We (18 of us) came here for a family dim sum lunch without reservations at 11am on a Saturday and was 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. read more

See all

Came to Tai Yuan for lunch on a Friday and was pleasantly surprised by how smooth everything went. 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. read more

Tai Yuan - I was so hungry that I forgot to take a photo first! - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

Alas, fare thee well! (Oh, I guess that took care of the "food" criteria of my review.) (And this took care of the service portion!) Ambiance was good on the last day too - lots of customers as it was packed and busy even on the weekday! We shall see what the next evolution will be for this spot. read more

See all

Tai Yuan is my go to dim sum place. It's five minutes away from my house and their food is amazing! I always tend to order too much because everything tastes so good. My go to's are spareribs with black bean sauce, pork siomai, har gow, fried taro and sticky rice. What can I say I'm a basic b. Their salt and pepper tofu is also cooked to perfection. The restaurant is fairly large so we never have trouble getting seated. If you want a no frills dim sum place this is the place to go! read more

I've been here so many times when I was younger when they still had carts pushed around for dim sum. This was my grandmas favorite placed to get dim sum and her hidden gem where it doesn't get too crowded where you'll have to wait for a table. Also a plus is there's a lot of parking. I came here with a party of 4 and we ordered: 1. Eggplant Shrimp: This was one of my favorite dim sums while in Hong Kong and it isn't found as commonly here. Only a few places actually make it and I thought Tai Yuan does a decent job! The flavor was there and the size of the shrimp and eggplant was very generous. It doesn't hold together as well as in HK but it was good enough to satisfy my craving. 2. Roasted Duck Buns: I thought this was just okay. It's a really good deal for the price instead of having to buy an entire duck and instead just getting the pieces to share however it was like 90% bao and I could barely taste the duck. 3. Siu Mai: These Siu Mai's were HUGE! So worth it and it's super flavorful. They're one of the best. 4. Pork Roll: really good with a fair amount of filling. Nice and flakey. 5. Ha Gao: Also super huge with a good amount of shrimp. 6. Shrimp Roll: Silky wrap around large shrimp. Really good flavor. 7: E-mein: Huge portion and we were so full it was hard to finish it all with the 4 of us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall, you definitely get more bang for your buck compared to some of the more expensive dim sum places like HK lounge and Koi palace. The quality is good and there isn't a huge line trying to get in. They have a massive menu not just dim sum. It's definitely a hidden gem. read more

See all

Regular ole restaurant, no carts, standard service but food is good. Great Hargow Siu mai Eggplant with shrimp Turnip cake Egg tart Sticky rice Good Tripe Custard bun Bbq pork bun Bbq pork Crispy pork, not crispy Bean curd roll Ha cheung. Shrimp rice roll read more

Tai Yuan - Menu June 2023 - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

The food was delicious and the service was great and the price was reasonable. It was a weekday so the place was not overly crowded. Would Definitely dine there again!! read more

See all

Came here for a wedding banquet. The food overall tastes just average and the portions I felt were on the smaller side. The best tasting dishes in my opinion were the sea bass dish and the pea spouts under the abalone and mushroom dish. It's a small restaurant so the tables were super crowded. There wasn't a lot of ventilation so the restaurant got really hot. I'm sure the wait staff did their best that night (the banquet was quite lit ) but our table didn't get water, any wedding cake, or the red bean soup dessert. Other tables got it but we didn't. read more

See all

One of the old dim sum seafood restaurants in Daly City. This one is in the Classic bowling strip mall with plenty of parking usually. Been coming here forever with my family for lunch and dinner. Using because its not to busy for some reason idk why because the food is f'n so good. Yes it might not be as fancy and big name like Koi Palace and Palette tea house but its still really really good with a good price. The decor is a little dated so if you are trying to impress your date lol maybe this isn't it for the first date. Anyways support them i heard they aren't renewing their lease after this year. Greedy landlords are at it again!!!!! read more

See all

Arrived on Saturday at 12:30, waited for 10 minutes and was seated. Flavors were really good. Favorites were the rice rolls and congee. Har gow good flavor but the skin was soggy. Siu Mak large size and fresh. Not too loud and not as dirty as some dim sum restaurants. read more

Tai Yuan - Duck chin with Maggie sauce - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

Nothing special and I don't think I would recommend this place. It's not your greatest atmosphere. Dirty old rugs and looks like restaurant needs a deep cleaning and a remodel. You order off of a menu that is written so small it's hard to see. Not crowded since we got there early. It's old and very noisey considering it wasn't packed. Service is mediocre. We ordered 4 dim sum plates and an order of chow fun. The dim sum was just okay, nothing to rave about. The chow fun was good but beef was tough. The lunch cost us $25 per person for a total of $75 for this lunch! read more

