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Mon-Fri. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
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My favorite place to take friends and family for dim sum. They have quite a range of dishes...not to mention many kinds of juk. They do not serve by cart, but serves each plate individually. There is usually long lines but it goes by quick...because those long lines are usually groups. The dinner here is quite tasteful also! The boss is cool...he has a square top hairdo and wears a Rolex. He usually wears a turtleneck.
Great Eastern is a bit more expensive than other Chinatown restaurants, but then it's also cleaner (looking), with waitstaff who speak English and aren't as curt as at other restaurants. Which makes it my fall-back choice for dining with less adventurous visitors and possibly the parents.
Our meat and veggie dishes were typical Cantonese cuisine, but the salted fish fried rice? Could've eaten the entire platter if not for my hungry friends next to me. Really tasty and highly recommended!
Went here for dim sum on a Sunday afternoon. The wait time is typical...take a number and expect about a 15-minute wait. We were shuffled to the bottom floor in the very back, and were handed a dim sum menu from which to choose.
This experience was different from other dim sum places I have been to, during which they typically roll a cart along and you pick what you want then. However, being quasi-dim sum pros, we knew what we wanted (mostly dumplings filled with shrimp), and went checking away.
Everything that I tried was delicious...not overly salty, fresh, and of the quality I was expecting. One pleasant surprise was the Zi Zhou dumpling, which tasted to be an all-vegetable dumpling. I think the shrimp, leek, and mushroom dumpling was my favorite. The red bean balls were yummy and not greasy, but also smaller than I was expected. The pot stickers were pretty tasty as well.
The bill came to $22 for two of us, and we left there more stuffed than you can imagine. I didn't like, however, that they charged us for tea, which is usually complimentary in dim sum places.
Service was not overly friendly, but, as someone else said, it's the food that matters. So, for the price, it's a great value.
If you bring your non-asian (read: white) female friend and she is the only non-asian person there during the high peak dim sum time (noon to 1 p.m.), then it's most likely a decent place for good Chinese food.
Service = good wait staff. Terrible mannerisms from the people bringing the food. Oh well.
Food = good. We tried the dim sum items (shrimp rice rolls, shrimp bean curd fried rolls, siu mai, har gow, etc.) all very good and nice quality. (Ranging from $2.60 to 3.90 per plate). Also we tried their pan fried noodles with seafood which was very delicious and filling for $12.00.
Shockingly, they accept plastic here along with cold hard cash.
Best steamed pork buns I've ever had and sauteed "snow pea sprouts" with garlic was very good. The rest of the dimsum was just OK. The restaurant is crowded, noisy and we had to wait 30 minutes to be seated and 5 minutes for the women's toilet. Parking was $10 around the corner. Next time I'll go to Chinese food in the South Bay.
This establishment came well lauded by respected dim sum lovers, so the expectations were high. White table clothed, and without carts, sure enough, there were unusual, delicious little packets of goodness, most notably the bittermelon and beef. However, the rest were standard and unremarkable.
The xiao lum bao was totally devoid of soup and lacked ginger and black vinegar that rounded out the flavor. Best of the bunch were the pea sprout and shrimp dumplings, though the skins of many were thicker than normal which indicated being handmade, but without skill. In addition to the brusque service, I'll take the carts and ruckus of other establishments over this failed attempt at fancy, thank you very much.
fantastic dim sum. not too long of a wait (maybe 20minutes) on a saturday afternoon. lots of choices! i can't even being to name everything that the 4 of us hungover, starving people ordered. favorite- the noddles with shredded roast duck. *insert drool here*. we had so many shrimp options come to the table. shrimp dumplings, shrimp and leek balls, bbq pork bun, xo noddles (those, not so good), shanghai dumplings, oh the eggplant with shrimp was incredible, pot stickers were stuffed pouches of hot, savory love. we actually got so full by the end and there was one more option that was supposed to come out, they let us cancel it.
about $25 for each couple. for the amount we ordered, that was cool.
When my co workers and I can go for a longer lunch, we head here. The dim sum is good and there is a good variety. Sometimes it is very crowded during the lunch hour. Typically the service is fast but the last time I was there is was painfully slow.
Like others have stated, the service, not so great (at least from the waiters point of view). The mark it yourself dimsum menu was complex in the sense that not all things corresponded to what was on the picture menu. While I appreciate that they list the prices, what I don't appreciate is the annoyance that comes off from them when you ask for help. I get it, you're probably a FOB (fresh-off-the-boat). "WHAT YOU WANT?" is not the way you get a better tip. Oh and FYI, we never asked for tea so don't go automatically charging us (a dollar per person even if u don't drink it!).
