Unreal food, might be some of the best I've had in SF so far. The food was great big portions and just great bang for your buck. Service is expected: busy, prompt and if you need something you need to figure it out. That'sa a Chinese resto for you but that's how you know the food is good read more

SERVICE: We arrived Monday afternoon around 12:30 pm, and the place was pretty packed. There were two tables leftover, and after we were seated the last table was quickly filled. They handed us a paper menu and pen to mark down our choices. I would say that they were not super attentive and we would often have to flag them down or walk over to a staff member, but that may be normal. FOOD: Solid dim sum overall. I always get the shrimp rice rolls (my favorite), the shrimp dumpling, shiu mai, and the sticky rice lotus wrap. All of them were yummy as expected, came out super hot and sticky. We also tried the bbq rice roll, a deep fried taro ball, lava buns, and more. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the taro ball, and would definitely try it again. My friend did note that prices have been rising, but still affordable. read more

The Kitchen - Bitten Deep Fried Taro Puff - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

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First time coming here for dim sum on Mother's day. I have always frequented places like HL Peninsula, Grand Palace and Hung To, but was looking to diversify. Arrived at 940 for 10am opening, and the line was crazy long. Definitely anticipate waiting, especially because the inside is more comparable to Hung To size rather than HL ballroom size. I was weary about the service based on past experiences at dim sum and the previous reviews. But it was honestly one of the better experiences. The response time was very fast, waters were constantly being refilled, no random tea charge after we denied tea, and even without having any native speakers, they got us all our sauces on the first request (other places tend to require five servers and multiple reminders). The next highlight are the prices. Other bay area dim sum have gotten too crazy with their Large and Special dish prices. But all of the prices are very reasonable and enough to add this to my must-try dim sum list. The only downside is that the dim sum options are a bit limited compared to other places. But all the staples are there, and they were all quite good. Most of the dishes were presented by three steamed carts, one fried food cart, and one congee cart. The menu offered a few other items that were good, but hard to tell what you are getting without photos or description (pretty on par with dim sum restaurants). Nearly every table had the street style noodle, and I highly recommend it, along with the cilantro dumpling, siomai, and salted egg bun. read more

The Kitchen offers various live seafood in a large water tank display. Great for small or large groups because they have many round tables that can easily be expanded to large banquet tables. All the waiters speak fluent English, but Cantonese is preferred, so ordering is not a problem. Be sure to try the seafood and the fried mushrooms. We ordered the crab meat fish maw soup - love all the egg white in the soup. The fried mushroom has a nice batter and is not greasy, a few cross-cut jalapenos give a little kick The only thing I need to pick on is the steamed fish. The fish skin is not thoroughly clean, it still has scales. And for this reason, I can not give the restaurant 5 stars. read more

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It gets so busy right when it opens! It was filled by 10:30 on a Sunday. Get there early! It's a nice restaurant, very bright and loud. The lady's come around with carts of dim sum or you can order through menu. We did both! Such a great price for everything and everything was fresh!! It was very good. No complaints! We ordered a lot but my picture just captured the first ones to come out. I would recommend coming here! read more

The Kitchen - Beef Tripe Chicken feet Spare ribs Sui Mai - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

Dinner isn't my favorite here still but definitely come here for dim sum. It gets crowded but it's always hot and fresh. Very attentive and quick service. I don't like buns but their cha siu baked buns are the best - especially fresh with the crunchy crust. read more

The Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

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I found the service here to be adequate and typical of a Chinese restaurant. However, I would ding this restaurant for the quality of food and its relatively high price. Judging by the food alone, if the meal was at any typical Chinese restaurant, the quality was in the range of just OK to somewhat good, not among the good or even the best restaurants. Even at a lesser restaurant I would have been slightly disappointed. However, given the somewhat high price and its reputation being Michelin recommended I had high hopes for a good meal, but was disappointed. It was an OK meal of Chinese food but given the high bar in the Bay area the meal was just OK. read more