See all

I visited Tai Yuan with a group of friends to enjoy their dim sum. Parking was easy, and ordering was through a menu rather than on carts. Make sure to double-check your items because they sometimes forget your items or mismark, so keep your eyes on the tab! We ordered quite a few items that included: - pork spare ribs - yummy! not too much fat, and mostly meat. Delicious! - cheung fun (BBQ pork & shrimp rice noodles) - the standard - fried turnip cake, custard bun, BBQ Pork Bun - well made & nostalgic - sticky rice - The wrapped one (long mai gai) had wax paper as well, which really helped the peeling; loved it! The regular sticky rice was as expected, not too special. - Malay style ma lai go - Interesting take on the sponge cake, a nice dessert with an egg custard layer. - Garlic chicken - just okay; tender fried chicken with hints of garlic I liked Tai Yuan's unique items that I hadn't ever tried, and I'll likely be returning the next time that I visit the bay area. read more

See all

Tai Yuan Seafood has been my favorite place to get dim sum in San Mateo County near the Daly City and South San Francisco area for years. Driving to San Francisco or Cupertino or Santa Clara feels like an ordeal to me, so Tai Yuan is the easiest, most pleasant way to get my dim sum fix. *** Pro Tip *** You can order off the Steamed Dim Sum menu at night. No carts or full dim sum menu, but most of my favorite dim sum dishes are steamed anyway. There's about 20 choices. At dinnertime, you'll have to request the dim sum menu because the dinner menu is brought out by default. When I have ordered dim sum at night, neighboring tables take notice! I have heard them commenting on 2 separate visits. Last time I went was Sunday, 11/28/22. I think another Yelp Elite, Elaine Y, might have written about me and my friend's dinner! I wasn't fast and organized enough to take a photo of the current dim sum menu after turning it in to the server, but one unique choice was Black and Gold Custard Buns as a dessert option. I thought the server would bring back the menu to allow us to order more, but maybe the restaurant now prefers you to order in one go. You mark the paper menu with your choices. Here are my favorite steamed dim sum dishes: - Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf - Steamed Bean Curd Skin Roll - Beef Tripe with Ginger and Onion - Chiu Chow Dumpling - Steamed Taro Dumpling - Shanghai Dumpling - Steamed Beef Ball During lunchtime with the full dim sum menu, I like these additional dishes: - Pan Fried Chive Dumplings - Boiled Big Clam (typo of "Blam" under Chef Special menu) - Deep Fried Pumpkin with Salty Egg Yolk - Baked Taro Bun (dessert) - Sweet Bean Curd (tofu pudding dessert; douhua, Dou Fu Hua) For the noodle lovers at dim sum, try one of these: - Bean Sprout Chow Mein - Sauteed Rice Vermicelli in Home Style (a.k.a. Hometown Style Vermicelli Noodle) - Sauteed Rice Cake Tai Yuan has an above average selection of hot tea. You're not just limited to the typical house tea, black tea, or green tea. You can choose Pu Erh, Oolong, Chrysanthemum, or Jasmine. Sadly, you have to pay for tea per person, but that's the Bay Area for you. Attractive large restaurant. The servers are dressed formally in suits. You could host a wedding banquet or family dinner here. There are banquet menu option. You can order live seafood here. Parking can be a bit tight at times given the the restaurant shares the parking lot with Manila Oriental Market, Classic Bowling Center, and other restaurants. Tai Yuan is a lovely restaurant for an authentic Chinese dinner. I love your menu: The easiest menu to read and to photograph, which made me love you even more!!! Go spend your yuan at Tai Yuan. read more

See all

Very typical dim sum restaurant - the decor and furniture are pretty old and the service is hard to locate. We asked twice for water before we actually received anything. Instead of rolling carts, they give you a paper menu when they seat you and have you mark the quantity of whatever you'd like from the menu. Sometimes they do have staff come by with various food on trays (usually pork bbq buns or egg custard tarts) and ask you if you'd like any. I was surprised that they charged us for tea when we got the bill since most dim sum restaurants usually give that for free. The food was worth it though, everything we ordered tasted exactly like I remember traditional restaurants tasting like as a kid. We got the shumai, chicken feet, pork buns, shrimp dumplings, and egg custard tarts. read more

