤鮮 was tasty and nicely seasoned without…read morebeing too salty. The bamboo with bean curd was flavorful, and the pig's kidney was tender. Overall, the dishes were flavorful without being overly salty. Service: Many of the staff have worked here for a long time, and they were very friendly, welcoming, and chatty. Ambience: No music, and the restaurant was quite crowded. The overall atmosphere feels like a classic, long-established neighborhood restaurant that has been around for many decades.

My favorite malatang place. I always come to this malatang every time I come back to the Bay Area,…read morewhether at this location or the one on Stonestown. My favorite is the dry option Szechuan Spicy and you can pick and choose whatever you want to go in there. They have the soup option, but I have not tried that yet. The difference between the San Mateo branch and the Stonestown branch is that they have a dessert/sauce bar at the San Mateo one. Also- tip, you can purchase on their website for pick up or delivery. On weekdays for lunch they have a special lunch price which is a bit cheaper. Although, I do prefer ordering in person so I can choose how much of what toppings/ingredients go in there.

Malatang! Self- serve toppings and bowls. I chose the pickled veggies broth…read more My favorite part is their sauce bar, free iced tea, and desserts (jelly). I personally LOVEE the iced tea, super refreshing. Food comes out pretty fast. Lots of seatings, super clean, very aesthetic. They have booths and tables. Settings are all laid out as well as togo containers.

Ordered DoorDash . The beef soup was good . Lots of mushrooms and beef . Basil spicy chicken was…read morealso great and tasty . Pork work string beans was good . Quantity is also good and pricing is comparably cheaper to other places . We ate it few times . Overall great - will order again .

Hate leaving negative reviews but this was probably the first meal I've ever thrown away. The…read moregenerals chicken was just skins or tendons or who knows if it was even chicken. When you skimp on actual meat it makes me think what else are they skimping on... and I couldn't go on. Tossed the whole meal

Solid Beijing cuisine with huge portions and a great value. We came for an early Tuesday dinner,…read morethe restaurant was mostly empty but they seemed to be doing a solid takeout business, and more guests trickeled in later. Staff was friendly and checked on us occasionally to make sure all was well. We ordered: - Smoked chicken (5/5): Definitely the star of the night, this was a cold dish perfectly smoked and tender. A large portion that seemed like a whole chicken and a steal for only $23 - Green Beans (4.5/5): Another large portion, well charred with perfect texture. Served with ground pork and a hint of spice - Meatball Clay Pot (3.5/5): the server did say it was soupy but it was probably my mistake as I thought it would be more like the Shanghainese lion head braised meatballs. Instead it was a very simple clear broth with Napa cabbage, small meatballs and a few strands of vermicelli noodles. The broth flavor was extremely mild and the meatballs didn't have much flavor and were firmer than expected. Our Cantonese friend liked it as he felt it was homey and comforting but I felt it was too boring - House Special Fried Rice (4/5): another huge portion, a solid egg fried rice with very large shrimp and some beef. - Pan Fried Beef Buns (2/5): In Beijing these are often translated to Doornail Meat Buns due to their round shape. Extremely juicy, almost like a gravy inside, and generously filled but the beef tasted a bit gamey which may be due to the spices used, but were off putting to us.

bad service. only care about take out food. Wait forever when there are on line orders. Hard to…read morecommunicate.