Servers asking for more tips and I think is pretty rude to do so. Their script is "I believe there is a math error. You tip under 10%". If you ever encounter this, don't be intimidated and believe in your calculations. read more

The Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

This dim sum place was packed on a Sunday morning which proves my rule - get there by 10:30am on a Sunday morning if you want a table at any dim sum or more correctly called 飲茶 drinking tea place even if the place is only okay (3 stars). We got the last table at 10:33. 2 of the 4 things we got was good and the other 2 was so so mostly because they had been sitting out a while before being served. If they had timed it better, they would have been great. Like most Cantonese food. Most dim sum has about a 10 minute window within which it's great, and they it falls off rapidly. read more

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TLDR: Still great food! This is one of the old-fashioned traditional Chinese restaurants, both in terms of food AND service. So let's get it out of the way, YES service is bad. The REAL big HK-style restaurants are NOTORIOUS for inattentive waiters, brusque attitudes, and LOUD atmosphere. But there are tricks you can do to get what you want... And I'll share them with you, RIGHT after these messages... Hah! Anyway, I read some of the previous reviews, and one reviewer was confused by how tea works. You only ever get the one tea bag. When you ask for refill, they take the teapot back and then just refill it with hot water. So yes, you can do it yourself with your own hot water! Trick #1, BEST way to grab a waiter's attention without constantly waving your arms and being annoying is, to flip the teapot lid open. Waiters are trained to spot those and immediately come to grab them. Use that chance to also order whatever else you need! I came here for dinner, and pretty much everything was delicious. I loved the peking spareribs, although I would have preferred them to be boneless. Having to grab what looks like a BIG piece, only for it to be 50% bone is a bit disappointing. But I really like their sauce, not too sweet, a bit tangy, a bit caramel-y. Altogether delicious. The squab had a crunchy skin and surprisingly tender meat. Now Trick #2. If the restaurant is SUPER crowded (like this one always is), get a pen and preferrably paper, but if no paper, a napkin is suitable. Write down your own bill of what you want to eat. Then flag down a passing waiter, and give him the paper. Yeah sounds like you are doing their work for them, but really... it's like 3 waiters in a room of about 40 tables. You want to get in and out before the next full moon, right?? They gave us a free dessert, maybe because we were a big table. YMMV. I don't really like Chinese desserts, especially the red bean variety, but everyone else said it was good. And yes I am an ABC, but my wife is from HK. So believe her when she says this is one of the better Chinese seafood restaurants in the Bay Area! Trick #3: This sometimes works. You don't need to reserve like a week in advance, but obviously it helps. But if you do decide to make a spur of the moment decision and go, at least call an hour in advance and make a reservation. They will squeeze you in before the walk-ins. Especially if you have a larger party (6+). That's all! Hopefully these will help you get in and out faster at a crazy busy HK Chinese Restaurant! read more

Amazing dim sum and legit Cantonese food. The best pork bun I've had, better than the ones in Hong Kong which is saying a lot. The texture on the crust was so thin but held it's shape even when bitten into. Fluffy bun and flavorful meat. The other food was great as well. read more

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I had my daughter order takeout 1st dish ordered was a disaster,fish claypot was unbelievable with fish scales throughout along with little fish pieces laden with bones...wtf The next dish was some pork stir fry ....equally disgusting I'd do a double take b4 ordering from them again read more

I always saw this place but never stop by Thank god we finally came it was sooo delicious Staff is super nice and welcoming Service is fast Food was delicious !! I must say this is definitely my go to for dim sum Over all 5 stars I can't wait to come back read more

The Kitchen - Omg why didn't I know this place is here - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

The place looks underwhelming on the outside. However, the food was good and the inside was nice. The price was pretty good for how enjoyable this place is. I come here often. My family (Chinese) loves this place! read more

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You get what you pay for! Good food, good service, good selection! If you can't find something on their menu that you like, then you're in the wrong restaurant and should go back to McDonald's!! read more

This is one of my favorite dim sum place in the Bay Area ! The place is always packed on the weekend so make sure you get there early to secure your spot. All the dishes we ordered were so good ! I love one of the dish especially because not many place make this dish. It's the duck tongues ! ( Ya, I know it's gross to some ppl, but my friends and I love it ! ) The only downside is: the parking is hectic so be prepared to spend 10-15 minutes to find parking spot. read more

