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Dumpling Empire

3.8 (1.1k reviews)
ModerateDim Sum, Noodles
Open 11:30 am - 9:30 pm

Order Dumpling Empire Takeout or Delivery

Dumpling Empire Photos

Business Info

DUMPLING EMPIRE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for kids
Dogs allowed

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Recommended Reviews - Dumpling Empire

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Reviews With Photos

Jacob C.

The garlic string beans have a lot of flavor. The spicy chicken pot is a generous portion (was two of these containers). The salt and pepper tofu is crispy and savory. The pork and chive dumplings were solid. First time picking up to go. A little hard to find parking

Deepthi T.

Dumpling Empire is a great spot in South SF to grab a warm, delicious lunch! It's a very no frills, classic dumpling spot. Great spot to share food. We got sat immediately, we ordered a variety of dishes, pea shoots, pork dumplings, lamb dumplings, shrimp dumplings, spicy wonton, XLB. We also got hot tea, it was all the classics. The service was great food came out at a good pace for sure. I loved the classic XLB. Lamb dumplings were not my favorite-that might be a personal preference. I loved the spicy wonton. The pea shoots were bright, cooked well. For simple dumplings, this is your spot. It did hit the spot. I would come back for a group lunch. The prices were pretty good as well. I appreciate the portion sizes here.

Xiao Long Bao + Hot Chili
Supar K.

One Month One time eat here. Professional & experience serving, place clean . The Best Dumplings & Spicy Braised Beef with Fresh Noodles and don't forget to add Spicy Chilli

Lamb and pork dumplings and crispy lotus root.
Andrea Z.

Visited on a Thursday night around 6:30, walked in and grabbed a table. Restaurant had one other party seated but seemed like more of a takeout spot. Very casual hole in the wall spot. Food: pork and chive dumplings - served boiled, wrappers are of medium thickness with a slight chewy texture, generous amount of filling which was well seasoned, savory with a nice garlic chive flavor, soy sauce, vinegar and chili sauce all paired well with this Crispy lotus root salad - okay, served cold, lotus root slices in a soy, sesame vinegar dressing with lots of scallions, was expecting a hot dish so a little surprised lotus root had a nice crunchy texture overall but bottom of the dish soaked in dressing was a little slimy and scallions were in long pieces that were a bit hard to eat Lamb and vegetable dumplings - also good, again served boiled, generous with the filling, which was savory with a hint of gaminess that worked well in the dumpling, this was great with some added vinegar Service was okay, quick and efficient, water and tea provided when we started our meal. A free sesame red beans mochi was provided for dessert but was quite dry a nice touch none the less. Cleanliness could be improved as well. Overall great dumplings, would order takeout from this spot in the future but probably pass on sit down dining.

Beef Stew Soup Noodle
Christina L.

The food was okay! The restaurant is not very large, about 8 tables (best for groups of 2-4). There's also one waiter, so be patient. Appetizer: Cucumber with mushroom ($8.75), crunchy and good sesame oil flavor. Salt and pepper chicken wings ($12.96) are lightly seasoned with five spice seasoning. The wings can be crunchier and have better frying color. The dumplings are made in house, occasionally see dumpling cart. The soup dumplings ($12.95) were tiny, definitely can have more filling. The chives dumping ($12.95) were good. My favorite was the beef stew noodle soup ($13.95). The noodles are made in house and have a great chew texture to the noodles. Plenty of bok choy and the meat was tender. The food can be better, not too much flavor.

Small spot, good service, would return!
Christine V.

The other reviews do not lie. It's a little hole in the wall spot. The pot stickers were my favorite, the dough was thick and the filling came out. Green onion pancakes were great, soup dumplings were nice and the little red bean sesame dumplings were a really nice finish. Would recommend!

Hot Tea
Me Iz S.

The best dumplings, authentic, fresh, sooooo good! I've been going here for 18 years - the service is the same ..warm really nice people! It's a true gem, a hole in the wall, functional ambience; the food makes up for every bit of it!

Menu
Joey Y.