Awesome food, mediocre service but understandable, overall good experience if you want authentic food

Came here on New Year's day and it was sooo busy! Thankfully my aunt arrived when it opened and was able to snag seats. This place has the aunties that push the cart around with the typical dim sum dishes, We also ordered some plates from the kitchen. Our table enjoyed the salt and pepper fried fish, spare rib churng fun, and the salted egg yolk prawn and pumpkin. Our dishes came out super quick! It was definitely loud because of how busy it is but that's most dim sum places. Our party had 7 people and the bill was only about $130, not bad at all! The parking lot gets pretty full next to The Kitchen but there's plenty of parking on the back streets. read more

My family loves this place, and it never disappoints. The wasabi chicken and pork stomach is amazing. The beef and tofu is spectacular. The soups are stupendous. The crispy pork trotter is fantastic. I don't have one bad thing to say about their food. Well, maybe prices are high, but honestly, it's well worth it. You'll want to watch out for some of the waiters that like to upsell you. Usually you'll get a decent one that will tell you that you ordered plenty but there's one guy that always pushes you to order more. You think you barely ordered enough based on his words, and then bam, the table is full and no one knows how we'll ever finish it all. Look, you aren't gonna get spectacular service here. But what you will get is super authentic, delicious food in a slightly cramped and loud room. I still think the pros outweigh the cons. read more

The Kitchen - Wasabi Chicken and Pork Stomach - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

We went to The Kitchen for dinner on Father's Day because my brother suggested it. He wanted to try the salted pork feet and chicken with pork belly. When we arrived, there was already a line outside the restaurant. We got in line and waited. At 5 PM, the restaurant opened. The hostess, dressed in a black suit, called us over and asked how many were in our party. We said, "A table for five." She then pointed us to a table, and we sat down. A few minutes later, she came back and told us the table was actually reserved for someone else -- they had just stepped out -- and asked us to vacate it. Why? We waited in line just like everyone else, and she was the one who seated us. We felt completely unwelcome. We used to come here every weekend for Dim Sum, but ever since the ownership changed, we stopped and started going to HL Pearl Restaurant instead. It felt like they wanted to give that table to people they knew or regulars they prioritized. Honestly, we could've stayed and stood our ground, but because it was Father's Day, we didn't want to argue and ruin the evening for our dad. So we left and had dinner at the old Tai Wu restaurant across the street, now called Hong Kong Palace. This experience was awful. While they did apologize, what happened was still completely unacceptable. Your character is your best kind of luck. Your mentality is your best Feng Shui. otherwise you will be poor all your life. In the world of crows, swans are also guilty. I strongly do not recommend this place! read more

