the spaghetti bologanise was amazing! It was flavorful, fresh, and cooked perfectly. Definitely one of the best spaghetti I've had! read more

Venus Cafe - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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One of the best deals in the city. Three dishes + soup for $45 and they dishes are really big and good. Highly recommend!

I first came here last Friday evening and had a wonderful experience with the food--the Mongolian Beef Rice Plate--and the service (a man in his late 40s perhaps). He was cordial. Today, Sunday, I came back and ordered something different--the Garlic Chicken Rice Plate--and was served by a woman perhaps in her late 40s. My meal was not as good as Friday night seemingly loaded with more vegetables than chicken. The service was below par with no greeting and no gratitude for coming to dine. I will NOT come back. read more

Upon sitting down and ordering, you get a complimentary seaweed soup which is common at some HK cafes. The soft canto ballads playing in the background really adds to the ambiance lol. Baked seafood combo with white sauce (2/5 stars): You have the choice to pick this over rice or spaghetti and I chose rice. This is my go-to item at a HK cafe so I know what I like and it is not this! The flavor was bland and needed heavy seasoning. The cream had a strange slight sweetness to it. I did appreciate the corn and the rice being egg fried rice but those were the only saving graces of the dish. If I'm craving this dish, I'd definitely go elsewhere. Beef chow fun with gravy (5/5 stars): Ok NOW we're talking! Another one of my staples, this was actually so flavorful. You can taste the "wok hei", the smoky charred flavor made by the wok on a gas stove. And to still be able to taste this under wet gravy? Just perfect. I'd get the chow fun again and try the hot desserts next time I'm here! read more

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Not gonna lie this place have decent HK milk tea and decent food but damn I found a bug in my rice plate... I'm always of fan of extra protein but this is not what I meant when I said I want extra protein... read more

Was in the neighborhood and this place gave me some nostalgia of traditional HK diners. Service is slow once food arrives. They have an all day menu for $15 that includes soup or drink plus entree. They also have other specials on the wall as well 3% credit card surcharge. Milk tea and yuenyeung (1/2 coffee, 1/2 milk tea): both on the sweeter side Baked pork chop with fried rice ($15) E-fu noodle with fish maw ($19) Overall, dishes were basic comfort food that is no -frills. They read more

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Wasn't feeling too well so decided to get takeout from a Hong Kong cafe. I tried Venus Cafe at other locations but it was my first time at this location. There's a daily special on the whiteboard inside the restaurant that comes with a drink if you pay a few extra dollars. I wish it came with more options but can't complain. The stir fried beef was super flavorful and the beef was tender! The onion was also sweet. I would definitely get this again! The baked tomato pork chop was alright. The tomato flavor wasn't too strong, which was disappointing but the pork chop was tender and not too dry, so that was good. read more

Venus Cafe - Baked Tomato Pork Chop Rice - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Been coming here on & off sinced in openned 7 yrs. ago when a friend took me out for an early dinner & was impressed w/their Chinese chicken salad. This is a popular breakfast spot among the Chinese elderlies which is a good sign for food quality & value. The food is good but not consistent depending on the chef on shift at the time. It's the most popular Chinese sit down spot on Clement St. w/their 3 dish special w/soup for under $50.- next to D&A w/the same 3 item meal setup. The wait staff is fine but certain dishes may by inconsistent but bearable. I have a weak spot for anyone running a foodie & give them the benefit of the doubt to a certain point. I will still come here for when I have that quick urge for HK style dishes. read more

