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Golden River
Categories: Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Restaurants Seafood Dim Sum, Seafood [Edit]
5827 Geary Blvd(between 22nd Ave & 23rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94121
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
(415) 668-5105
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 10 am - 12 am
Sat 9 am - 12 am
Sun 9 am - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
166 reviews for Golden River
Review Highlights
"Of course I patronize Ton Kiang as well - I like them both..."
(in 35 reviews)
"Chicken with ginger and scallion."
(in 6 reviews)
"No soupy dessert, but a refreshing mango pudding."
(in 4 reviews)
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166 reviews in English
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Review from Richard K.
Honolulu, HI
1/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
The dim sum here is great! Everything is made to order, no carts rolling around in here. For a party of 3 hungry guys, our bill was $40ish, not bad at all.
The portions are large and we even had leftovers.
Don't pay attention to the odd music that seems to be on repeat, the food more than makes up for that.
Be sure to make it in before 3, when the prices go up. -
Review from Robert B.
San Francisco, CA
1/29/2012
I wanted to like this place, not least because I think the name is hilarious, but I can't.
The food was good, but the service was SO SLOW!! We waited for over an hour to get our food, and the place was barely half full when we arrived. After 90 minutes of waiting and only getting part of our order, we paid our bill and left.
I will not be back. -
Review from Mary T.
Santa Clara, CA
1/27/2012
First time here and I must say, it was decent.
Atmosphere: spacious and clean. Bathroom was actually clean too.
Service: this is probably where I have my biggest complaint with them. We waited about half an hour for our food. It might have been because of a football game in progress but thats a long time to wait for the first dish. We had to ask them for rice again and the last dish didn't come out til we were almost done with the first dish.
What was good was that once the game was over the servers were more attentive and even switched out our plates for us.
Food:
the rice - was on the drier side (firmer chewier rather than fluffy and soft)
The white ginger chicken was actually quite good, just enough flavoring
Random Beef dish: portion was small, too chewy, and over sauced
Steamed Catfish: on the saltier side and on the fishier side but over all decent.
Price:
A bit on the expensive side when it comes to Chinese food. 3 dishes came out to $40+
Overall, it was decent. I probably wouldn't make a fuss about going here but I wouldn't go out of my way. -
Review from David C.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 2/8/2012
This place is a ripoff , ordered Chicken Chow mein a couple of months ago from Golden River. And do you know how little chicken was in it? It look like they took one little piece, and cut it into little thin pieces. It also took more than a hour to come.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/19/2012
Never gonna order from this place again, we ordered from this place a few times already, and all the… Read more »
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Review from John H.
San Francisco, CA
1/30/2012
Ok, this restaurant isn't the BEST, but it's certainly great. I used to order from them ALL the time from the VA when I worked there. The owner, Henry is really friendly and I always get my orders on time. They're not only friendly, but they also have good food that is definitely worth the price. The garlic chicken is so good O_o... so yummy! I will be eating here again since I live nearby this time ^^.
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Review from Gordon C.
Oakland, CA
2/2/2012 1 Check-in Here
I've been craving dim sum for awhile and on my birthday we were in the city. We had another place in mind down the street, but there was a crazy crowd outside of the place, so we decided to come to Golden Dragon. We've been here many times before, but when we walked in, it looked like a totally different place. It looks a lot nicer and brighter than I had remembered. There is also a big screen TV that we were seated infront of and I was able to watch a playoff game while eating dim sum... SCORE! The way to order dim sum is still the same, you just mark it on a paper yourself. We ordered the usual and also a lobster noodle. The dessert that we ordered, mango mochi, ended up coming out first. We were starving, so we went ahead and ate that up. A couple dim sum dishes also came out but then our noodles came out right after. The noodles are a lot different than I've had at other places. The dim sum didn't seem as fresh as I remembered from the past also. Some dishes were cold by the time they reached us. It's an okay place, if you don't want to wait for a table. There was a little wait by the time we were done with our meal.