This place will always be Seafood Harbor in my mind and heart. It was one of my favorite Chinese seafood restaurants around and worth the drive from the City. Fast forward twenty plus years and I'd heard good things about this business, but never dined here until a friend and business associate asked us to meet here for a weekday lunch. There is a parking lot to the side of the restaurant and plentiful street parking if you're timing is right. I found a space around the corner. The floor design hasn't changed much except that it is just one dining room versus having a small private room on the left. When I arrived a little before noon, the room was about 1/3 full. My friend who hosted the lunch ordered our meal which was a selection of dim sum dishes. Here's what we had: Dim sum selections: 1. Shiu Mai (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=sFyJNYRWKED2lfsjpTMIig&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - Not my favorite normally, this was quite good as they were plump and meaty. 2. Steamed BBQ pork buns (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=fYrnf0lY5R3FYeh2ZjSimQ&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - This was another guest's request which I joked was an "old person's" standard. This was good but didn't shine in my book. 3. Steamed beef balls with dried citrus peel (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=JTi1AD3HakYOF1U594OcPw&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - This was a different take on beef balls for me as they sat on a bed of cabbage (usually yuba skin). Nice flavor with a harder chew, this came with a Worcesteshire sauce. 4. Steamed beef rice noodle roll (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=vsxi3QGS6Cc7XfamxUNUaw&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - Though a bit shorter in length than I'm used to, these thin-skinned rice rolls were delicate and had a good amount of the sweet soy sauce to top them. 5. Steamed beef tripe (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=TzdKp_hH15v_ap6S9j24-Q&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - Though not my favorite, I did have a few pieces. They were nicely flavored and had a nice bite. Not overly soft like some places who leave them in the steamer all day. 6. Steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=ETShVjpeeEkldpP8Tir2FA&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - Nicely flavored and perfectly cooked as the skin slid off the bone with a quick suck. The black bean sauce was not salty and the jalapeno slices gave it a slight kick. 7. Pineapple BBQ pork buns (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=RLzWGPhXc-Uml68FURB2yQ&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - I actually inadvertently requested this when the other guest requested steamed BBQ pork buns. This was actually my favorite menu item of the day. Not off the charts like that popular HK chain in Honolulu, NYC, and Vegas but a fair version. 8. Steamed pork spare ribs (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=IbPb2J6AuW1gvVRnT4XVTw&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - Simple dish but done well as the spare rib pieces were mostly 50/50 ratio of meat to bone and the broth was very clean and not over sauced. 9. Steamed Malaysian sponge cake (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=gQH70LKYqb1AloZyEbYifg&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) - Not a big fan of airy pastries, this was probably my least favorite dish. It wasn't very sweet which lends one to feel less guilty in eating this. Service was satisfactory as empty dim sum trays and plates were removed and our teapot refilled when requested. I like the now popular cook-to-order dim sum sheets and pencils in placing your order. You can add on throughout the meal by waving down a waiter. I learned that our host selected this restaurant because it's in walking distance from his office but mainly, after being the hottest day this month yesterday, they have air conditioning. The restaurant was only about half full so there's no line like most dim sum places surrounding it. The funniest thing about this lunch was our seating. I texted our host whether he had reservations but he didn't reply. Walking in five minutes before our meeting time, I asked the host for a table for three and was shown to a table to the right near the kitchen entrance. After ordering our tea type, I began to sit on my chair when I saw our gracious host three tables over in the center of the restaurant. As I gathered my things and moved, the third guest waved and laughed while walking over from his far corner table. Three tables in three different sections. I immediately walked towards the kitchen and told my waiter to cancel my tea order. Would have been an interesting meal if the three of us stayed at our respective tables. Will be back and hope to try their dinner menu on a future visit. For dim sum though, it's hard not to enjoy piping hot food. read more

Food at dinner. Poor. Do not go at dinner time. 不要在這家用晚餐！ 菜很差！ Peking Duck: The skin was thick, the meat was dry, the buns were flat (steamed bread buns). The dish is graded F. It is absolutely the worst Peking Duck I have ever had. The only positive is it came with finely sliced green onion. Roast Pork (燒腩肉): hard meat, hard not crunchy skin. Also, the worst I have ever had. Graded F, especially fora Cantonese restaurant. Lobster Noodle (龍蝦麵): the dish was not very tasty. The lobster was OK. Graded D. Tofu/fish Clay Pot: OK. Graded C. Watercress stir-fried with garlic.: Graded B. The dishes came slowly. When asked, the servers answered that the kitchen was overwhelmed. The dinner took 2+hours. Service was also overwhelmed. Not worth the minimum tip of 18%. Very noisy, even by Chinese restaurant standard. Had to literally shout to a guest 4 feet away. Also the tables are so close that you cannot walk between tables. Came here to try out dinner for possible larger event. No chance. read more

The Kitchen - Menu price is $16.00. - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