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Street parking or public lot next door. Food is average overall. Crispy seafood chow mein was very good with large shrimps, scallops, and fresh bok choy, but noodles were NOT crispy and just soggy slop of noodle with seafood over it. Chicken feet in black bean average. Shrimp dumplings and scallop dumplings were good and steamed hot. Soup dumplings were average. Deep fried Taro dumplings below average, oily, cold, and tasted like leftovers. Sesame seed balls average, nothing special. Service was fair, but we came about 2pm close to their staff lunch hour. The restaurant was relatively empty. Suggestion to the restaurant owners to have some wait persons eat earlier so some wait person can do better job serving late customers. 3 stars out of 5. read more

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Authentic dim sum experience, let down only by the taste of the food. Real life carts being pushed around, and if you look between the slats in the carts, you will see flames from what must be Sterno's keeping the dim sum hot and fresh. Very popular with throngs of customers in the small lobby eagerly looking forward to a table opening for them. Taste is fair. Sui mai (pork balls) lacked seasoning. Same with tofu wrapped mushrooms and minced pork--they lacked seasoning and were overly steamed, so much so that they fell apart. Chicken feet were the highlight--succulent and large, actually the largest I have ever enjoyed. Tea is $2 per person. read more

The food was ok. Typical Chinese cuisine. The service was horrible. We were stuck in the corner with a table for 10. Waited for service about 20 minutes until we flagged a couple of server's attention. Even then, the food came out slow. The atmosphere was bright and loud. I would come back here if I had to but I wouldn't go out of my way. Food was not presentable enough for me to want to take any photos of it. read more

The best Chinese food I've had, and I've spent over 60 years in San Francisco, looking for the best Chinese food. Little did I know that it was in Millbrae instead. The soy sauce chow mein tastes like a masterpiece to me. The aroma is perfect and the texture of the super fresh bean sprouts next to the impeccably cooked skinny noodless, some a touch crispy, next to the perfectly julienned scallions is divine. I also never tasted a more elevated version of sweet & sour pork than here: it has the texture of pork belly, perfectly fried, and the sweet and sour sauce has just the tiniest hint of fermented red pepper. So beautiful!. I became addicted to it. I'm aspiring to branch out to the more adventurous dishes. I'll keep you updated if I can stop ordering my favorites above long enough to try. You'll know that you are in the best place if you look around at the clientele. They could afford to go anywhere else, and this place is consistently packed full of regulars. read more

As a Hong Konger coming to SF to work, I have tried many Canton dim sum restaurants including this one. The issues for all of them are obvious: - portion/size is too large. Delicious HK dim sum cannot be prepared in such a large portion/size. A stream dumpling you are supposed to finish it in one bite. Nobody do these kind of big portions in a local HK dim sum restaurant anymore; - preparation of the ingredients appear to be in the era of the 80s, with heavy MSG, chicken powder, oyster sauce etc. The marination is occasionally uneven, with some having strong flavors and some having none. There's some deficiencies in the early stage ingredients preparation procedures; - no fresh ingredient and all are frozen (I can understand that). That's why the taste is very hard to catch-up with real HK authentic high quality dim sum in a local HK restaurant; - the style of cooking is also in the 80s. These strong MSG and oyster sauce with artificial chicken soup taste reminds me of the food I ate when I was a kid. We don't cook with so much MSG anymore; - the spicy sauce to accompany the dim sum are not real spicy sauce that are used in HK. These are probably from the 80s. However, I appreciate having the chance to taste so much of my home grown food whilst in the U.S. I understand the differences and I hope they will continue to improve. read more

Food is consistently tasty. Big size and reasonable priced. Love its wine chicken soup and wasabi pork stomach.

Food was always good , it's one of the best in Millbrae but seating is way too close on every table , I'm not sure if it's against fire code , it make very noisy if you take your fiends & want to have nice dinner or lunch with good chat , good luck ! I haven't been in there for a long long time but pack to go only ! read more

Good food and very quick service. Typical chinese restaurant that if you are regular or know the workers service will be better. If you order steamed dishes, that will take a while. This is one of the restaurants that have been in Milbrae for many years and had up and down moment. The signature dishes are fried pork knuckle and wasabi chicken/pig stomach. read more

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Cannot rate the food, after 45 minutes of waiting I ended up leaving after I was not waited on. Several of the staff walked past and looked at me, however I was not asked if I wanted to order. Very disappointed after such high expectations. read more