This place is definitely a hole-in-the-wall. When we first walked in, there weren't many people, but once we sat down and started looking at the menu, we suddenly heard a zapping noise. They were using a flyswatter to kill the flies floating around the restaurant, which I thought was a bit unusual. The food here is definitely good. I tried a few things I've never ordered before, and at the end, they gave us sesame balls for free, which was a nice touch. Most of the time, they prefer cash, but they do accept card. Just be sure to bring cash.

Alex L.

Great hole in the wall for dumplings in ssf. Found this place from DoorDash with a bogo offer on dumplings. Order and was impressed. The dumpling was flavorful and the skin wasn't too thick. After trying this from doordash we decided to go try this place out for dining. The food was delicious. We order the Napa cabbage,corn dumplings and the spicy dumpling. We got the dan dan noodles and it was delicious. The service was great and friendly. Definitely worth coming back to as the prices was reasonable and delicious. The portions are good size.

Greenbeans
Nat M.

I saw good reviews and thought I'd give it a try for my family and I for dinner. I ordered the seafood clay pot, chicken chowmein, beef chowmein, bok choy, and greenbeans. The chicken tasted chewy and hard, as well as the beef. It tasted old and not fresh. The noodles had no flavor whatsoever. The seafood was more of a soup than a clay pot I asked for and that was still a disappointment. The only tasty dish were the greenbeans. I will not be ordering anything from here again unfortunately. The staff was decent.

Sesame ball
Karina D.

My fiancé and I came here, too tired to cook after traveling for almost 24 hours, close to SFO this was a perfect location to stop by! I had never been before but saw the reviews on yelp so decided to try! We ordered chicken wonton soup, pan fried soup dumplings, chicken chow mein, and beef pancake roll. We loved every dish we ordered but I think the chow mein was our favorite. It's definitely a hole in the wall with not the best ambiance, but the service and food make up for it! The staff was really friendly and even gave us free sesame dessert balls at the end which was a nice touch :) I would definitely return!

Fresh Cucumber with Straw Mushroom Hot and Sour Soup shrimp and chive dumplings
Maya K.

Look-- the food here is fire. Especially the handmade shrimp and chive dumplings. Hot and sour soup and cucumber salad were great too! But everything is served piping hot in takeout containers, with plastic utensils. Just makes me a lil uncomfy thinking about the plastic melting into my food. Might come back just to buy dumplings! Would love if they could serve with dishes and silverware.

Sign Hill hike
Gabrielle L.

Love the hole-in-the-wall vibe here, and the women working there were very sweet. Had the Shanghai soup dumplings (2 orders because yum), shrimp and chive dumplings, garlic pea shoots (which were the best part of the meal but not sure why they are $17), and green chive pancakes. I wasn't a fan of the green chive pancakes since they had a very fishy flavor and were pretty loose/hard to eat, but my friends liked them. Really great food and will definitely go back. Also fun suggestion, go on a hike first to nearby Sign Hill to work up an appetite and watch planes take off from SFO!

Baby jin dui for dessert

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2 months ago

dumplings were great but my son had diarrhea afterwards dscccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

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2 months ago

Good tasty not pricy food and fresh. Worth the try and you won't be disappointed eating there.

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Dumpling Empire Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Dumpling Empire

This place has a private parking?

No only public street parking or garage lots

Do they pan fry the fish dumplings upon request?

If u need, for large quantities, we will do it for you. Thanks

Was this place called Sky Dragon?

Dumpling empire for the last 12 years as far as I know

Do they do large orders for parties?

No. Sky dragon is another place known for their lollipop chicken or fried chicken wings

Is this restaurant open for eat in?

It is, though the decor is very minimal. But they will serve you and you can have a good meal while watching the dumpling making operation through the door into the next room.

What is the orange hot sauce made of? It's really good!!

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dumpling-empire-south-san-francisco?select=3tsOfz_eFRVRSFMiw9DXxg

Hello, I am wondering if anyone use the restaurant.com certificate here in this restaurant before. Do they accept it?

I've used it and it works

Are there gluten free options (including no soy sauce)?