See all

've been to Tai Yuan before but it definitely has been awhile. They have a great selection of dim sums, chow mein, and fried rice. It is a great place for families or friends to get together and have lunch on Sunday. My favorite is the pig blood, siu mai, and the pan fried stuff eggplant. It came out to $200 for 4 people which is about right for these days. Service here was great. We were a party of four but two people came about 15min later and they still seated us which was great. read more

My friend and I ate here on a Sunday evening for some dim sum. The ambiance was quite impressive with their red and gold motif. It shows that this location is an institution for dim sum and traditional Chinese cuisine in Daly City. We were immediately seated and offered some Jasmine Tea. If you're here for Dim Sum, make sure to ask for the separate menu to select your items. From the Dim Sum menu, we ordered steamed BBQ Pork Buns, Steamed Onion & Chives Buns and Shrimp Dumplings (Ha Cao). From the regular menu, we opted to have their Beef with String Beans. All steamed items had even portions of fillings and were freshly steamed out of their steamer. The string beans were still crisp, not greasy and the steak slices were medium well, tender and soft. In terms of service, don't expect too much but make sure to ask for what you need. My friend and I were impressed with their food and we will be back again when we are in the area again! read more

See all

Alert! Dim Sum cheating!!! I ordered 5 dishes but I was charged 6 dishes: what got me suspicious was not providing a detailed receipt? I went back to ask to verify my final bill- I saw 6 dishes instead of 5 dishes so I questioned? This employee got super upset at me to get caught cheating: He told me: we are busy & don't come back again... My sister was with me - she went to ask him what is wrong? I did not escalate the situation by waiting for my bill again: only $9 dollars difference but he warned me of NOT GOING BACK again. I paid my tip since my server did not do anything wrong. Please very careful to count your dishes before you paid at this bad restaurant... read more

Tai Yuan - Dim sum cheating - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

Good dim sum. The liver and chicken stir fry is good but not standard dim sum fare. The char siu is a bit sweet but very good. Har Gao and shu mai are pretty good and standard fare. read more

See all

Service is awful here. I gave them ZERO TIPS and they actually ran out after I left to question if I forgot to tip. I guess next time I should be more purposeful and leave them $0.02 for my TWO CENTS! Tai Yuan is located in a rundown tired and dirty looking plaza. The interior of this restaurant probably hasn't been updated since the 80's but we came for the dim sum so let's talk about the menu. There's a lot of stuff listed with plenty of standard dim sum choices and most items are tagged as L for $6.58 or K for $8.68. More interesting stir fry's are on the back but they range from $16.98 for standard beef chow fun to $24.98 for something called flat noodle soup with boiled beef sirloin. They need pictures for a better menu experience. Our waiter kept pushing a fish dish recommendation -- that was about the only time we ever got service. I really hate having to flag a person down, especially multiple times. You can see my pic collage for everything we ordered, along with our check and dim sum menu with items we selected. Somehow the steamed egg yolk bun we ordered never arrived and nobody bothered to tell us what happened. It was confusing to count up the number of items we ordered when the bill arrived and having to be an accountant as part of my dining experience really takes away the enjoyment. Taste was standard. Portions were average. Tea price is $1.50 per person. Total bill was $122.95 and definitely not worth that price. Just for reference, 4 standard shrimp dumplings cost $6.58! You might as well head to Ranch99 down the street to get your shrimp dumplings to go for a lot cheaper!! read more

See all

This place was great. I did not expect it to be that good, but they kind of shocked me. Note: when I took a photo of the shrimp, we had already eaten out of it. Not pictured, but the Crab Meat E-Fu Noodles were amazing. Very well seasoned and flavored. The texture was soft and chewy in a great way. Such satisfying bites with those noodles. One of the best I have had. The honey walnut shrimp was spectacular. It was very warm, had a nice texture, and tasted great. I have never had honey walnut shrimp that was that warm before when served. It's usually cooled down. This was awesome. In addition, the flavor was not too strong. A comfortable amount of mayonnaise was used. Very easy to eat. Sweet flavor. The roast duck was quite good. Good flavor and texture. The texture was the best part about the duck. Very tender. The flavor was not super salty, which I liked. There is not a lot of seasoning. It is on the lighter side. I suppose you could eat more if it is less salty. I prefer a pinch more saltiness. The duck was definitely too oily. There was so much oil. That was the downside. read more

