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Cafe Salina
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
122 reviews for Cafe Salina
Review Highlights
122 reviews in English
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Review from mc t.
Milpitas, CA
Updated - 4/5/2012
I am happy to report their food quality has IMPROVED!!
Service is great as usual. Unlike most HK cafe, this place is very nice and quiet which allows one to actually have a conversation!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/3/2011
Used to be better.
The place is very nice and quiet for a meal. The food is also OK, but a bit on… Read more »
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Review from Victor G.
10/31/2011
Cafe Salina seems intent on on selling every patron a drink as i was asked twice. finally told them : "i.m not ready to order a drink". i then got a glass of water.
flatscreens on every table with remote.
eats: shrimp won ton (8/5.99)
-crunchy, tasteless shrimp pieces in a large ball.
-broth brownish, no taste, msg aftertaste
pork/.chive dumpling (6/4.99)
-very big dumplings, mushy innards.
-not much taste food 2.5
foodnotes:
-no sauces brought to table, table only had sugar, salt, peoper, ?
-water refilled.
-food bland, almost filling.
-only teenagers work here?
-lunch specials only m-f, (5.99) daily specials (8.99) only one per day
-some pricey items on menu.
chinese lessons mandarin
shrimp won ton xia1 yun3 tun1Listed in: hong kong cafes
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Review from Jana S.
8/27/2011
Dessert spelled disappointing after a disastrous lunch.... poor bro who just got off an 18 hour flight to this kind of junk!!!!
We had to send the 'zee ma woo' back, for the endnote had a sour taste, and there was some questionable dots atop the sesame paste porridge.
The ginger infused steamed milk was also not very awesome.... something kept it from being the silky smooth, excellent, melded-together paradise that SF's Sweet something or other there on Grant makes. Another let-down.
The red bean ice cream ordered for the nephew... red beans were so small! and it was not red bean ice cream, but rather dull vanilla with about 2 tbsp of disappointing beans.
Man!!! I hope that we make out better for dinner this evening... either that, or I'm defrosting the AU rack of lamb I bought and roasting our way to some edibles!!!!! -
Review from John H.
South San Francisco, CA
Updated - 3/11/2012 6 Check-ins Here
The congee is good. The bolognaise is good. The rice fish soup is expensive and not good, the fish is too salty and the rice not soft enough. The milk tea is still too bitter and no milk tea taste.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/21/2012
Don't order the braised ox tail set menu. The ox tail and the spaghetti are just warm. The soup… Read more »
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Review from Jo L.
South San Francisco, CA
10/26/2011
After a huge disappointment at Broadway Bistro, we kind of want to find a new place around this neighborhood and this is IT!
Services are great and they are very warm, they re-filled our tea all the time and you can actually watch TV and change channel and volume cuz it's all yours!
Food was very good, we had the 19.99 for 3 traditional chinese dishes to share. Potion might be a bit small compare to other chinese places but would definitely fill two people up (without rice). We went there for a few times now and the quality is very consistent. Next time I'd like to try out their HK cafe style food and see if it's good also! -
Review from Ken K.
Updated - 4/25/2011
I don't know about you.
But growing up, most parents would have easily given a serious ass whooping to a kid for watching TV while eating a meal at the table.
There used to be a famous commercial in Hong Kong during the mid to late 1980s.... a Cantonese speaking family at the dinner table. The idea was for the Hong Kong goverment to promote "parents lead by good example for their kids". And it went a little bit like dis:
The dad would give his kid crap, "Dood, don't read comics while eating dinner! You always do that, please stop!" To which his son replied "$heeeeit pops, takes one to know one! You're always reading the newspaper's horse racing section. Effin gambler b*tch a$$!". To which the dad hears his son's voice repeat ad nauseum in his head, drives him nuts, and he puts down the paper. Kid puts down the comic, and they have a happy dinner.
Fast forward to 2010 in Hong Kong. Go to some HK cafes cha chaan tengs, and this is the latest fad.
http://chaxiubao.typep...
Yes a FLATSCREEN right on the wall. While you eat won ton noodles, congee, baked pork chop rice while sipping a HK milk tea or lemon tea. Apparently congee shops have this too. It brings TV dinner to the next level.
