The restaurant said it's a Hong Kong style restaurant. I have been to Hong Kong many times and I still don't know what they mean by Hong Kong style? To me, its Cantonese style cooking with an America and Italy style thrown in. (Also, minus the heavy oil and heavy soy sauce flavor.) My favorite dish is their Chinese beef stew with beef tendon and with Chinese green over rice. My girlfriend said they know how to cook the beef tendon so that it is almost like jelly and yet firm. Most restaurant doesn't cook the beef tendon long enough. (She should know, she 90 years old and has been around the block a few times, let alone a few continents.) Mama Chow usually order the baked cod fish with a creamy white sauce over spaghetti. I generally go for the Chinese beef stew over rice. Sometimes I will try their baked pork chops with a tomato sauce. Which is very good. Their food is A-Okay, and the price for the two dishes, came to be about twenty dollar. Peoples talk about the service. You have to understand, this is a very small restaurant and very busy, so be patience. If you are coming with a senior, have them dress warmly because this place is "COLD" or better yet, give them two shots of brandy before they head down to the restaurant and they will be fine and they'll probably enjoy their food better. The food sometimes is a little bland for my taste but that's were the soy sauce and black peppers comes in. This is the place for you, if you are too tired to cook or don't know how to cook. You can't beat the price and the food. PS. And the two owners are very nice people too. read more

We came in at 11:30am. We waited total 1 hour for our food. But all they did was taking care all the to-go order. Everyone thats dine in are all pissed off. Never coming back here again. Bad management read more

Not sure why this place get only 3 Stars, but they have the best pork chop with spaghetti!! A little tip I'm going to give you is always ask for extra tomato sauce. Also their corn chowder is really good with dinner rolls. Only bad thing about this place is they only accept cash and the parking sucks. read more

Grew up in La going to HK cafes in the San Gabriel Valley and this place measures up for Bay Area standards. Get the baked pork chop rice with tomato sauce and baked chicken with Portuguese sauce. FYI it's CASH ONLY!! I was 25 cents short and the nice lady at the register forgave me. :) read more

Best hk cafe in the bay area. Their milk tea is legit. I personally loved the beef stew curry or wonton soup with beef stew. Hey people this is not a 3 star Michelin restaurant. Price is considerably cheap with decent size. My go to hk cafe. read more

Food is mostly above average, including the traditional HK cafe style snacks. Lemon ice tea and ice coffee milk tea are top notch.

The place to go in Millbrae when craving some HK comfort food and need it right away! FOOD (3.5 stars): ------------------------ The Special #1 is tasty! Funsi noodles, pork, chi qua (melon), and mushrooms are a great mix. My friend wasn't sure I would like this dish as she thought it might be too authentic for me with the melon. Little did she know I was RAISED on chi qua! The dish was delicious and really hit the spot. 4 stars. However the Chicken Curry Rice was lacking. It was reminiscent of Thai yellow curry, but missing that extra kick. Much blander than I expected. 3 stars. SERVICE / AMBIANCE (3 stars): ------------------------------------------- Not much to see here. It's your typical cafe -- a small room with large windows that provide lots of light and very minimal decor. Service was okay, but nothing spectacular. I typically don't expect above and beyond service from HK style cafes to begin with. Is that a bad thing? CONVENIENCE FACTOR (2 stars): ----------------------------------------------- Hardly convenient at all, being a cash-only establishment with super limited parking. If my friend didn't have a handicapped placard we would have never been able to go in! However ample seating and a relatively quick rate of food preparation deserve an extra star. DATE TIP: Your socks probably won't be knocked off, but this is a great spot for comfort food. If your date is in a bad mood, this may be the right place for you! read more

Cafe Orchid - Curry chicken with rice - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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Hating Chinese food creates an awkward problem when your boyfriend is Chinese. The flavors and greasiness just never appealed to me. General relationship advice says you shouldn't try to change a person, but a visit to Cafe Orchid helped change my mind! The Baked Chicken Chop is the dish that got me hooked. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the tomato sauce was savory, though I wish they would be more generous with it. If you enjoy coconut curry, try the Portuguese sauce, as well. I'd also recommend the Baked Crispy Pork Loin, a special item posted on their wall but not in the menu. Unlike other baked dishes, the meat is breaded and fried in addition to being baked. Be prepared to wait at least 15 minutes for all baked entrees, but the result is deliciously worthwhile. If you appreciate strong tea flavors, you'll enjoy Cafe Orchid's authentic Hong Kong-style milk tea. The tea is freshly brewed, and you might even see tiny bits of tea leaves in your cup as proof of this. Just enough condensed milk is added to lightly sweeten the milk tea without overpowering the tea flavor - the way a good milk tea should be. Now Chinese food is another one of our many shared interests! read more

