if you are NOT chinese and you try to eat at this place GOODLUCK. They seem to only care for chinese customers. 2nd time coming here and servers dont even bother to tend on you until you call them and my server was RUDE! read more

Tai Pan Dim Sum - this is the rude server - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Affordable dim sum in Honolulu Chinatown! I have never been to this restaurant before this time. I often walk past it to go to other restaurants in the Chinese Cultural Plaza and had always wondered how Tai Pan Dim Sum was... Well, today was the day. I gathered up some friends to go with me because Angel can speak Chinese, Fran keeps everyone's tea cup full, and my friends are awesome great company! We met at 10am for better parking and less crowd. If we had stayed less than an hour, the parking garage would have charged us a dollar. We stayed less than 2 hours, so we just paid $2. Our feast consisted of Fried Taro gok, Hom siu gok (fried mochi with savory filling), boiled gau gee with Choi sum, shrimp dumplings, spare ribs with Black bean sauce, XLB (xiao long bao), don tat (egg custard tarts), and a trio of pan fried cakes: water chestnuts, taro, and turnip (Three Color Cake). Overall, the food was on the blander side. I took home some beef chow funn to my mom and it needed soy sauce or other flavoring. The taro gok and hom siu gok had thicker outer layers - compared with other restaurants. The best dish was the don tat because the crust was so flakey that it was falling apart! Service was surprisingly good. Seems like the wait staff knew Angel's family and were asking about them! When I asked for 2 orders of custard tarts to take home, they only had one order of the white version, so I took it. Later, they GAVE me a fresh order of the yellow version "for my mother". Wow...I was shocked! I hardly ever get free stuff from a Chinese restaurant! Note: I think in Honolulu (where it's a smallish town), it pays to go with people who know people. It's who you know that's important. People remember when you treat them well... As we were leaving, one of our friends said that Tai Pan has good Jook (congee, AKA rice soup)... Arggg... that means I have to return! Well...I did! ...and I also got the Crispy Carrot which has a dab of custard in the middle of an orange colored fried mochi (good!); baked cha siu bao (BBQ pork buns) (pass...), and a white coconut covered mochi dessert with chopped peanuts, sugar and shredded coconut filling (yum!). The jook with pei don (preserved duck egg) was so good that my mom wanted more!!! [It was even better when I added in some hom don (salted duck egg) to it... ono!] So, yes... I would return because it's conveniently located in a plaza with validated parking (but my mom told me how to get free parking) and the prices are quite reasonable. Quality is medium. Some items have better flavors than others. Most dim sum are $3.80 a plate. Just go with an open mind and some good friends! Yeah! read more

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The food is Okay but the plates were a little bit dirty. My uncle worked part time in the kitchen told me that they use laudry powders for dish washing. read more

Kinda sad to leave a 2 star review for what was once my favorite dim sum place. I ordered take out today and they told me 10 minutes. After 15 minutes, I went back inside. She told me that she was waiting for the noodles. I said ok. From where I was seated, I could clearly see that nobody was cooking my noodles. She said something to the man who was the cashier. He yelled at her in Chinese and proceeded to go into the kitchen. He was the one who was supposed to cook my noodles!! LOL. He also rang me up so he should've known that he needed to go to the kitchen to cook it. So after about 5 minutes, the lady brings the noodles out and gives me the rest of my order. I drive home and open the noodles. So bummed, they didn't make the house special noodles that I ordered, instead, I got chow fun. It didn't have any taste. It's too far for me to drive back and no sense call them. Just super bummed cause I waited for 30 minutes for something I did not order. read more

Came here for Chinese New Year celebration at chinatown. Super crowded. Festivities extended out on Beretania Street. In which a good portion of Beretania was closed down for the celebration. It's so good to see so many people out and about. We just wanted to sit down for some dim sum dinner. The line was long but wait time was about 15-20 minutes before being seated. Not too bad. Food came out quickly. Ordered our usual beef chow fun, shrimp dumpling, spinach scallop, pork hash & pan fried chives with chicken read more