Only regular dumpling and soy sauce is not gluten free. Maybe green beans without sauce might work.

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HL Peninsula Restaurant - Fish & Crispy Donut Rice Noodles Rolls

HL Peninsula Restaurant

3.2(799 reviews)
0.3 mi
$$$

Huge restaurant with enormous TV screens and partitions to separate parts of the room for different…read moreparties. Excellent for weddings, banquets, and dim sum. Food's expensive but pretty good here (if you've never had dim sum, they give you a menu and you just indicate how many of each menu item you want). Definitely make a reservation as it can get crowded. Staff mostly speaks Chinese but can speak limited English. Plenty of parking.

We recently had brunch here for Mother's Day as a couple of family members like eating here. I…read morewasn't too excited about the meal because my food preferences are different than the couple who recommended HL. The parking lot is spacious and holds many cars. The restaurant is big and accommodates large parties. We were seated comfortably at a table for 17 in a small private room. That is about where the good ends. The dishes we ordered trickled out. Three orders of the same dish had one coming and another two ten minutes later. Every single deep fried dish we ordered was cold, not lukewarm, not even room temp. When someone in my group mentioned it to the server, we were so graciously given one complimentary order of sesame balls. One order for 17 people to make-up for cold salt and pepper calamari, cold fried fish filet, and cold green onion pancakes. Not to mention, all the dishes we had from the shrimp dumpling to the noodle dishes were all bland, no taste or flavor. This was truly one of the worst meals I've had in a very, long time.

Photos
HL Peninsula Restaurant - Inside Seating

Inside Seating

HL Peninsula Restaurant - Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls

Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls

HL Peninsula Restaurant - Main Lobby

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Main Lobby

Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant 富源酒家 - Crispy roasted pork

Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant 富源酒家

3.5(1.1k reviews)
0.2 mi
$$$
Locally owned & operated
Free WiFi

pretty empty on a tuesday evening. looks small from the outside but opens up to a huge hall inside!…read morethe upscale feel of the tables, interior, and menus were a great first impression. the service was pretty good and tables are large. love that the menu had many pictures. was just thrown off by the absence of dim sum, as we saw much more on the doordash menu before we came in-person. honey walnut prawns (6/10): not too sweet but a bit too creamy for my liking. i appreciate the walnuts being on the side to keep the sauce from making them soggy. very crunchy and yummy stir-fries pea sprouts with whole garlic (7.5/10): cooked so perfectly and the broth is a good saltiness. the goji berries are a fun pop of sweetness and color, it pairs well with the sprouts. shiu mai (7.5/10): love how big they are and for $14?!? a steal. doesn't have a gamey/fishy aftertaste that others sometimes have. salted fish and chicken fried rice (6.5/10): like how light and simple in ingredients it is, but still so yummy and complex. our server also came over and nonchalantly served this to us with a two spoon, one hand motion it was cool. also got a complimentary dessert, 2 small puddings (1 mango, 1 coconut) and it was good! the mango was refreshing and the coconut flavor was subtle. this place is pretty good overall, i was surprised by every aspect. will definitely come back and want to try more of their dishes.

I took my mother here last week and she is wanting to explore more chinese style restaurants in the…read moreSan Francisco area and we were here way back when for our cousin's wedding reception. All of the food was what you expected from a typical chinese dim sum restaurant and we were very pleased. The biggest takeaway is from a short interaction I had with the hostesses (the women wearing the black jackets at the front of the restaurant). When one of the waitresses accidently knocked over the soy sauce on the table and onto the my pants, she was very apologetic. I understand as we are all human and mistakes happen. The manager came by and provided us napkins/wet tissues as well as being apologetic. I was able to go to the bathroom and wash/dry off the stain in 5 minutes. It was not a big deal at all to me and I went back to our table. When the hostess came by and said she was sorry, she also mentioned to sit on the inside of the table next time. I didn't want to counter as my mother was present as well as all the other staff were very cordial. However, when you make a statement like that and to imply that I had anything to do with the sauce getting on my clothes, it just takes turns all of these apologies into a hollow statement. Even though it was a bad interaction from one individual, it left a very sour impression on myself and I would rather go to other restaurants than repeatly go here again.