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Ordered the Prawn Egg noodle, fried chicken wings and mongolian beef on rice The fried chicken tastes bland. Would not recommend Prawn Egg noodle and the mongolian beef on rice were abovr average. Fast Service, Average food, cheap. Prob wouldnt come back though. read more

When dealing with the attitudes towards food for older generation Hong Kongers and similar A$N types,it's all about the CFG where the initials stand for Cheap Fast Good Throw all that in the pot, plus a restaurant's spanking new factor, in this case the latest eatery in Millbrae for Cafe Orchid, and you've got the makings of a packed to the gills place on a weekend, with tons of eager beavers waiting in line to see what the fuss is all about. Unfortunately the predatory gastrosexual excitement, much like its human and animal physical sexual counterpart, is more about the thrill of the hunt than it is about the consumption (or consummation) process. Bottom line the "G" spot was missed or wasn't quite tapped right. Again, G being "good". Cafe Orchid replaces Dumpling Dumpling which lasted all of about 6 months before going the way of the brontosaurus (then again, not a surprise, considering they were owned by the folks of Shanghai Dump(ling shop) which I detesteth muchos). Regardless of whether this place is or assumingly is run by the folks who own VIP in Chinatown, the quality here based on the dishes sampled, weren't quite up to par compared with the run of the mill HK cafe's in SF city. Iced Hong Kong milk tea - served in a tall glass which was a plus. Sadly the tea and evaporated milk mix was strangely sour, lacking in tea color and fragrance. Won tons in soup - good thing I skipped the noodles. The broth was a strange murky bone soup like mix, instead of the traditional golden brown light broth of dried tilefish, shrimp, pork. The won tons themselves....good size and cured hunger pains, that's all I can say about it (overly chewy pork and shrimp). This is where the nearby competition Broadway Bistro and especially Cafe Salina, do a way better job with these dumplings and the base broth. Baked macaroni with meatsauce - ok I shared this order with a little kid, who enjoyed some of it. They apparently added a strange flavoring agent or spice I could not figure out, that made it taste weird, but not to the point of replusion. Baked dishes take a while to arrive, and most of the time you'd hope that the wait is worth it. The menu variety is pretty wide otherwise, with funky appetizers like curry pizza (?), fries, and HK style French Toast (where it is deep fried and not pan fried), macaroni in soup, baked pasta or rice with choice of toppings and several different base sauces at your whim (black pepper, meatsauce, mushroom/seafood/cream type sauce etc), plus Cantonese stir fry noodles/rice type plates. By the cashier there are a bunch of HK style pineapple buns encased, which theoretically would make a decent snack or pairing once heated up and accompanied with a slice of butter. Back issues of celeb gossip juice rag mags from Hong Kong are available for your browsing while you dine or wait. Perhaps CO needs more time to ramp up, as they are new. And thus when it comes to spanking new Hong Kong/Cantonese/Chinese establishments, the local A$Ns flock there like maggots to a steak, which is clearly not an indication of popularity or quality, but the cheap factor compared to the competition, is what made it attractive. I hope things pick up for them, but right now, like Shania Twain once wailed....."that don't impress me much". read more

If you're old enough to remember the old VIP Hong Kong Cafe on Broadway St in SF Chinatown, and you miss their Baked Pork Chop Rice dish, then head over to Cafe Orchid in Milbrae. The old owner of VIP has set up shop in Milbrae now for a few years and his special formula of tomato sauce baked over a pork chop and rice is in tact. Many of the other items on the Cafe Orchid menu harken back to the old menu at VIP. If you have no recollection of the old VIP in SF Chinatown are are just looking for a good HK style cafe, give Cafe Orchid a try. read more

Cafe Orchid - An HK favorite, SPAM and eggs over instant noodles. - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