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One star for the shumai which was decent. The har gau was a little cold, wrapper was a little gummy. Also ordered char siu look funn which was a little sweet. Also ordered pei dan salty pork jook which didnt have salty pork, the jook wasnt flavored, only 1 peidan cut into 4 quarters, green onions and julienned slivers of ginger. Small dishes are $4.50(ex.shumai), medium is $7(charsiu look funn) and large is $9(jook). Dont think it's worth the price. Personally Fook lam is better. read more

I'll cut to the chase, Tai Pan is expensive for ok dim sum served with a dose of attitude. Dim sum ranges from $3.80 - $7 per dish. I almost choked when I saw the prices! And while the dim sum here is better than some of the other places in Honolulu's Chinatown, it's nothing exceptional. Instead of carts, you place your order. You would think this means dishes are served fresher or hotter, but that wasn't always the case. The har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), tofu skin rolls, fried taro gok, and steamed chives dumplings, and dan tan (custard tart) were tasty. Most had 2-3 pieces and certain dishes came pre-cut for sharing. Normally we order the steamed shrimp noodle roll but at $7/plate, it seemed frivolous and way overpriced. My parents loved the chicken feet. They said it was meaty and had good flavor. The guy at the cash register must be the owner or manager. He kept yelling to the ladies working and just seemed really angry. As a result, our server had a perpetual frown the entire time. I can't say I blame her since I wouldn't like someone yelling at me. Flagging down a server to order more or get water requires persistence. Needless to say, the overall ambiance was noisy and service not the friendliest. This restaurant seems cleaner than most. Parking is $2 with validation. Considering the high price, unfriendly service, and just average food, I'd only come here if someone else wanted to eat here. Otherwise, pass! read more

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It's your typical Chinese restaurant with the minimum service and unpleasant attitude from the staff , but here is where you need to BEWARE!!!! They might not speak English so if u don't eat meat or pork and u ask them to not have it in the soup etc , make sure they don't mix it up for u , they did it and unfortunately I had to find out after I started eating . It's a Terrible practice to not inform your client or take their allergies lightly Never again . read more

I love dim sum and for years, I've tried to get my kids to come with me. They weren't into Chines food (unless you count Panda) so we only go when the kids are not with us. Couple weeks ago, my son decided he wants to go eat dim sum. So amidst all the worries of people getting sick, we go into Chinatown. It was pretty sad because all of the restaurants were pretty empty. This was not my first pick for dim sum, but my son had his mine set on one particular item. It's pretty good here, but if you are going to order anything, make sure it's coming off the steamed cart or make sure they are making it fresh. It's the worst thing to eat dim sum that has been sitting around for a while. Chicken E-mein noodle was super tasty. And the egg custard in some type of bao bun (can't remember what its called) was pretty good, just a little too sweet for me. It was pretty good and I'm glad we went at least to support these small businesses during some rough times. read more

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We sat for 20 minutes after ordering, no one brought our dim sum plates, i asked the waitress what happened to our order, she said she didn't take our order so it's not her problem, they kept bringing plates to other tables that came after us, pretty typical chinese restaurants service, be careful coming in if you don't speak their language. read more

Put our name on the list, and watched 2 families walk in front of us and got sat. Sometimes it's places like this that makes you follow the rules only to find out you lose when you do. Workers here are unorganized and looked overworked. Overall we won't be back for awhile, hope they have more respect for people waiting, we tip very good read more

We were treated here by our friends. They liked coming here and luckily there wasn't a wait to enter. Inside is nothing fancy and you have to order your dim sum and they are not brought around with carts. Portions and flavor was good and we got full really fast. My friend's brother loves the chicken feet so she ordered a bunch of that to take out. I ordered the beef noodle soup and it really filled me up. The food was good but wasn't the best I ever had. read more

They don't clean before cooking , so disgusting Please make sure food is clean. don't go this restaurant read more

Tai Pan Dim Sum - Worm - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I thought this place was decent. I liked their banana leaf and crystal shrimp dumplings. I wished they had the spicy chili sauce. The prices here are ridiculously low. Seven of us ate until our fill and the bill was less than $100. The space does seem a bit cramped and it's not as well designed as the other nearby dim sum. read more

Tai Pan Dim Sum - Baked goods - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

One of the many dim sum places in town. This review is biased because majority of their dishes had shrimp and I'm allergic. But the ones I could eat were okay. Also, the customer service wasn't the greatest. Ordered: an array of dim sum! can't recollect everything ordered read more

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I had some dim sum that was catered from this business. It was very tasty! Crispy gau gee and the shrimp with chives were some of the best!

