China Village Seafood Restaurant
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun 10:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: Full Bar
54 reviews
Palo Alto, CA
"This place is a beautiful, upscale Cantonese banquet restaurant. You won't embarrass your great-uncle from Hong Kong if you take him here…" read more »
47 Reviews for China Village Seafood Restaurant
China village is a great place for decent dim sum without paying an arm and a leg. I have been eating here at least once a week with my family for the past 10 years and they continually improve all aspects of their business. They have recently remodeled to make the dining area much more enjoyable. They continue to improve the selection of their dishes as well as the quality. And the bill is always surprisingly low for how satisfied I feel at the end of the meal.
There may be a handful of better dim sum places in the bay area but if you're in the Belmont area, this is definitely the place to go for dim sum.
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We went there for dinner the other night.....the food was not the same as what it used to be. I think they have had a change of ownership, as the usual hyper front man was not the same. The house special chow mien was horrible with dry bits of pork and stale prawns- I guess they don't have the fresh seafood tank there anymore., the Kung Pao chicken was also dry & smelled like gutter water & the sweet & sour prawns didn't quite make it out of the plate.- stay away from this one.
My only complaint is that the fried rice had lettuce in it! I Like veggies in my chinese dishes but this one is not a good combo.
Where have I been working?! apparently, inside a cave!
After 3 year, I have just discovered that I can have dim-sum for lunch! (thanks to previously mentioned new colleagues) The food is actually good for a weekday dim-sum. I gave an additional star just because of their convenience (close to my work, easy to get to and park) and because I'm happy to have a dim-sum break from work.
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Came here for lunch the other day with my colleagues. I had driven by here a couple times and had assumed that this would be an Americanized Chinese Restaurant.
We ordered the typical dim sum, har gow, siu mai, spicy salt chicken wings etc.
All in all, an average dim sum restaurant. There were dim sum carts pushed around and the staff spoke Chinese... I saw ~50% of the guests were non-Chinese though...
Despite its tacky and unattractive exterior in Belmont, this place, which has been here for years and is less than five minutes from my house, is quite decent for a local dim sum spot. I love dim sum in general -- little cart-pushing ladies who yell in your face every few seconds, waving metal containers in the air like crazy women, screaming, "SHRIMP BALLS! SHRIMP BALLS!" Someone below said they wished servers spoke a bit of English to explain the dishes, but I think that request is just silly. It's dim sum! You could also just look at the food. That's why they wave it in your face. If it looks good, take it. It probably is.
My family eats like a pack of boars whenever we're here; a group of six or so can sometimes order 40-50 tins, stacked high on the rotating center of the table. Somehow, ten minutes later, every dumpling is gone.
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Very good Dim Sum. Usually I go on Sundays for Brunch and the kitchen is in full churn mode. You can have a table covered with plates in a matter of minutes.
They also do take out - for the full Dim Sum menu. I had a surprise birthday party for my wife a couple of years ago and we were able to have several plates of Dim Sum. Very comparable in pricing to other take-out foods for party fare; Dim Sum is ideal for party snacks than say...pretzels...
Still, it's hard to do Dim Sum as a solitary exercise (even though you won't be doing much talking during your meal), due to the expense and limits of ones appetite. better to go as a squad so that one person can get a single piece of everything. Spreads the cost out.
For other Yelpers out there who didn't grow up Cantonese ("southern Irish"), don't take offense at the brusque manners of the staff, especially on Sundays or busy times. It's always been our tradition that *eating* the meal together is the bonding experience, anything else like say, conversation, is merely an obstruction to eating, especially during the Dim Sum meal.
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I have been to this joint a couple times and i would have to praise it for consistency. Usually i would stop by this place after if i have a bball game in the area. The dim sum is what you would expect...the normal dishes you would normally order and the same great taste...i have yet to have a bad experience here...also the wait isnt too bad at all.
I remember coming here for this girl Jenn's 17th birthday party.The food was pretty phenomenal ,what do I know but seemed like pretty traditional Chinese fare .The service was on your ass serving up that pork bunny goodness.
