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Cafe Orchid
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 10 pm
Sat-Sun 8 am - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
41 reviews for Cafe Orchid
Review Highlights
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"...has one of the best baked pork chop dishes I've ever had." In 11 reviews -
"Thumbs up for the ox tongue." In 3 reviews -
"...of options for $5.95 that includes food PLUS milk tea." In 13 reviews
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41 reviews in English
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Review from Geezy B.
New York, NY
5/16/2012
One of my favorite restaurants on this planet Earth.
Comfort Food. -
Review from Liza T.
San Francisco, CA
3/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Standard HK cuisine cafe. The food was ok if you order the right dish.
I got the ham macaroni with egg. The portion was pretty small. The taste was standard. My friend got the baked chicken with spaghetti. It took over 30 minutes for his food to come out. The chicken was tender but lack of flavor.
The service was kinda slow, especially the wait time for the food.
Hummm probably not going back because I've experienced better. -
Review from Grace L.
12/30/2011
This is a Western Chinese Restaurant, which means it is a fusion type of restaurant, but homestyle. Hence the baked items, french fries and the macaroni/ramen afternoon-style items.
My husband and I love the baked items, like the baked tomato sauce casseroles of chicken, fish, porkchop, etc... You can get them either with spagehtti or rice, both are good with either.
Small place with service being hit or miss. One time we came and they were decent and another time the chef couldn't get his ducks lined up, a total of 6 people with 1 dish each, half the dishes came out first and the other half came out 20 min later! But that was one time and it was afternoon-tea hour. Maybe he was just a little crazed during that hour then.
I have yet to try their milk tea or afternoon tea drinks. -
Review from Jennifer C.
Millbrae, CA
10/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is definitely underrated like my pal Jen T. said. The food is actually really great, quality and quantity.
I ordered the tomato fish and spinach baked dish and I was expecting maybe 2 small pieces with a ton of spaghetti. They gave THREE HUGE pieces with a handfull of spinach on top of a good portioned size spaghetti dish. Some may say they wanted more carbs, but I think it's good for....you :) I was belly poppin' full after this meal.
Other dishes we tried were the porkchop curry baked dish which was very good and the Portuguese Chicken from the specials menu. DELISH! I love the sweetness of the sauce but it was also kind of like Thai curry.
We were really satisfied and pleased with our meals. The specials also come with a drink of your choice.
The price is average, about $10 a dish but it's definitely a great portion.
HK style food is known for its baked dishes. I would go for those! If you were displeased with your food, perhaps they have listened to your complaints and improved.
This place is definitely an orchid in the rough. -
Review from Constance C.
East Bay, CA
7/18/2011
HK Style Ham Omelette. With Fries and Red Cabbage. Not a fan of red cabbage, it kind of creeps me out. But the omelette was pretty damn good. I liked the white sauce they used because I used to always eat my omelettes in red ketchup sauce at ABC. The fries were pretty good too, not crispy but not mushy.
I'd probably come here if I was in the area waiting for my flight at SFO. But it's not worth the trip over just specifically for it from the East Bay. We actually came here only because Ramen Dojo was closed.
See photos of food, http://potbellypanda.t... -
Review from Ryan L.
San Francisco, CA
12/4/2011
It's your generic ABC place, HK cuisine. Thumbs up for the ox tongue. Thumbs down for the fish filet w/ sweet corn; it contains a lingering saltiness that will have you begging for water. Nothing noteworthy and just like the Yelp's default description for two stars.. Meh. I've experienced better.
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Review from phillip w.
San Francisco, CA
1/4/2011
This place has one of the best baked pork chop dishes I've ever had. The pork chop actually a porkchop..i guess we'll call it a baked pork tenderloin dish.
It was great! boneless baked pork loin over rice. Man I know I'm probably being lazy and all but this just makes it so much easier. I can eat all the meat instead of having to cut around the bone and leaving the bits of meat on there.
I've also had the stir fried packaged noodle..its basically package noodle that has been stir fried with like chicken or spam etc. Its really simple and I've never known about it until this place. Now its something I really want to make it at home. Making packaged noodle and then taking it out before it gets soggy and then stir frying it. How neat!
maybe this is old news to a lot of you buts its new to me haha.