5 stars just for the duck alone! The rest of the food was good and service is what you would expect from a legit Chinese restaurant. Parking is absurd, took me 20 minutes to find parking read more

No good, service bad. They don't follow the number to seat you. If the people know the people working on there. They give the table for them right the way. It is very bad. read more

The dim sum here is fresh and the skins on the dumplings are always soft! The shrimp dumplings ( har goW) are giant size too. The seew mai or pork dumpling is fresh and steaming hot . Service is typical for a Chinese restaurant. When crowded the service gets a little crazy. And don't expect to have a waiter or waitress refill your water or ask you how you are. That just isn't the crowded Chinese eatery's style. It's cultural I think. Push and shove and get it yourself is just the way it is. If you even get a table , some food, and it's good that's all you can truly expect. And that's why this dim sum joint is crowded. Food is pretty good. It's not about service. It's not meant to be rude . It's just how it always is. I can say this because I am Chinese albeit a Chinese who is white on the inside as my relatives would say. The crowd here on the weekend is insanity so make sure you put your name on the waiting list and hold tight to the paper number they give you. The hostess wHo is pretty loud will scream your number! Don't run away even though it can be frightening. The dim sum will be worth it. It's Michelin recommended after all. It's an adventure you won't forget. read more

This review is for their dim sum.Hands down the best dim sum place in the Bay Area for me, ranking higher than Koi Palace, Mayflower, Dynasty, Yank Sing. By the way, Yank Sing has terrible prices. The one on Stevenson Street has ridiculously expensive items that are popular among western palates, more expensive than things like chicken feet. Thought I had to get that out of my system that Yank Sing is the biggest dim sum scam I've ever seen. Anyways, The Kitchen is actually part of the Asian Pearl restaurant group. I haven't eaten dim sum at Asian Pearl in so long so I don't know if The Kitchen beats the flagship restaurant. Most things are amazing here, but if I were to pick a top 10 of things to order here, the list would be: 1. Siu mai: best I've ever had 2. Steamed chicken feet (feng zhua) 3. Steamed black bean pork spareribs 4. Steamed sticky rice with Chinese sausage, chicken (lo mai gai) 5. Durian puff pastry 6. Sesame balls (jian dui) 7. Mango pudding 8. Shrimp dumplings (har gow) 9. Congee 10. Rice rolls They have a great selection of tea too like slightly uncommon ones such as Jin Jun Mei (Beautiful Golden Eyebrows) and Pu Erh in addition to the classic green, jasmine, black, oolong, and chrysanthemum tea. Service can be bad so be prepared to do a lot of flagging. Also the carts don't have everything so be sure to ask for the dim sum menu. read more

The Kitchen - Durian puff pastry - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

We arrived at 5:30pm when there were only 5 groups/ tables. We were seated in the middle of the dining room and I immediately noticed that the space between tables were literally one feet apart. This was a red flag to me already, but considering that the dining room was still empty, I was okay at first. 15 minutes later, two more parties came and they were seated right next to us. I could literally touch the person sitting at the next table without stretching my arm. I asked one of the servers if we could move to another table because we didn't feel comfortable sitting so close to strangers during COVID. The server replied sarcastically and said there was no point to do so because in the next hour or two the restaurant would get busy and everyone would be sitting next to each other. I said "I am not sure if that will be the case. But at least right now the restaurant is empty and I should have the choice to move." The server wasn't happy and asked me to do whatever I wanted. But we would need to move our utensils, teapot and dishes to the new table ourselves. This experience ruined my impression of the kitchen. I was a long term customer and unfortunately this will be my last time eating there. I would NOT recommend this place to anyone, especially those who are cautious about eating out during COVID. Most important, the food has gone downhill. One of the dishes we ordered was undercooked. Look at the picture I took - The fish was still partly raw with blood. Disgusting. TO THE MANAGEMENT: If you care about your customers, please be considerate and respectful. If your customers did not feel comfortable, please do not disregard their feelings and/ or requests. EDIT: Right after I posed my review, the server tried to seat another party at the table originally assigned to us. The party refused to seat there for the same reason. This time the server complied. read more