They also are down with the crab. Crab for days. There was this girl Allison at the birthday party my friend Meghan and I hated. because I was an angst ridden teenager and super mean , I decided to take a crab and throw it at her .She started crying.
But the crab I left on my plate to consume WAS SUPER GOOD!
BEST SIM DIM BEST EVER! I use to work for start-up down the street from this place. I use to eat here two-three times a week for dim sum with my IT colleagues.
Great service: They change your plate once it gets a little dirty or have bones on them.
When I ever get a chance I drive up for DIM SIM!
Forgot to tell you yelpers: TRY THE FRIED SHRIMP BALLS! It's the best!!!
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I found this weird, but excellent little chinese place, near Old Country Road (next to the Wendys), through a co-worker.
The weekday lunch special menu is quite good with set price ranges of $8.95 or $6.95 (veggie only). You get soup, rice, etc, and a decent plate of goods. I had the Beef with Black been sauce; with enough to take back for lunch the next day. For a guy...it would be one serving. This is not a HUGE plate of food, but enough to get filled. It is served hot and fresh with no MSG. Plenty of free parking in the back of the restaurant.
The place is filled with 'locals'...so that is how you tell the place is authentic and good. They do have fish tanks (a few), and serve fresh food; seafood being the specialty.
The restaurant itself is funny: fancy wall paper and crystal chandaliers (a bit Liberace to be) and a full bar, but run of the mill china, and ugly rattan chairs with the paint peeling off. Staff tries VERY hard to please with good service, and tea filling. On weekends, there is a line (due to the good dim sum), but it isn't cheap.
Enjoy this funky hole in the wall that wants to be 'Vegas'....
Decent dim sum when you can't get to Milbrae or into San Francisco. Wish they could mix up the selection every now and then. There would be stronger motivation to visit more often.
Dim dim for gringos! Ask for the bacon wrapped shrimp.
This is a good non-intimidating place for gringos to get their dim dim. ABC Seafood in Foster City is higher quality but you have to dodge all the gelatinous rolls (disgusting) and other hard core items like chicken's feet to get anything normal.
It is garbage compared to decent places in San Francisco but it's the best gringo friendly dim dim in the area and it's worth trying.
In Wisconsin, this place would be the dim sum bomb. In the Bay Area, it's got the standard and good (albeit a tad boring) dim stuff stuff - shrimp dumplings, shu mais, pork buns, fried shrimp or taro balls, egg custards, etc. Nice they had both big and small pea sprouts.
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Went here for lunch with my old college friends. The food was decent, the dim sum was good (not the best I've ever had). I think I'd come again!
I've been to China Village many times on weekdays for their dimsum lunch service; that is to say, I've never ordered off of their menu, or experienced what may be a very different weekend lunch experience.
One thing that would remain constant, of course, is the state of the building itself. A little old, tired & boring, with great expanses of white walls with the signs here & there of a hand-done mini-renovation in progress (or abandoned). Nothing elegant, like the wall and floral art that would surround you at Joy Luck Place in Cupertino, for instance, but to be honest, no big deal. I'm just saying--no visual thrills. Even the exterior of the building doesn't look all that inviting, apart from the sign that says "dimsum"--but that's all I need. The little parking lot behind the building is a little tight in places--especially when some patrons don't pull all that far into their spaces--but with help, I've always gotten through.
Service? Well, it varies, as it always will in a dimsum situation, where you are counting on the skill & personality of many different servers. There are one or two of the women who seem to take it as a personal insult if you do not select something from their tray or cart, but at least I haven't been bypassed obviously & completely, as I've experienced in other restaurants. Occasionally a management type may stop by to ask if everything's all right, which is nice.
Food? Well, overall good--but the experience varies. This past week, for instance, I think I had the best dimsum they'd ever served me! Juicy, savory, HOT--I wanted to go back the next day! I decided this was likely because the restaurant was busier than I'd ever seen it; while on typical weekday at 1ish, I would tend to see just a table of people scattered here & there, very quiet, on this day, the dining areas seemed to be at closer to half capacity or more. I think that kept the food moving & fresh--a sign that a weekend dimsum stop could be a very rewarding experience.
