Dim Sum in SFO?/Good Burbank Restaurant?

[Foodie-Girl]

These are far-flung but all part of the same big trip. Need a great Dim Sum restaurant while we're in SFO..and, back to my hometown Burbank...has anything new and tasty come along in the past few years? I grew up eating at The Smoke House...that's all I know...LOL .

Thanks

[Hest88]

Koi Palace in Daly City. You can go from or on your way back to the airport.

[SWoodyWhite]

Burbank is still Burbank, and the Smoke House is still the Smoke House. I was surprised by a visit my partner and I paid the place a little over a year ago; they're still serving the same Continental stuff they were serving when I was a lad, and doing a good job of it. And yes, they're still serving that classic garlic-cheese bread, in it's day-glo orange glory. Some things should never change. (The Tam O'Shanter is still pretty much the same as it was, as well, but technically that's in Glendale.)

Everything else in Burbank these days is chain food. Other than the Original Bob's Big Boy, which has to be done at the real original place on Riverside Drive if it's to be done at all (preferably with a Ceralbus at hand if you graduated from Burbank High, or whatever the yearbook was called if from Burroughs), there is little else that Burbank has to offer in the way of good eating.

Edited September 15, 2003 by SWoodyWhite (log)

[marie-louise]

Koi Palace in Daly City. You can go from or on your way back to the airport.

There is a lot of discussion on Bay Area dim sum on this thread, including a link to Koi Palace's website.

I still have not made it out there. I tried and tried to call one Wednesday to make reservations for lunch, but their line was busy. I am going to keep trying, though!

[Hest88]

I still have not made it out there. I tried and tried to call one Wednesday to make reservations for lunch, but their line was busy.

You know, my family and I have never made reservations at any Chinese restaurant unless it's for a large party on a special occasion.

[Foodie-Girl]

Woody..thanks for the Burbank update. Well, I cut my teeth on Smokehouse Garlic Bread...AND recently found a recipe online that comes VERY close to duplicating it! Not quite the same as sitting in one of their red naugahyde booths..but darn close.

Yes, and I 'cruised' Bob's Big Boy when in High School (Burroughs!!)

Well, I think all things considered we'll make a return visit to The SmokeHouse....Thanks!!!

[homechef]

Dim Sum in San Francisco - there are the acknowledged biggies -

Koi Palace is probably the pinnacle of dim sum here, if you can stand the wait and it gets to you hot.

Hong Kong Flower Lounge (Few branches, all on the peninsula, one very near the airport, one in Palo Alto).

Yank Sing (Few branches in the city)

Harbor Village (Embarcadero)

ABC (Milpitas, but there's also one on the peninsula)

Mayflower (Milpitas, Great Mall)

Joy Luck Place (Cupertino)

They all have their specialties, (which vary even among branches of the same restaurant) and please different palates. Even if you don't see something you like, you can always ask... Joy Luck makes a mean Tong Yuen, but they never put it out on carts, for example.

[Foodie-Girl]

Thanks for all the good info., homechef...but I have a bit of a time crunch and need it to be somewhere relatively close to Union Square. I can take a cab....and I can arrive early..but it needs to be right there in the city.

So...given that infor...what say you??

Thanks!!!!

[Gary Soup]

Dim Sum in San Francisco  - there are the acknowledged biggies -

Koi Palace is probably the pinnacle of dim sum here, if you can stand the wait and it gets to you hot.

Hong Kong Flower Lounge (Few branches, all on the peninsula, one very near the airport, one in Palo Alto).

Yank Sing (Few branches in the city)

Harbor Village (Embarcadero)

ABC (Milpitas, but there's also one on the peninsula)

Mayflower (Milpitas, Great Mall)

Joy Luck Place (Cupertino)

Mayflower is also in San Francisco (Geary & 27th).

ABC is iffy, though reports seem to indicate that it has improved of late.

If you MUST go to Yank Sing, go to the Rincon Center location. That stunning venue may make it seem almost worth the price.

Y. Ben House in Chinatown is the equal of any of the others in seafood-based dim sum items, at a much lower price. The seafood chow fun there, in my experience, is one of the most heavenly dishes in Chinatown. But be advised, it's a big, noisy, funky place, with a wait for a table even on weekdays.

[Foodie-Girl]

The dim sum field is narrowing. Hey, Gary Soup...between Mayflower and Yang Sing (sorry my choice is coming down to location) which would you recommend?

[Hest88]

Not Gary, but if you're looking for fusion-y dim sum, go to Yank Sing. If you want more authentic dim sum, go to Mayflower.

[Gary Soup]

The dim sum field is narrowing.  Hey, Gary Soup...between Mayflower and Yang Sing (sorry my choice is coming down to location) which would you recommend?

I agree with Hest88. The food at Yank Sing, whatever its attraction (you could call it Dim Sum Lite) is not the true dim sum experience. I have to add, though, I don't think I've ever been to Mayflower for dim sum, only dinners and banquets (which were wholeheartedly traditional Cantonese and always very good).

[MsRamsey]

How is Ton Kiang on Geary? I'm meeting a friend there in a couple of weeks. It's her favorite.

[jschyun]

Ton Kiang is good, but I think Koi Palace is better for ambiance and presentation. Food quality is excellent at both places but Koi Palace seems to me to have much more variety in dim sum. It's a very nice restaurant. We went yesterday and were offered birds nest custard tarts, shanghai dumplings, an unusual shrimp dumpling, like har gau but shaped like a beggars purse and containing scallops as well. Maybe it's common here, but haven't seen that one. I would even venture to say that Koi Palace is better than Sun Sui Wah, in Vancouver, in terms of variety and presentation. However, I felt the fragrance and taste of the jasmine tea was superior at Sun Sui Wah.

I like Ton Kiang's seafood better by a hair,but I like everything else better at Koi Palace.

If you go to Koi Palace, know that they have a weird reservation system. You call ahead to put your name in the reservation queue and then when you get there you take a number and wait for 20 minutes or so. This is in contrast to waiting over an hour if you don't call ahead!

[jschyun]

If Y. Ben House is in Chinatown, wouldn't that make it closest to Union Square? I think you might even be able to walk it.

[Jason Perlow]

Here's some photos I took recently of the Dim Sum at Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae:

Har Gow (with shrimp meat inside, not shrimp paste)

Dou Miu (Pea Shoot) dumplings with dried shredded scallops (Very Good)