And prices, this place is pretty cheap. So cash only~ -
Review from sandy k.
Millbrae, CA
6/27/2011
3.5 stars
I can't say I know all about HK cuisine, since I've only been to places around here (Broadway Bistro, ABC, etc). But I am a fan of baked pork chops! I love the baked pork chop with cream sauce and rice here. I used to like my pork chops with tomato sauce but I must say the cream sauce is really good. I also like how they incorporate eggs and veggies into the rice so it's more of a fried rice. It's a lot of food and stays really hot all throughout your meal!
Ordered the chicken wings with fries and it was ehh... just breaded chicken wings that didn't seem to be seasoned. And a few wimpy fries. I guess not everything is good on the menu..! -
Review from Mark L.
Los Altos, CA
3/24/2011
What I like about this place is the "crispy pork cutlet baked over rice" and curry beef stew. I also like the Russian Goulash soup (HK style)
If you are into HK style Western food, you will like this place. The reason why is that "crispy pork cutlet baked over rice". This is not the one on menu... no no no... it's a completely different story.
So far, I'm a BIG fan of baked pork chop over rice. In my experience in USA (not just in California), there is very few place do it like they do - deep fried crispy boneless pork cutlet. The only place I know: Cafe Orchid and Cafe Venus (Cupertino and Newark)
If you got to Macau or HK, that's how they made them. I don't understand why restaurants are so cheap not to make that extra step to breaded the de-boned pork chop.
I can't say about other things here in Cafe Orchid, but if you are visiting this place, you've got to try it.
Their curry sauce also very rich in flavor but not too spicy. I like this place better than Broadway Bistro.
Service is so so, small restaurant and sometimes you have to wait a little longer for food.
Bon Appetite! -
Review from Fiona N.
San Francisco, CA
12/5/2011
I love this place for so many reasons. The food is decent, it's next to my work place, and I've known the owners forever. Every time I'm here, I always get the baked pork chop over rice or the club sandwich. Their baked pork chop over rice is so good, better than Cafe Bakery over on Noriega. I'm pretty sure it's because their sauce is out of the world! Their club sandwich is just like the ones in HK (has eggs, ham, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes) and I also like the potato salad that comes with it. For drinks, I always get the HK style milk tea, which is pretty decent too. The tea is strong enough and the condensed milk makes the milk tea deliciously creamy.
Their service is fast and they also have that InBoard thing in the restaurant that tells you your daily horoscope! The owners are super nice and definitely know the majority of their customers. So if you're looking for a quick lunch with friendly service in Millbrae, go to Cafe Orchid! -
Review from Benjamin W.
San Francisco, CA
3/5/2012
I really like the food here. When I grew up in Hong Kong, I loved HK Western food. The bake pork chop over rice and the (anything) white sauce baked over spaghetti both remind me of the ones I've had in HK. Only drawback is that the place is small, so there can be quite a wait. Luckily for me, my kids eat fairly early, so we usually don't run into the crowds.
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Review from Dom L.
10/18/2010 1 Check-in Here
Finally got a chance to visit Cafe Orchid after seeing it here for the past year. I like the food at Cafe Encore so I didn't feel the need to try this place, but tonight the itch needed to be scratched.
Walking in my wife immediately recognizes the owner as the previous owner of Cafe Honolulu in Chinatown. At least I know she has experience in running a HK cafe.
Ordered a black pepper rib-eye steak on sizzling plate, a chicken steak with Malay/Indian sauce, a macaroni in soup with ham, and to drink: a HK milk tea and a HK iced lemon tea.
The complimentary soup was cream of corn and it was hot and pretty tasty, not watered down like other places. So far so good.
My steak was decent, i.e. not too tough. The sauce was a bit disappointing as it was more like a grown gravy than a black pepper sauce.
My wife enjoyed the chicken steak with Malay sauce, which was very, very similar to HK style curry sauce.It's just a bit of a 'heavy' dish but overall she enjoyed it.