Came to The Kitchen for a nice-casual family-style dinner. I know the restaurant offers dim sum during the morning-afternoon hours, but a more comprehensive dinner menu in the evening. For a party of 8, we ordered: *beef shank and jelly fish appetizer *fried tofu appetizer *chicken and fish maw soup *lamb clay pot *chicken and mushroom stir fry *honey walnut shrimp *pan-fried lo mein with crab *beef and broccoli *steamed egg (supposed to come with clam, but substituted with century-old egg - apparently the restaurant was out of seafood) After the meal, we also received complimentary red bean soup for dessert. A couple of things... like almost any other Chinese restaurant, expect sub-par waiter service, especially when things get busy as more and more parties crowd in for dinner. The food overall was better than I expected. Some of the dishes were too oily for my taste, but I did enjoy a couple of the dishes (especially the soup and chicken and mushroom stir-fry). Seating wasn't an issue for our party - surprisingly, we didn't have to wait at all for a table. Dining in was a comfortable experience, and I can imagine hosting a nicer dinner event at The Kitchen as well. All in all, this wasn't a bad restaurant to visit, though it wouldn't be on the top of my list for Chinese restaurants. Those awards would go to Grand Harbor along Old Bayshore Highway and Royal Feast, which is also located in Millbrae. read more

Ah The Kitchen. It is one of the other infamous Chinese restaurants that my family and I frequent during the year. We normally come here for both dimsum and dinner. As you can see by the many pictures I took of the menu, there's a lot to choose from. My parents usually come here for a special occasion, like a holiday or a birthday, but we went here for the sake of coming and to eat. Here's what we (and by that I mean, my parents and aunt) ordered: 1. Clams with bellpeppers and onions in black bean sauce (spicy but good) 2. Beef short ribs with papaya in clay pot (super good, but towards the bottom of the pot, there were more fatty pieces that weren't edible) 3. Stir-fry japanese tofu with diced seafood and minced pork (the tofu is super soft and delicious!) 4. Pork spare ribs with onions and sauce in claypot (some pieces were all just bone at the bottom) 5. Mystery protein dish but you can see that it has mushrooms and asparagus 6. Yam leaves and mushrooms in broth (super healthy and simple) 7. A whole chicken (a small one I think or it might have been a pigeon, not entirely sure..my parents and aunt devoured that dish all on their own) 8. Fish with pickled cabbage (not sure what kind of fish; had a bite of it and it wasn't good to me; yet another dish my parents and aunt gobbled up) So overall, my favorites were the stir-fry tofu, the beef short rib and the broth with the yam leaves and mushrooms. The fish was meh and I didn't touch the bird because seeing the head there just chopped off on the plate wasn't too appetizing. read more

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I recently visited The Kitchen in Millbrae for some dim sum, and it was... just okay. The service was quick, which was a plus, but unfortunately, the food didn't quite live up to expectations. The dim sum itself was fine--nothing special--just your standard offerings, though the selection was a bit limited. read more

food taste is great but service is so-so. restroom is a bit dirty and slippery. possibly just me not used to this oily food. went to #2 a few times last night after dinner in the kitchen. not going to go again for a while. pricy as well. $130 for 2 people. read more

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Kitchen is a pretty solid dim sum restaurant and is in my opinion the best dim sum place you can go to in Millbrae. I personally like their entrées more than their dim sum as I always get their stir-fry ribeye steak cubes with sesame sauce which also come with egg tofu and broccoli. The meat is very tender with the sauce creating a nice balance between savory and sweetness. It goes great with a bowl of rice as well. The restaurant is fairly clean overall and there's plenty of staff so you often aren't waiting too long. Service is solid and the restaurant is almost full every time I go for dim sum, even on the weekdays. read more

The Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

Came by Friday night for some seafood dishes. The place was busy but standard short wait . The food and service was fine but it took over 40 minutes after ordering to get one of the dishes. And another 20 minutes to get the 2nd of only two dishes we order. The Tiger prawns was tasty but difficult to eat due to peeling of the shells. The geoduck ($50/lb) had good crud h and tasted fresh but not sure worth $75. Will try again with a few other dishes. read more

The Kitchen - Tiger prawns vermicelli - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

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Went with a friend who lived in China for 6 years. We all thought the food was delicious and authentic. Good service.

