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    Yin Ji Chang Fen - Berkeley

    3.9 (351 reviews)
    ModerateCantonese, Dim Sum
    Open 10:30 am - 8:30 pm

    Order Yin Ji Chang Fen - Berkeley Takeout or Delivery

    Yin Ji Chang Fen - Berkeley Photos

    YIN JI CHANG FEN - BERKELEY ATMOSPHERE

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

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    Fish congee and Chinese donut
    Michelle N.

    For someone that has chang fen in their restaurant name I was pretty disappointed with the rice rolls. The rice paper was nice and thin, but the texture was too gummy and the filling was just okay. Our favorite was the fish congee and I would definitely come back for this especially if I was sick and wanted something comforting. The chinese doughnut was freshly fried and crispy but a bit too dense. The wonton noodle soup was good, but nothing special.

    Steamed BBQ Pork Buns
    Alyssa D.

    We ordered take out and everything was packed nicely. The Rice Noodle Rolls - delicious. The thin noodles, fillings throughout, and the sauce was great too. Ate the whole thing so fast that didn't even take a picture. The Steamed BBQ Pork Buns, however, were probably the worst bbq pork buns that I've ever had. It had a plastic-y taste to it and just was not pleasant. So, definitely would recommend the Chang fun/rice noodle rolls!

    View of dining area from rear
    Victor G.

    Yin Ji Chang Fen opened where Tasty Express was. Cramped seating area. Back room not utilized. Food pics on walls. Vocal music in background. Seated quickly. Ordered. Food ready in 15ish min. Offerings (Guangdong/Hong Kong, PRC): snacks, rice noodle rolls, congee(porridge), dim sum, drinks, noodle soups, desserts).. Bites: Liwan style assorted congee (9.25) -Big bowl of thick congee, not the usual watery version. Very flavorful/savory congee from listed ingredients of cha shu, shrimp, fish fillets, scrambled eggs + toppings of cilantro, salted peanuts, black pepper... -expectedly the proteins were bland, having released it's flava into the congee. *amongst best congee recently eaten. Fried you till (3.25) "fried bread sticks" -fresh out of fryer. Nice crunchiness. Portion looks small as it's cut into small pieces, not served as one long piece. *also amongst best recently ate. 4 stars: seating too cramped, not comfortable. Worthiness: YMMV. Quality: congee very good. Quantity: Congee very good. Other plates looked small no doubt since tables small. May is Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

    Beef Stew Flat Noodle Soup
    Mimi W.

    Came across to stop by for some classic Chinese food. Service was super quick and friendly! Inside was pretty roomy and clean too! Parking might be a bit hard during the weekends but it was manageable. We ordered a few dishes to share! 3 rice rolls: BBQ pork rice noodle rolls Pork kidney rice noodle rolls Dough stick rice noodle rolls Their rice noodle rolls texture were handmade pretty well. Congee: LiWan Style Assorted Congee Toppings and ingredients were just enough and not water down, so it was perfect! Noodle: Beef Stew Flat Noodle Soup Soup base was alright and portion is not bad. Snack: Chicken Feet Herbs Could try if you like herbal flavor and flavor not too overwhelming! Everything above was tasty! Will definitely come back again!

    Alice H.

    I caught the flu and had no energy to cook, with little appetite. I found this place had congees. I ordered the sliced pork, liver, and kidney congee, and it tasted really good. Even though I know they are known for their chang fen, the congee was delicious and comforting. It really helped me feel better. A great comfort food for recovery.

    Outside
    Harry W.

    A great place for Chang Fen = Chinese Rice Crepe Rolls with a variety of different fillings, along with Cantonese breakfast staples like Rice Porridge, soup noodles with shrimp and/or BBQ Pork and so forth. Perfect for a quick sit-down breakfast or lunch or late afternoon or evening snack/meal. Efficient attentive courteous service as the dining area is watched over by two friendly waitstaff at your beck and call. Tight seating area, with mostly 2-person and 4-person tables, but it's clean and bright with bottles of Sriracha and white pepper at every table as condiments. I've been to the Yin Ji Chang Fen out in Pleasanton, so it was a pleasant surprise lol to find YJCF right here on Shattuck just a few doors down from the main BART station rotunda at the corner of Shattuck Ave. & Center Street in the heart of Downtown Berkeley. The food here is good, right on par with the better Chinese Cafes and restaurants. My order today was the Fish Porridge. For just $8.50 , it's quite enough for 3-4 people to share, or two hungry people.. It took maybe 8-10 minutes for the kitchen to prepare, but it was worth the wait, as there was a good amount of sliced fish filet in there, topped with slices of ginger and cilantro. It came steaming hot, so I had to take my time to consume it. In the end, I had enough for leftovers! Next time, I will try the Chang Fen (Chinese Rice Crepe Rolls), which are usually pretty good at their other location in Pleasanton, but today, I really felt more like porridge, given the cold foggy weather. Berkeley has plenty of places to suit nearly every palette, so it's nice to see YJCF fill a very unique and much needed niche right here Downtown.. Getting Here: BART Downtown Berkeley Station - exit from the main entrance at Shattuck & Center Sts. Lots of AC Transit local bus lines converge by the BART station. Street parking can be challenging, but there is a huge city-run parking garage on Center St. between Shattuck and Milvia Streets. Some dedicated bike paths too.

    We ordered 4 wonton noodle soups on DoorDash and ALL OF THEM HAVE BUGS. We didn't realize until we ate half! Absolutely disgusting. We are also all experiencing food poisoning, all tracking back to this place because it was the only thing in our system until late at night.

    Cockroach in rice roll
    Vivie F.