Came here a few weekends ago for dim sum with the elders. It was SOLID. Why haven't we been in so long? My grandpa owned a Chinese restaurant (which served dim sum) and my brother in law is a Hong along trained chef. So.... We are picky about our Cantonese food! But The Kitchen didn't fail! It is as authentic as can be. Prices are Reasonable, and some dishes are actually larger than expected. I should have written this sooner but 3 dishes were pleasantly generously portioned. One of them was the steamed rice roll over Chinese donut. My kids can't get enough of this. We ordered two because we love it so. There was so much leftover that even I had several servings (I try to avoid the fried dishes). Without itemizing every dish we had, left me just say this place is Legit. If the HK chef in the family says let's go, we go! Also.... They aren't rude like the other dim sum place in the road. Won't mention any names but I am writing that review next! Can't wait to come back soon read more

Great and delicious Chinese food! Typical Chinese service, but the food makes up for it. There's a lot of good authentic options for dinner, and the restaurant is huge and has a lot of seating. read more

Brought my dad here for his birthday on a Thursday for dinner and was so surprised by the ornate and bright ambiance. It doesn't look much from outside but it's pretty nice and clean. The staff was pretty attentive which isn't always the case with Asian restaurants. We ordered Chow Mein, Squab, Japanese tofu and shrimp, sweet and sour lotus root, giant clam and asparagus which was plenty for 4 ppl. And there's free dessert at the end! Nice. Quality: 5/5 stars Service: 5/5 stars Value: 4/5 stars read more

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If you want authentic flavour, this is the place! I tried dimsum but it was not my cup of tea. Else, all dinner dishes are fabulous! read more

We have been eating here for so many times and leaving satisfied every time. The tastes are always about right. The service is good. Prices are reasonable. Two thumbs up. read more

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Where has this place been all my life. I'm giving 5 stars for the Peking Spare Ribs alone. This place was bustling on a Monday night & had parties waiting for tables. The atmosphere is very loud & dishes aren't super clean but the food is so good. Just to name a few I've also ordered: Tofu clay pot with chopped fish & roast pork: the flavoring was good, roast pork was a little overcooked Tossed chicken with pork belly: if you like wasabi this is for you. Also the portion is very big. Simmered clams with turnip with broth: the clams were surprisingly juicy, but the broth had waaay too much white pepper. They even added jalapeños to make it extra spicy. I kept eating even though I was full. Then they top it off with taro dessert which was really good too. read more

My all time favorite restaurant to eat at whenever I'm craving chinese food. They never disappoint here and the service is quick,friendly, and attentive here. I came here many times in the past and I still dine in or order take out whenever I'm craving this place. Would definitely recommend to anyone that has never tried this restaurant. read more

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It has been a long time since I dined here. Came in on Sunday morning when they opened to avoid waiting in line. For dim sum the menu is limited with only a certain variety of dishes. Food: Steamed Shrimp Dumpling Scallop Dumpling Steamed Chicken Feet w/Black Bean Sauce Steamed Beef Ball with Dried Citrus Peel Steamed dishes were cooked just right with good flavor Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll Baked BBQ Pork Bun: Cantonese style pork filling Satay Beef Tendon Sesame Ball: came out warm with red bean filling Pan Fried Oriental White Fish with Maggie Sauce: Deep fried small fish with Maggi sauce, tasty Hong Kong Street Style Stir-fry Vermicelli Noodle Overall the food was decent, having experienced better at other dim sum restaurants Service: Wait staff are friendly and attentive. Ambiance: Casual vibe Parking: Free parking in shared private lot and surrounding streets. read more

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This is a decent place for dim sum and dinner. The inside is big enough to host events as well. We were here for dinner. It was crowded; thus, it took a while for us to place an order and for them to realize our teapot needs refill. Overall, the food was good. We will come back. read more

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Fantastic and authentic chinese food. came here several times with my family and it's sort of our go-to now. Definitely come early as the tables fill up fast. Authentic canto food and good portions and quality. We like the soups, squab, and even the desserts are good. The fish/meat dishes are great and the service is really good. Just now it gets busy during peak hours so try to make it out early! Parking can also be tough, but okay if you don't mind walking a few short blocks. Ambiance can be a bit loud, but you can sit comfortably. There are a few TV with the volume muted. Overall yummy, I recommend it and our family will try to come out again! read more