I'm not in the neighborhood much, especially weekdays around noon. A couple of errands and circumstances brought me here on a Thursday where I found a metered space on the corner of Clement and 8th Avenue. Standing on the corner, I looked in three directions in thinking of my lunch alternatives: burgers to the left, Thai place to the right. I actually walked right and learned that the place is closed Thursdays. That's how I came to have lunch here. Walking in, dining room was a little over 1/3rd full. There's no greeting area so it's a seat yourself format. The left side was mostly occupied so I found a two top in the back right for myself. The menu is quite large so there is a variety of HK western dishes as well as classic Cantonese food options. I opted for the iced lemon tea (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=EQTLO4xkdhznpCxEF7WOQQ) which came in an interesting container. I liked the generous portions of lemon and ice. For my meal, I tried the pork chop half & half (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=vZzNdpyYuLDgMBWv6nxsrw), half fried rice w/ red sauce and half spaghetti w/ bolognaise (sp) sauce; it came with a medium and small pork chop piece which were boneless; here is a photo after the noodle pull (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&select=sdqzthAwI-a9oQ1zNvvuoA). Initially, I enjoyed the flavors of this with the 'orange sauce' that covered the fried rice and pork chop being mildly sweet with a hint of melted cheese on top. The spaghetti sauce was on the sweeter side with small pieces of ground beef. My initial reaction was that everything was tasty. As I ate, it became more and more one note for me, not that this is bad. It just became a bit boring as I finished my food. The waitresses were okay as they were busy tending to incoming and departing customers. I finished my lemon tea and only drank about half of my complimentary mug of hot tea. There is a mix of neighbor seniors and people who work in the area (work card badges hanging from belt area). I rank the food 3 stars for this visit and bump my review a half star for the convenience and variety. The restaurant has multiple locations in San Jose and Newark. My 1st visit was actually in pointing a friend here on a weeknight evening in getting an order of porridge for his recovering mom. Definitely a convenient and handy food option for the neighborhood locals who seek a wide variety of food options. read more

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I came tonight with my family for a Wor-choy dinner. Ordered 5 dishes. Crispy fried flounder, braised tofu with veggies, half a cold Hainan Chicken, Chinese broccoli with Chinese sausages, salted fish with chicken fried rice. House soup was egg flower with corn. Everything came out fast, super tasty and the owner took our order and gave suggestions as he told us originally our choices were too spicy for our granddaughter. He was very child friendly and gave plastic silverware and plastic container with a top and straw to avoid any spills. Easy to order food and get the wor-choy 3 or 4 item special. It's reasonable, fast, efficient and good service! Authentic Chinese food. Enjoyed! read more

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Insanely nostalgic and I will return to experience the ambiance of a HK cha chaan teng in SF. Really extensive menu, perfect for anyone and any time of day. I came in on a Saturday for a quick lunch. Loved seeing all the Chinese locals in Richmond come enjoy a meal and sit and chat. Staff checked in on me a few times and were very accommodating. I enjoyed my hainan chicken lunch set. I will definitely return to try classic dishes that not many restaurants will offer like macaroni noodle soup or frog legs. read more

Venus Cafe - 1. Hainan Chicken and Rice - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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First time here for dinner and we were pretty disappointed. The service was slow and the food was not that great. I ordered a rice plate and it came out cold. My husband got the hainanese chicken rice plate but the chicken was cold and the yellow rice was hard. We won't be coming back. read more

When i look up yelp for Chinese food, this restaurant doesn't even come up! How weird. This is Hong Kong Chinese food. I've eaten here several times by myself. The brisket noodles and the spare rib bittermelon rice plate are my favorites. I came around 5:15 pm so not much people. Food came out fast. It's a nice peaceful calm place, not loud. TV is always playing with some kind of Chinese cooking show. Restroom was clean. This used to be a donut shop. They have 3 dishes for a special price. I never feel like there's any MSG in their food. read more

Venus Cafe - Hunan chicken - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

The food was decent and this is a casual spot for dinner. The vermicelli (pan fried) with seafood was 6.5/10 -- it was too saucy but here was a lot of seafood. The beef noodle soup was all tendon and I was wanting more meat. The broth was decent. The chicken with rice was also pretty standard. Our food took a while to come out but we came with a big party! They give nice service read more

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3-3.5 stars depending on the day. The staff are generally friendly here especially the male staff who is always here. Our go-to's are the baked seafood rice and baked spaghetti with meat sauce. They do have specials here that comes with free milk tea but these two items are not one of them. I always get hot milk tea here with condensed milk which is generally always good. If you never had baked spaghetti with meat sauce in a Hongkong cafe, it is a sweeter sauce than the acidic red sauce that you may have had at Italian restaurants. Unfortunately it does not come with a ton of meat sauce. Baked seafood rice has a medley of seafood (shrimp, fish, squid, imitation crab) in this thin creamy sauce and just a ton of egg fried rice under. It tasted a little funny the last time I was here, there are definitely other cafes that make this dish better. read more