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Review from Serena L.
Alameda, CA
12/28/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Not only do they serve dim sum all day here, but its super fresh and delicious. apparently the chef is known for his dim sum. I've also been here for dinner and the dinner items are also very good. I never leave here with the gross greasy feeling.
the service is also very good. and I think that says a lot for a chinese joint. there was a time where we needed a refill on tea, there was an employee on his way out of the door, coat in hand and everything, when he spotted our over turned tea lid. he then dropped off his belongings and refilled our tea before picking up and head out the door. I was so impressed by the service, and have been the several times I've been here. -
Review from Anh L.
Elk Grove, CA
12/12/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Great food at a great price.
To give you an idea on how great of a value you get:
My BF and I are big eaters with a huge appetites. Our total bill for dim sum came up to $15. The food is not the "OMG, to die for" but it hits the spot, and it's pretty decent. There is typically not that long of a wait. A couple of times, we had to share a large table with other customers, similar to what they do in Hong Kong. It can be strange if you're not use to it.
Since I live around the area, I occasionally do takeout and the quality of the foods exceeds the price tag. -
Review from Christopher S.
Portland, OR
11/26/2011
We made a delivery order at 11:30 one night and will likely never eat here again.
If 11:30 is too late they should change the delivery hours, not drop a whole eggshell into the fried rice along with some hard little......I don't even know what it was... -
Review from Jack L.
San Francisco, CA
11/16/2011
Beware with all those "discounts" or "promotions" that have advertised out front. There's a lot of stipulations and no fine print to tell what they are, until you get the bill and ask where's the discount.
We went to get Dim Sum at lunch. According to some advertisement, there are supposed to be a discount on Dim Sim. We were there around 12:15 for lunch. NO DISCOUNT! According to them, the discounts were supposed to be early morning around 7am. I remember that specifically because I thought to myself, who goes out to have dim sum at 7am in the morning? In any case, there's go that.
Next Promo... If you spend $40, you get a Free Chow Fun. If $88.00, a free lobster. And when I double checked, there is no time limit on the advertisement. After ordering all that food that would total over $40, we asked where's the free Chow Fun. Then they said it's a special for the early morning. Great... We ordered more on purpose to get it and now they tell us that it's a freebie if you come in between 9-10 am. Really? another stipulation AFTER the fact.
Okay.. So much for that. When we were eating the food, there were signs on the table saying if you spend so much, you get a discount voucher for your next visit. Something like over $30, you get a $5 voucher discount for your next visit. And the more you spend, you bigger the voucher for your next visit. Guess what. After we paid, we didn't get any vouchers. I didn't even bother to ask because I wasn't going to go back there again to eat. Deceptive advertising IMO.
But wait, there's more! On the advertisement in front of the store, it says Free Tea. We had to pay for the tea! When we asked why, they said it's because it's because we got chrysanthemum tea. REALLY? Before we sat down, they asked us what tea we wanted, we responded by asking what you have, and they told us chrysanthemum tea. And I must say, it's the most bitter chrysanthemum tea I've ever tasted. Doesn't even taste like chrysanthemum tea and I know what that taste like. The color chrysanthemum tea is supposed to be golden yellow. Not dark brown, a tad lighter than the color of Coca cola. Bitter. I swear that's "Bo-Lei tea".
No on to the food. I gotta say, compared to all the othr Dim Sum places in San Francisco, this places Dim Sum are smaller. Tiny in size. Other places, you get a Golf Ball size dim sum. Maybe even bigger. This place, the size of each dim sun is a size of a ping pong ball. Even smaller when they're cut in half.
One of the dim sums we had was a fried taro ball. I've never seen a more pale fried taro ball. They're supposed to be golden brown. Not pale yellow as if it's not fully fried. That's where they get a negative.