This spot is always a must when I visit my bestie on Oahu. I live for their shrimp dumplings. Fried seaweed rolls? YES PLZ. I'm also a fan of manapuas with no filling . I know I know, but them buns? Pillows of happiness. Food is great. Service is sometimes a hit or miss. Water needs to be requested but the tea slaps. Tip well, they take care you read more

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Kind of hidden away in a plaza behind another dim sum restaurant. Came here on Sunday after Thanksgiving at 9:30am. Not crowded and no waiting time, I'm assuming because it is very windy and kind of rainy. Sat at a table and was greeted with hot tea (which was hot, delicious and perfect for the weather today). My friend and I didn't want to order too much because we were going to be walking around shopping afterwards and eating a lunch together later. Here's what we ordered: Seafood Siu Mai- yummy- 3 in order- definitely can taste the seafood in the paste filling they make, but it's not too fishy. And the edges were not dry. Good. Har Gow- the skin was not as translucent or as tender as some I've had. A little thick and chewy, and when you bite into, shrimp were a little dry. Chive Dumpling- very good!!! Thin crispy skin on one side and slightly chewy oily deliciousness on the other side. The filling was mostly chives and a little bit of pork. Perfect balance of flavor and juicy. I really liked this one and would order again. Shrimp Look Fun (Long rice noodle)- one of my favorite dim sum dishes. I love the dark soy sauce they pour on top and the shrimp were large and yummy. The noodles were almost similar texture to a thin mochi- it was great. All in all, not the best dim sum I've had but I didn't get to try everything. The other dishes looked good and if I came back I would try the chicken feet, as well. Very reasonable price. Everything total was $19! Nice. read more

This is our family go-to spot in Chinatown! Usually order: seafood roll, any of the look fun, shrimp dumplings, seafood Sui mai, spareribs, lo Mai gai (mochi rice w chicken wrapped in leaves), & pan fried turnip cake. If you need a veggie dish do get the ong choy w garlic! Whatever you order, you'll be happy. Service is quick and the ladies are nice here. Don't leave without the custard buns. We always take them to go & enjoy them later when we actually have room in our full bellies! read more

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In my search for the best xiao long bao, I continued my quest by stopping in for lunch at Taipan in the Chinese Cultural Plaza. We came relatively early to beat the lunch rush, but at 11am on a Thursday, it was not crowded and we were seated right away. This place is different from the other dim sum places here, you order off a menu and there are no roaming carts going around the restaurant. This has it's good and bad points; you can see what they have and order exactly what you want, but on the other hand, you don't get the excitement of seeing what treasures the next cart will bring. The restaurant is very clean and the service was quick. We ordered 5 dishes as follows: 1. Shrimp har gau - these were just ok. The ones at Legend are superior because they had chopped chunks of shrimp which were very fresh and flavorful, whereas the har gau here is filled with shrimp paste. It was a bit bland, but doctored with hot mustard and shoyu, it was fine. 2. Shu mai - I can't complain about these... they were on the small side and a bit dry, but the flavor was there and it was ok. 3. Fried taro puffs - very good! Not greasy, very crispy, with a delightful crunch and tasty pork filling in the center. 4. Steamed chive dumpling - I loved these, the skins were not too thick, they were filled with chives and pork and had a good texture and flavor. 5. Xiao long bao - ok! I haven't found the best yet, sadly.... these were very small, did not have much soup in them, and were just like the shumai except in a different wrapper. Maybe because I'm expecting perfection from watching too many YouTube videos, but I just haven't found the perfect soup dumpling yet. These were just ok. Overall, I had no complaints with the food or service and would definitely come back again. A solid 3 stars. Park in the attached garage and be sure to have your parking ticket validated. read more