I do get the impression that the weekday selection is more limited than what you may get on a weekend, but there's plenty enough to fill you up--AND there is an additional dimsum ticket on the table so you can place special orders.
Worth a visit.
Excellent dimsum less than a mile away from work! But beware, you'll end up spending a lot if you're not careful... I managed to eat almost $40 worth of dimsum... yeah, it's that good! Try the steamed custard bun and the BBQ pork bun... heaven!
Note: review is only for Dim Sum weekday lunch. I have never eaten anything other than their Dim Sum and I've only had it on weekdays.
So, for starters I like Dim Sum. Okay, maybe I should say I love Dim Sum. If Dim Sum was healthier (what I order is not healthy, believe me :p) I would eat it every day. China Village's Dim Sum is okay. I think both ABC and Mr. Fong's are better, but China Village is cheaper than both of them and it's closer to where I work.
Because they don't always get that much business at lunch (I'm rarely there when the restaurant is even half full) the Dim Sum often tastes like it's been sitting out too long. You can always tell when you try to grab a piece and it's stuck on the paper to the point where it won't break free! They also don't have the biggest selection of pre-made Dim Sum goodies. Typically we order off of the paper menu (they never give us a pen, we always have to ask for one) and they take it back into the kitchen, then the good, hot food starts arriving dish by dish.
The food quality here is decent. Some dishes are a bit too greasy (like the pan fried turnip cake - it's tasty and I always order it, but a little too greasy for me to eat too much of it) and I occasionally question the meat quality (it's not bad, but could be better). But all and all they are not bad. My boyfriend and I both agree that we don't like their sticky rice in lotus leaf, but they have good desserts and decent shumai. The full name of the restaurant is "China Village Seafood Restaurant" and, as the name would suggest, the seafood here is better than the other stuff. I usually order a lot of shrimp dishes when we come.
They have a website (http://chinavillage.22...) where you can view many of the menu items. I've never done dinner delivery, but they offer that and I think it's neat that they serve Dim Sum for dinner as well as lunch (prices on Dim Sum dishes are higher for dinner though). I don't know of many Chinese restaurants outside of SF that offer a Dim Sum dinner menu. You can even order online, which is a neat touch. I've never tried it, but I think it's nice they offer that.
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It's hard for me to rate Dim Sum since i don't know how it should taste if it's authentic, but i thought this place was good. A little overwhelming with all the carts that come by, but the prices were good and there was a plasma tv above the bar that let us watch some of the playoffs. I would go back if I'm in the area and feel like cheap dim sum. i think for 4 people it was about $10/person and we were stuffed.
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They have delicious dim sum here and a great variety of it! My favorite dim sum dishes are baked or steamed B.B.Q pork buns, deep fried meat dumplings, steamed meat dumplings "Shanghai style," pot stickers, steamed prawn dumplings, pan fried vegetable dumpling,s sticky rice & chicken in lotus leaf, fried prawns w/ spicy salt, jellyfish, Chinese broccoli w/ oyster sauce and don't forget to try some dessert too...like their deep fried sesame balls, egg custard, or the the sweet tofu...dim sum is such a gourmet feast!
All this time I've been searching for some decent Cantonese food around my work and little did I know it was right under my nose! Now in my search I did discover China Chef over in San Carlos which was quite good even though it's not Cantonese. However I've now found the Cantonese counterpart.
As we parked in the back I first noticed the "Dim Sum Day an Night" sign. Intriguing. As we walked in I noticed a proliferation of Chinese patrons young and old. So far so good. Then I heard the chatter of Cantonese and waiters carrying around the dim sum. Kick ass.
So we told our waiter we wanted a full menu so we could sample some entrees and we would also pick up a few dim sum dishes in place of our usual pot stickers to start. My co-worker decided on a pork, egg, mushroom, and cabbage mu shu thing while I went for the beef and X.O. sauce. On top of that we got an order of beef meat balls, xiu mai, and Shanghai meat dumplings. Everything across the board was solid. Man was I happy to finally happy to find a good Cantonese place in the area. I was just getting desperate enough and thinking that maybe we would have to trek to Millbrae every once in a while.