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Did not have any expectation when my parents said their Mongolian Beef is the best. How good can MongolianBeef is? Theirs was really good! Nice wok char taste, tender slices of meat. Come and get it! read more

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I came here for lunch twice and took advantage of the 3 dishes combo promotion. My favorite was the Hainan chicken. The green onion and ginger sauce that came on the side with the dish was delicious. All the dishes have the standard flavor you would expect at most HK cafes. The staff was friendly and all the food were served quickly after ordering. The cafe wasn't too busy for weekend lunches with several open tables when we arrived. Great place for casual meals! read more

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Given how there's absolutely no shortage of Chinese restaurants and eateries in the Richmond District, I've always found it curious how there haven't really been any HK cafes that have managed to stick around here. In years past, a few have sprouted up, but none of them managed to stick around for very long and I'm not really sure if D&A down the street really counts (they have some HK cafe types of offerings, but feel more like a Chinese restaurant). So, in that vein, it's awesome that Venus Cafe has survived not only since my first visit here when they first opened, but through the craziness of the pandemic as well! Like so many other HK cafes out there, like Venus Cafe has a semi-diner sort of feel to it and an extensive menu of dishes to pick from. However, in this case, the menu isn't just extensive - it is EXTENSIVE. In total, there are roughly 200 dishes to choose from covering a wide swath of options - appetizers, soups, salad, sandwiches, egg dishes, fried rice, rice plates, curry, noodle soups, chow mein, lo mein, porridge, stews, stir-fried plates, sizzling platters, a variety of baked dishes, and so much more. A number of dishes also appear in their list of all-day specials, which includes soup and coffee milk tea, but I'm not sure if the portion you get for those is smaller since you're getting other things with it. -- PORK CHOP CUTLET, FRIED EGG, CHEESE LO-MEIN...$14.95 Not exactly your typical sort of HK Cafe dish, but this wasn't too shabby...partly because it reminded me of what I used to make in college! Although I didn't love the ramen (it felt more wet than cheesy), the pork chop was great (crispy and moist), and I loved the runny fried egg. -- BEEF BRISKET LO-MEIN...$14.95 The portion wasn't as big as I would've hoped, but that's because I thought this was actually pretty good! There was a fair amount of beef, especially relative to the amount of noodles, and the broth was surprisingly flavorful (not very salty nor oily). -- HAINAN CHICKEN WITH RICE (and a HK Milk Tea)...$15.50 Not sure how to rate this one - the first couple of times we got this, this was really good. The chicken was tender, delicious, and meaty and the rice was so flavorful. However, more recently, there seemed to be less chicken, which wasn't as meaty, and the rice was yellow/vibrant in color or taste. -- SHRIMP & RUNNY EGG GRAVY CHOW FUN...$14.50 For or better worse, this was pretty standard. While the sauce needed a bit of a kick (some XO sauce would've been perfect), everything else about this was perfect fine - soft flat noodles, a nice sweetness to the shrimp, and a generous amount of egg gravy. -- BRAISED BEEF BRISKET RICE PLATE...$13.95 Considering this is the second beef stew dish I've had here, you could say it's one of the things we like here. There's a good ratio of fatty/tendon pieces to chunks of meat and the gravy has a nice thickness/richness to it. -- BAKED PORKCHOP WITH CURRY SAUCE Served Over Rice...$14.95 I'm a little conflicted on this one. The dish is smaller than others I've had at other places and the color of the curry sauce had a weird look/color to it. That said, the taste of the sauce was fine and, though I wish the top was cheesier, I liked the porkchop was very juicy. -- POPCORN CHICKEN...$8.95 Somewhat surprisingly, this wasn't too shabby. The chicken itself was moist and I liked how this came with onions and peppers. I wish the batter had been a little crispier, though, and had a bit more seasoning/white pepper sprinkled on it. -- WONTON NOODLE SOUP...$11.95 I used to see a lot of folks get this and I can see why...sort of. It's not the best I've had, but it's solid, especially on a cold night in the Richmond. The noodles had a nice bite, the wontons were plump, and the broth was decent, but the size of the bowl feels a little light compared to what you can get elsewhere. To be honest, if I had written this after my first couple of visits here, there's a chance this would've been four stars. However, whether it be due to them not being as good these days or having tried more things (or both), Venus Cafe feels a whole lot closer to decent than great. As much as I liked the beef stew, just about everything else I've had has been a little up and down. All in all, it's great to have a HK cafe to fall back on this side of the city, but I can't say I would go out of my way to come back again in the future when there are definitely better alternatives out there. read more