The review is for the few Cantonese food I had when I visited San Francisco. 1. Their daily soup. Y'all, it was mad good. Soup to Cantonese is like cheese to Italian. We drink them growing up. Different kind of flavor and come with different "effects" on us. For our day, the soup we got was pork kudzu soup. The sweetness of the kudzu really came thru. It was so refreshing and literally cleanse my soul. Soup get a five stars just by itself. 2. Their fried pig intestines It was so crispy outside and yet remained tender inside. Definitely guilty pleasure. I would come back just try out their other selections if I get the chance read more

The Kitchen - Soup, fried pig intestines, bean curd with bok choy - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

I think this place is great! As a Chinese customer judging their food and quality, it's actually really good. Their dinner dishes are on the pricey end ($18-25 per dish). Each dish has "wok hay" which means a special type of aroma and essence when authentic stir-fry is performed. Sometimes, you can tell by either the little char-ness on the dishes when it's cooked over high flame. Anyways, now to the individual dishes. Cold dish- mixed wasabi corral clams & chicken, wasabi pork belly (both amazing and had a nice kick. Pork belly and clams are crunchy in texture) Salted egg-yoke tiger prawn. So delicious when every piece of pumpkin and prawns are covered with bits of salty egg-yoke. It's crunchy, it's oily, and it's yums! Other ones we ordered were sea cucumber, bitter melon, fillet fish with vegetable, and a stir-fry beef. Also to note, they have very fresh seafood. Try to get here early, always a wait for dimsum and dinner. read more

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[4.12/5.00] My Uncle held a banquet at this place. Of course, going in I was welcomed with roses and respect of the staff. It's like I was back in Foshan, China. The food is good! This place is lowkey but highkey slept on. I think the staff scares yt people away cause they lowkey scare me too. I love it though, that's part of the experience. The rice noodle rolls are my favorite. I love the bouncy texture and also the sweet soy sauce! So good! The pork ribs were also very delicious, not too salty as well. Baos were okay, I do appreciate the sweetness of the baked pork baos though. Compared to some of the other joints close by, this is for sure up there. Stop giving 1 stars for service. You know if its bad service, the food is good. read more

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The Kitchen is a staple Chinese restaurant in bustling downtown Millbrae! Here you'll find crowds for dim sum on weekends in the beautifully lit dining room filled with chandeliers. There are a lot of options for dim sum in the area, but the food at the Kitchen is definitely above average--from the many cart ladies coming around, we ordered a variety of dishes including shrimp dumpings, turnip cakes, jellyfish and beef shank, and beef tripe. Some of the standouts for me were the light and tender beef meatballs with cilantro; the BBQ pork buns, which had a "swirl" design on the top and tasted a bit more milky than other buns. My favorite dish was probably the sticky rice in lotus leaf, as the rice still had a nice, slightly chewy al dente texture to it! At the end, a waitress brought around a special item, which was a baked meringue-like dessert made of egg whites and topped with grape syrup and sliced almonds--definitely not traditional but innovative! Biting through the meringue was like eating a cloud, though the dessert was a bit on the sweet side for me. Overall, this is a solid choice for dim sum at reasonable prices in a lovely atmosphere! The food is fresh and tasty and not overly salty (though there's definitely some MSG in there). read more

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This restaurant has been highly recommend by family and friends and it did not disappoint! Everything we ate was delicious and came out quickly. We ate here on a Saturday evening and if going for dinner on the weekends I recommend going as close to open as possible to avoid waiting. Would come back! read more

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I usually come here for dinner and it's pretty good. It's usually really crowded around 6PM, but after the 1st wave, it's not as crowded after 8:30PM. I highly recommend coming later in the day to avoid the wait. I came here for dim sum and was surprised by how cheap and delicious the food was. They have a waiter pushing the carts with dim sum (like in hk) and the service was fast and efficient. Also, their waiters were consistently refilling the carts with fresh dim sum (which is a huge plus!). read more

The Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

Quick stop before heading to SFO. Ribeye steak with mushrooms has been my all time favorite since years ago! Soup was flavorful, as always can't go wrong with steamed clams soup! We had an awesome dinner read more

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Super friendly customer services Price over all are reasonable Food is excellent, perfect taste Very clean environment Definitely will be back Love this restaurant read more

2 stars for the food ( decent ) . 1 star for location . 0 star for service ( unattentive staff) . O star for efficiency ( took almost 30 mins for the 1st food order to come ) . read more

As a Chinese I understand that Chinese restaurants overcharge for seafood as $25/lb is way more expensive than it should cost but I'm ok with it if they do not lie about the weight of the lobster. They charged me 1.5lb when the lobster even with all the cooking ingredients and the box is less than 1.21lb which probably means the lobster is about 1lb only. I'm ok with expensive but not ok with being cheated. read more

The Kitchen - Dishonest merchant. Overcharging for lobster. - Dim Sum Near Me - Millbrae, California

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