Best Hong Kong cafe style food in the bay area. When I was younger, I went to the location in Chinatown, I was super excited when they opened one in Millbrae. It is the same owner! I have tried many items here throughout the years. Some items I highly recommend are: Fried Chicken Wings with Fries Baked Pork chop Rice OR Spaghetti Baked Beef Tongue Rice or Spaghetti Baked Minced Meat Spaghetti Russian Borscht Soup Baked Curry Beef Brisket Rice Or Spaghetti Baked Portuguese Rice Those are the main items I usually order. For the baked items you can ask for extra sauce. Honestly my go to place for HK cafe food. Knocking one star off due to cleanliness. read more

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only order one take out - Singapore style stir fried noodles. It was just ok, not too much ingredients and tasted average. The shop does not take credit card. The menu is extensive, and price is reasonable. I will go back to try other food. read more

My go-to Hong Kong style cafe! If you don't like this place, you really don't know what is HK style cafe. Baked Pork Chop over rice Ice Milk Tea Ice Lemon Tea Black Pepper Steak Daily Specials Basically whatever chinese food you want, they can make it for you! (Pending ingredients availability) Free Wi-Fi Free parking behind the restaurant What else do you want? read more

My go to spot in the Bay Area for HK style baked pork chop rice. Flavors remind me of the ones I loved as a kid in Macau.

Had 20 min before catching the train home so we jumped in for some road beverages. HK Style milk tea is something Id not had in a while so we got a couple cold ones to go. Fairly solid taste, maybe a bit on the sweeter side. Good caffeine kick and refreshing. Mission accomplished. 3.5 stars read more

Cafe Orchid - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

A welcome addition to the Millbrae neighborhood - definitely stands out on top of other competition nearby (Broadway Bistro and Cafe Selina) The place is a bit cozy (small) and the rear parking lot is small and hard to find where the entrance is. But it was all good because it boils down to good service and food. We tried the Baked Spagetti with Meat Sauce, Hainan Chicken and Baked Pork Chop over rice. Baked Spagetti - Delicious meat sauce with a perfect balance of meat, sauce and cheese mix on top of el-dante spaghetti. Baked Pork Chop - Excellent meat quality, very tender and juicy. The sauce is very rich and smooth and the fried rice below balances out the richness of the sauce. Hainan Chicken - Disappointing. Meat quality is mediocre at best. Chicken meat was dry and texture was dull. The most disappointing part is they can't even get the rice right - without the Hainan flavor and aroma - literally a bowl of plain white rice with a few drops of oil. Milk tea (tried both hot and cold) - both were disappointing. It's diluted and lack of any tea aroma. Basically sugar water plus milk. The owner and staff were very friendly and family oriented. They welcome families with kids and babies and even gave my baby a little toy to play with for free. They were apologetic when the service was slow and tried to do everything they could to make the environment better for us (they have no AC, just huge and noisy fans) Overall, it's not perfect, but it's quite a bit better than the others around the Bay Area. So I'd definitely go there again. I've been there a few times and it seems each time I'm a little bit more impressed. read more

Cafe Orchid - Baked spagetti bolognese - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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Cafe Orchid is not the best place nor worst place... however we're so grateful that this place is so close to our workplace. so let's cut it short and get to business: why cafe orchid? 1. affordable price - most dishes under $10 2. clean dining area 3. foods are standard however there are several on the menu that become my favorite for example pork & preserved vege rice noodle soup... 4. ample parking area behind the restaurant and street parking 5. service can be better 4.25 star average... read more

Cafe Orchid - N-4 - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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HK food FTW One of the better places for HK food in SF Bay Area. The baked pork over rice is HUGE, and quite well made, with 2 giant pieces of pork, warm tomato sauce, and fried rice underneath. The iced lemon tea was also very well done, with the perfect blend of lemon and sweetness, so that neither one overwhelms the other. The inside of the store is also actually much bigger than it looks from the outside, with additional tables deep inside the store. From the menu and looking at the other customers' tables, it looks like there is a large selection of different menu items that are quite popular as well. There is usually a consistent number of customers inside as well, so it looks like I'm not the only one who approves :) read more