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If you are expecting to see the dim sum carts rolling around, forget it! You won't. This restaurant is packed, I mean packed to the gills with tables there is hardly room to walk. OK, I'm off my soap box now!!! Here are my skinnies!!! 1) Located in the Cultural Plaza.BUT you'd better darn well know where you're going or you will walk the entire plaza before finding them. (Helpful hint: if you park in the Cultural Plaza parking structure, take elevator to ground/street level. Once you get your bearings, walk north, turn west and you will see them. If you park outside, you can walk north from Beretania or west from Kukui) 2) There is a sign in sheet so look for it, and please sign in OR ELSE, you will get left behind in the people dust. (Helpful hint: sign in sheet directly right on the boxes as you enter. Don't waste your time walking to the cashier or you may lose your place in line or you could end up in a verbal altercation with someone who attempts to cut in line or, didn't know about the sign in protocol) 3) Best you order ALL your dishes at one time or you may lose track of your order or, they may lose track or you (or your order) 4) Dim Sum is HUGE; compared to many dim sum places in the Honolulu Chinatown area. 5) Prices very reasonable BUT remember!!! You get what you pay for. (Helpful hint: If you believe that customer service may outweigh the quality of the food; you are wrong) 6) Personal facilities (ie restrooms) is a definite No-No so keep this in mind prior to and after your meal (Helfpul hint= walk down this hallway to restrooms not kept clean. so there!) My dining partner and I order the same thing each time we have dim sum and I will say the food was okay but I've had better. (Helpful hint- chicken feet must be warm/hot. Be wary and check before you eat. Our order was under a warmer and it appeared to have been sprinkled with star anise dust prior to coming out to us) Dim sum was warm and some, not cooked/steamed all the way through so check on that. Kudos to the lady servers who work their little okoles off working the floor. Kudos to the regular dining patrons who knew I was visiting Taipian for the first time and gave me helpful hints to get through my meal. read more

Located on the first floor of Chinese Cultural Plaza, Tai Pan has some of the freshest dim sum!! PARKING: park in their structure. I got mine validated when I went on a Sunday to pick up takeout and it was free for that first hour. FOOD: I phone ordered pork siu mai, taro gok, shrimp har gow and custard tarts. This is probably some of the freshest dim sum that I have ever had. Very clean tasting. PRICE: Price was reasonable. I think that it was comparable to other dim sum places. Loved that I could phone order. Shoutout to Christy - she is the bomb and is super nice and helpful! Cheers to Tai Pan Dim Sum in Chinese Cultural Plaza! Go visit them for fresh dim sum! read more

I haven't been here in a while. The dim sum is still very good. It's authentic Chinese dim sum and my parents love coming to this restaurant. My favorites are the shrimp dumpling, black bean spare rib, and fried shrimp. It's one of the few places that offer three style cake. You get one each of turnip, taro, and water chestnut. It's pan fried and so delicious. I always order the three style cake when dining here. read more

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First time eating here with some friends from Hawaii Chinese Mission Church. Lunch time is very busy though. Everything was delectable even the Chicken feet, mmm oishi! read more

3.5 stars Came here for weekday lunch, so we found a seat easily, its not crazy like the weekends. We ordered the seaweed roll, hargau, deep fried taro ball, on choy with garlic, and beef brisket noodle. I liked everything just fine, i think my favorite was the seaweed roll and the deep fried taro puff, i always order those 2 things anywhere i go. The ong choy was cooked perfectly and had nice texture and flavor. My brother and friend always get the beef brisket noodle, it was pretty good, the brisket had a lot of parts that tasted like tendon, which was very tender and gelatinous; so good. It was nice to have a starch instead of just dim sum so i think we ordered a good mix of things, some dim sum, some veggies, some noodles. The good thing about Tai Pan is that they have a menu that you order from, most with pics, so you don't have to wait for the proper cart to come by. It makes the ordering process easier and you get what you want quicker instead of waiting for just the right cart to come by your table. Tai Pan is located in the Cultural Plaza in China Town, so you can park in the parking lot for a few bucks an hour, i forget how much but its just a few bucks for an hour or 2 with validation. I think there are a few better places in Hawaii for Dim Sum, but u won't be disappointed with Tai Pan by any means. read more

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This is my backup place for dim sum if it's early in the morning and Legend Seafood hasn't opened. The restaurant opens early and is good for takeout, but has its regulars. There is ample seating and is a great place to grab breakfast. They have the basics, but their jook, dumplings, and look fun seem to fall a little short of the top dim sum restaurants in the area. However, if you're looking for early morning takeout for some jook, baked char siu bao, and basics, then this is your go to place. read more

Ever since they have a new owner ( I think above 2 years ), their food has improved a lot. It is busy all the time now.

