When it comes to Hong Kong style food (or Chinese food in general), I'm usually not expecting good service, so this review is mainly for the food (and a good deal!). Came here this morning because I wanted to get some porridge. My boyfriend and I shared the following items: (1) Preserved Egg Porridge + Chow Mein ($7.25 for the combination or $6.50 for the porridge by itself) --- The porridge had great flavor and was just the right consistency for porridge. The chow mein was alright, but it's nothing special in my opinion. (2) Ham & Egg Sandwich ($7.95) - The sandwich is exactly what you would expect! The sandwich was actually quite enjoyable. It also came with fries as well as your choice of milk tea or lemon tea. Fries were just subpar. I wish it came out hotter. (3) Butter Rolls - Complimentary :) Solid Hong Kong style diner with a great breakfast deal from 9AM-11AM. While service is not 5-star, you can expect decent food! read more

Cafe Orchid - Preserved Egg Porridge & Chow Mein - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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We order the bake chop with rice and it was so yummy. It tasted very traditional hk cafe. The salted fish fried rice was very salty. I assume they didn't clean the remaining salt off the salted fish which resulted in very salty rice. read more

The food was delicious and awesome service! We ordered 4 dishes and arrived immediately: The a beef noodle with wonton soup. Fried Pork tenderloin and fish cutlet with rice, ham with macaroni soup and beef with noodles. read more

Best HK cafe style food in the whole bay area. Price wise it's got a lot of places beat, too. If you could only order one thing, I recommend any version of the baked pork chop rice. Can't say I've ever had any lackluster of bad dishes here though... read more

CASH ONLY! I'd recommend parking on the street somewhere close because it can be difficult to find parking behind the building. I've recently came back from Hong Kong and have been craving some authentic Hong Kong style food. This place does a decent job. They have afternoon tea specials Saturday and Sunday from 9AM-11AM where their dishes also come with a drink (lemon tea, coffee, milk tea, +$1 if cold) My favorite dish is their Satay Beef Instant Noodle Soup. Although it's not as yummy as the one in Hong Kong, it's still satisfying enough for me. (I finished the entire thing!) It can get pretty packed during afternoon time so come earlier. read more

Very authentic HK style cafe. The baked spaghetti and rice dishes are excellent. The set rib eye steak menu is a steal. Ho stale milk tea has the real taste of hk style milk tea. read more

Their baked rice with pork is quite possibly my favorite dish in Millbrae... I crave it all the time :')

Apparently the only restaurants that still open on Christmas day are the Chinese restaurants. After calling a number of restaurants, we finally found Café Orchid to be open, so we quickly hopped into our car to grab a bite to eat while we still could. Café Orchid is located near a ton of other Chinese restaurants in the Millbrae area. There's limited parking in front of the restaurant, and of course - there's a ton of street parking. Menu is similar to most HK styled cafes in LA; from rice, noodles, fried rice, baked rice, spaghetti, steak, curry, Chinese rice, stewed rice, grilled meat - they have it all. They also serve breakfast and afternoon tea. Russian Borsch soup: $4.50 not too worth the price, but it came with a few dinner rolls (equivalent to the ones you get in HK!) and butter. There was a good amount of soup in the bowl; taste was pretty on point. I would say a good amount of tanginess with lots of vegetables inside. I wouldn't order this again for almost $5 though. Beef stew noodle soup: $6.95 very simple and clear - a good meal if you want to eat lighter but still have a fulfilling meal. A very good amount of beef along with vegetables. Beef was pretty tender and tasty. I would recommend ordering this. Curry lamb with rice: my dad had originally wanted a cow tongue dish, but they had just sold out according to the waitress; he went with this instead. Not sure about the price, but the overall dish was pretty small - a good amount of lamb and zucchini. Not as many chunks of potatoes. Curry flavor was good, but I didn't try any lamb. My parents thought it tasted pretty good; just too bad the portion was on the smaller side. Baked pork chop with rice: $8.50 my dish actually came a good ten to fifteen minutes after everybody else had gotten their food; it was worth the wait though - reminiscent to the ones I had in Hong Kong, the flavor was more authentic than the ones I've had in LA. Much more on the sweeter/tangier side with fried rice and egg on the bottom. They also added in mixed vegetables (not a big fan). Pork chops were good - I think they gave about 2 big pieces. Portion was good for the price and the flavor was good! We also got a side of steamed vegetables. After several days of eating unhealthy, these vegetables were a lifesaver! We probably overpaid on this dish since we can buy way more at the market and cook it ourselves, but it was a nice complement to our meal. Service was nice, considering they were working on Christmas day. They had some specials that day, but nothing really caught our eye. Tons of people walking in and out after us, so it goes to show that they are pretty popular in the area. tl;dr - A decent HK café in Millbrae. We probably wouldn't have visited had we known there were a ton of other shops open in the nearby area. Food was good, price was not too bad as well. I think they only take cash, so be prepared. I would return for their breakfast and afternoon tea time specials if I was in the area! read more