I went here with my mom to kill some time before going to the airport. This place is small and right next to a tattoo shop. The menu is alright. I went at like 4pm for snack and it's typical Hong Kong snack food. But the prices are more expensive than other places I have been too. Plus the quality is so-so. No wait, that's too nice. The quality is nasty! There was an ant in my milk tea! I didn't see it until I was almost done. My mom and I ordered the chicken wings and the fried wontons. Everything was so greasy and the french fries, which should be fairly easy, was soggy. Umm...never again. read more

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Cafe Orchid is a cash-only establishment, which irks me a bit. It's also tight on space with slow service. However, it is still my favorite HK style cafe (cha chan tang) around. The food is simply impeccable. When it comes to the execution of authentic Hong Kong flavors, nobody in the Bay Area has it down like Orchid. From the level of crisp on the spam toast sandwich to the richness of Portuguese sauce on baked rice, you'd be surprised by how much joy can be packed into a simple-looking dish. Or try their grill menu and find how what a delicious steak meal $20 can afford you. My personal favorite is the stir fried spaghetti. Yum yum! Cafe Orchid's menu isn't as extensive as Broadway Bistro's and it's for a good reason. read more

Secret parking, extensive menu like ABC or TK cafe in Noriega, bigger portion and not going to rip your wallet off. I like this place! Imo, They may not as tasty as ABC but their cleanliness is as important. Yay! read more

Cafe Orchid - B-12 - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

This place isn't bad! It has a nice "afternoon tea" selection, and is quite affordable (around $4-6 bucks for each item, with milk tea!). The milk tea is probably the best thing here. The baked pork chop is pretty good as well, but mostly for the rice. The pork chop is slathered in a weird coating that is soggy and detracts from the meat. I recently had their fried pork chop noodles, and it was good...except my noodles came in one giant blob that I had to mix for a good 5 minutes before the noodles started to separate. I can't give this place more than 3 stars, because when I came by recently, I had a partial view into the kitchen. Where I saw one of the chefs blowing his nose INTO the trash bin. Like, imagine a guy using one finger to hold one nostril down, and blowing into a huge trash can. Then he dragged out the overflowing trash in the middle of the day. I'm pretty sure there's some hygiene issue there... read more

Not all dishes are good, but ... Baked crispy pork loin rice is excellent--The pork is tender and not fatty;the tomato sauce is spot on; fried rice on bottom. This is hands down the best baked crispy pork loin rice in SF Bay Area. Menu website: https://storage.googleapis.com/qrme-dev.appspot.com/public/YCHlLenRXAQJ3Y7VJq6rZvKXCVu1/8f4ac5ef-a534-4441-ac90-223ab551f3c9/1fe554c3-0416-42aa-b4ea-e319cc049a31/Cafe%20Orchid%20main%20menu-112420%20QR.pdf read more

Had lunch with my dad here once. We parked in the little parking lot behind the cafe, which was convenient. The cafe itself is also small, but luckily we got seated right away, at the last available table. I ordered the Ham Instant Noodle and it tasted very bland, though the portions were ok. Service was also ok. Overall, probably would not come back here. There are plenty of Hong Kong cafes in the Bay. read more

Yeah I think I'm a HK Cafe connoisseur and I know my curry and baked pork chop dishes. I had the curry pork chop rice. The rice was a bit dry and hard. The pork chop was small and there wasn't much potatoes or curry sauce. The sauce actually had good flavor and spicyness was pretty much on the money. My kids had the minced beef with raw egg over rice. Sauce not rich enough. Parking is in the back. Not sure if we will be back soon. The HK cafe spot on broadway behind here is better. And of course VIP in SF chinatown is the BEST. read more

A family owned business which serves traditional hongkong food. Not a fancy place, but cozy. Food is not super delicious but good enough to make me keep going back there. I don't know why, may I am so sticky to the feeling for hongkong food or maybe it is their food which reminds of that feeling. read more

Great food and great value. Service for pickup is fast. Parking available in the back of cafe and very convenience.