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Had Sunday brunch with the family here. We ordered all the dim sum usuals. Super fast service considering how busy this place was. They're not doing cart style right now and it could be because of COVID19 protocols, or maybe it is more efficient for the enterprise. The shrimp dumplings and rice porridge were pretty good. Everything else was standard -- not the best but also not the worst. If you're feeling hungry, I would suggest ordering a noodle or rice plate for your party to share. It's a loud social environment so pick another spot if you're looking to have an intimate conversation. read more

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Worst Chinese restaurant. Waiter asking for more tips when I received no service at all. Will never come back again

This is my go-to restaurant for Chinese family-style dinners! It was busy when we arrived but a table opened up, and the waiters seated us quickly. The menu had so many options and the waiter was helpful with recommendations. They're known for their seafood but we weren't feeling seafood this time around. The dishes we ordered were delicious. My fave was the combination cold cut appetizer- three different meats (the skin on the pork was super crunchy!), jellyfish and seaweed salad. After dinner, the sweet soup they served for dessert was a nice addition. Overall, will continue coming back for family-style dinners even if I'm not in the area. Also the lady at the front was really nice! read more

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Pork buns were very good. Chicken feet little tougher. Rice noodles were little thick. Turnip was good. This place is a little cheaper compared to other dim sum restaurants. We got there when they opened. It filled up fast within minutes. Go early if you planned to go in the weekend because you might needed to wait hour for your table. read more

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Reading the mixed reviews about the kitchen and i'm was pleased with the flavors of all our dishes (not all items attached in picture. The protein dishes we ordered were packed w a lot of meat and big portions. Alongside those, the veggies that added to accommodate the dishes paired very well. The restaurant was packed so going at 5:30 was good, the server was really nice but was slow to understand what we wanted to order. Besides that, will be coming back to try other dishes! read more

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Service ok, some of the food were very seasoned and or salty. Tables maybe crowded for them to be pushing carts around.

Do Not go here if you're not Chinese. We went here and we were sitting there for almost 20mins and all the server just keep passing us by and ignoring us, like we were invisible. We also noticed that we were the only ones who are not chinese, everyone are being served except us. We got up and walked out. We tried to speak with the hostess but she just keep saying ok, ok. WTF!!!! We are Giving this place ....i'm giving this place 0 star read more

Went here for Sunday brunch dimsum. Kinda felt like I was transported back to Hk. Pretty legit dimsum. The dumplings in the rice paper wrapping like hakao and shrimp vegetable dumpling weren't the best since the wrapper was waaay too doughy and thick. The others were decent though. Pretty standard good dimsum. Not the best, but not bad. So if you're in the area and want some legit decent dimsum, worth checking out. Don't go outta your way though. read more

The Kitchen - Spareribs, hakao, siew mai - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

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So many people and so many dishes to try! Came here for family night dinner and the parents picked the dishes so my only mission was to eat, and I ate a lot! The must get is the fried rice and the sweet sour pork with pineapples, finger licking good. Parking was horrible tho, plan to walk a block because all the older folks will be covering the public parking lot next door. read more

We found it so rude and disrespectful when the waiter at the Kitchen restaurant in Millbrae came to our table to tell us that the tips we left was a few dollars shy of 15%. It has to be 15% or more. We modified the tips to be 15% and left. He came by to pick up the revised check and laughed. The rest of the waiters cheered him on. This is disgusting. We'll never return. I hope the owner sees this comment and know what they were doing, unless the owner too is part of it. read more

Wow. Everyone knows the Kitchen is where to get good Cantonese food. Make sure you book a reservation because it is always full. Side note: dinner dishes got smaller. But here are our favorites. Peking Duck, Salty Egg Yolk Crab, Black pork stew, Beef with Tofu, etc. read more

i'm here to do my due diligence to even out the reviews for Chinese restaurants. This place is always packed, even on weekends. I haven't read the bad reviews and don't know what the others are complaining about but this place is delicious! i've been here about 5 times now and each time is more memorable than the last. One of the most memorable dishes was the duck with black truffle. Who knew the combination of black truffle and chinese 5 spice roasted duck would be so good. Do order. The frog dish was also tasty. Not very many places do frog, but they should. The texture reminds me of chicken and scallop mixed. Sometimes the food does take a while but what do you expect from a full house. read more