We also ordered a Chicken Bok Choy Fun dish. This is THE WORSE chow fun I've ever had in any restaurant. All the chow fun was clustered to tightly together, it was as if we were eating a cake. Other resturants, the chow fun were in individual pieces and when you pick one up, you get one fun. The one we hand, we needed a spoon to cut into it like cutting a birthday cake. Maybe that's why they're giving out free chow funs. Nothing to fight over for.
Other than that, the food was okay. Nothing spectacular. The size is MUCH smaller. Making you order more food to be full. Doesn't matter if they have cheaper prices per plate, when they're serving ping pong balls or marble sized dim sum, it just doesn't full you up.
After my first experience eating here, I know why they have so many promotions to get customers back. The quality for the food should speak for itself, not the promotions. They're loosing customers and are doing they best to retain customers. But if there's so many stipulations to get discount (or maybe they're 'picking on us' because were's first time customers) and the food portion is so small, it's not that great.
I'm not going to go back there again.
2 Stars because the food wasn't that bad. Nothing memorable and not a place I would recommend. Short the other stars because of the deceptive advertisements to get me into the restaurant. I should have asked about all the discounts first and haul ass when it's not what they're advaetising. -
Review from Elena N.
San Francisco, CA
I came here on Sunday. I still love coming to this place. The dim sum is consistent and the staff is friendly. I like that I never have to wait long for a table. Great dim sum option in the Richmond district!
Listed in: Dim Sum Yum!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/4/2011
I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Never thought about coming here for dim sum until a… Read more »
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Review from wendy h.
Updated - 9/9/2011
This is the first time I came back since they changed owners. Looks like the new ownership remodeled the dining room because everything was bright and airy. We came here for dim sum lunch. Dim sum was good, not overly salty. A few misses:
1) Egg rolls were surprisingly salty
2) Green onion pancake left an aftertaste in my mouth. Stay away from this one.
3) Fried taro balls were cold. It looks like this is the only dish that they prepare beforehand and it just sits in the kitchen. You can see the oil collect on the doliey. Stay away from this as well.
4) My dad complained that the chicken feet was not fried right.
5) Ham sui gok (the fried thingys with pork) is tasty but the skin is thick.
Otherwise, we liked the chicken tamale, fried shrimp ball, the shrimp cheong fun, potstickers, shrimp balls.
Service is prompt and friendly. The waitress even gave the Kid a fortune cookie when he was fussing around before the food came.
Will consider coming back for dim sum minus the stuff that are not up to par.Listed in: Chinese Food
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/27/2006
Went here for dinner. We got the prix fixe family dinner here. Stuff is not as good as Bay Fung… Read more »
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Review from Jackson Z.
San Francisco, CA
8/13/2011
I would give the food a 3-star.
The extra star is for the service. I'm a little biased because my family and I have been coming here for almost 3 years, we know the owner and the staff very well, they're super nice to most of their customers, especially the regulars, and the owner is willing to bend over backwards to keep your business.
Onto the food, I know it's not the best you can find, but at the same time it's still decent, and for the price they charge I think it's much better value than a place like Tong Kiang next door, or Koi Palace in Daly City. I'd stick to the dim sum, it's freshly prepared, and comes directly from the kitchen to your table by order, instead of sitting in a cart for I don't know how long. The regular dishes are OK, but seriously, you'll have a hard time finding better value for dim sum in SF if you're a no-frills person like me when it comes to Chinese food. I'm Cantonese and I approve. -
Review from Julian P.
Berkeley, CA
8/1/2011
Golden River made a golden river come out of my A$$! This place is DISGUSTING!!!!!!! Smells, looks, tastes TERRIBLE!!!!!
Here are a few of the utterly disgusting dishes we ate here:
1) Shrimp crepes had the consistency of a jellyfish... made me squirm as I swallowed. Terrible tasting.
2) Ribs looked like dog food and tasted like s#!t. Soaked in some nasty sauce and 1/2 fat.
3) Deep fried shrimp balls tasted like soap. That shrimp was spoiled!