And guess what... now on the upper level left side booth seating at Cafe Salina, is pretty much the exact same thing. Although to be fair, all their flatscreens are networked to display the same channel to the main one, and they blast out Comcast cable. For you HK expats, Salina does subscribe to Jade channel so you can watch whatever Canto crap is streaming, while you enjoy a nice cold bev, their killer pan fried noodles with pork strips, mushrooms bean sprouts, or their delicious authentic HK style cream of corn and chicken soup (or HK style borscht soup).
A place sure to make your traditional Hong Kong Chinese parents proud.Listed in: A taste of Hong Kong around…
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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6/21/2010
So while you crazy A$N types were flooding the hell out out of every single dim sum haus along… Read more »
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Review from Flavia H.
Santa Clara, CA
8/5/2011 5 Check-ins Here
My go to place to get baked pork chops over rice with tomato sauce. It's close to my mom's house, easy parking.
Came here a couple of times for a family style meal, food was ok, small portions. Recommend the HK cafe style food, larger portions and it's their specialty.
Service isn't too bad, always refilling your tea, but you'll have to flag them down if you need something else. But that's typical for a Chinese restaurant. -
Review from Angela Y.
7/8/2011
A good place for a cheap and decent meal.
My friend took me here on a Saturday night for dinner. He ordered the pork chop with tomato sauce, I got the sweet and sour pork chops with rice and my other friend ordered the sweet and sour soup.
Overall, the food is what we expected it to be. Tasty but very typical. Very large-sized portions so any order that you pick, you'll definitely have enough - unless you have a huge appetite. Definitely a place that you can share family style as well. They provide you with tea which is awesome.
Service is a little lacking. The restaurant was not crowded whatsoever but it took awhile for us to finally get a server to take our order. We even waved down a person and told her we were ready to order and she just looked at us like we were crazy. Minus points there. -
Review from Sheila M.
Pacifica, CA
1/24/2012
close on monday. clean, spacious, big table is available for group gathering, public parking lot is just across the street, authentic hong kong style cooking, good pricing, tuscan interior design, hygienic toilet
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Review from Angela P.
Burlingame, CA
9/3/2011
This place is another typical Hong Kong /American style fusion cafe. Baked dishes with noodles or rice, strong milk teas. You will like this place if you are familiar with this type of fusion. This Hong style cafe tweaks the American classics like mac and cheese, spaghetti, and hot dogs and other pastas, for the more Chinese palette. And if you are not accustomed to Chinese cuisine on a regular basis, you may not "get it" ..but you could get used to it or try it and see if you might like it. Regular Chinese dishes are also offered here like won ton noodle soup, rice porridge with fried bread, and chow mein and chow fun.
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Review from Christopher L.
Millbrae, CA
8/23/2011
Recently back from college, I decided to check this place out. Three years ago, this place was newly remodeled and food prices were unwarrantably raised. It used to a hk style cafe you go to for quick, good, and decently priced food. I can appreciate their effort to upscale to compete with Broadway Bistro though.
This new experience was definitely reassuring that they're back on the right path. They currently have a special that offers 3 dishes for $19.99. Be aware that this does not include rice, soup, or dessert. Portions at first seemed small, but was perfectly satisfying for a party of two. I would suggest their hoi nan chicken as well as the fried tofu. Although the taste was good, I found that their hk style spareribs to be on the boney side.
Service was VERY attentive; definitely not typical of a hk style cafe! They checked in frequently to refill tea/water which is much appreciated.
Overall, the food was good, prices reasonable again, and service quality raised. I will be returning in the future for more simple meals. -
Review from Tiffany K.
Burlingame, CA
6/19/2011 4 Check-ins Here
I always go here for sunday lunch/brunch haha depending on what time I desire to wake up :)
I enjoy their clean, roomy, and bright atmosphere. Except their service really sucks, especially their waitresses who always take forever to take your order or forget to grab you something you request.
Their food is decent and doesn't take forever to come out :D....so overall not bad I guess. -
Review from Dom L.