Tai Yuan - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

See all

Tai Yuan Seafood Restaurant is located in the same shopping center as the Classic Bowling Center in Daly City. It's actually right across the parking lot from it. The shopping center itself is kind of older, so there's not much to see from the outside. Though once you get inside Tai Yuan, it's your typical Chinese banquet style restaurant, so it's nothing special. It's kind of a long open space area, with a room towards the right side in the back for bigger parties or of course, banquets, though it's not a very big room considering the outside space. The menu here is also your typical Chinese banquet style restaurant. Service here was pretty good today, no complaints. The food here we had today as a part of a banquet style dinner was okay. While the ingredients of all of the dishes today were pretty good, all of the flavors of the dishes were actually kind of bland, at least for my tastes. The quantity of everything was decent since there were roughly 10 person a table. Wow, I'm already done writing? Definitely one of my shortest reviews, but hey, there wasn't really a whole lot I wanted to talk about that hasn't already been mentioned. It's an okay place. Nothing spectacular, nothing terrible. read more

See all

Just decent Cantonese Chinese food. Not much to say. Location is not the greatest, wouldn't have choose to eat here if not someone has already chosen this place. The food is mediocre, the restaurant looks very outdated. read more

HERE FOR THE DIM SUM It's so damn delicious! Tai Yuan is that old school feel Chinese (Cantonese to be specific) restaurant where families gather to share a meal and pour tea. It's one of the few traditional and authentic Cantonese style restaurants remaining in California. It's affordable, portion sizes are solid, and they serve real DIM SUM - not just XLB. The restaurant is located in an older part of South SF, in an Asian community strip mall that includes a bowling alley, hair salon, soup noodle restaurant, bakery, and grocery store. There's so much variety and the dishes come out fast. Service is generally attentive, but don't expect people to serve you with a silver spoon..it's not that type of place. Took off 1 star because the place could be cleaner. read more

See all

Authentic Cantonese food. Dim sum better than most others. Might not be the most expensive or fancy but good Cantonese food. Dinner is also good. Highly recommended. read more

I really feel for this place - Pre-pandemic this was a pretty popular go to for a rather budget friendly banquet dinner. Two-almost-three years later? We were the only table for most of the evening... We started our meal with a lean pork and turtle soup. I know, I know...it's a turtle and I also wasn't too excited by the premise but I now also understand why my mom said its a warming fall soup. It was pleasantly sweet with a herbal/earthy afternote. Apparently it's also a good source of collagen. For entrees, we ordered a decent variety including the honey citron pork spareribs, braised goose with taro, garlic pea shoots, sea cucumber clay pot, beef niblets with onions, baked sea bass, and sticky rice stuffed fried chicken. Everything was pretty good. Nothing was particularly outstanding but it's kind of what you get for the price. Still, it was nice to sit down for a banquet style dinner again instead of ordering a ton of plates to-go. Our table of 10 certainly ate out fill and had a little leftover as well. They did give us dessert on the house. I still have a love hate relationship with red bean soup lol. I hope business can pick up for them again soon! PS, they serve dim sum all day apparently...the adjacent table to us had a table full of it instead of dinner entrees. read more

Service is very quick. The noodles were a bit too salty for me but everything else dim sum wise was great. read more

Tai Yuan - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

See all

Haven't been back since pre-pandemic times, but decided to drop in after a grocery run with the family on a Saturday morning. There were few people inside so we were seated immediately. The attendant asked which tea we wanted (gok boh) and a sheet of paper was given to us so we could mark down what items we wanted. All the food pretty much came at once after the attendant took it. Surprisingly the serving size of each item was larger than the previous times I went. The har gow was filled with shrimp, although the skin was easily torn apart. Unlike other places you have to ask for soy sauce and pepper so keep that in mind and they give you so little pepper. read more

Tai Yuan - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

Good quality food! All dishes we ordered were delicious. Recommend the chicken, pepper beef dish, and the Bak Choy dishes! Service were good and fast too! Will visit again if we are in the neighborhood. read more

See all

Got seated really quickly and the food came out really quick! I would say most of the food was just okay, but it came out hot and fresh. Slightly bland on the chicken feet and ribs. read more

See all

Ordered a couple dishes on Saturday for Chinese new year family dinner. Food was ready right on time. It was delicious. We actually drove all the way from San Jose because we like these two dishes that much. Additionally, there's a Chinese delicatessen close by where you can get duck and roast pork and other specialties. Highly recommend it for takeout and eating in once the pandemic is over. read more

Tai Yuan - Smoked sea bass - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

See all

Very good food. Everything was amazing. Especially their Peking duck that comes with the buns and hoi Sean sauce. The beef ribs with fried punkin was bomb too, never tried on as good as this one. A must try. Very large parking outside through out the place. Was worth the wait in line to get in. read more

