Chefs Wok

Came here for dim sum and waited around 30 mins for a table of 5 on a Sunday morning. We checked in with the host and received a piece of paper with our number. Don't go too far because once you miss your number being called, you will go back into the queue.

They quickly give you a sheet and pen to check off your dim sum items and ask for your tea preference. We ordered the chrysanthemum and paid tea per person-it's around $1.75 pp (typical of dim sum restaurants).

We received our food here and there. It was decent for the price but some dishes were very mediocre. My favorite is the baked cha siu bao and siu mai. The pi gwut was hard and the lo bak goh was not very fried.

I'm actually surprised I haven't reviewed this place yet, but here we go.

Located in Alameda, after you get out of the tunnel from Oakland, and just a bit down the street from the community college, you'll find Chefs Wok nestled in kind of a weird parking lot, with not a whole lot of parking because the place is pretty big and just doesn't have enough spots to accommodate them when it's full, which is pretty often, so just be aware of parking woes if you're dropping by.

Chefs Wok is a dim sum place and one of the few actual ones left in the area, so for those who want dim sum, here's a spot for you. They do the order paper style, so there won't be people wheeling carts around, though, that style doesn't really exist nowadays in any case. It's still in paper format, so get your pencils/pens ready (they will provide you one of course).

Their dim sum menu is also a full menu, so they have a wide variety of dim sum dishes, that also include several of the specialty dishes. Lots to choose from. The parts that really bode well for this spot is two things, the price of their dim sum dishes, which if you decide to try one in downtown Oakland not too far away, it's significantly more comparatively to somewhere like Peony, each dimsum dish is a dollar or more expensive, which for us dim sum goers, it really adds up. And the other big upside here is that the dim sum portions are also quite hefty, so you get a lot more portions of things like siu mai or ha gao, etc. Price and portions, always a big plus.

Things to note though, the high rating I have is mainly for the food, as the service here is generally hit or miss depending on how busy they are. They have a lot of people working, so you just need to work a bit extra to flag people down because they generally don't actively turn their heads to find people when they're walking around.

Some of the regular dishes here are also really good. One of their mainstays here is of course the Preserved vegetables and crispy steak cubes in crispy rice noodles, which is something you will see people order at other tables all the time. It looks a bit weird, like an open hatch, but what's inside is yummy steak cubes and sauce, and matched with the crunchiness outside it's great. The chow fun here is quite good too, and lots of ingredients, which also includes the meat. The fried rice is cooked with a great aroma, and tastes great too. And the main thing, the portions for all of these are also huge, which bodes well for their non dim sum menu during the night time.

Overall, Chefs Wok is a great place to eat at. The price is great comparatively, especially for how much food you get as well, from both the dim sum dishes and also the regular non-dim sum dishes too. Their dim sum menu is big, and contains all of the main stuff you would want from it, and perhaps some stuff you don't see on other dim sum menus anymore. While the service would leave things to desire sometimes, especially when they get busy, overall, I enjoy coming here for several other reasons, so it makes up for it.

Chef wok is one of my favorite local dim sum restaurants. The flavors are good, everything comes out piping hot. The restaurant has many large tables to accommodate big groups. They have a parking lot, small but convenient if you come right when they open. Service is sometimes great, sometimes not so much.

Their best dishes are the steamed pork buns, siu mai, and chicken feet. It's always done well. I also like the salt and pepper tofu.

We love chef wok! It's our family's regular go to lunch, dinner and dimsum lol. Weekends get very packed with long lines for really great delicious dimsum. Even better than chef wok in LA SGV. There's some dimsum carts but a lot of it are brought from the kitchen so it's very hot and fresh out of the steamers.

Usually at nights we order from the dinner menu with large plates of food. Tonight we ordered at least 15 dishes with soup and free desserts, total was like $194. Great value, enormous portion. We had like 7ppl at our table. The food isn't too salty n desserts aren't too sweet. Tastes good for our picky Chinese parents standards.

This dim sum place used to be good and the quality is running downhill! I wouldn't recommend this place

We have come to this restaurant for years, usually during lunch or brunch for dim sum. It is always a win. We know what we expect and everything comes out pretty hot and tasty. Service is pretty consistant and a solid 4, it may also be because we speak chinese. My husband who does not speak chinese some times claims he has a harder time with communication on some items.
They do have a small parking lot which is always a plus for me in Alameda! Parking there is free.

We came recently for dinner, they have all the common dishes and we were trying their banquet style dishes for a tasting. Loved most of the dishes with the exception to 2 dishes which I felt were too basic for a "banquet" style dinner. I will have to update my review with photos next time when we do the official banquet!

I have passed this restaurant for years, had no idea what a wonderful treat it would be to eat there. The front of the restaurant was deceiving, once you cross the threshold, what seemed like a small cramp restaurant opened to a large dining room. There are a few dim sum lounges in Alameda but this location is, for me superb. I knew the food was going to be great because there is always a line to get in and the parking lot would be full. We ordered at least twelve items from crispy pork belly to shrimp fried Chinese egg plant, fried tofu, Chinese bok choy, and a plethora of many other delicacies I can't name but I sampled. The restaurant was busy for a Thursday lunch crowd.

If you try to visit on a Saturday or Sunday be prepared to wait because it will be busy. I enjoyed the experience. The restaurant was neat and pleasant for a wonderful dining experience. Only thing I was expecting was dim sum on a cart wheeled to my table which I had experienced at another dim sum restaurant in Oakland long gone. I can't speak on price as I was a treated guess but everyone who partook of the meal, raved about it.

Visit and be elated at the food and the dining experience.

3/22/23 Wednesday night
We celebrated my grandmas' mid 80 birthday! Remarkable responsive customer service which is more than I can say in some Chinese dining establishments! we had a great meal.

Came here with a group of 7 at 11am on a Saturday. Maybe we got lucky, but I noticed that they seat you even if your whole group hasn't arrived yet. We ordered a LOT of food (with LOTS of leftovers) two rounds of it, and it came out to less than $40 per person. Food was decent for a classic dim sum place. My favorites were the fried pork belly bites, salt and pepper pork, salted egg custard baos, and taro puffs. They also do a delicious salt and pepper fried squid. Everything is super salty.

Food comes out fast, definitely need to be assertive with waving down a server. Checking off what you want on the paper menu is the best way to go, especially with a large group. I'll probably come back to try the Peking Duck!

I haven't gone to Chefs Wok for dinner and years and I was so disappointed... It does not taste good. At all.

I went on a Wednesday night and took my friend, and I'm actually kind of ashamed I recommended to eat here. I'm not sure when it went down, but I recall it being delicious a few years ago. Maybe there's a new chef since then... Who knows... but I won't be returning for a while.