11/12/2010
I've visited the last several times I've been to Millbrae. Tried several things and overall the food is pretty good. Place is never crowded which is weird because Broadway Bistro is always packed and I think they serve similar styles of food. That's good for me I guess because I like the food here better anyway. Prices are about $1 higher than comparable places but it's doable. I've tried the noodle dishes, wonton, beef stew, everything has been pretty good.
But all things considered I'm giving this place 4 stars mainly for the jook (congee/rice porridge). It is one of the best I've had in the bay area. It is seasoned well, and is made the traditional restaurant way with a super high heat to break up all the rice (kernels) into a thick and soupy consistency. They also use little (if any) MSG in their jook which I really like. I hate having a bowl of jook then 5 minutes later my mouth drys out and I'm thirsty. After having 4 bowls, [not same visit =) ] I'm satisfied that I don't get that sensation here. -
Review from LeeLee C.
Milpitas, CA
12/10/2010
A HongKong style cafe with a high price tag. Food quality wise, stick with what were posted on the wall would be a safer bet. (We ordered randomly from the menu for dinner before, not impressive at all.)
This time for lunch, we ordered Singapore style rice noodle () and stirfry beef with flat rice noodle (). Both were OK. We could taste that they were freshly made, straight out of the wok with good heat. The spices and soy sauce mix were even in both dishes which is very important as a lot of other places lack the patience to make sure the flavors are evenly blended in.
The place has a mezzanine floor inside and it felt good to seat upstairs. The service was a bit slow as there was only one waiter and she also worked double as the host at the front. -
Review from L L.
Redwood City, CA
4/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
We had 2 tea sets - beef stew noodle and french toast (hong kong style). Both are good, very satisfied.
Also, there is promotion going on for lunch, tea set, and dinner, good deal. -
Review from Odie O.
Updated - 9/26/2011
Service has improved tenfold, they have tvs at the table which is great, their steak is verynexpensive but their lunch special shanghai dumplings were great and a steal.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/8/2010
The atmosphere seems nothing like a normal chinese restaurant, its nice. It is a hong kong style… Read more »
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Review from Tracy a.
San Francisco, CA
3/8/2009
Located a block from Broadway Bistro. This place looks really nice for a Hong Kong style cafe. It was more quiet unlike Broadway. I ordered the Minced Beef over rice. For under $8 you get a pretty big portion. I had to share with my boyfriend and he even got full from my half.
I think I'll prefer Cafe Salina than Broadway Bistro. At least they won't ignore you when you're trying to get the check, or ignore you period. -
Review from Angela H.
Daly City, CA
3/13/2009
I finally visited Cafe Salina after a recommendation from Ken K. in regards to their baked pork chop over rice. I gotta say that Cafe Salina definitely wins the battle of this dish with Broadway Bistro- Cafe Salina's version is probably as close to the version I remember from my childhood.
Cafe Salina also wins in the looks department- it just looks cleaner and more airy than Broadway Bistro, which could use some freshening up. Service-wise, Cafe Salina also wins- the waitresses weren't exactly fawning over me here, but they seemed to pay a little more attention to their customers and they weren't frowning te entire time.
Now for the baked pork chop rice- ahhhh, the first bite brought back sweet memories of eating this dish back in HK. I probably haven't had the dish in close to twenty years, but I can recall everything about it- the sweetness of the tomato sauce, the fried rice underneath, and the tender pork chop. The sauce is probably the most important part of the dish and Cafe Salina hits it right on the head- its creamy and sweet with just the tiniest hint of tang from the tomato.
4.5 stars- I'll definitely be back for the baked pork chop, as will my entire family, who also deemed it the closest to the HK version they've ever tasted. Though this dish is one of the pricier items on the menu, it sure beats paying for airfare back to HK. -
Review from Mike C.
San Mateo, CA
2/24/2011 5 Check-ins Here
For an HK Style Cafe, this place is very clean and has a quick wait staff. Very large menu and everything you would expect for this type of restaurant.
I ordered the baked seafood - fried rice, which came out surprisingly quick. Quality is pretty good. The place deserves a 3.5 but I leaned towards the 4 because it's not crowded. -
Review from Randy F.