But I will say this, the dim sum isn't that bad and the ladies who bring it to you are pretty darn efficient. BTW, the restrooms are downstairs and like all the streets and people of Chinatown, small and compact.
The wait time is actually longer than what people stated on Yelp. Not the kindest service. The staff didn't act like they wanted to be there and it seemed like a nuisance for us to ask for anything. In the end though, it's the food that matters. It wasn't the best dim sum that I've had, but it's good enough to return to for dim sum. Would I wait in line if there was a dim sum place right around the corner that would take me in right away? Probably not.
We ordered several types of dumplings and buns and, for the most part, they all tasted pretty good. Some of the dumplings had too much steam that while eating, hot water came out. This in turn diluted my spicy soy sauce mix. I never had this issue before, but it's not that big of a deal.
We paid $40+ for 3 people, including our child. Was it worth it? I would have eaten somewhere else without having had to wait such a long line. The statement that Charles L. made about 15 people being in front of him, but he was seated in 15 minutes, it was more like a 40- minute wait. Had I known that, I would have gone somewhere else. I don't mind waiting, but the food has got to be EXCEPTIONAL.
I gave 4 stars because I will be back and I'll try more food. I'll just expect poor customer service, unhappy servers/hosts (except for one waitress who replied with a smile to me, but she just happened to be dropping off more dumplings) and all of this exquisite food that everyone keeps raving about.
I'm a positive person and I always expect great customer service because I usually talk with restaurant personnel with utmost respect (having worked in the field for 8 years from ice cream server to food server trainer), but first impressions are lasting ones. I lived in the City for 3 years and am Asian, so I'm much more tolerant of unhappy Asian staff at a restaurant. It would be nice though if the owners would huddle with their staff and management daily to remind them that despite their long hours working, they're here to serve guests.
This restaurant is Zagat rated, which is another reason why I'm willing to try more of their dishes.
The ambiance is nice and the restroom is clean. Give it a go and I hope that you're not having to hunt down a food server when you'd like a refill on your drinks or need a fork for your 5-year old struggling to eat with her chopsticks.
NO CARTS, but there are pix (so that it'll happen that you pick the right stuff). I had a craving for chicken feet so my roommate and I decided to go here to get some dim sum.
Pretty cutthroat line here, but it moves fast. There are two floors of dim sum space and people are pretty quick about going in and out. We were 15 spots behind the current number but got in within 15 minutes. Nice.
For 3 people, we got 4 small items, 6 medium items, and 2 large items (btw, that's a whole table load of food just for 3 people). The waiter started randomly crossing off items for us because he thought it was too much food for us, but we said it was okay. He walked off with the orders very reluctantly.
We finished everything. TAKE THAT, WAITER. I particularly enjoyed the eggplant with shrimp paste. Heartily stuffed and only $15 per person after tip.
Everything was solid, except the egg tarts. They were mini egg tarts =(. Go to Golden Gate Bakery for those.
I'm a little bit confused as to why this place received such high ratings. But then again, lets be fair.. I only came here for dim sum so my review for this place is strictly base on their dim sum.
Honestly, their dim sum was not worth my effort of climbing up and down the city of San Francisco. -_- The food was not good at all and the service is horrible!
Came here for dinner today with my dad. The peking duck is cooked to perfection! It is a bit pricier than other places in the city ($32 for whole peking duck, served 1-way), but they actually give you the breast meat, drums, and wings as well. Another dish I would recommend is the clay pot with coconut sauce, pork, duck, and taro root. Note though: if you want to take home leftovers of this or any other saucy dish, specify to the server that you want the flavorful sauce as well! We didn't do this and they ended up tossing our sauce, which unfortunately means this dish will be too dry tomorrow. Think of it as throwing out the green curry sauce from a Thai restaurant and only keeping the meat and veggies!! Not cool... But otherwise they have good customer service, particularly at the front of the house, and the restrooms are actually considerably cleaner than most Chinese restaurants!
Got there around noon on Labor Day and waited about 30 minutes to be seated. I have to say, the wait was worth it! They have probably the best shrimp rice noodle I've ever had in the U.S. Though slightly over-steamed, the rice noodle was thin and slippery, just the way it should be. Their XO sauce rice noodle is also delicious because every noodle was coated evenly. Also worthy of mention are the custard buns, which were perfectly steamed and unlike many places, not too full of custard. For a Chinese restaurant, I think the service was pretty good and really quite efficient. I will definitely go back again.