My son's macaroni in soup was very tasty. The macaroni was cooked perfectly al dente and the broth was seasoned right. It tasted really good, one of the better versions I've had in SF.
My HK iced tea was just average. The tea flavor wasn't strong enough and the waitress poked my lemons for me which normally is really cool/sweet, but the lemons had a slightly bitter taste that affected the whole drink. Granted it would have been the same if I poked the lemons so no real difference there but still...
Wife's HK milk tea was excellent (she said). Very smooth and not bitter at all. I'll take her word for it as I didn't try it. [Ken K., ready for another visit?]
Overall I'm still a Cafe Encore fan but I definitely wouldn't hesitate to come here as the vibe is pretty relaxed here and the food has it's high points. -
Review from Helen T.
San Francisco, CA
10/25/2010
The location of this cafe was a little hard to find but the boyfriend likes cafes and diners. The overall look of the place didn't seem too high class but had a nice aroma of baked pork chop over rice. Seating is not very spacious, just try to avoid the side tables in the back by the bathroom. That section seemed like the forgotten area! The selection of the menu wasn't too surprising, knowing cafe usually had the same items in a Chinese Cafe. These are the kind of places you kind of need to know what you want even before you get there. The service was pretty friendly, but they didn't really come to check on us too often. It's a typical chinese cafe, i thought.
The milk tea was very original (Hong Kong Style). You can tell when the milk and the tea are still in its original colors and you mix it yourself. I had the Beef Chow Fun with Gravy and the mr. got curry beef over rice. The curry is actually pretty good. Not too salty and full of flavor! My pork chop over rice was smothered in a tomato sauce that I could prob make myself. I've had better! It was a decent outing but I'd come back only if the boyfriend makes me go with him! -
Review from Bill L.
San Francisco, CA
6/29/2011
Monday night was our second time at this restaurant after the positive experience. We had the "baked pork chop over rice", "stirred-fried melon and pork with rice noodles", and the "curry Indian pizza". The pork was not as fresh now that we recall; taste was okay. However, my wife has been vomiting like crazy since early morning, and I've been vomiting and having diarrhea since 2 PM. The symptoms are still here as I am writing this review. We've decided that we would NEVER go back again and also thinking if we should report to the Health Department...We've never had a food poisoning episode as severe as this before.
Out of the 3 meals on Monday my wife and I only had dinner at this place in common, since the symptoms are identical, that's where we draw our conclusion in the cause of our food poisoning episode.
Do yourselves a favor and go somewhere else! -
Review from Eva L.
San Francisco, CA
3/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
We've been here a couple of times, I don't love it here, but they do have some good deals. Their deals and food are not as good as some other places, but if you are just looking for a quick bite, it's not bad either. Millbrae has quite a few Hong Kong Fast Food style restaurants, and Cafe Orchid is quite new, and although it doesn't offer the best food, it seems to be busy.
We both ordered a meal that came with a cup of Milk Tea and Sweet Buns. I got the Pork Chop with the Sweet Corn Sauce over Spaghetti for $8.50 and my hubby ordered the Sizzling Rib Eye with Tomato Sauce over Rice for $12.99. His meal also came with the Soup of the Day, it was actually Cream of Corn, but it was really salty so I put some of his soup into my pasta and used it as additional sauce! Overall, our meal was okay, not great, just okay. Some may question why I even come here if I don't really like it, but everytime I come here , I hope to pick that one dish that I will love at this place. I just haven't tasted it yet. -
Review from Hyman W.
San Lorenzo, CA
8/18/2011
I went there for lunch last week and it was not too busy. I ordered the daily special --- singapore fried rice noodle and hot milk tea.
The milk tea tasted like milk water. couldn't taste the tea. didn't touch it after all.
The Singapore Fried Rice Noodle. When it came out, it was not even hot, it was barely warm.
Will never come back again. -
Review from Jen T.
Updated - 9/21/2010 13 Check-ins Here
Bumping this up to 5 because this place is way underrated.
A year later, this is still by far the best HK Cafe in the area, especially the quality & quantity for the price.