8/11/2008 5 photos
Only a block away from the popular Broadway Bistro, Cafe Salina is a newer, larger, and cleaner addition to the Hong Kong cafe-style cuisine in Millbrae.
Upon entering Cafe Salina, one immediately notices the larger and brighter space with plenty of booth style seating for the plentiful patrons.
Service, when it gets busy, can be spotty. Although we were seated promptly, neither tea nor our order was taken until we flagged down several waitresses several times.
Fortunately, food comes out quickly and it comes out piping hot. The menu, while diverse, is extremely similar to that of Broadway Bistro: set dinner specials (ie: prime rib, rack of lamb), porridges, noodle soups, sandwiches, rice dishes, and more sprinkle the menu. Overall, it's a complete coverage of Western-style dishes cooked with an Asian flare that HK cafes are known for.
Our order included:
Russian Borscht Soup: ready almost immediately, this soup came out steaming hot. It was filled with plentiful vegetables and had a rich flavor characteristic of the ox tail that it is usually made with. Unfortunately, absolutely no meat was found in the entire bowl of soup. For $5.95, that's a shame.
Shrimp and Leet Won Ton Dumplings with Won Ton Noodles - large shrimp filled dumplings covered delicate won ton noodles. The noodles, in particular, were stand out. Very fresh and perfectly cooked. The dumplings had large pieces of shrimp but were slightly salty.
Fish Porridge - a large bowl of hot porridge filled with slices of cooked fish. A nice, clean comfort food that had good flavor and adequately thick porridge. Not the best porridge I've had (not thick enough and hearty enough) but very tasty. A solid item.
Overall, after several visits to Cafe Salina, I'm a fan of their quick food preparation, piping hot delivery and diversity of items. In a pinch, though the surroundings are much larger and cleaner, I'd likely go to Broadway Bistro as I think some of their items are better, but it's a close call. Only a block away from each other, it's hard to go wrong with either one.
The service could definitely use some improvement at Cafe Salina, but it's not rude so much as its busy. In the end, that's a good sign and I'd recommend either Broadway Bistro or Cafe Salina to anyone looking for better HK fare than available in the South Bay or Peninsula. (ie: the mediocre HK Bistro in Mountain View). 3.5 Stars rounded down to 3 for the slow wait service and the slightly increased prices across the board.
BTW they take credit cards but not American Express.Listed in: AmEx Outcasts!
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Review from Rebecca L.
San Francisco, CA
6/4/2009 2 photos
Broadway Bistro, D & A, Happy Court Cafe, Cafe Bakery, ABC, Bluesky Cafe - i've tried em all and I like Cafe Salina the best. Here are the reasons why:
Ambiance: Compared to most HK-styled cafes, this place is spacious, clean and organized!
Menu: They offer typical HK dishes like ham macaroni soup, spam ramen, hk-styled pan fried noodles with gravy, baked pork chops, club sandwiches, milk tea and etc.
Service: The waitresses here actually make an effort to be nice. They don't yell or give attitude when it gets hectic.
And now to the food:
- Milk Tea (hot or cold) - Rich and never watered down and !
-Preserved greens with pork rice noodle soup
Photo: http://www.yelp.com/bi...
-Club Sandwich and Ham Macaroni (my favorite dishes here): they don't use costco ham!
-Baked Pork Chop over rice (cant go wrong with this dish)
Photo:http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/vOHYh7atum3-9 Ibh2Yo75w?select=jaxA7LDyOVsRufrFBzqJ_g
Taste: Their pork chop is always tender, never dry or overcooked. -
Review from Susy C.
11/17/2008
For an HK cafe type-esque, it is
1) CLEAN
2) expensive!!!!!
The food is passable. It was like $6 for a plate of braised noodles with oyster sauce and chinese greens. holy crap dude, that's nearly double the price! *sigh* hard times for our economy I suppose.
Do order yourself a hot lemon coke w/ ginger, they make it good. reminded me of the late night HK cafes in Los Angeles.
Their red bean drink is also good. =) a little on the messy side though, so it can get sticky! -
Review from David L.
Fremont, CA
8/20/2007
A very clean, modern looking HK style cafe. Their extensive menu includes everything from sandwiches, noodles, baked spaghetti, porridges, noodles, and rice plates.