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Ambiance great Food not as good as before. Service was lousy. I can understand it's busy as always, but nah... not this time 3 star is all it read more

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Servers asking for more tips and I think is pretty rude to do so. Their script is "I believe there is a math error. You tip under 10%". If you ever encounter this, don't be intimidated and believe in your calculations. read more

The Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

This dim sum place was packed on a Sunday morning which proves my rule - get there by 10:30am on a Sunday morning if you want a table at any dim sum or more correctly called 飲茶 drinking tea place even if the place is only okay (3 stars). We got the last table at 10:33. 2 of the 4 things we got was good and the other 2 was so so mostly because they had been sitting out a while before being served. If they had timed it better, they would have been great. Like most Cantonese food. Most dim sum has about a 10 minute window within which it's great, and they it falls off rapidly. read more

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Authentic dim sum experience, let down only by the taste of the food. Real life carts being pushed around, and if you look between the slats in the carts, you will see flames from what must be Sterno's keeping the dim sum hot and fresh. Very popular with throngs of customers in the small lobby eagerly looking forward to a table opening for them. Taste is fair. Sui mai (pork balls) lacked seasoning. Same with tofu wrapped mushrooms and minced pork--they lacked seasoning and were overly steamed, so much so that they fell apart. Chicken feet were the highlight--succulent and large, actually the largest I have ever enjoyed. Tea is $2 per person. read more

TLDR: Still great food! This is one of the old-fashioned traditional Chinese restaurants, both in terms of food AND service. So let's get it out of the way, YES service is bad. The REAL big HK-style restaurants are NOTORIOUS for inattentive waiters, brusque attitudes, and LOUD atmosphere. But there are tricks you can do to get what you want... And I'll share them with you, RIGHT after these messages... Hah! Anyway, I read some of the previous reviews, and one reviewer was confused by how tea works. You only ever get the one tea bag. When you ask for refill, they take the teapot back and then just refill it with hot water. So yes, you can do it yourself with your own hot water! Trick #1, BEST way to grab a waiter's attention without constantly waving your arms and being annoying is, to flip the teapot lid open. Waiters are trained to spot those and immediately come to grab them. Use that chance to also order whatever else you need! I came here for dinner, and pretty much everything was delicious. I loved the peking spareribs, although I would have preferred them to be boneless. Having to grab what looks like a BIG piece, only for it to be 50% bone is a bit disappointing. But I really like their sauce, not too sweet, a bit tangy, a bit caramel-y. Altogether delicious. The squab had a crunchy skin and surprisingly tender meat. Now Trick #2. If the restaurant is SUPER crowded (like this one always is), get a pen and preferrably paper, but if no paper, a napkin is suitable. Write down your own bill of what you want to eat. Then flag down a passing waiter, and give him the paper. Yeah sounds like you are doing their work for them, but really... it's like 3 waiters in a room of about 40 tables. You want to get in and out before the next full moon, right?? They gave us a free dessert, maybe because we were a big table. YMMV. I don't really like Chinese desserts, especially the red bean variety, but everyone else said it was good. And yes I am an ABC, but my wife is from HK. So believe her when she says this is one of the better Chinese seafood restaurants in the Bay Area! Trick #3: This sometimes works. You don't need to reserve like a week in advance, but obviously it helps. But if you do decide to make a spur of the moment decision and go, at least call an hour in advance and make a reservation. They will squeeze you in before the walk-ins. Especially if you have a larger party (6+). That's all! Hopefully these will help you get in and out faster at a crazy busy HK Chinese Restaurant! read more