I'm usually here if I'm craving some Western/HK food or just back for my fix.
Find me here with the baked pork chop over spaghetti/rice and an iced milk tea.
Seriously.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/4/2009
Decided to check out the new place. It seems that the past couple institutions in this place haven't… Read more »
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Review from Ken K.
9/14/2009
When dealing with the attitudes towards food for older generation Hong Kongers and similar A$N types,it's all about the CFG where the initials stand for
Cheap
Fast
Good
Throw all that in the pot, plus a restaurant's spanking new factor, in this case the latest eatery in Millbrae for Cafe Orchid, and you've got the makings of a packed to the gills place on a weekend, with tons of eager beavers waiting in line to see what the fuss is all about.
Unfortunately the predatory gastrosexual excitement, much like its human and animal physical sexual counterpart, is more about the thrill of the hunt than it is about the consumption (or consummation) process.
Bottom line the "G" spot was missed or wasn't quite tapped right.
Again, G being "good".
Cafe Orchid replaces Dumpling Dumpling which lasted all of about 6 months before going the way of the brontosaurus (then again, not a surprise, considering they were owned by the folks of Shanghai Dump(ling shop) which I detesteth muchos).
Regardless of whether this place is or assumingly is run by the folks who own VIP in Chinatown, the quality here based on the dishes sampled, weren't quite up to par compared with the run of the mill HK cafe's in SF city.
Iced Hong Kong milk tea - served in a tall glass which was a plus. Sadly the tea and evaporated milk mix was strangely sour, lacking in tea color and fragrance.
Won tons in soup - good thing I skipped the noodles. The broth was a strange murky bone soup like mix, instead of the traditional golden brown light broth of dried tilefish, shrimp, pork. The won tons themselves....good size and cured hunger pains, that's all I can say about it (overly chewy pork and shrimp). This is where the nearby competition Broadway Bistro and especially Cafe Salina, do a way better job with these dumplings and the base broth.
Baked macaroni with meatsauce - ok I shared this order with a little kid, who enjoyed some of it. They apparently added a strange flavoring agent or spice I could not figure out, that made it taste weird, but not to the point of replusion. Baked dishes take a while to arrive, and most of the time you'd hope that the wait is worth it.
The menu variety is pretty wide otherwise, with funky appetizers like curry pizza (?), fries, and HK style French Toast (where it is deep fried and not pan fried), macaroni in soup, baked pasta or rice with choice of toppings and several different base sauces at your whim (black pepper, meatsauce, mushroom/seafood/cream type sauce etc), plus Cantonese stir fry noodles/rice type plates.
By the cashier there are a bunch of HK style pineapple buns encased, which theoretically would make a decent snack or pairing once heated up and accompanied with a slice of butter.
Back issues of celeb gossip juice rag mags from Hong Kong are available for your browsing while you dine or wait.
Perhaps CO needs more time to ramp up, as they are new. And thus when it comes to spanking new Hong Kong/Cantonese/Chinese establishments, the local A$Ns flock there like maggots to a steak, which is clearly not an indication of popularity or quality, but the cheap factor compared to the competition, is what made it attractive.
I hope things pick up for them, but right now, like Shania Twain once wailed....."that don't impress me much". -
Review from Raymond N.
Redwood Shores, CA
3/6/2010
I am a sucker for good family style HK cafes / restaurants, so I thought I would give this place a try.
I ordered the Hoi Nam Chicken rice - very disappointing, the chicken has no flavor, the rice is not cooked with the chicken broth. My friends ordered the curry chicken fried noodles, and curry beef over rice, again, nothing special, mediocre at best.
What irks me the most is this brain dead waitress.
Me: Excuse me, I ordered the "special lunch", it is supposed to come with the milk tea, I never got it.
BDW: You didn't order any milk tea.
Me: Please look at the menu on the wall, it says it comes with milk tea.
BDW: OK, let me check with the kitchen
Five minutes passed, she came back with the milk tea.
Me: Excuse me, my friends ordered the lunch special also, they didn't get the milk tea
BDW: They didn't order any milk tea !