For a party of seven, we sampled the following dishes:
Baked Rock Rod with Rice ($10)
Baked Pork Chop with Rice ($9.50)
Plain Congee with Dried Scallops ($3)
Won Ton and Shrimp Dumpling Lo Mein ($7.50)
Beef Chow Fun ($8)
Singapore Style Chow Fun ($8)
Chicken with Black Mushroom Clay Pot Rice ($10)
The food is tasty, but in general, portion sizes are smaller than other Chinese cafes' and prices are slightly more expensive as well. Service was only so-so, but because of the size of our party, they tagged on a mandatory 15% tip anyway.
Bottom Line: Come here for the atmosphere and cleanliness if you don't mind paying slightly more. -
Review from Ramon E.
Berkeley, CA
4/11/2010
The only things we've had here are youtiao and different kinds of porridge (pork and preserved egg; seafood; chicken). The youtiao are perfect: crispy on the outside and a bit 'meaty' (but NOT doughy or undercooked) on the inside. The porridges have been excellent as well--good portions, and most under $7.
I'm taking off two stars because service is hit-and-miss. Once they made us wait 20 minutes for our youtiao, and then one waitress came over and said, 'you might just want to cancel your order of youtiao--I don't see the cook making them'. ??! Also, we've ordered radish cakes 3 separate times, but they've always been 'sold out,' even when we go in the morning. I'm starting to think that some items might just be menu padding. -
Review from Jennifer H.
Burlingame, CA
9/4/2008
Man, this place has slow service. Lucky we don't work at places that are sticklers for lunch hours. JEEZY LOUISEY! Might as well ask for the check right after ordering food or bring a huge orange banner to flag down a server.
It's a HK style spot. I prefer Broadway down the street, but the BFF loves the BAKED ROCK COD. He calls it Asian mac and cheese. It's cod in cream of corn over rice. Super heavy, but he loves it. Jook and wonton noodle soup are pretty decent.Listed in: Peninsula Lunch Spots (during…
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Review from Steve J.
Fort Leavenworth, KS
5/27/2008
At one point I would've given Cafe Salina four stars. We used to come here a lot if we do not go to Broadway Bistro. In some ways this place appear cleaner and seem to provide better service. Like the abundant amount of natural lighting from the skylight above. Interesting faux paint job and colors on the walls.
Food tastes overall is good but prices have recently risen sharply. They have a similar menu to Broadway Bistro and have recently in the past month or so revised their menu. I must also say that revising a menu doesn't necessary mean a good thing. We've noticed their prices have definitely gone up, portions have shrunk, a couple entrees were under-seasoned (hit or miss) after the revision (it appears most recently they are tinkering with their menu).
They introduced a prime rib dinner on their new menu for $19.95. Look, why would I want to go to a HK styled "cha-chaan-teng" for prime rib?!? I'd rather go to an actual steak house for prime rib for that price! A HK styled "cha-chaan-teng" trying to be upscale, charging me more for less and have us experiment on the adjustments?!? We may not be back. -
Review from Stacia M.
Redwood City, CA
9/17/2008
OK - I have a somewhat bipolar relationship with this place. Love the food and selection, but have some major issues with service time:
Pros:
-They have practically every type of food imaginable: chinese, breakfast, traditional american, italian, and most important to me...rice!
- It's a fairly big place in relation to the surrounding restaurants, so there's always room to sit and there's lots of natural light for a nice atmosphere.
- The owner and the staff are always very polite and usually know what I'm going to order before I get the menu.
- My favorite plates are: fried ham and eggs over rice, seafood fried rice, preserved pork/bacon fried rice, pork with chile and green beans, and their chow mein is good too
Cons:
- Again, I'm stuck to one hour for lunch, which can pose a problem. Serving time can be hit and miss; sometimes you get your food in 5 minutes, and other times it's taken us about 45 minutes. If you're company is strict on lunch times, just be very careful or possibly order your food to go ahead of time.
- can be a bit pricey, even though you do get good quantities -
Review from haywood h.
9/12/2006
Don't go.