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Came here for breakfast. Strange that they only serve breakfast for an hour, 10 am to 11 am. Food was decent but too long to come out which is the opposite of how a real Hong Kong style cafe is. Service was ok. read more

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I came here on a friend's recommendation that Venus Cafe does really good baked dishes over fried rice. That's exactly what I came for, but unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. I ordered the fish fillet with white sauce over fried rice and added a fried egg on top. The only good part of the dish? The fried egg. I've had my fair share of Hong Kong-style baked dishes over spaghetti or fried rice, and this one completely missed the mark. The white sauce tasted like watered-down Campbell's cream soup with bits of corn, and the fried rice was hard, poorly made, and completely flavorless. I only ate the single fish fillet that came in the sauce and the egg--after that, I couldn't bring myself to finish the rest. If it weren't for the big jar of hot oil on the table, I don't think I would've even made it that far. The prices are fair for the area, and parking is metered but free after 6 PM. The vibes inside were nostalgic--classic aunties with attitude, which reminded me of those old-school Chinatown spots where the food is so good that service doesn't even matter. But here, the food didn't hold up its end. At least my dish came out piping hot, and I got some hot tea. I also liked the background TV playing Cantonese news, which added to the homey feel. If I ever come back, I'll definitely be skipping the baked dishes. read more

Venus Cafe - 13. Fish Fillet with White Sauce and a fried egg on top - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

Solid HK style Chinese food, as well as standard Chinese food. I usually get the Hainan Chicken rice or noodle combo dishes, the beef brisket noodles (these are the "rolled up noodles" or charn-fun), and veggie dish. Milk tea is not bad. Their 3 item + rice are big and will feed a family or two people for several meals. My go to lunch and take-out spot. Four stars for HK style cafe. read more

Came here with a large group of around 8 and they were able to accommodate us immediately on a Sunday afternoon! Was in the mood for something lighter, so I got the chicken with green beans in black pepper sauce. Really enjoyed the flavor and textures of this dish, but I do wish there had been a bit more chicken. I tasted some of the baked dishes here as well and thought the pork cutlet was delicious! Interested in ordering one of these my next visit. I also really enjoyed the milk tea here, the tea flavor was very prominent and it was not too sweet. read more

Venus Cafe - Chicken with green beans in black pepper sauce - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

You're looking at minced beef with egg over rice. Where's the beef, I asked the waitress? She said the little dots were the beef. Another waitress walked up and said that's the way we cook this dish read more

Venus Cafe - Minced beef with egg over rice - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

I'm Cantonese and every time I have a craving for Hong Kong cafe style food, the hubby and I always drive out to Venus Cafe and order our usual -- beef chow fun, garlic choy sum, salt and pepper fried spare ribs, and an order of the peanut butter French toast all to share. The staff is always friendly but not fussy. They take down your order, make recommendations if you ask for it, serve it to you, and leave you alone to enjoy your food until you're ready to pay at the cashier. Food is solid every time and the portions are satisfying. read more

Ordered the chicken with eggplant pretty good and my compadre ordered Portuguese over rice. Comes with milk tea, pretty strong but good. Only thing is they charge 3% to use credit card and $0.25 for bag and box. Gee. I do see the locals order beef ribs over noodle. Been to a couple of Venus locations and SF one is the best in food quality taste. read more