Me: Ahhh, please look at the wall, it says it comes with the milk tea
Ten minutes passed, she came back with the milk tea
We also ordered a lunch special to go, and guess what? No milk tea,
Me: Excuse me, there is no milk tea with this lunch special
BDW: Oh, it you order to go, you don't get the milk tea.
Me : Where does it say that? Please look at the wall where you have your specials - this lunch special comes with milk tea. AWWW, never mind.
Someone must have performed a lobotomy on this lady, we won't be back there anytime soon. -
Review from Vanessa T.
Brooklyn, NY
11/5/2009
My parents and I came here last night for a late dinner. Their "OPEN" sign was still lit up so we walked in. Apparently they closed at 10pm and it was around 10:30 when we walked in, but the owner was good-natured and took us in even though he was eating his dinner. Another couple came in a few minutes later and he took them in as well.
My parents ordered the special (ox-tongue with a mushroom cream sauce) and the baked filet of sole with spaghetti in a curry sauce. I'm a huge fan of baked ox-tongue with spaghetti in tomato sauce but NO ONE in San Francisco can make it properly. I always order it at other restaurants (ABC, S&E, etc.) but I'm always disappointed. But when our dishes came, everything was delicious! The ox-tongue was tender and the tomato sauce had a good flavor. I'll be back for sure. This place is authentic Hong Kong Style food.
Raymond (the owner) even gave us some freshly baked buns to eat in the morning. I'm just crossing my fingers that he'll make some raisin wheat molasses buns next time. -
Review from Eric Y.
Updated - 9/25/2009
Dropping a star...
Food got much more boring after several times of visiting this place.
They use some horrible meat for their onion pork chop... Bunch of FAT and BONES. sorry, but i hate to drop that star.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/23/2009 First to Review
so for those who know about this location, it was first known to be Tapioca Express (which closed… Read more »
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Review from Sally Y.
San Francisco, CA
11/9/2010
I ordered their club sandwich and I was actually very disappointed.
It didn't taste as good
The chicken was dry and they didn't have enough mayo or something in their.
Will not get that anymore
Haven't tried anything else but I've seen my coworker order the Hainan chicken rice plate several times, so maybe that might be good. -
Review from Jay T.
Mountain View, CA
A welcome addition to the Millbrae neighborhood - definitely stands out on top of other competition nearby (Broadway Bistro and Cafe Selina) The place is a bit cozy (small) and the rear parking lot is small and hard to find where the entrance is. But it was all good because it boils down to good service and food.
We tried the Baked Spagetti with Meat Sauce, Hainan Chicken and Baked Pork Chop over rice.
Baked Spagetti - Delicious meat sauce with a perfect balance of meat, sauce and cheese mix on top of el-dante spaghetti.
Baked Pork Chop - Excellent meat quality, very tender and juicy. The sauce is very rich and smooth and the fried rice below balances out the richness of the sauce.
Hainan Chicken - Disappointing. Meat quality is mediocre at best. Chicken meat was dry and texture was dull. The most disappointing part is they can't even get the rice right - without the Hainan flavor and aroma - literally a bowl of plain white rice with a few drops of oil.
Milk tea (tried both hot and cold) - both were disappointing. It's diluted and lack of any tea aroma. Basically sugar water plus milk.
The owner and staff were very friendly and family oriented. They welcome families with kids and babies and even gave my baby a little toy to play with for free. They were apologetic when the service was slow and tried to do everything they could to make the environment better for us (they have no AC, just huge and noisy fans)
Overall, it's not perfect, but it's quite a bit better than the others around the Bay Area. So I'd definitely go there again. I've been there a few times and it seems each time I'm a little bit more impressed. -
Review from Prascilla L.
San Francisco, CA
9/14/2009
Or 2.5 stars. Another HK style Cafe in Millbrae. They have a few chef specials including the curry over rice, baked pork chop with rice and Hainan chicken.
Not a big fan of Hainan chicken in SF since not single one can compare to what I have had in Singapore and we are talking about the thick soy sauce alone.