To top it all off the service here was excellent. Plates were cleared in timely spurts, our tea and drinks refilled (which is highly unusual for soft drinks at Dim Sum places), and we were just well taken care of. If I don't find another decent Chinese place in the area, it no longer matter because I can lean on China Chef for Northern and now China Village for Southern cuisine.
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I have been eating for years... love the food...
I usually just get delivery or pick up ...
and recently just had the dim sum... it was awesome...and I didn't have to drive to SF...
its a local dining experience....
Loved it when I first had... still love it today
enough said...
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Given the location of this place, it never dissapoints! I've always been able to get promt, great service as well as delicious meals. Dim sum all day? Awesome.
The fact that the owner himself comes to your table and asks how things are going and if he can rectify them quickly? Awesome.
Plus a full bar. Wow!
The crab claws are off the heazy
The shrimp dumplings on some days are a little smaller than a baseball. insane
The salt baked crab will have you sucking the leavens off your fingers for hours!
They carry a variety of dim sum that everyone else carries but also has the secret stash on the weekends. They even have jellyfish!
Give them a try at least. Considering it's on the peninsula and you don't have to go into the city, its another plus. Ohh did I say they also had a parking lot? Perfect!
Pretty good dim sum. Definitley not the best or worst. Service was kindof slow though
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Just got back from a banquet dinner at China Village. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I stopped going to China Village because at one point, food there had gotten to be ho-hum. Service was pretty good too, despite the fact that there seemed to be more than one banquet party going on tonight.
One of the waiters is the young guy I referred to in my review of Fat Wong's. I was braced for the worst of service, but he was nice tonight and wasn't rude at all.
I think I might be adding this place back as one of our regular places to go to for Chinese food.
I often go here with my family to meet up with my grandmas for dim sum. The thing I like the most about this place is that the food is almost always hot when it comes to the table. The dim sum offerings are pretty typical - I don't think I've seen many dishes here that I didn't know what they are. But that also means they have my favorites - like fried turnip cake. The people that work here are very nice and very accommodating when we brought my grandpa in.
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This is my fourth time dining at this establishment. I say it with kind words because most people have probably never eaten dinner here. Okay so I'll admit, three out of the four was for dim sum.
My review is solely on dim sum and I'll try to review my dinner experience as an add on. I ate dim sum on Saturday with my brother and cousin where we all agreed it was great food for the value.
We originally wanted to go to ABC Seafood in FC but that place gets crowded quick and no one wants to wait to eat. Not when you have other dining spots to hit up along the Peninsula.
Any dining experience with dim sum involved is never complete without sui mei (pork dumpling) or har gow (shrimp dumpling) which we missed out on. Don't ask...notice my three star rating.
However, the egg custard and egg tart were pretty damn tasty. I fiend for dessert for lunch...which I will gladly accept without question.
This is a great alternative to the dim sum madness at ABC Seafood and a little hard to find but well worth it. Service was attentive and it is good to know the staff hasn't turned around much. I see the same service people which is hard to see nowadays.
good service and the dim sum is fine. its not as high end as Fook Yuen or Ton Kiang. BUT you can get in, they give you ample water and hot sauce and are nice people.
Its location makes it really the only place to go to in the area and if you want dim sum and are nearby, then go there.
but if you are in millbrae, stay in millbrae...your dim sum is better
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While it may not rate a 5 star, it's good dim sum and I especially like the variety of dim sum served. Some of the other dim sum places on the peninsula just serve the popular dim sums and you don't get to try out the more exotic fare 'cause there ain't any! While the basic dim sum is a good starting point for a meal, it's the more exotic dim sums that adds character to the meal and make it memorable or satisfying.
China Village has been here for a good 14 years and the owners put a lot of effort in making sure his customers are happy.
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Decent. My favorite dim-sum joint based on quality, service, price, and proximity. It's close to FC and better than others in the immediate area (Mr. Fongs, ABC Seafood, etc.)
more laters...
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Been coming here for dim sums for years...it has not really improved and actually went down hill n some ways.