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Decent Hong Kong style food. Reasonably priced. Their baked pork chop over rice is alright. Chinese food like beef chow fun is not bad either. read more

Been coming here since forever-ago. Standard has never dropped... baked pork chop rice, fried chicken wings and HK milk tea.... Are a few of the things I always get when I go there. read more

If you've never visited a Hong Kong-style cafe, it's a fascinating mixture of East and West. On the menu at the purple-themed Cafe Orchid, rice plates were offered next to ham & egg sandwiches, spaghetti, curries, salads, and even borscht, along with classic drinks like milk tea, coffee, and Ovaltine! My picks came from the "baked rice" section of the menu--each of the selections was made with egg fried rice in a shallow casserole dish topped with a protein and a choice of sauce and baked to perfection! One of the comfort foods of my childhood was the baked seafood rice, which came with mushrooms, scallops, mussels, shrimp, and a white fish fillet in a béchamel sauce topped with melted cheese. The white sauce had a deep unctuousness that paired perfectly with the seafood, the al dente rice, the umami flavor of the mushrooms, and the slightly crispy cheese! Next, I also tried the baked pork chop with curry sauce over rice. This dish came with two thin, lightly-breaded, bone-in pork chops topped with curry sauce (similar to a Japanese curry) and chopped tomatoes. The curry sauce was slightly spicy but not overly salty, and it went perfectly with the bed of rice underneath! Overall, these were two excellent dishes that came at an unbelievable value--the service here was also friendly and chatty (especially if you know some Cantonese), making for a great, underrated neighborhood spot! read more

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I came here for their HK breakfast, desperate to find a place I could frequent on the weekends whenever I wanted a cheap but filling option. But I left feeling so distraught! Service was very poor. Poor to the point of not getting the food we ordered and deciding to leave after 30-40 minutes of seeing everyone else leave happy and full. Would not come back. read more

Good Hong Kong style food. Hubby loved the milk tea so much, he had to buy a to-go order of it after our meal. Cash only. Parking is in the rear lot. read more

Cafe Orchid - Black Pepper Beef Spaghetti - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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This place's baked dishes are usually quite good. I decided to get a stewed beef tongue rice today and it took at least 20-25 minutes for it to come out. The beef tongue was extremely bland- tasted like it hadn't been marinated long enough. Between the mediocre taste and the extremely slow service today, I don't plan on returning anytime soon. read more

Cafe Orchid - Ox tongue rice with Portuguese sauce - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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Order the baked pork chop rice, fried wings, and thick noodle stir fry beef. Regular Hong Kong Cafe style food. The milk tea is really good. Cash only! read more

Cafe Orchid - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

Place is clean. The curry in the curry chicken was too diluted and lacked taste. Chicken pieces were too chewy.