This was definitely the most disgusting meal I have ever ate.... I'm a human trash can and always finish my food or take it home.... but today..... impossible. In addition, we get home to tell our horror story to my girl's roommates, and they tell us that that place HAS RATS!!!!!!!!!!!! We both almost vomited during and after this meal.
I kid you not..... THE WORST MEAL EVER!!!! A normal cook can't try and make food this disgusting. I would love to see Gordon Ramsey eat here.... lol. I would feel guilty and embarrassed to even give this food to a homeless person. -
Review from Dubl A.
West Sacramento, CA
7/16/2011
Beware this place is scary nasty....
I ordered delivery xlb dumping they were small , not fully cooked, no flavor, then the ginger soup supposed to have chicken...nope I nearly fainted when I pulled a black frog with slimy skin on it out of the murky water.... and the cider they sell is pure chemical sugar water....nothing natural or safe -
Review from Seaera m.
San Francisco, CA
8/15/2011
20 th bday party
I went here an had only main course, but the dim sum here is what I love most. -
Review from Linda L.
San Francisco, CA
5/29/2011
This review is only for the dim sum at night.
I came in here thinking, oh awesome they have dim sum at night! But I was quite disappointed, I actually did not like the dim sum. I'm assuming that they have different menus for day and night time dim sum because the menu indicated "dim sum 3pm- 10pm(?)" There was a lack of choices and quite expensive prices for such small portions (yes, I know dim sum are small pieces). I was quite disappointed in their pork spareribs which is one of my favorites. There was a lack of flavor and with an extremely small portion.
Plus the waitresses kept bringing in the wrong items to our table when it was for another table. She asked us if we want to try it. And I thought she's giving it to us for free....should have known better. It's a Chinese restaurant. -
Review from Kristin H.
Encino, CA
7/30/2011 2 Check-ins Here
My grandma only lives down the street from this restaurant, so it's definitely her top choice if/when we go out to eat -- no matter what time. Their food is good, but the atmosphere is lacking. I'll tell you who likes this place... all the house flies in here.
Yup. -
Review from BORAMEY H.
San Francisco, CA
5/12/2011
When was the last time you ate something, only to compare it to another "like" food?
It tastes nothing LIKE...
I don't LIKE this because it's not...
disLIKE...
And on that note...
Try their dim sum! Mouthwatering salt and pepper oysters, creamy escargots, piping hot dumplings, Ginger scallion tripe and our all time favorite, sesame balls! Try it and see for yourself. -
Review from Kristin K.
Montebello, CA
11/9/2011
Came here at 8:45pm for semi-late night dim sum. When I walked in there were 3 other tables that were occupied. It took about 20 mins to get our waitress to take our order and another 35 mins to get our food. We decided it was taking entirely way too long since my friend needed to be somewhere at 10, so we asked for the food to go. Most of the stuff we got was decent, not the best, but not horrible. However, the egg custard buns were delicious. I'd probably go back just for the egg custard buns. Overall, Id say this place deserves 3 stars. One star for the service (or lack thereof), one star for the food and a bonus star for the egg custard buns.
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Review from sam w.
Walnut Creek, CA
Updated - 12/25/2011
Had a wonderful dinner there on 12/24/2011. Price was very reasonable and food arrived hot and taste. Received whole crab dish for $1 as our meal was over $60. My friends from UCB said you can tell if a Chinese restaurant is good when one looks into the restaurant and see the eaters are mostly Chinese. There was a large crow of Chinese that night we eat. I'll be going back for more very soon. Lots of street parking.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/26/2011
Great dim-sum and other Chinese food at a modest price. Service was a bit slow but worth waiting… Read more »
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Review from Nam L.
San Mateo, CA
2/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
My husband and I met with some friends for dimsum on Sunday we knew that since we weren't meeting up until 11:30 there was NO WAY we were going to get into Hong Kong Lounge (two blocks over) in a timely manner. Since my husband had a client call in the afternoon we planned on cutting our losses and hit up Golden River instead.