Good to be back here after several years!! Go for plenty of the steamed shrimp dumpling and the same with chives!!!

Been coming here for a while, 2018 prices went up like everywhere else. Getting good dim sum here is a hit or miss. sometimes it been siting in the seamer for a while, other times it's just made. They have a fried turnip dish but I prefer the Fried taro. it's usually cooked to order but it's a little oily, the taro gak, if you can get it hot out of the fryer is great, along with the mochi rice. Another hit or miss is the beef tendon noodle, the broth is different every time I had it. The shrimp dumpling and the pork hash dim sum is great. Not keen on the beef ball. Service is so so, a lot of times you would have to flag them down to get mustard or water. They don't push around carts like other dim sum places where you can look at what they are offering but they do have pictures on their menu. read more

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Super disappointed with this place. My husband and I love dim sum and he remembers going to this place awhile ago and highly recommended it. Safe to say it was not the same. The food was okay; some of the items cold from sitting out for too long. I ordered the safe items that I knew I would like along with something new I had recently taken a liking to. I did not like it here. The service was probably the worst thing out of anything, it would always take us a long time to get someone's attention to either order or get the bill. I'm not one to call out from across the room to get a servers attention, but here you really had to in order to get any service. Overall this is not a place I would recommend. There are many other dim sum places in Chinatown and would probably go somewhere else. read more

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My sister called me to say that she wanted to have dim sum this morning so we agreed to meet in Chinatown. As usual, the Sunday family crowds were out in force at our "regular" spot so she suggested we go to Tai Pan. Even though we've dined here before in years past, we stopped going here because we felt that their food quality had gone downhill. However, my sister insisted they had improved. We were seated relatively quickly as the restaurant wasn't really busy but there were enough patrons already dining so it gave us "hope" that our experience wouldn't be too bad. There were a couple of waitresses on duty who recognized us and greeted us with friendly demeanor. Now, if I haven't said this before, I'm going to say this "Chinese dim sum service is like Fast Food". Tai Pan does not serve their dim sum from steamer carts! You're given a menu or you can cast your gaze upon the huge menu boards on their walls to order from. My sister had been raving about some dishes that she had had here before as we proceeded to order our usual dim sum dishes. Uh, fortunately, there were 3 of us as we ordered the following. - Steamed Pork and shrimp dumplings (Siu Mai) - Crystal-skin shrimp dumplings/bonnets (Har Gau) - Shrimp Fun Gor - Lean salty Pork with Century egg congee - Chinese crullers or yàuhjagwái (油炸鬼), an accompaniment to the congee - Steamed fish cake balls served on head lettuce The waitresses brought each steaming hot dish to our table and jokingly said they'd be ready to help pack up the leftovers so we could snack later in the evening. Um, NOT HAPPENING! The food disappeared as my sister and I fed our "food babies". My skinny husband said he was so full that he could see the food from behind his eyes. All in all, the food had good flavor, generous sized portions and was priced right. The only slight drawback was the crystal-skinned items were a bit thick but not so distractingly. We'd still return for more of their dim sum. read more

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Dropped in on a Sunday to eat lunch. Place was busy but seats turned over without much waiting. When you walk in immediately to your right is the dessert case filled with the delicious pastry like jin dui and custard. Their Jin dui is hearty when you bite in to it with just the right amount of ahn (black bean) and mochi. Not too greasy too. Lots of variety of dim sum dishes and other dishes to order as well. Service is polite and attentive. They have the system down and it looks like there are lots of repeat customers that are patrons here. Hint:Depending on where you park, you can ask them to validate your parking ticket with a stamp. Ended up paying $1.50 after parking in the covered lot with the attendant. Fair is fair heard there was another dim sum restaurant around the corner that is popular, but stop by and give this place a try. Food was good and the service was as well. read more