Photos
Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant 富源酒家 - Bday pkg 1. Noodles, steamed fish, roasted chicken, bakchoy w mushroom & more. Great food huge portions.

Bday pkg 1. Noodles, steamed fish, roasted chicken, bakchoy w mushroom & more. Great food huge portions.

Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant 富源酒家 - Deep Fried Flounder...

Deep Fried Flounder...

Grand Palace Seafood Restaurant 富源酒家

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Grand Harbor Dim Sum & Seafood - Char Siu rice noodle roll

Grand Harbor Dim Sum & Seafood

3.0(1.1k reviews)
4.6 mi
$$

This is a classic Hong Kong style Cantonese restaurant. It…read moreis famous for the big windows and the whole wall are facing the ocean . Magnificent views , especially closer to sunset . We came early like 10:30 am with a reservation. We got seated right the way and do not need to wait . My take are a group of 9 people . The menu has all the popular food items and some special ones . The special ones are : crispy skin shrimp red rice noodle roll , pan fried taro cake , crispy BBQ pork bun , bran curd roll with pork & shrimp , crispy skin roasted squab , rice noodle roll with braised fresh mushrooms, coconut & osmanthus flower cake , deep fried shrimp balls , etc . The portion of the dim sum is generous . Food is excellent. Our server is very attentive . Tables are big so that we have lots of room for our party . There are plenty of parking spots when we come . The restaurant opens at 10:30 am and we arrive by 10:30 am . The view of the ocean is magnificent. They have a party room that can fit 3-4 tables and with clear glass dividers for privacy . This is a good restaurant and we enjoy their food and service .

Over the Mother's Day weekend we had reservations earlier in the week for larger party and…read moreconfirmed again the night before. Upon arrival 15 min earlier than our reservation checked in with hostess and confirmed that we were on reservation list. They give you a ticket with a letter and number. An hour of waiting the hostess says we're next for the large table. However, the hostess starts calling another table and ignoring our reservation when told we would have the next table. We were finally granted our table only after pointing out that they were not going in order of reservations but whichever person came first received priority. Their customer service is lacking and if they were honest in the beginning when we first called to make reservations they should have told us first come first serve to allow us to plan accordingly by arriving earlier or making plans with a venue that honored reservations. Food: BBQ buns and fried rice are good. Parking: it's the worst and really tight spaces. Cars were bumper to bumper. Recommend street parking or taking business elsewhere that honors reservations and is upfront with customers.

Photos
Grand Harbor Dim Sum & Seafood - Chandelier

Chandelier

Grand Harbor Dim Sum & Seafood - Turnip cake in xo sauce

Turnip cake in xo sauce

Grand Harbor Dim Sum & Seafood - Osthamus jelly dessert

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Osthamus jelly dessert

Yan Peninsula - Lava salted egg sesame ball

Yan Peninsula

3.5(314 reviews)
3.3 mi
$$

We come to Yan Peninsula often because the food is consistently delicious. They serve authentic…read moreCantonese cuisine, with excellent dim sum at lunch and high-quality seafood along with a wide variety of dinner dishes. The staff are friendly and attentive, especially when the restaurant isn't overly busy. The restaurant is a good size and conveniently located in the heart of the mid-Peninsula. It's nicely decorated, with comfortable seating that makes dining here a pleasant experience overall.

The food was amazing! So authentic it was hard to read the menu because Chinese is first. So we…read moreknew we were in a good spot. There were only two of us so we couldn't order everything we wanted. Prawns came out first. Piping hot and crispy with that slight sweetness. They were cooked perfectly, super tender on the inside! Green beans next, also piping hot. They were sautéed with pork mince and who knows what sauce, but they were BY FAR the best green beans I've ever had. Couldn't get enough of them!! Beef chow fun was also amazing. The meat was so tender and flavorful, but we had gorged on shrimp and beans, so I didn't really want the chow fun anymore. It's a very large space. Tons of round tables all lined up with a huge tv screen at one end that was looping advertisements while we were there. Entering you pass by some fish tanks which could use a cleaning, but overall a bright and clean space.