On a side note, I think it's asking for too much to compare dim sum places in the U.S. to those in Hong Kong, China or even Vancouver. With that said, I'd only give this restaurant 3 stars if it was located in one of those locales.
I'm just going to be upfront. I'm a little piglet when it comes to dim sum and I ordered 10 dishes for just two of us. But it was 10 am and I was starved.
1. Deep Fried Taro Turnover with Minced Meat. Crisp. Light. Savory. The BEST taro turnover I have ever had.
2. Steamed Pork Buns. The bread was soft and hot but there was something missing about the meat and the sauce. It just wasn't quite there. Bummer.
3. Turnip Cake (steamed). Smooth, creamy, hands down best I've ever tasted.
4.. Steamed Shanghai Dumplings. I kind of felt like this dumpling was competing with Yank Sing's version of this dumpling... and I knew in my heart that Yank Sing does it better. Oh well. It was still a decent dumpling with a nice portion of meat.
5. Black Sesame Soft Ball. I really really really love these little succulent mochi-like balls with oozing inky grainy black sesame that gushes out like molten lava. I heart you.
6. Stick Rice in Lotus Leaf. Decent portion. Okay flavor. Probably wouldn't bother ordering it again.
7. Deep Fried Red Bean Balls. Not greasy. Fresh. Delish.
8. Eggplant stuffed with Shrimp. Not bitter. Tender. Very good.
9. Pan Fried Leek Dumplings. The skin was thin and perfect. Lots of shrimp and leeks inside.
10. Deep Fried Bean Curd Skin Rolls with Shrimp. I don't think I've had anything like it. I'm not sure if I'm crazy about it (mostly because I'm not that crazy about shrimp) but it was definitely worth trying and my dim sum partner in crime thought it was fantabulous.
All of this for $38! Honestly, this could've fed 4 people (I ended up taking 4 containers of leftovers home.. the price you pay for variety).
A couple things that I really liked about Great Eastern was that the service was very kind and attentive (they totally checked my teapot to make sure it wasn't empty and they brought hot mustard right when we asked). I'm over trying to search for your favs with passing carts, so I definitely liked ordering off a menu. I dig the mosaic tiles on their structural posts and overall their decor was pleasant. The restaurant was very clean. I'll probably come back to try their golden pumpkin fries and roast duck... they apparently don't serve those dishes until after 11 am.
I've been to quite a few dim sum spots in Chinatown, but this one was a good one to go back to. There was a reasonable wait for a table (25 minutes), but once we were seated the food was brought out quickly and it was very good. This isn't a dim sum spot where the carts go by and you point to what you want, instead you pick something off of a placard and then sit back and wait.
I liked the pork buns, the fried crab claw with shrimp and the lemon chicken the best. I'd definitely recommend this place to a friend.
I've had dim sum all my life and have had it in HK, LA & Vancouver, your typical dim sum hot spots. We decided to come here after reading great yelp reviews.
We arrived a little before 2pm on Sunday afternoon and the place was still packed with people waiting out the door, about 1/2 tourist and 1/2 Chinese patrons. On the window are stickers from Michelin, Zagat, Yelp, Tripadvisor so this place has definitely been reviewed.
When we finally sat down around 2:35 we ordered 8 dim sum dishes but they already ran out of 2 dishes that we had. Of the remaining items we actually tasted, I've definitely tasted better and cheaper. We had the siu chow dumpling, pork steamed dumpling, rice noodle with vegetable and dried scallops, turnip cake, bitter melon dumpling, and the eggplant with shrimp paste.
Both the pork steamed dumpling and the turnip cake had an interesting after taste. The eggplant in shrimp paste was so drenched in oil that a few minutes on my plate and it turned completely oily. The rice noodle and the other dumplings were o.k. but nothing to rave home about.
Why are there so many people waiting in line for this place? The ambiance is a bit dated and the food is not good. I love my Cantonese food but for good dim sum, I would not go here again.
After our visit to the great white north, we have been searching for dim sum in the bay area to that of Vancouver or Richmond.
First up, Great Eastern restaurant...
Although their dim sum dishes were palatable, it paled in comparison to the dim sum at Fisherman's Terrace in Richmond, BC. There are no carts being pushed around in Great Eastern, yet not all of their dishes were boiling hot when they were brought out. Some dishes were too salty, particularly the ones that are deep fried.