I had some reservations since the place didn't seem to have many customers when we got there, but we figured that's where all the Chinese people walking by were going so why not.
Since it's not a dimsum place that has carts coming around we got a bit carried away ordering food. I think we ordered 12 items to share between 4 people. So needless to say we were stuffed. The food was decent. Not amazing. I will admit that Hong Kong Lounge has a long wait for a reason. However, for the price I have to say it made the place that much more appealing. Considering the amount of food we ordered it only cost us $10 a person including the tip. That's a whole lot of food for very little money. We didn't notice the GINORMOUS banner outside nor the very clear pricing on the ordering menu. I guess we were blind with hunger. We blindly ticked one item after another off the menu and once we realized we hit 12 items we thought we should stop. So we were surprised and pleased at the total on the check once we were done.
In terms of food I was definitely disappointed with the Shanghai dumplings, which are supposed to be soup dumplings. Needless to say they were soup-less dumplings, but I haven't ever enjoyed Shanghai dumplings that weren't made by Yank Sing so I wasn't expecting much. I enjoyed the char siu bao were pretty good for $1.68 for 3, fluffy, not-too sweet with a decent meat to bun ratio. Shu mai and har gow were standard. Pea shoots with garlic had a nice crunch, but not very garlicky. Shrimp rice crepes are one of my favorite dimsum options, the ones at Golden River aren't the best, but they're definitely tasty, but a little on the heavier side. The egg custard tarts were flaky and and just the right sweetness, but there wasn't a whole lot of custard in the tart.
The service was mediocre. Not bad, not great. We had to wait a while for our check and for chili pepper, but it wasn't so bad that we had to get up and do things ourselves.
I would definitely recommend this place if you're just looking for a quick and cheap dimsum restaurant. The food is good enough to satiate your basic dimsum craving, but if you're going to be super snobby about it you'll be disappointed. -
Review from cadence p.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
I came here to eat with my family for my Grandpa's birthday and it was okay. Nothing too great, the service was alright. They didn't really check up on us, so we kind of didn't see much of the waiters except when they came to bring us our food.
The food here, was not that good. The Hop Tao Ha (Mayonnaise Shrimp with Nuts) didn't taste too good. It had too much mayo, and it wasn't crisp like the other places I've tried this dish at. The Westlake Minced Beef Soup wasn't good either. I still like it from Win's Restaurant. Everything else wasn't all that great. I just didn't like it. Overall, I had a good time because it was my grandpa's birthday afterall.
Service wasn't good. Food wasn't good. -
Review from Mary P.
Danville, CA
7/31/2011
This place was absolutely horrible!! The shrimp in the chow main was bad and not only smelt bad but also turned bad which made the dish inedible. We also got pork with vegetables and that was also inedible. The mushu pork was ok but more like chinese coleslaw and defiantly did not come with enough plum sauce. The only items we actually were able to eat were pork buns and and pork dumplings and those were just ok. We will NEVER order from here again. Basically food we wouldn't even feed our dogs.
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Review from Melissa M.
San Francisco, CA
7/29/2011
Sadly, the other negative reviews on here were right. I chanced this place because they had late delivery (until midnight), which is hard to find for Chinese food in the Richmond.
1. Took them an HOUR to get the food (a small order, mind you) here; the other place I usually order from gets it here in half the time.
2. Worst green onion pancake I have EVER seen. It looked like a piece of joke vomit you'd buy at a magic shop.
3. How can you screw up tofu and veggie fried rice? By not putting ANY tofu in it and almost no vegetables.
4. Vegetarian "delight"? Dang, I could've done better in my college dorm 20 years ago with a hot plate.
Next time I'm hungry at 10:30pm, I'll make a peanut butter sandwich instead. -
Review from kamel p.