Decor is beautiful (thus one star), but very definitely overpriced. $10 for a rice plate? $10 for a run-of-the-mill baked pork chop rice?
The *recommended* (by the waiter) siu larm yuk (roasted pork) had terrible meat quality - flaky and hard (WTF?!).
I saw the waiters continue to recommend the siu larm yuk to other tables, even after I had complained to them about the quality of the food - probably they wanted to get rid of it before it all went bad. Just goes to show the mentality of the restaurant owners - I wonder how long they will stay in business this way.
With the multitude of other "HK-style tea restaurant" options in the Bay Area, this is one to be definitely avoided. As the other reviewer said, Broadway Bistro is just up the street.Listed in: Hong Kong-style Western…
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Review from Bob H.
Los Angeles, CA
4/18/2006
This is a solid choice for HK cafe style food in Millbrae. It's newer, cleaner, tastier, and friendlier than Broadway Bistro. The food is always up to par, so you know what you're going to get. They're also good at taking special requests, such as sauteing my garlic spinach with little oil...the result, all the taste, less the oil.
Now if only these suburb prices could drop a little bit. Both Salina and Broadway are pretty expensive for this type of food. I would expect a baked pork chop w/rice to be in the $6+ range. In Millbrae, it's more like $9-10. -
Review from Marilyn T.
Palo Alto, CA
9/5/2010
It was getting kind of chilly, so I was totally craving some baked rice. It's hard to find the HK style cafes in the South Bay, so I wanted to take advantage of being in Millbrae, where there are a couple in this area.
Like most of those cafes, the menu has anything you could want, from spaghetti to seafood to wontons to salads to macaroni soup (personally not a big fan). There are also teas, other fruity drinks, and a few beers and wines. In addition to the descriptions on the menu, there are also labeled photos of the food on the wall, which is always a plus.
It was pretty empty on a Saturday night. Actually, the whole street was really quiet after the art and wine festival.
I went for the baked rice with tomato sauce and vegetables (it's not on the menu, but you can pretty much ask them to create anything). The fried rice with egg white, salted fish, and XO sauce was also really good - slightly chewy and perfectly salty. I was disappointed that they didn't give the complimentary Russian borscht soup that other similar places give.
Service is as you'd expect for a Chinese place.. they'll come take your order, bring you food, occasionally refill tea if you ask, and then kindly ask you to pay the bill when you're the last table left haha. Not amazing food, but it was exactly what I was craving. -
Review from CHERiE Y.
Berkeley, CA
4/11/2006 4 photos
I love this casual HK style cafe!
Food wise, I'd recommend Beef Chow Fun (rice noodle), Tomato Beef Chow Mein (ask for Crispy Hk style noodle), and the Shanghainese style onion pancake. I'm a big fan of onion pancake, and Cafe Salina's were simply delicious!
If you're feeling adventurous, you might want to try Baked Ox Tongue w/ Spaghetti (Grandpa's favorite). If not, the menu has Western style food as well (anything from French Onion Soup to Peanut butter & Jelly Toast to Omelettes or Fish and Chips.
I was quite satisfied with the Vietnamese Iced Coffee here (I'll post a pic). Nice and strong. I wasn't as pleased with the peachy yogurt drink I ordered once- and never again. -
Review from Dennis L.
San Francisco, CA
12/11/2010
This places has some great comfort food. Like a typical HK style cafe, they have a ton of stuff on the menu, some things they do very well, other things just ok.
Things that we really like include pork liver Cantonese style (crunchy and fresh), the best chicken rice in the bay, good congee, and ginger milk that was freshly made.
Pleasant interior, more than decent service. -
Review from Wendy T.
San Francisco, CA
6/8/2007
Baked seafood over noodles was delicious! This is definitely a LA style HK style cafe (that's a lot of style)! I'm going to try the Shanghai style fried noodles next time since that's my second favorite dish..
It's also very clean. Surprising. -
Review from Cathy L.
San Francisco, CA
3/20/2009
This is a pretty nicely decorated and comfortable HK style Cafe. I love their milk tea and the HK entrees like tomato beef over rice and pork chopped baked spaghetti. The chinese onion pancake and cream of corn soup are all really good for starters.