Photos
Yan Peninsula - Inside the restaurant

Inside the restaurant

Yan Peninsula - Crispy shrimp rice noodle rolls

Crispy shrimp rice noodle rolls

Yan Peninsula - Chinese donut wrapped in rice noodle

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Chinese donut wrapped in rice noodle

Koi Palace

Koi Palace

3.4(4k reviews)
3.3 mi
$$$

Koi palace is the go to dim sum spot when you don't know where else to go. The prices haven't…read morechanged a lot, making a formerly most expensive dim sum spot into an average priced dim sum spot. The interior continues to provide an old school atmosphere with bustling ambiance, a koi fish pond (beloved by the children), large tables for big families and fish in tanks. The food is generally pretty good. Cantonese food is known more for balance, so even if you order their "Szechuan" dishes, there isn't a ton of spice. I'm a big fan on their XO sauce, so the XO pan fried rice rolls are my favorite. The green seaweed crunch shrimp rice roll is also quite good. Mandatory 18% service charge and the service is pretty decent all considering! They respond fairly quickly and now they have a more diverse wait staff that can respond in more languages now too!

We had a delightful morning brunch at Dim Sum before heading to vote in the Peruvian elections. Our…read morefriends Kim and Roberto joined us, and we had reservations for 11:45 am. We placed our orders and settled in to wait for our dishes. As we chatted and shared stories, we noticed that the table behind us was receiving their orders and sitting down about 10 minutes after we did. We started to see plates arriving for other tables, prompting us to investigate the status of our food. Upon checking, we discovered that our order had been lost. After waiting for half an hour, we were informed that they had misplaced it. Consequently, we had to place our order again. Let's dive into the details of our dishes: - #210: Roasted Duck Burrito: The burrito lacked substantial duck meat, and the wrap was not warm as it should have been. - #405: Shui Mai: This dish was consistent with the taste of other Shui Mai we've had. - #409: Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce: Regrettably, we never received this dish. - #416: Har Gaw: This was the last dish served us. It arrived steaming hot, but the wonton skin wrapper was thick and chewy. - #421: Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce: The ribs had a sweeter flavor than expected. - #504: Fresh Okra Poached with Garlic & Scallion: The okra was not slimy and had a pleasant taste. - #304: Hand Roasted Suckling Pig Slice: The slice was incredibly tender and crispy. - #312: Crispy Tofu with Garlic/Herbs: The tofu was crispy, but some of the coating that wasn't fully fried with it tasted a bit raw. - #808: Crispy Fried Taro Puffs with Pork: These were crispy and warm. - #802: Fried Glutinous Dumplings with Dice Pork: The dumplings were crispy and warm, but the pork was minimal. - #711: Stir Fried Beef Chow Fun: The dish was good, and the meat was tender. Throughout the meal, our waiter kept checking on our order and relaying messages in Chinese about the dishes still needed for our table. After two hours, we decided to cancel the chicken feet. When the bill arrived, I expressed my dissatisfaction with the service, and the waiter responded with a series of "ok"s. After a few more "I'm not happy" comments, he removed the "service charge" and informed us that we could decide whether to leave a tip or not. We did leave a tip, but here's my tip to you...take your chance #dimsum #chinesefood #koipalace #disclaimermusicisnotmine

Photos
Koi Palace
Koi Palace
Koi Palace - Dim Sum!

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Dim Sum!