Our favorite Hong Kong style cafe in Millbrae Warm & Friendly workersFoods are Yummy. Especially milk tea lover read more

Blander than bland. Hainan chicken rice was served with white rice because chicken broth infused rice wasn't available (@1pm, not opening but they found chicken broth to serve alongside). +1 for disclosure before ordering, but the chicken arrived over boiled and the dipping sauces couldn't save it. All the other dishes we ordered were super bland too - including the beef tendon with rice noodles and "french toast". Not sure how this place is rated 4 stars. Cash only and nothing like a traditional cha chaan teng. If you're on a bland diet, this is the place to go! Even the kid said the Ovaltine tasted like water. read more

Cafe Orchid used to thrive like other restaurants around Millbrae. Recently, I came in with my family to order the OxTail which I was looking forward to eating. But what a huge disappointment! I had 4 small pieces of OxTail , lots of cut up hot dogs?!!! I never remember having hot dogs in this dish ever?! It wasn't even cooked well they were straight from the package cut up as fillers. I asked the waitress who was pretty rude to us that's another issue but she said hot dog is part of the dish for years now. And it comes with 5 pieces of OxTail which I had four. She accommodated by giving 2 more later reluctantly which I didn't ask for. The only thing tasty was their curry. That's all. This place has gone way down . I wouldn't come back here ever again. read more

Cafe Orchid - OxTail. With lots of cut up Cold Hot Dog as "fillers". - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

Finally ate here after a year of COVID restrictions. The food is still amazing at very reasonable prices. Service is a bit slow because they don't have many people but it's worth the wait. Their food is better than most HK cafes. read more

I love a good HK cafe and this definitely fits the bill. Their borscht was the way I always want borscht to taste. Baked Portuguese pork chop rice was solid. Beef won ton noodle had good chew to the noodles and meat wonton. Surprisingly good service for this type of restaurant and some secret parking in the back. I will definitely be back. read more

Pork chop rice/spaghetti was on par. Yuan yang (Hong Kong style coffee milk tea) was pretty good. Will come back for other menu items. The place is small and packed especially on Saturdays. Recommend for to-go orders read more

If you miss the old school broadway cafe baked porkchop over rice or milk tea, search no more. This place is the exact dupe. You don't come for the ambiance. Hands down my favorite HK style cafe. It's as authentic as you can get near SF. Prices are modest and portions maybe smaller than other places, but the food is delicious! read more

Satay beef instant noodle was pretty good. It had tender beef, and instant noodle, and the soup also [not even using that little bag of oil they give] perfect for around 6.95. Also ordered the baked seafood with rice. It came with mushrooms, clams [clams were actually pretty tasty and flavorful] and fish [not overcooked] and cheese. For around 8.95, this was execellent. The hot soy milk I ordered however had no flavor, so I had to add 3 small white bags of cane sugar to it. Cash only as well. Parking is in the back, or you can park in the lot nearby, where the video store used to be read more

The quality of The take out baked pork chop rice has gone done.used to be their signature dish.

I had two choices when I walked through the door of Cafe Orchid..continuing straight to the left would have directed me to the massage parlor next door, but I chose to turn right instead which led me to stick with my original choice and go to Cafe Orchid. I decided to visit on a weekend to try their Hong Kong style breakfast. I was feeling that a congee plus stir fried noodle combo would set me up right for the entire weekend. We ordered the beef congee + stir fried noodles and the grilled pork chop noodle soup. Both orders were placed at the same time and the accompanying tea that came with each order came promptly. The grilled pork chop noodle soup was actually pretty good. The soup left plenty of flavor to be desired but the pork chop itself was actually pretty flavorful. Until now, only half of our orders had arrived. I watched as i saw 3 similar dishes come out from the kitchen and get served to all the tables around me. At this point, I inquired about my order and was told that it was coming. I saw about 3 more similar dishes get served to tables around me who had ordered after me. Again, I was reassured that my dish was coming. The noodle soup was finished and my order was still no where to be found. I continued to see similar congee + stir fried noodle dishes leave the kitchen but reach their final destination at literally every other table besides mine. I went up to pay for JUST the pork noodle soup and I was again reassured that my dish was coming. At this point I had waited around 40 minutes and thought my time was more important...so I left with as much food in my stomach as I arrived with. read more

Baked Pork Chop with Rice ($9.95) is very good. Pork chop was fried before bake, and with tomato sauce and fried rice, the whole dish tastes so good. read more

Good HK style cafe w/ quite a menu. They also have specials posted on the wall. The men usually get the black pepper steak meal which comes w/ a dinner roll, soup, steak, your choice of rice or spaghetti, corn, broccoli as well as a drink for $15. read more