I had high expectations for the Great Eastern Restaurant because of all the 4 and 5 star reviews. Then again, my fellow yelpers probably have yet to have the opportunity to have dim sum in the great white north or Hong Kong...
Found the best dim sum spot in San Fran!
This is what I recommend, best taste, variety, best price. Never will I step foot into another dim sum restaurant (unless someone else is paying). My exploration of bay area dim sum stops here. I know it's sad for y'all because all future S.F. dim sum yelp reviews end here. Well, if it ain't broke, why fix it?
I was recommended this place from a concierge and he did a great job! My dad came to visit and wanted to get Chinese food in Chinatown and since I don't know anything about that, I had to ask.
This place looks like a whole in the wall from the outside, but once we walked in there were white table cloths and the restaurant was packed! Luckily we were seated right away.
We ordered some pot stickers which came out really quick! The pot stickers were perfect to tide me over from my hunger and the sweet and sour sauce was great. Our main meals also came out really fast which was not what I was expecting with such a crowded Restaurant. But I was pleasantly surprised. I got the chicken and cashews and my dad ordered the kung pao prawns. Both were really delicious and had lots of flavor! I would recommend this place to anyone who wants a solid Chinese food outing right in Chinatown!
We're there this past weekend, and I couldn't wait to write a review.
First, arrive early. At noon, on a Saturday, the place was packed. The interior is nice, compared to many other places, this was the cleanest, but very loud. The tea came fast, and so were the dishes. Two of my selections were already sold out... the fried bean curd with shrimp and this other concoction that I can't recall the name. This is what we ordered:
1. Deep Fried Taro Turnover with Minced Meat: WOW!!! I could a dozen of these.... crispy on the outside, a bit chewy consistency and extremelly flavorful in the inside, lots of ginger, nice and warm... this is heaven!
2. Steamed Pork Buns. Is this a Chinese invention? There is NO Asian flare taste to this, I was shocked and dislike it a lot. If you like pulled pork sandwich, this is what this reminds me... the dish was cooked well, but overall as a dish this is super silly ... do you like bbq pulled pork sammies? If so, go for this, not the restaurant's fault, but I don't get why this is so popular.
3. Steamed Dumplins with Shrimp, Crab shavings and Pea leaves??? The skin was slightly gummy but really thin... It was another super memorable dish. WORTH a trip just for this.
4. Steamed Pork Shumai - well, it was OK. But not memorable.
5. Steamed Custard Buns - Another dish that reminds me of Western cuisine. The word custard donut came to my mind. It was soft sweet, custardy, but not something that I would crave and drive just to taste these...
All these with tip was about $20 bucks, not bad. My piece of advice, if you want some asian flavors, just pass the pork buns and custard buns... a big waste of money in my opinion. If you are an adventurous person whose taste buds can do a lot, look around and see what people are eating. The locals (Chinese) get the good stuff. We sat by 2 american looking guys and to me it was quite ridiculous to go for dim sum and order fried chicken, dumplin soup, pork buns... I'm not looking for soul food at Chinatown.
A big favorite of my Cantonese mom-in-law. She can fight those Sunday morning crowds waiting the lobby. She can stink-eye you like the best of them. I usually stand waiting outside engulfed in the cigarette smoke and dried stinky herb odors that float through Chinatown.
The food?
Sure, usually hot. Decent prices. Good.
In my opinion, dim sum is always salty and greasy and usually eaten on a weekend morning with a little bit of a hangover.
Sip the hot tea and order anything that has the word, dumpling, in it's name.
I've always waited to get a table there and that kind of gets my goat, since there are so many restaurants in Chinatown. Sure, they're not all amazing, but I hate to wait.
I'm sure we'll go back. And I'll wait outside with the smokers before getting a table.
Reviewing Dim Sum only!
I was craving some dim sum and decided to go to the best place for my craving: Chinatown in San Francisco. Since I love trying new places, I decided to go with a friend's suggestion to try this place. She had never been, either. I was expecting fantastic dim sum and was completely underwhelmed. I wonder if I just went on an off day....However, my whole table agreed that the food was just not up to par and not all that great.
It was packed when we came at around 11 am, and to me, that is always a good sign. The place is pretty big, and they have seating downstairs, as well. The wait wasn't very long, even though it was saturday and very crowded.