HL Peninsula Pearl - House Special Fish Fillet Vermicelli Soup - a large bowl enough to share for 4 people.  Very tasty

HL Peninsula Pearl

3.2(636 reviews)
4.4 mi
$$

Reading through the other reviews, I think we got lucky with our visit and I'll take it! We came on…read morea Sunday at 11am (party of 4). I found parking right away and they seated us almost immediately close to the Bay view windows. It was super busy with people waiting outside and inside was loud and lively (just how you want a dim sim place to be)! Inside is pretty nice and the view is honestly worth it. We ordered the dim sum classics: siu mai, ha gow, rice rolls, chicken feet, ma lai go, beef balls, salted egg yolk lava buns. Everything was honestly solid and portions were bigger than I expected. The dim sum menu is also pretty vast, but some classic dishes have different names so always ask the server. We also got some Chinese herb and fermented rice wine soup.....so good and a lot of chicken in it. Total for our party of 4 came out to be $105 (including their 16% service charge). Honestly not bad at all for the food we got (not all pictured), the fast service, and great views. This might be my new dim sum spot on the Peninsula! I'd definitely come again for dim sum at around 11am, because by the time we left at 12:30ish it was SUPER busy!

I went to lunch with colleagues hoping HL Peninsula Pearl would fulfill my desire for tasty dim sum…read moreand my experience was mixed. The venue is gorgeous (5/5; high ceilings, chandeliers, amazing views of SFO), the service was mediocre (3/5; our order was taken quickly after we completed writing it. We had to keep asking for things such as knives and bowls but we were accommodated and ultimately one of the dishes they brought out was incorrect despite me telling them they put it in their system wrong...now for the food. We went a bit wild and ordered the following (let's just say we had tons left over): -steamed surf clam w/ vermiccelli in galic sauce (3.5/5; clams tasted decent but I didn't love the texture. clams paired well with noodles and sauce -duo egg fried rice (4/5; my group enjoyed this dish. Large portion) -signature fried rice noodles (4.25/5; good portion and lots of seafood/meat. flavor was good but nothing amazing and quite a good value.) Note, we didn't order this dish but it was beside the dish we ordered on the list/menu and they didn't/couldn't change the order despite letting them know within minutes... -chicken feet in herbal broth (3.75/5; the chicken feet were cooked well and the broth was nice but I was expecting pan fried chicken feet, which i would have preferred. The broth was herbal and comforting) -fried crispy turnip cake in XO sauce (4.5/5; quite nice. crispy and satisfying) -chicken in honey pepper sauce (3/5; sauce left a lot to be desired. Chicken was juicy and cooked well though) -sautéed chinese bocolli (4/5; standard and simple but good) -bbq pork rice noodle rolls (4/5; pretty good. Nice pairing btw the bbq pork and rice noodle), -crispy wild rice shrimp noodle rolls (5/5; my favorite dish. The shrimp were fried which was a nice textural contrast with the rice noodle. It came in a good sauce) -steamed shrimp dumpling (5/5; exactly as advertised. Big, juice, delicious) -siu mai (3.75/5; the flavor for these was good but I feel they were too big to enjoy comfortably in one bite. Not my favorite shu mai) -steamed bbc pork buns (didn't try but my group enjoyed) -Portuguese backed custard tarts (4/5; not too sweet and satisfying. Interesting texture.) -parboiled tripe (4/5; tripe was cooked very well and tender but the sauce was underwhelming Overall, the cook on most of these dishes was spot on but the flavoring left some to be desired. I might come back but I'm definitely still in search of a go-to dim sum spot.

Photos
HL Peninsula Pearl - Dining area

Dining area

HL Peninsula Pearl - Lobster vermicelli

Lobster vermicelli

HL Peninsula Pearl - Egg plant in sizzling plate

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Egg plant in sizzling plate

Palette Tea Garden & Dim Sum

Palette Tea Garden & Dim Sum

3.8(2k reviews)
9.9 mi
$$$

Came here with family for dinner and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Palette Tea Garden feels more…read moremodern and upscale than the typical Cantonese restaurant, and the dining room has a lively energy that makes it great for groups. The roasted pork and soy sauce chicken were standout dishes for me -- flavorful, juicy, and nicely presented. The truffle fried rice was also surprisingly good and packed with flavor. Loved how many different dishes we were able to share around the table. Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 was that service slowed down once the restaurant got busy, and some dishes felt a bit expensive. But overall, the food quality, presentation, and vibe made it a really enjoyable dinner spot in San Mateo.