Beware if you're taking friend who are not use to HK style food. The combination of chinese and american maybe not their style. -
Review from J Z.
San Francisco, CA
12/18/2010
The restaurant is very clean and the service staff is extremely cordial. The food selection is decent: starters, soup, noodles (soup, lo mien or stir fry), clay pot, dishes (entres) and fried rice. The pricing is very reasonable and the portion is average.
We ordered the won ton, shrimp dumplings noodle soup, braised string beans, xo fried rice and macroni in soup. All were good but not spectacular.
I would still recommend because of the cleanliness, service and good variety of food. For the price, the food was good. -
Review from Coo L.
Foster City, CA
8/12/2006
I usually go to Broadway down the street for HK style cafe food, but thought I would try this after reading all the great reviews here. Cafe Salina is a cleaner restaurant with more stylish decor than Broadway. But the prices are also higher. Most common dishes are $2-3 more.
We ordered lamb stew with bean curd stick and stir-fry lai fun with BBQ pork. Both are not available in Broadway. The lamb stew was very good but the lai fun was a little disappointing as there was very little BBQ pork. They also have many desserts but we didn't get to try them. One thing I didn't like was the music. There was only ONE song they played over and over again in the background. By the time we left, we must have heard it at least 20 times. It was about to drive us crazy and also the reason why we couldn't sit a little longer to taste the desserts. -
Review from Carrie L.
San Jose, CA
10/17/2010 2 photos
Had the roast duck lo mein and shrimp wonton noodle soup at this nice and clean Hong Kong-style café. I do like the food and the ambience here, but I have to say service is super slow!!! There was only one server last Sunday. Don't plan on coming here if you plan to get a quick meal and hoping to get out within an hour.
Therefore, 3.5 stars for the food but only 2 stars for the service. -
Review from Gloria H.
6/17/2007
What a disappointment...we were first overjoyed with the possibilities...there were so many HK style dishes so we ordered and ordered but nothing met expectation.
The beef stew soup fun looked good but the taste was not there and not enough soup. The fried dace fish ball was the biggest diappointment of all - blah! The fried chicken wing was ok. Can't remember what else we had... -
Review from Jonathan L.
San Francisco, CA
4/21/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Pretty good HK cafe. Whenever there's a family gathering, this is probably the place we'll be at.
As you walk into Cafe Salina, you feel a sense of warmth and openness. The place takes advantage of natural lighting with skylights and large windows and a high roof. Definitely a very welcoming environment and is also reflected by its staff. The waitresses are very friendly unlike some other HK cafes.
There is a good variety of food, ranging from traditional Chinese to more Westernized cuisine. Some of my favorite dishes:
1. Beef Stew Noodle Soup - A staple food for me.
2. Zha Jeung Mein ( - Sorry...I don't know the English name for this dish but it's basically noodles with some sauce and bits of meat. A really simple dish but tastes great.
http://en.wikipedia.or...
3. Diced chicken in noodle soup - You actually see this item on the wall. They use "fen" noodles instead of their egg noodles. I think they also put some shallots, diced green onions, and other items that add flavor to the broth. This dish has a Vietnamese flare to it.
4. Porridge - Good texture. Not too watery but thick enough.
5. Korean Beef Ribs - Ribs are great but the vegetables aren't so great. Not fully cooked.
6. Salted fish, diced chicken fried rice - Another Cantonese staple dish.
7. Egg white, dried scallops fried rice - Yum.
Watch out for:
1. Baked dishes - Haven't had a good experience with these items. Not enough flavor or sometimes the sauce is too burnt for my taste.
2. Spaghetti dishes - Not a fan of their white sauces.
Overall, a good place to go. I'd stick with their traditional Chinese food. They seem to do a better job. Be prepared for a wait on a weekend as they're pretty busy. 4 stars. -
Review from helen f.
5/9/2010 2 photos
Overall the food is ok, but service is quite bad.
- shredded pork and bean sprouts chow mein - They pan fried the noodle to be quite good; But not a lot of flavor
- baked pork chop with spaghetti - pork chop is decent and tender; the spaghetti is a over cooked
Service (or lack of ) is unacceptable...