San Francisco, CA
4/3/2011
The best steamed pork buns can be found here. No other restaurant in the entire planet has ever come close to the quality of pork buns offered here. This alone earned them five stars from a very happy me.
Other pluses: easy ordering for pick up, easy parking and quick / friendly service.
I also think they make amazing won ton soup. Mmmmmm.
Great prices for perfect portion sizes. I recommend.
Writing this review has made me want to order up some pork buns for lunch today! Perfect. -
Review from Rosie B.
San Francisco, CA
7/18/2011
i was so disappointed in the food i ordered from this restaurant. i almost never leave reviews for places, even if i really like them but i was so pissed i wasted $19 on this food i felt moved to make a comment.
you should always order something basic on an ethnic food menu if you've never eaten there before, so i did. lemon chicken, vegetable chow mein, and rice.
the only thing that was prepared in palatable manner was the plain, steamed white rice.
instead of nice, golden, crispy nuggets, the lemon chicken was a flat, katsu-style breaded and deep fried chicken cutlet of some sort that was cut so thin and was so over fried that whatever meat was inside was completely chewy, tough, and the outer perimeter was inedible. if i wanted a bite of chicken i had to bite/cut around the outer edge to be left with about 1/4"-1/2" of meat per piece that i could actually chew, and these are 2"-3" pieces of chicken.
the lemon sauce was thick, smelled strongly of vinegar and was an unappetizing color and congealed texture. i've never had a lemon sauce that was that thick and that stinky before. everything was completely under seasoned. i wanted to turn a salt shaker all over the whole plate.
as for the chow mein, it only took one bite for me to take a close look at the actual noodles. i could be wrong, but i *swear* they're Italian dry box noodles like you get at the grocery store. i don't think what i got was actually chow mein noodles. there was broccoli, canned water cress, and pea pods, of which nobody pulled the strings out! i was pulling them out of my mouth every bite! it seemed like the noodles and veggies had some soy sauce tossed with them and that was it. they didn't seem pan fried, and again they were totally under seasoned. i got soy sauce noodles, not chow mein for $7.95. ridiculous.
not only did i think i could make better chinese food in my own kitchen, but the totally cremated chicken and strings left in the pea pods tells me whoever is cooking this food doesn't even know the basics of cooking, much less authentic chinese cuisine! most of this food is still sitting in my fridge and will be thrown away, a waste of $19.
the driver was exceptionally nice, and the food arrived in under and hour, but that's about all the good i can say about this place. if i could have saved my receipt and returned this food, i would have. terrible. -
Review from Amber L.
San Francisco, CA
7/15/2011
This place is so nasty will never order here again everything was greasy and taste Hellas like greasy I had to through it away. N the diver is so rude I didn't get a chance to get my tip out n he was asking me tip for the driver so I just didn't tip
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Review from Chrys B.
San Francisco, CA
11/12/2010
I just ordered delivery from this place. It's the worst chinese food I've ever had.
The Hot and Sour soup tastes just like it sounds... hot, and sour... it's really watery and just all around terrible. It tastes kind of like pouring cayenne pepper into juice.
The General Tso's chicken was basically dry, fried chicken as hard as a calculus test. Juicy? No, not at all. Colonel Sanders would have these people hung for how badly they prepared this chicken.
The Pot Stickers were the only thing I was able to eat. They tasted normal, although way too much dumpling and too little meat. They basically met the bare minimum requirement for pot stickers. That's pretty impressive.
Don't eat here, spare your colon. -
Review from Donnie C.
San Francisco, CA
9/13/2011
I never thought I would take the time to write a yelp review. But after the atrocity I suffered from this place I was more than compelled. I will start with saying that this was the absolute worst chinese food I have ever had in this city and I have had some that was really bad.
I stuck to what other reviewers recommended to play it safe. Which adds a bit of confusion as to why it was so horrible. I can only hope that what I got was a mistake and was not the norm. Anyways, on with the review.