BEST HK CAFE IN THE BAY AREA. You can't find baked pork chop rice like how Orchid does it even in hong kong anymore. This dish brings you straight back to the golden years of hk. That is my go-to order. You can't go wrong! They have other wonderful options as well like wonton noodle soup, happy hour deals. All are super authentic and amazing prices. read more

The house fried rice really sucks. Every other place includes shrimp and pork at minimum for their house fried rice. Only ingredients that came with Cafe Orchid's house fried rice were egg, some chopped vegetable stems, and Cantonese sausage and they have the audacity to call it house fried rice. Fuck this place. read more

Cafe Orchid - wtf is this shit??? - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

Take Out during Covid 19 Overall: 7/10 Pork Chop Rice: 7/10 I just came back from Hong Kong and their sauce taste pretty much the same! I would give the sauce 8/10 itself since I love it that much. However I don't like the pork that much. Beef Rice: 7/10 This is the kind of curry sauce I like! read more

Everything here is bomb! I've always wanted to try their entire menu but I can't help but always going back to my favorite dishes: - Fried Chicken Wings w/ Fries - Baked Seafood Rice - Chow Mein - Baked Pork Chop rice - Hotdog Macaroni Soup - Ice lemon Tea This place has one of the most authentic Hong Kong Cafe style foods you can get! They are cash only so be prepared~ read more

Traditional Hong Kong style food that you won't go wrong. Friendly service with family style.

You can find me chilling here for 下午茶 on my days off cause theyre your authentic hk fix. I love their baked mini spaghetti, fried chicken wings, spam & egg ramen noodles, and various other items. Theyre very decent for price. Cant forget their cold lemon tea & hot milk tea. 三點三見！ read more

The best HK cafe in the area but they are CASH ONLY. They have all the basic HK food and drinks and are very flavorful and delicious! I've eaten this both dine in and takeout and the service is always friendly and quick :) read more

Average food and impolite service. Parking is extremely hard and CASH ONLY! I don't believe there's still places only take cash. They don't even offer any discount when you pay with cash. The server was just very rude with a annoyed face and telling you: cash only. - Like I owe her cash.? This location is also very small and inconvenient. The only yummy thing was the fried toast. Bonus stars for that. read more

Cafe Orchid - Toast and hongkong milk tea(weird after taste) - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

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I really liked their iced lemon tea and baked tomato pork chop rice!! Highly recommend!

Everything was cooked to perfection and was super flavorful. Their "fried pancake" is hands-down the best roti I've ever had. It was fried so delicately and flakey, and the curry is the perfect amount of kick. I'm usually stingy with spicy food but this was a great mix of heat and flavor. I even drank the remaining curry. I'm so glad they are generous with the amount of curry they give! read more

Wonderful Hong Konger cafe I'm like to go there and you won't disappointed Hong Kong milk tea is a must try read more

Cafe Orchid - Still my cup of tea - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

The food is not as good as before. I ordered the boneless pork chop but the meat is not the same grade of meat as before. My son ordered the curry beef stew but there were only 5 pieces of beef stew and a few potatoes. This restaurant will be out from my list. read more

Hong Kong style baked rice, Beef brisket noodle, Beef chow fun.....all delicious. Look for their daily specials on the wall. They come with a milk tea! read more

I remember during my high school days I would always walk down to Tapioca Express. It's a little nostalgic thinking back that Cafe Orchid is now in the same place I first discovered how awesome boba is. I came here with friends because they couldn't stop raving on how good the HK style milk tea is here. Apparently it's the "best they've ever had" in this area. Looking at the menu, I noticed that there is "tea time" or a happy hour price. It's only about $1 cheaper than normal prices. I ordered the baked pork chop with rice and it was delicious. My only complaint is I wish it was a little more baked. I've had better baked pork chops elsewhere but I would come back here and order one to go since it is so close to home. The HK Milk Tea? It's pretty strong so if you love that strong tea taste, try it! Parking can be a little difficult because it's in the back of the restaurant and in order to get there there's only room for one car so it kind of sucks when there's 2 cars trying to pass in a small amount of space. You can park in the big lot which used to be home to Hollywood Video way back when. read more