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The only HK cafe in the Richmond District and they don't want to capitalize on this. It's frustrating and sad. 1. They open at 10. What HK cafe opens at that late hour and therefore eliminating breakfast? We want our A餐, B 餐, and C 餐 options. If you're craving HK breakfast, head over to Noodle Stop or Tak Kee Lee in the Sunset. There's nothing in the Richmond. 2. They're dirty. For a relatively new restaurant, for whatever reason, the staff takes no pride in the place. Dirty food is left on seats, tables aren't wiped down well between customers, the cleanliness of dishes and utensils is questionable. The bathroom... 3. The food is inconsistent. Sometimes you get a decent baked pork chop over rice. Sometimes you get food poisoning. 4. The wait staff is not rude but they're not friendly either. They'll get you what you want without offering any suggestions, making small talk or doing anything remotely nice to earn your loyal patronage. On the other hand, it feels like they have random friends or family members sitting at empty tables watching TV and they chit chat w them. 5. The table configurations are weird - a little like a fast food restaurant and the tables have all been shifted around by the afternoon and staff doesn't bother to fix. Why not just: - clean - train staff to be friendly - fix your table configurations - have some pride in your restaurant. They would dominate Clement if they could do the above. Instead, they can barely fill half of their restaurant on most days. Oh, and if this is in fact an authentic HK cafe, play some Cantopop. read more

5 stars for my Sunday 5pm takeout experience: First time here, and I wanted take-out for a lazy Sunday. Glad I took the lady's suggestion of the lobster noodle with yifu noodles. Good portion of perfectly tender lobster. $24.99 is an excellent price! Steamed chicken is also perfectly tender and flavorful! A Half portion is $16 and plenty for 2-3 to split. read more

Venus Cafe - Lobster noodle with yifu noodles - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Haven't been here in a while but the food has really improved.. both fresher, less salty, less oily, and request no added msg. Now it's one of my go-to neighborhood place for a quick chinese meal. Their 3 dish + soup $45.xx a good value even though I can't eat that much and hubby doesn't like leftovers. I saw a few tables order the special (there's alot to choose from menu)... their sweet sour looks yummy. Glad they don't close too early as we eat late after 7pm. Kudos to their newer chef and the delicious cooking that suits my taste! read more

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We were just in Hong Kong, so our cha chaan tang standards were pretty high but Venus Cafe still hit the spot. Service was fine, the two servers and the cashier were clearly overwhelmed, so it took a while to catch an eye and to place our order. We got a Portuguese baked chicken rice, a porkchop baked rice, and a seafood udon. The udon looked drab when it arrived but great flavors and we cleaned it all up. The baked rices actually took a while, which we counted as a plus point since many places don't bother baking/broiling them anymore. Good meat quality, though the sauces were sweeter than expected. HK-style milk teas were properly strong! read more

Venus Cafe - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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We were greeted and seated by a friendly waiter upon entering the restaurant. They have an extensive menu and specials written in Chinese on the walls. We decided to order two meal combos. Soup and choice of Hong Kong style tea or coffee is included with the entree for $14.50 each. We ordered the beef stew with rice and the pork chop, chicken steak with garlic sauce over rice, and two milk tea. The food came out within around 10 minutes, which we thought was pretty fast. The beef stew had a good amount of beef and daikons. The beef was tender as well and flavorful. The pork chop and chicken steak were tender and flavorful as well. We appreciate them trimming off the fat from the pork chop. However, the garlic sauce was kind of on the salty side. Also, the baby bok choy that came with the entree were not washed well. The milk tea had the right amount of condensed milk in them, which they weren't too sweet. We will be back to try their other entrees. They offered excellent customer service and they gave generous portions and prices are fairly reasonable. read more

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Attentive and fast service, we arrived at 8:15 pm and still received very attentive service from our server, Ben. Traditional Hong Kong style restaurant located in Richmond area. Clay pot rice was delicious!! Husband had the artificial shark fin soup and the soup was in perfect thickness and paired well with red vinegar. Total came out to $28 before tips. - Elaine 7/2025 read more