The food:
To be honest, the food was decent but very forgettable. The only things that were memorable were so horrible that I can't even forget them. I love sticky rice in lotus leaf, but the rice was not that tasty or sticky, and they didn't have the kind of egg that I usually find in sticky rice at other places. Secondly, their egg custard tart was just unforgivable. Small, oily, and stale. I took one bite---instant sadface.
Other than that, the food came in good sized portions, and prices were great. For 4 people and a table full of food, it was only $42!
Actually, the hargow was pretty good tasting, but like I said, very average. Okay, but not great.
Service/ambience/cleanliness:
I actually liked the service here. The service is not as good as some places I've been to, but they actually got me waters whenever I requested some, even when it was super crowded and busy. Place looked decently clean, surprisingly. When crowded, the restaurant is insufferably tight and small. I literally had to squeeze through everything and everyone just to get anywhere. The bathrooms are TINY, with only two stalls. Some old lady actually peeked into my stall to check if it was occupied--EEEK! Somebody fix those gaps between the stalls/doors; they're so wide, I could see a whole person inside or outside!
Overall, I was pretty disappointed. Two stars for service, really. I came here expecting better, and given all the good reviews for this restaurant, maybe I should have experienced better. Maybe it was off day, but I don't live close enough to try again.
I admit, we chose this place because it looked cleaner than most in Chinatown and we wanted a nice sit-down place, versus carry-out.
The food: Not sure why there's not more love for this place on here. Dishes were fresh, not greasy (except the shrimp crab claw, but what can you expect from a deep-fried ball?), and everything was nicely seasoned and flavorful. That's the most important thing to me. The food was superior to most dim sum in that price range (Yank Sing is great, but two of us ate here for under $30 before tip; YS was around $70).
The wait: We arrived early, about 10:30 a.m. on a Sunday, and got right in. But I wouldn't wait more than 15-20 minutes: It's good, but not mind-blowing. Something has to be phenomenal for me to wait longer than that.
The service: People who go to inexpensive, relatively authentic Chinese restaurants expecting stellar service are off their rockers. I'm used to pushy dim sum cart servers practically force-feeding you the stuff. Here, the practice of ordering off a photo menu is much more civilized. Sure, the women who bring out the food are not smiley and chatty; so what? The stuff comes out, it's hot, you get what you ordered, who can ask for more? The hostess was cheery, and the waiter brought us glasses of water quickly when requested.
The ambience: Somewhat loud, lots of families, outdated "upscale" decor (so THAT'S who buys all of those dripping crystal chandeliers from the tacky neighboring shops), live seafood tanks, lots of Asian men standing outside the door smoking. But I reiterate, clean. And English is spoken.
Overall, I say this is a fine choice for people who want good, authentic dim sum without the guesswork of carts or mystery bins behind glass, and want to sit down and enjoy it in a comfortable setting, possibly with a group. I will definitely go back.
Really good dim sum.
If you've been wanting to try this restaurant but don't want to eat too expensively, come for the dim sum. You can try a lot of food without breaking the bank, unless you order all the fancier seafood items. Food comes out hot, fresh, and made to order. I recommend the egg yolk buns because I'm normally not a fan but they're deliciously gooey inside. Shanghai style little steam dumplings (xlb) are flavorful, with a delicate thin wrapping that unfortunately doesn't hold a lot of soup. But they're not bland as xlb tend to be in restaurants, so they get two chopsticks up. Other items are as good if not better than other restaurants. You should also get the black sesame seed in mochi, but eat it while it's hot.
I was a little disappointed that they didn't have ja learng on the menu (the fried bread wrapped in rice noodle), but you can't have everything. Occasionally servers walk by offering other dishes like pork blood or specific noodles that aren't on the menu. You can, of course, order outside of the dim sum checklist.
They definitely carry the higher end items like shark fin, geoduck, frog, and other seafood prepared in many different ways. Definitely a pricey restaurant so come prepared. Ask for the dim sum picture menu if you need guidance on what to order. They validate 2 hours of parking at the Portsmouth Garage. Come early or be prepared to wait for your table.
I like this restaurant for what it is. While roaming around Chinatown at the dinner hour, Tom and I picked this restaurant. We chose one of the meals for two which included lots of food. We couldn't finish it all, but we enjoyed what we had. Fried rice with shrimp, hot and sour soup, pork spareribs, egg rolls, sweet and sour pork and other crowd pleasers. I found it very satisfying.
Now reading the other Yelp reviews, I see that Great Eastern is noted for their dim sum. I'll have to check it out later. The other reviews also show what an extensive menu they have. Great Eastern is a good restaurant, I found the service to be pretty fast for the most part.