The place has not been updated in years...and you can see it's aging. Service goes from attentive to pestering to get you out the door regardless if they really need the table or not. This is more so with the tall lanky manager with glasses - I'm frankly quite annoyed with the dude. Let me explain, dim sums are pushed on carts or carried on trays on the weekends - part of the enjoyment, at least for me, is seeing what they have fresh from the kitchen - there are always some specialities...well, if you have had some dishes and empty table, they'll start coming over to you and ask what would you like over and over again even though you tell them you are ok and just waiting to see what may come out next...you know, it really sucks out the fun. Mind you, if they are really busy with folks waiting - I can understand the urgency and all and we are not the type to sit around for the sake of doing so. We like to eat and run as long as we feel fulfilled.
The Mexican bus boys and waiters are actually the nicest and most attentive - refilling the tea pot with hot water, adding tea leafs when asked and making sure your water glass is full.
Dim sum is pretty good - some of the special stuff they grill near the front are pretty interesting - there's a corn and shrimp dumpling that's pretty tasty. Their shrimp dumpling wrapped in sticky rice is probably one of our favorites there. The congee (porridge) - one you can pick your own ingredient (same table near the front) can be interesting.
Not a bad place for dim sum in the Peninsula considering there's parking and never too long of a wait.
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We had lunch here the other day with a small group of us. I hadn't eaten dim sum in a long time. I was actually surprised that I liked it. For about 30 bucks, you can have 3 get a filling lunch. We liked just about everything we had. I would go back again. The outside of the restaurant is misleading. The place is actually pretty big. The staff is ok. I understand that English isn't their first language but it would help to explain the different dishes.
This is one of the better Chinese place in the area. The food are generally good, though a little on the pricey side (compare to SF). Portions are not very generous. Service, however, is one of the best around for Chinese restaurants. I haven't had dim sum there for a while, but remember that they were always pretty good. The chicken and salted fish fried rice is quite tasty. China Village does try to provide variety by adding new items to the menu occasionally.
Great Dim Sum place. Affordable, great food, good service, and pretty clean for a Chinese Restaurant ;-)
Definitely worth a visit.
My friend brought me to this restaurant and I immediately fell in love with it. The dim sum is pretty good and there were lots of variety. Most importantly, the staff were friendly. That's probably because my friend was a long time customer. But it's rare to find good service in a Chinese restaurant. So I consider this exceptional. Seatings were comfortably spaced out. Will definitely return for more.
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Good dim sum and decent service. Scary bathrooms, though. I used to get dim sum to-go here and it was usually really hot and fresh (sometimes, not so much though). If I was in the area and needed dim sum, stat, I'd be here.
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Good, traditional dim sum fare here, but the selection is VERY complete and fresh. No carts here, if I remember right, the waiters/waitresses just carry stuff around, so it's usually still hot when it gets to you. And of course you always have the option of ordering stuff off the little order slips. They have dofu hua here (tofu "flower", which is really really tender warm tofu with a light syrup poured over it), porridge, freshly pan-fried turnip cakes. Very fresh, tasty, and authentic. Prices are very reasonable.
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Really should be 3 1/2 stars, but I feel generous because of their consistently good service.
Dim sum is just mediocre; however, dinner dishes ranging from above average to actually very good. Service is always attentive. A decent choice for the Belmont / San Carlos / Foster City / Redwood Shores area if you are too lazy to venture north to Millbrae or Daly City.
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This place is basic and ordinary and if there were no food on any tables, only a few tell tale signs indicate that this place is a Chinese restaurant ...
The standard dim sum options are available and made fresh. Most are good and a few like the shrimp rolls are very good. They satisfy most cravings when area residents are too lazy to drive or if they are on a budget. The noodle dishes are not nearly as good and tend towards the greasy side.
The service and kitchen staff are quick, prompt, and friendly.
Prices are very reasonable and dishes are less expensive than many similar places.
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Dangerously close to our house considering the yummy BBQ pork buns and fried sesame balls. They have a spicy eggplant dish on the regular menu that is crazy good too. I wish the hot and sour soup was a tiny bit better but it's pretty much a great restaurant.
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