Venus Cafe - Clay pot rice 7/2025 - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I randomly wanted this after seeing the photo on the menu. I really liked it. It's like a junk food / comfort food that I would want once in awhile. Restaurant is spacious. Not many workers but they are still efficient. read more

Venus Cafe - 1. Pork Cutlet Special - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

Friendly staff. Love coming here for lunch. Favorite dishes are Big Brother baked pork chop over fried rice, black peppered beef spaghetti , XO sauce with fish noodles. I notice the staffs are extremely kind to their elderly customers. Came here for dinner twice but I think the food is much much better for lunch. read more

Came with the family on Christmas Day for a quick lunch. Your typical fast casual HK style cafe, service was very curt and can come off as rude but that's normal for cafes like this. But the food was definitely what redeemed the review. Milk tea was just the right amount of sweetness and beef brisket noodle soup had tons of flavor. Just wished they included more meat in the soup. read more

Venus Cafe - Milk Tea - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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We stumbled in here on Clement while wandering around because it was filled with older Asian people and that's usually a pretty good sign. Service was fine, not particularly efficient but not terrible either. They seated us right away but it got pretty busy as we were dining there. The menu is very extensive, there are a million things on there and even more written in Chinese on the wall. While it is a cha chaan teng, I didn't end up ordering the usual western influenced dishes but went with some classics. The food was lightly seasoned and that was perfect for me - some people might find it needs more. Dried scallop & egg white fried rice: this is my favorite kind of fried rice and shockingly hard to find in the city. This was a really good version - it had some wokhei and every grain was separated and not too hard. I was really glad I ordered this. Garlic sauteed water spinach: perfectly cooked and not too greasy. Salt pepper pork ribs: nicely seasoned and crispy! The vegetables with it were weirdly cold but the pork was served hot. Felt like they just added the vegetables at the end and they were precooked. This place delivers on Cantonese food that is decent and has enough dishes that you can come back frequently not get bored. Prices are on the higher side but the quality is decent. read more

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I came in. The auntie yelled at me what I wanted. I ordered an all day set menu item- baked pork chop with spaghetti instead of rice. She said 'Ok' and gave me a black tea in a metal mug. I got my food in like 10 minutes. On a regular day, the entree alone would've fed me for two meals but I hadnt eaten anything today so I was ravenous. The spaghetti stayed scalding the entire time. The pork chop was tender and the tomato sauce was the perfect amount of savory. Not tangy or cloying at all. The milk tea was really strong and lightly sweet. There was a small, light soup that came on the side. The whole thing was $20. 10/10 absolutely no notes perfect place for a quick bite on a cold day read more

I was skeptical ordering from this restaurant due to the reviews. However, my wife misses Hong Kong and was craving HK style cuisine. Baked rice and spaghetti dishes are amazing there! I decided to pull the trigger and got two orders to go. We were happy that we got some baked HK style dishes but we were not completely satisfied with the flavor and construction of the dishes. I guess it is a little unfair comparing this to the authentic dishes we get from Hong Kong. The two baked spaghetti dishes did not lack seasoning but it was definitely missing something that we could not quite put our tongue on(pun intended). The sauce is not your typical heavy whip cream base but it's supposed to be a light savory and umami sauce but this was very thick and heavy so we could not eat too much of the dishes. I cannot speak for the other dishes but if you've had authentic Hong Kong style baked dishes, I would not come in here expecting that same standard. read more

Venus Cafe - Baked pork chop over spaghetti and white sauce - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I got the Big Brother Signature Bake: comes with pork cutlet, chicken wing, fried egg, with red & white sauce This was $15 this was sooooo delicious!!!! My favorite is the white sauce with the rice, i love how creamy it is. The red sauce was tomato flavor. The pork cutlet was so tender and so good. The chicken wing was crunchy and soft on the inside. The egg was yummy because it was runny. This was so filling and I was only able to finish about 1/4 of it. There was a lot of rice on the bottom. read more

Venus Cafe - Big brother signature bake - Hong Kong Style Cafe Near Me - San Francisco, California

Great local Cantonese style Chinese food. Down home cooking for those in the Richmond

This place is pretty solid. Most of the items I had here were pretty good. Not crazy expensive either