Fried crab wontons - Wonton crisps with absolutely no filling inside. These were very dry, bland, empty pockets of wonton. At the very least they came with a dipping sauce. More on that later.
Pot stickers - Not bad, pretty run of the mill, I don't they were made fresh, probably purchased them already made. They would have been a lot better had they come with some sort of dipping sauce. But no, this place has something against making sauces for their food. More on that next.
General Tsao's chicken - Came highly recommended by a lot of people. I like generals chicken so I thought I'd get it. HUGE disappointment when I opened it up. What I got was some very poorly prepared, very dry, very bland fried pieces of chicken. That was it. No sauce, no seasoning whatsoever, nothing else except fried chicken. The chicken was cut so thinly that it just dried out while being fried. It tasted like little nuggets of fry oil. Not good. For eight bucks I'd rather have someone take their boot to my face than eat that crap again.
This is the epitome of a restaurant that does not care about the quality of food they put out. I should say though, that at the very least, the rice wasn't overcooked. -
Review from Michael B.
San Francisco, CA
8/25/2011
More like dim yum (but make sure you have been drinking)!
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Review from Lindsay W.
San Francisco, CA
4/1/2011
I've only been here for Dim Sum, so I can't really comment on the rest of the menu, but the Dim Sum is my fave!
No carts, so you have to order it all by the little check-box paper menu. The stuff you order comes really fast and is delightfully hot and fresh. They also have the seafood tanks in the back so you gotta know the seafood is good.
Some highlights:
Steamed Pork Buns
Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
Shrimp and Parsley Dumplings
Let's get real: I've enjoyed basically everything I've tried there. -
Review from Michelle M.
San Francisco, CA
7/3/2010
Delivery Review Only:
I decided to order Chinese food (extra spicy) because I have a horrible cold and wanted to actually taste my food. Bad idea. I should have just made myself some soup. It would have been a lot cheaper, a lot quicker, and a lot tastier.
I ordered at 7:25 PM, estimated delivery was 8:30 PM. Actual delivery time: 9:00 PM. I understand that it is a Saturday night and they are probably busy. Heck, I would much rather be out than order delivery on a Saturday night, but this cold has been lingering for over a month now and I need to actually sleep. Usually though, Chinese delivery is pretty darn quick. Over an hour wait is kind of ridiculous.
General Tau's Chicken was nothing but dry breading. The sauce was all at the bottom and even after shaking it up while in the plastic container, it was still really dry. It literally seemed like there was no actual chicken in it, only breading. It looked like calamari and tasted like fried bread. No visible chicken. No chicken taste.
The Mongolian beef wasn't bad, but it was a lot more vegetables than actual beef.
The egg rolls were really soggy unlike the typical deep fried goodness. After biting into them, it just tasted like uncooked dough. Again, like the chicken, I saw nothing inside...except more dough. How can you make an egg roll with no visible vegetables?
The driver had to call because he couldn't find my building even though he saw the buildings on both sides of mine. Apparently he just didn't look in between them! I couldn't understand his English, and he couldn't understand mine so trying to tell him that it was in between and to ring the buzzer, wasn't really working. After a 5 minute conversation with him, he finally found it. I guess I could have gone outside to look for him, but I am pulling the sick card again.
Once he brought me my food and I sat and opened my bag, I realized that I got no soy sauce, no duck sauce, no mustard, no nothing. I don't eat Chinese food often, but I like a little soy sauce and a little mustard on my rice. I don't own these things because I live like a bachelor and in my fridge I basically have bud light, ketchup, salad dressing, an artichoke, and string cheese. No soy sauce. =( Again, the meat was really dry so I couldn't even use the sauce from there for my rice. Oh well, I ate some anyways.
Did I mention that my food was cold? Not warm, not room temperature, but cold!
I was looking forward to eating Chinese leftovers for days, but instead I wasted over 20 bucks for a lackluster meal that was not satisfying.