Tai Yuan - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

This place has been one of my favorites since day 1. (20+ years now) as you might imagine I really appreciate the friendly smiles that i see when i go this place. The food is great, the kitchen is clean and i have no complaints over all of these years. Wonderful people and great food what more could you ask for? read more

Dim sum is a Chinese meal made up of small plates of dumplings and other small servings and is usually accompanied by tea. Some also refer to it as yum cha. It's been awhile since we've come here. I believe they were only serving "to go" during the pandemic. They've been open for dine in and we came after 1pm on a Saturday. There was ample parking and the place was not full. We really hoped that food was going to be good since the other two dim sum places we revisited in the peninsula this last several months were a disappointment. The menu is a piece of paper where you mark your order. Our waiter was helpful when we could not find some items on the menu. We had pork shiu mai (pork dumplings), sticky rice in lotus leaf which had a whole salted egg yolk in it, spareribs with black bean sauce, deep fried lobster salad dumpling served with mayo dip, deep fried taro, steamed BBQ pork bun, and Chinese broccoli. All these were served still hot and you can tell they were all freshly made. The food was tasty and not greasy. The tea was on the house and complemented our meal. Tai Yuan did not disappoint when it came to food quality. read more

This place is as good as it gets for this area. You don't have to drive to Chinatown or Clement. This is the OG dim sum place in DC, and if you know then you know. Food is great and comes out piping hot, the way it should be. The prices are fair. The servers are always nice and courteous. They are hard workers and I respect that. For that, I show my appreciation to them from my tips. The location is very convenient. You really can't go wrong coming here. I prefer this place over Dim Sum King at Skyline Plaza. Parking can be a bit tough on the weekends but you can find it. It's a good idea to park outside the plaza too. read more

My family chose this restraunt for a repast meal after a funeral. The experience was quite sad indeed. This restraunt was chosen due to its close proximity to our service, but here, you have to trade convenience for quality. I would detest the idea of returning even if our meal was paid for. We ordered a variety of food including the BBQ Combo, Sauteed Lobster, Peking Ribs, Beef Steak w/ Onion, as well as a Fish Maw w/ Crab Meat Soup and a few other dishes. The ribs and steak were tender and flavorful, and the soup looked rather unappetizing but tasted acceptable. The other dishes were less memorable. Service was mediocre, and while the staff wasn't rude, you'd have to constantly ask for tea and rice (both of which are staples at a Chinese restauraunt). Rice didn't even make it to our table until three entrees had already arrived. It's typical for large family style Chinese restraunts to include foods with a lot of bones and shells, so it's only natural that your soiled plates are replaced. Not here. The most concerning part of the visit was a trip to the restroom. It was unkempt to say the least, as there was urine all over the floor. For everyone's sake, I have decided not to include pictures. But if the bathroom looks like that, just imagine the kitchen... read more

Just went during COVID. Delicious. They currently have a 5 dollar discount Monday to Friday only for a whole roast duck. Price goes from 24.95 to $19.95. read more

Tai Yuan - Half House Special Chicken, Half Roast Duck - Seafood Near Me - Daly City, California

Came here on a Monday night for dinner. Good food. We ordered Peking duck, spicy salt crab, house special HK pan fried noodles, pea sprouts, garlic fried ribs, and walnut prawns. Everything was delicious. The walnut prawns were crispy. Peking duck skin was perfect nice and crispy. Serive was excellent. Lots of parking. read more

See all

I have always come here for dim sum with the family. It is pretty typical of a dim sum restaurant. The food is pretty good and their selection is standard. The prices are average as well. Getting a variety of steamed items are the way to get a well rounded meal mixed in with some of their special kitchen items. Aside from their dim sum items, everything else seems to be extra salty. The service is typical and usually helpful. Seating can be a little strange at times as they try to squeeze families into the restaurant. It can get a little crowded on weekend mornings but I would still recommend coming in with friends and or family. read more

See all

Decent selections of DimSum, lunch options. Taste was Average, nothing really stuck out. Reasonable prices. Typical service from Chinese resturant. It's a hit or miss with your server. We were seated right next to the kitchen, so it was easy to grab anyone's attention. It's an older establishment, so don't expect nice decor and atmosphere. Parking wasn't too bad, there's enough parking spaces in the lot and street parking is also plenty read more

Crowded and busy weekends. Then again, there is a good reason for that. Good and tasty dim sum at reasonable prices. If you speak Cantonese, you can even ask for other specials tat are not menu-listed. Call in to make a reservation if you don't want to wait. There is grocery shopping and bakeries nearby after you park your vehicle. read more