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My go-to place for cheap HK style cafe food around Millbrae. Food here has been reasonable in terms of taste and the price you pay for it. You can easily get a meal under 10 bucks, even for dinner time, such as their noodles and sandwiches. Their noodle soup isn't all that great, the broth is a bit too bland. Not exactly worth the 5-6 bucks, but it does the job on feeding you. Their breakfast meals have porridge + rice noodle rolls or western style with your eggs and ham. You can add a hot drink for $1 extra or a cold drink for $2. I've tried their cilantro beef porridge with rice noodle rolls. Presentation looked like a bento box, kinda cute. Portions were kinda cute too, like kinda small especially knowing that porridge is mainly liquid. Not too bad on its taste, but there's definitely MSG, so have your drinks ready to wash it out of your body. Their baked dishes and fried rices are of good portions. Typically it can feed two girls or a girl can get two meals out of it. Nothing too unique about the dishes, I'd say they're pretty typical such as baked pork chop over friend rice in tomato sauce, western/ketchup fried rice, etc. Their service isn't that bad. I came here once with a pregnant, and they brought over a cup of tea for me and a cup of water for her without us telling them. Pretty detailed oriented for a Chinese food establishment. read more

I just ordered to go at this place. This place usually is pretty good. But tonight the lady at the register was not honest and I don't appreciate that. My husband doesn't speak Cantonese and went into the store for me to order. When he came out, he told me the total was exactly $30. I have never order food and with the exact amount after sales tax. So I asked the lady what's the sales tax in Millbrae. She couldn't answer me and she told me she rounded up my amount as doing my favor! My total amount suppose to be $26.45. She charged my husband total of $30. She ripped me off for $1 plus. It's not about that dollar. It's about lying straight to my face and not being honest. I don't appreciate that. I won't return to this restaurant again. Customers! Please check your bills when you eat at this restaurant!!! read more

Please look at the picture!! What a terrible set dinner of prime rib! The corn was not even cooked as well! Did the steak look like medium well to you??!!! It costed $21.60!! Omg read more

Cafe Orchid - The most Terrible prime rib set ever!!! Does it look like medium well to you?! And the corn was not even cooked!!!! $21.60 dollar!!! - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

I go there almost once a week. True Hong Kong style dish...tasty.. Hong Kong milk tea is true Hing Kong taste. I love the most is the bake chicken over fried rice read more

Food had no seasoning and lacked flavor. I drove 15 mins away to eat at this place. I don't recommend.

Im kinda eh with this place. Food and milk tea was good but they tea time meal was so tiny and being American ive never seen a spaghetti plate this small. I get it with inflation hitting hard but a $10 mini meal with a milk tea seems excessive. I'm guessing their other dishes are bigger but just to offer this tiny meal as an option is very strange. Makes me question whether ill be back or not. read more

Good food. Ordered the baked pork chop. It was tender and good. I would definitely order again.

Hands down, one of my favorite places to go for baked chicken with red sauce. Because I live in Union City, I'm not able to come here often but when I do, it's always a good day. The restaurant is always more than half way full and if we're unlucky, there's a bit of a wait. I give is five stars because of how much I love the food here and how I cherish each time I come here. However there are some down sides to this place. Parking can be tricky as there's a small area behind the restaurant with a few spots where you'd have to drive thru a small drive way (one way) or in the front where there's like 2 spaces, otherwise you'd have to park else where. Communication with the waiters can be a little harder as there was a time where one person ordered, and I said "make that two, I'll have the same", however she only ordered one so I ended up having to wait an additional 20 minutes. But hey, I still give it five stars. That's how much I love it. Highly recommend if you're in the downtown Millbrae area, lots of other great Chinese places to try near by as well. read more

Cafe Orchid - Two baked chickens over rice with red sauce please! :-) - Chinese Near Me - Millbrae, California

This place lacks flavor. Makes you use Venmo if you don't have cash. Ordered baked ox tail spaghetti which was just meh. The curry brisket was almost $20 for all fat!!! read more

Wish I could give this place 5 stars but the service here just doesn't cut it. The food is bomb though!! I come here pretty regularly with my family and we always usually order the same items. My personal favorite is the baked pork chop rice with tomato sauce + a lemon iced tea!! Other dishes such as the curry fish fillet or the rice plates are really good as well. The price is reasonable for the portion they serve you. And a pro tip!! Ask for the iced tea in a to go cup so you can enjoy after your meal is finished too. And last but not least the service- just understand that there's a few of them working and they actually have a lot of tables to account for. The kitchen is def small so the amount of food that they can physically push out will def be small as well. Just try to understand it's just a small family owned business! If you don't care about service then this is def the place for you! read more