"Palette Tea Garden and Dim Sum" is an upscale Chinese restaurant located in the North Mall of the…read moreHillsdale Shopping Center. I had the pleasure of having lunch here on a Friday afternoon. We were a party of three, with a reservation for 12 noon. It was my first time here, but my niece had been to Palette several times. So she knew the best tables and how to order. We were seated in a booth towards the back near the kitchen. There was a steady flow of staff walking by. Anytime you needed something, you just ask someone. We decided to order a variety of dim sum, the Signature Peking Duck (half), and the Pan Seared Seafood Noodles. Everything was delicious. The presentation of the Peking Duck was beautiful. They used momo pancakes instead of steamed bao. It's not a duck chopped in half. It's an offering of crispy thin duck skin, with chunks of boneless duck meat underneath. Served with cucumber, radlish, scallions and hoisin sauce. I think my favorite dim sum was the Yuzu Walnut Prawn Puff. Crunchy fried prawns w/ yuzu sauce, and candied walnuts. It's considered an elevated modern dish. Don't forget to check out the koi pond with live fish on the community table top. Free parking in mall lot. I parked on the roof and took the escalator directly down to the restaurant.

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Palette Tea Garden & Dim Sum
Palette Tea Garden & Dim Sum
Palette Tea Garden & Dim Sum

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Tai Yuan

Tai Yuan

3.5(303 reviews)
3.3 mi
$$

We (18 of us) came here for a family dim sum lunch without reservations at 11am on a Saturday and…read morewas lucky enough to be seated at 2 large tables. They are located in a strip mall near several different food places, bakery, and a bowling alley. This is a solid dim sum place, with no frills and reasonable prices. You order off a printed menu that's in Chinese with tiny English subtitles. You can also order off their regular menu if you want to supplement the dim sum dishes. Their food is very good, and some dishes were excellent. The service was pretty quick, and before we knew it, all our dishes were out with almost no room on the lazy Susan. The standouts for me were: + Steamed custard buns (piggy buns) - I ordered these for the kiddies, but dang they are so good. The custard filling is so velvety, it's almost like pudding. I think I detected a hint of coconut too - yum. + Beef chow fun - this had a really good wok flavor and the noodles were less wide than most. The noodles didn't clump either, and the bean sprouts were still crispy. + Roasted pork belly - the skin was so crispy and the pork was juicy. We ordered most of the basic dishes like har gaw, sui mai, noodle rolls, turnip cake, stuffed eggplant, chicken feet, etc. and they were all above average. My only complaint is if you don't read Chinese, the menu is a little hard to navigate. The English subtitles are so small that if you're looking for something, you have to scan the front and back of the menu trying to find the item. I was looking for sticky rice in lotus leaf, but found sticky rice roll and thought it was the same thing. It wasn't. The sticky rice roll was not bad, but I found the rice drier than when it's in lotus leaf. We ordered a few things by mistake because the English subtitles were not that descriptive. Overall, a great alternative to more popular places like Koi Palace. The menu may not be as creative as Koi, but you don't have to deal with the lines and you still get great food.

Came to Tai Yuan for lunch on a Friday and was pleasantly surprised by how smooth everything went…read more We were a party of three and there was no wait--we were promptly seated and given a high chair. The dim sum menu was extensive, and they also had daily specials. Everything we ordered came out hot, fresh, and in a reasonable amount of time. One of the staff came around with a tray of baked goods immediately upon seated. We tried the BBQ Pork pastry, and it was flaky, flavorful, and just the right amount of sweet and savory--definitely recommend that one. Overall, we enjoyed almost everything we ordered. The only miss for us was one of the fried fish dishes and the green onion mantou, which was just okay. Would we come back? Absolutely. The service was efficient, the portions generous, and the food solid. Great spot if you're looking for dim sum that delivers on quality without the usual weekend chaos.

Photos
Tai Yuan - This is the beef I Shabu at home with.

This is the beef I Shabu at home with.

Tai Yuan - Big clams with vermicelli and garlic

Big clams with vermicelli and garlic

Tai Yuan - Weekly night special from M-F only

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Weekly night special from M-F only

Dumpling Empire - dimsum - Updated May 2026

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