Ok focus... Baked pork chop rice is decent. Very large portion on pork chop, milk tea is ok. The disappointment comes from the wonton and beef brisket soup noodle. Wonton is dry and the beef brisket is tough. Guess I won't be back. -
Review from Melissa T.
San Francisco, CA
4/30/2010 3 photos
I went here with my mom to kill some time before going to the airport. This place is small and right next to a tattoo shop.
The menu is alright. I went at like 4pm for snack and it's typical Hong Kong snack food. But the prices are more expensive than other places I have been too. Plus the quality is so-so. No wait, that's too nice. The quality is nasty!
There was an ant in my milk tea! I didn't see it until I was almost done.
My mom and I ordered the chicken wings and the fried wontons. Everything was so greasy and the french fries, which should be fairly easy, was soggy.
Umm...never again. -
Review from Annie L.
8/17/2010 12 Check-ins Here
Cafe Orchid is one of my favorite places to come when I need my HK food fix. I love their baked porkchop with spaghetti. Yummmm!
But lately my sister and I have been going here on a weekly basis for their afternoon tea time specials!! They have a bunch of options for $5.95 that includes food PLUS milk tea :). What more can you ask for! We always get the pork with preserved vegetables and the mini-size baked porkchop. I'm drooling and awaiting the weekend already as I type this.
I also like their macaroni soup a lot. I know its easy to make but this place definitely makes it better then most of the other HK cafes. -
Review from Mikey N.
San Francisco, CA
8/19/2011
Food is great!!!!!!:-) Baked pork chop over rice. Food is good.
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Review from Vicky H.
Millbrae, CA
6/9/2010
I have been to Cafe Orchid for at least ten times and would give it a solid 4-star review after so many visits. The food quality has always been consistent and service is good, day in and day out. By now the ladies recognize me whenever I go there. They are not the most proactive but are nice and friendly enough, which honestly, one can't expect too much in a "$" restaurant. The only 1 star deduction is that you have to bring cash as this is the only method of payment--NO CARDS accepted, which is sort of typical, unfortunately, in some Chinese restaurants...... @_@
The portion of their afternoon tea set is decent for the price of $5.95. I am a loyal customer of Cafe Orchid because it has repeatedly demonstrated the consistency and quality that I can always anticipate. :) -
Review from Ethan H.
San Francisco, CA
3/21/2010
The baked meat spaghetti is very good. Cheap eat for only $5.95. Good causal place to go.
My very picky husband loves the baked items here. Yummy!!!! -
Review from Aniko N.
Pacifica, CA
4/27/2011
I really love the pork chop over rice and the corn chowder! as for the parking good luck with that. Since I always have take out I avoid eating there.
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Review from ivy z.
Millbrae, CA
11/1/2011 7 Check-ins Here
like this place. i come here often ( like every week ) and the food here is good!
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Review from Lydia W.
11/18/2009
I kinda had high expectations (usually can't go wrong with HK Cafes) after reading some reviews, but was prepared for the worst as well.
The parking lot in the back is kinda small and weird because you have to walk all the way around the building to get to the entrance.
The decor is very purple. It kind of rubs me the wrong way - this shade of purple is not too appropriate for a restaurant.
The table cloths are the same shade of purple as the walls. Overload.
The glass on the tables don't really fit which makes me fear for my life. Glass can be dangerous.
Anyways onto the food! The prices are not low, but for what you pay, you expect good quality, right!? Not so, not so. I ordered a Baked Portuguese Sauce (sweet coconutty curry) Fish Fillet with Spaghetti. It took a while for it to come out, which is fine because I assumed it was freshly prepared, and it was piping hot. The hotness is probably why I am giving this place an overall rating of 3 stars. 2 big but thin pieces of fish fillets = decent. Total lack of ingredients. Usually I expect to see some bell peppers, some potatoes, onions, carrots... etc. I got 2 pieces of potato and 5 scraps of tomatoes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Also the Portuguese sauce was bland. SERIOUSLY? I don't understand. I have never really had a tasteless Portuguese sauce in my life. Usually I complain of too much sauce. Not only was my spaghetti insufficiently wet, it was lacking in flavor and ingredients. Utter sadness.