Do yourself a favor, find a better place, then let me know which one it is!! -
Review from Sam Y.
San Francisco, CA
9/14/2010
We came here for dinner last Saturday with a Filipino guy and he just loved the Ying Yang Rice. He loved it so much we had to order a second one, just for him!
Over-all, the food was decent and the second helping of Ying Yang Rice was in a larger portion, seeing as how they saw our friend just kept on shoveling the rice down like crazy. -
Review from jason g.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 4/17/2010
Viewers discretion advised
This place sucks!!!! They have one person here that just irritates the shit out of me. She is the one woman that always checks on the checklist to make sure we are being charged correctly. She makes sure that the waitress marks down whatever they put down. She has no class in making sure that this is done correctly. She would come from behind the waitress and hover over her like an elementary school teacher. She is so obvious that she makes us want to double check her marks and, sure enough, she over charged us. I usually keep food and service separate but this is proof in point that one person can really mess up a whole dining experience. The sad thing about her action is that she really don't think she was wrong. Yeah..........one of those types!!!
She makes the food taste worst than it already does. They try to lure you in with that 1.68 special, but they only have 12 items that are listed in that category. The rest of the orders are 3 dollars and higher.
I will not come back to this place ever again.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/26/2008
If I had to choose between this place or the place next door, ton kiang, then this place will have… Read more »
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Review from Andrew P.
San Francisco, CA
8/20/2011
Dim sum all day? Sounds good to me! While Ton Kiang boasts top quality, Golden River has the edge on price. I'd say that when I am walking on Geary street, deciding where to go for dim sum, I pick one over the other based on whether I feel like saving money that day or having better quality food. However, because the quality of Golden River's food is not leaps and bounds above some of the dirt-cheap dim sum places in the area, I hesitate to sing too many praises (most of these dirt-cheap places close shop early though, leaving Golden River as one of the few remaining affordable venues for late-night dim sum binges).
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Review from Sage S.
San Francisco, CA
10/25/2010
Hot and Sour Soup Sucks. Do not order it ever. Smells and tastes like garbage. I haven't had a good one in SF yet.
House Crispy Noodles - Good.
Pork Siu Mai - Good.
BBQ Pork Bun - Good.
Hot Sour Soup - Bad -
Review from Ken B.
San Francisco, CA
9/26/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Pluses for being open late and cooking to order. At least the times I've gone, I never complain about waiting for my food since it seems that it's not just sitting around in warmers waiting to be boxed up.
It's a strangely large room, and there never seems to be anyone in there. Perhaps its just the big Sunday Dinner crowds.
The pot stickers are really good. Fried nicely, and just a little crispy on the edges...just how I like 'em. -
Review from Diana L.
San Francisco, CA
4/25/2011
We have been going to Golden River at least twice a month for the past four years. It is that good! The food is authentic Hong Kong style. Everyone working there is very nice and friendly, including the owner.
I am a vegetarian, and although this is not a vegetarian restaurant, the vegetable dishes are great. The owner sometimes will make off the menu vegetarian dishes for me, since he knows that there are not that many vegetarian dishes on the menu. That's what you call great customer service.
One thing that surprised me is that Golden River serves dim sum at night. That is unusual for a Chinese restaurant since dim sum is traditionally for breakfast and lunch. Well, I guess there's something for everybody. -
Review from Dee Z.
San Francisco, CA
9/4/2010
Welcome to the poor man's Ton Kiang - which happens to be next door. Who would think that of all the places, that the Richmond has two Chinese restaurants side-by-side that serve dim sum at NIGHT...yes, so if you have a dim sum craving, this is the area to come on Geary between 22nd and 23rd.
I've eaten in and I have taken out. I am especially fond of their soups. Of course I patronize Ton Kiang as well - I like them both equally well - and feel like I am especially rewarding myself if I am willing to go to Ton Kiang. But on many days when I feel that my budget needs to be tightened but I want to eat dim sum, et al - it's Golden River.