Tai Pan Dim Sum - Dim sum - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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1:45pm. Lunch crowd clearing out. Maggie wanted baked bbq pork buns. Had a bad feeling seeing the buns in big display case near front door. Buns were cold. Likely cooked when dim sum service began and sitting in the display case since then. Pastry and bbq pork filling lacked that fresh flavor explosion I look for in dim sum. Inner pastry was getting slimy from too much contact with filling. Dish had potential to be good as the little cube's of char sui weren't bad. 1:55pm. No desire to try ordering more dim sum now cold from sitting out. Tried mango dessert. Nice cold dessert. Blend of flavors from mango and coconut milk tasty. Place might be good for dim sum at the start of dim sum service but not at 2pm. read more

Tai Pan Dim Sum - baked char sui boa - Dim Sum Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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They have the best dim sum in Chinese cultural plaza and price is very reasonable the owner very friendly

poor poor service! And not checking vaccination cards. This place should shut down also for being filthy, food is over priced too. read more

Friendly staff, good service and the food is yummy. I wanted to get some coconut jin dui for my husband to take to Kauai for his mom (she loves them) but alas - none today. Instead, I got a few bean paste Jin dui, coconut mochi balls, and custard tartlets, and hope she will be pleased with them. read more

They must be the real deal, because there were a lot of Chinese-speaking people in this place when I visited them recently one Sunday afternoon. That is a good way to gauge the authenticity of a Chinese restaurant. The first thing that came to mind when I made my way to our table was "I hope there is not a fire while we're here". They cram as many tables and chairs in the dining area as possible. Definitely not ADA compliant, and probably not up to fire code either. My guess it that because they leave so little space between chairs, they cannot offer the dim sum cart service. Instead, you order from the waitress and they bring everything to your table. As for the food, it was a-ok. I particularly liked the house noodles, which was similar to gon lo mein (dry noodles). They other dim sum dishes that we ordered were run of the mill and up to par. What I didn't particularly like was how they forgot to deliver two dim sum dishes that we ordered. I didn't pay the bill and I hope they didn't charge us for those items. Maybe that's why I prefer the dim sum places where they come around with the carts. With that method of service, I'm assured to only get charged for what I consume. I think next time I'll opt for Legends, which is right across the mall from Tai Pan. read more

This is one of our favorite Dim Sum places. The menu is good and the Dim Sum is brought steaming hot. Skip the silly carts that aren't always hot and go directly to with the custom order. Shaolin Dumplings are fantastic and prices are fair. read more

I came here for the first time with some friends who were in town for a few days. Just like most Chinese restaurants, I don't expect good service and this place didn't disappoint. It was pretty bad and because I understand Cantonese, it was even worse. We were trying to flag down a waitress so we could order food and the one lady didn't seem to care and bounced our table to her colleague who ended up ignoring us!!! So instead, we had that initial waitress finally come to our table. Keep in mind it was still 8:45am on a weekday morning. The food was marginal. Nothing great. As a matter of fact, of the many dim sum dishes we ordered, there wasn't a dish that made me want to come back here. I was highly disappointed for their fish balls. We ordered this because someone else did and it looked good but no fish flavor at all - overpowered by Chinese parsley and tangerine peel so it was BLAND. Their fried daikon cake came with a pool of oil and so unappetizing. We also had their rice soup which also had NO flavor. The only 2 dishes I enjoyed: steamed spareribs and shrimp look funn roll. The chili sauce on the table was the standard one. I was hoping for something homemade. With bad service and sub par food, I don't think I'll be back here again. read more

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Food is so so, if you didn't eat great dim sum before. Service is very bad. If yelp allow me to give negative star, I will give them negative 3. We called to pick up dim sum, and they told us 15 minutes to be ready . We went there after 20 minutes, and foods did not not ready. They needed to make it now. The stupid owner said that foods need time to prepare. If foods went out, we needed to wait for them to cook. Why they accept phone orders? People call take out because they don't want to spend time to wait for it. They give the owner to have to prepare it, so they can pick up food when they arrive. I don't understand what the owner think. Also, the waitress keep walk around and ignore you. Whole restaurant is running by stupid people. You should ignore this restaurant. More good place for dim sum in Chinatown. read more