On the other hand, their beef stew is alright. Wontons = no good. They were falling apart (as in, the skin had come off of half of them). And the filling could be better.
Do yourself a favor and go to the Bistro on Broadway instead, if you're looking for HK Cafe style food. -
Review from G J.
Daly City, CA
9/21/2009
This is an observation from my 8 year old son: He said he noticed that this restaurant changed every week and he wonder how long this one will last. I have to laugh because I don't think it will last either.
We went there over the weekend for the 2nd time. Parking sucks. The place is small. The food is nothing to rave about. My son ordered ham and egg sandwich (toasted), when the sandwich came, the bread cannot look anymore white, you call that toasted?
I ordered the curry fish ball rice noodle soup. The curry fish ball came separately on a plate, so my soup noodle has no curry taste, I had to combine them together. What's the point?
The lady who sat next to us complained her beef ball was cold and hard.
No thanks. I don't think this place will last............ -
Review from Derrick C.
Buffalo, NY
6/8/2010
These canto Chinese restaurants are a dime-a-dozen in the Millbrae area. Cafe Orchid is on the lower price range with a lot of their lunch specials in the $5-8 range. Their baked ox tongue is pretty standard but not as tender as I would've preferred. The baked pork chop was better. Service is also sub-par here - my Dad ordered a curry beef stew and when it was brought to the table, they said that they ran out of curry and substituted it for some other sauce...wtf thanks for basically ordering for us...WHACK
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Review from Jade P.
9/13/2009
I would give zero star if there is such option. The worst service in millbrae area. Left instead of eating there at all. I rather go cafe encore instead. Sorry you hire the WRONG waitress.
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Review from Ennie L.
San Mateo, CA
11/7/2009
We've had take-outs from this "cha tsan tang" at least a dozen times. The food is decent but my boyfriend's family seem to love it. My personal favorite is the fried vermicelli and the tomato rice is great comfort food. Worth a try!
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Review from L L.
San Francisco, CA
9/24/2009
There is no wow factor about this place.
Our first visit was tempered by the cashier error. She can not add or do any math what so ever! Our bill came out to be $8 dollars overstated and we went back and forth with this....customers is always right!!!!!
Second visit was better, but the food tasted very bland. Nothing to be excited about. The wontons (should be the basics/stable dish from a cafe) tasted rock hard.....soup was tasteless....
hummm, so conclusion, there will be no third attempt to this place.
One star for being clean and one star for being new! -
Review from P S.
Manhattan, NY
5/12/2011
Authentic Hong Kong "western style" food! Yum yum!
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Review from Naomi S.
San Bruno, CA
5/30/2011
despite reading some bad reviews on this restaurant, my parents decided to give this place a try. little did they know giving it a chance means finding rat feces in their bowl of rice halfway through the course.
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Review from Belinda C.
San Francisco, CA
this place is like a hole in the wall you can easily drive pass it and miss it. i think there used to be a Tapioca express here. but my friend took me here on our way to hillsdale. it was an easy exit from 101 and it is located exactly RIGHT at the corner or millbrae ave and el camino. i came in here thinking that the plates will be small but i was wrong.. my friend had ths chow mein and i had the noodle soup with spam.. it's hard to find a chinese place there their dishes are not greasy and i have to say this place is good. it's not greasy and their dishes are big.. i say for the type of food they serve( hk food) the prices are pretty reasonable. the service is good and the food came out pretty fast. their drink selections is not big but still good. i was about to came back here a second time and i had the ying yang drink (half coffee and half milk tea) and they asked me if i wanted condense milk in my drink.. which is good b/c very few places serve it the hk style with condense milk.. i ordered an egg and spam sandwich as well and i didn't know it came with fries.. which was pretty decent. it's cool that they have the hk gossip/news channel on along with hk gossip magazines so it makes you feel like it is a place for you to hang out. if only they served desserts! well if you want desserts broadway has a fewplaces for that.. overalll i am pretty content with this place.