    I saw a cockroach inside my rice roll when I was 70% done with my food. I've ordered the rice roll, a congee and a coffee milk tea. I was super hungry and i downed the congee while I was on the phone. I wasn't sure if there were any creatures in it. Feeling so grossed out after all.

    Dough Stick Rice Noodle Roll
    Fiona W.

    When I'm craving rice rolls, I find myself here. My friends and I ordered the dough stick rice noodle roll, BBQ pork rice noodle roll, and pork & gold preserved egg congee. Everything was very yummy. Good portions of rice noodle roll and fillings. Food was ready fast. Personally, I like this location set up more than the previous one across from BAMPFA. Overall, very healing and soothing to the soul. (lol sorry my photos don't do the food justice at all)

    Marinated Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll
    Alex C.

    We were walking down Center St when we passed by YinJi ChangFen's old location and noticed they had closed down. We were a bit disappointed as we were looking for a place to stop in for lunch, and realized this would hit the spot. Thankfully, the disappointment was short lived when my wife realized that they simply moved down the street to Shattuck after a quick Yelp search. They have a pretty large selection of rice noodles to choose from, a much smaller selection of congee, as well as a fair amount of noodle soups and dim sum dishes to choose from. For our lunch, we went with a bit more than 2 people really needed (eyes bigger than stomach problem) and ordered: Marinated Shrimp and Rice Noodle Rolls: They put lettuce into these rolls, which is definitely something we're not use to seeing in rice noodle rolls. But overall, we still enjoyed this dish. Fish Congee: The congee here is ok, but overall lacked the full-bodied, almost creamy consistency that embodies the difference between average and great congee. They don't give a lot of fish in here, so it was an overall pretty plain bowl. Wonton Noodle Soup: An enjoyable, albeit smaller bowl of noodle soup. There is a decent amount of greens, but only about 4 wontons and minimal noodles in the soup. Black Gold Egg Custard Bun: This was definitely the right choice as our dessert option to end our meal. Filled with rich, hot and gooey egg custard, this sweet bun was an excellent end to our meal. Be careful eating it, as the egg yolk inside comes very hot and definitely leaks out if you're not paying attention. Service here was efficient, if not exactly warm. They get the food out fast, and turnaround tables pretty quickly when a group finishes up. This newer spot is smaller than their old location, but still has plenty of seating available for groups of 2-4 people. Seems to be a popular location for UCB students.

    Shui Mai / Steam Pork Dumplings
    Maggie C.

    A little confused when walking into this spot because it seemed like you order at the counter, but it's actually table service. The food was overall fine. Portions are a little small for the price. The shrimp rice noodle rolls only had a few pieces of shrimp. Shu Mai was pretty small, but tasted good.

    Steamed BBQ Pork Buns
    Roy A.

    Small brightly lit and clean ambiance with efficient and helpful service. The highlight was the marinated shrimp rice noodle roll which was succulent and delicious. Unfortunately, the dim sum not so much. I found the pork bun to be bland and the dough fell apart. The shui mai and shrimp dumplings were not impressive either.

    Haw Gow/Shrimp Dumplings and siu Shui Mai / Steam Pork Dumplings
    Connie C.

    I've come here twice: once I stopped by to get some food to-go for the family and once for dine-in. Found street parking easily on Sunday morning right around opening time. Online hours say opening time is at 10:30 and I entered right around that time (maybe 10:35) but there were already a few parties sitting down and enjoying the food! There is a good amount of seating inside and some outdoor seating as well. Rice rolls, shiu mai and ha gao on point, no complaints. The second time I came by to eat inside. We ordered a pork and century egg congee (this tasted fresh, clean, light) with a order of the fried dough stick on the side (also much lighter than I expected/than I'm used to). We ordered two rice noodles: the bbq pork and the beef. We both preferred the bbq pork more but still liked the beef.

    Haw gow/shrimp dumplings (top), egg custard buns (bottom)

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    5 years ago

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    5 years ago

    The quality of the food has gone downhill. The fried Chinese donut is very bread-like. The congee is watery and flavorless.

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    Sunny C.

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    5 years ago

    Yummy dim sum, albeit a bit expensive. Ordered the shrimp rice roll, siu mai, har gaw. Very good! I love the shrimp rice roll

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    5 years ago

    Service was great. Friendly, welcoming, and delicious. Food came quickly and very good quality.

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    5 years ago

    It's great food and great service. We went in close to the closing time and they were super patient with us :)

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    6 years ago

    Berkeley finally has a canto breakfast spot!!! I ordered the pork congee with dough stick. The congee was sooo silky smooth. Perfect!

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

    I love Chang Fen very much, it's traditional tasty likes my country style. The porridge also very good.

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    5 years ago

    The owner takes action to bring back the original taste, now it all good willing to come back as regular customer now

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    Sunny C.

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    4 years ago

    great quality authentic dumplings. the milk tea was perfect as well, very well done. our server was very helpful and cheerful!

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    Yin Ji Chang Fen - Berkeley Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Yin Ji Chang Fen - Berkeley

    Is gluten free possible?

    To be safe from gluten allergies, we only have two options are gluten free.

    Was wondering what your vegan options are?

    We have one choice for congee and 4 option of rice roll for vegan. You can even make up your own decision for what kind of vegan you want. Spring roll, fried bun and dough stick is also vegan.

    Is the dim sum served all day?

    Yes it is all day menu.

    Do you have outdoor dining?

    Currently we do not have outdoor seating available until city further notification.

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    Ming's Tasty Restaurant

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    Yin Ji Chang Fen - Berkeley - cantonese - Updated July 2026

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