Came here a few weeks ago for a wedding celebration/dinner. I remember this as one of Chinatown's top spots, but nothing that night was anything even close to being up to par with its supposed great reputation. None of the dishes were memorable, except for ONE. The sweet peas were freakin' HARD and undercooked! It was half raw! Oh my freakin' goodness. I got food poisoning that night (minor), but I won't point fingers, because I'm not exactly sure where/what I got it from. It could've been Olive Garden, it could've been the dishes here, or the red wine, 7-up, who knows? I believe the best part of the meal was probably the first cold plate, and finally the dessert (red bean paste)? I'm willing to come back during the daytime to possibly relive the old yum cha experience, and hopefully it'd be a good one.
I used to come here often with family/relatives. I recall this place being one of the top picks in… Read more »
This restaurant is known for its dim sum, and I give it 5 stars for it! I have eaten dim sum from coast to coast, in almost every major city (SF, NY, LA, Chicago, etc), and this is THE best place for dim sum by far!
After a long flight back from Michigan, I was in the mood for a San Francisco treat. I was in search for a place that had great food and was only found in San Francisco. The only place I could think of was a restaurant I went to with my family over 10 years ago. We had Salted Fish Fried Rice and Peking Duck with Dumplings. I was determined to have the same exact meal from the same restaurant. Sadly though, I couldn't recall the name or what street it was on. All I could remember was that it was on the street facing west if I was walking northward. So, after parking I walked down Stockton til I hit Jackson. Then I walked down Grant and I saw it, the restaurant. I had to walk by it twice just to make sure. It was closed, no longer in business.
Luckily, Yelp came to the rescue. I put in the search box "salted fish fried rice" and found the nearest 4 star rated restaurant. I was even more compelled to go when I found to my delight that it was Zagat rated as well. So, I knew I couldn't go wrong.
I ordered the fried rice and the peking duck. I was delighted! I was happy. I was satiated. And most importantly my taste buds were satisfied. I got what I was looking for!
I was so glad that I had so much left over that I could take some home. I just recently nuked the fried rice and it was just as good as when I got it at the restaurant.
So, maybe I'm a little biased because they had what I was looking for and I was starving. All us foodies know that when the blood sugar levels start to plummet, we don't think clearly. But, despite all of that, this place deserves it's 5 stars because funny enough it's hard to find good Salted Fish Fried Rice in China Town, as well as Peking Duck that isn't soggy and greasy.
The Salted Fish Fried Rice definitely hit the spot, I found my new favorite Chinese restaurant in China Town and I cannot wait to take my bf here. The Peking Duck was on par and I just absolutely love it with the dumplings and green onions! Sooo happy and soooo satisfied. The duck was crispy and clean. Most restaurants saturate their duck with oil, which I'm happy that Great Eastern did not do.
After reading other reviews, this place has the best dim sum. I did a quick glance over at the menu and didn't see anything too special. But I may need to come back and give their dim sum menu a try.
Overall, this is a restaurant that I will definitely be returning to and bring my family to. Cannot wait for my next visit!
Great Eastern serves average Chinese food at a slightly high price. The restaurant does have a great feel: huge round tables, linen table cloths/napkins, no booths, expansive and slightly refined. The service is good, waiters dressed up a little. All this tucked away in a little Chinatown street.
The dishes tasted similar to my local chinese place. Nothing to write home about, just solid good food.
For Asian ambiance and experience, this restaurant serves well. For serious cuisine, the food is average.
Rounded up.
I've been here 2x for dim sum, and the 2nd time was definitely better. I recommend getting there early (before noon probably), and going in a group of 3. Otherwise you will wait, and the good stuff will all be gone.
Radish cake is delicious here.
Tasty and cheap. You can't beat that.
I'm not a big fan of dim sum chicken feet but Great Eastern's is good. That's always a good sign of a good sim sum place is if the chicken feet is good. All the dumplings are good. Almost everything is good.
There was about 8 of us and we ate sooooo much food and it only ended up being about $12 a head. You can't ask for much better than that in an expensive city like this.
Good dim sum. You should try it for youself. We got there at 10:30am and the restaurant was a quarter full. 20 minutes later, it was full house. I would bring friends here to get some dim sum and my hubby likes this place.
I was walking around Chinatown in the quest to find the perfect dim sum place to satisfy a craving - after all, hiking the city can work up a huge appetite. I decided to check this place out after consulting with my phone - I pulled up Yelp Mobile to help me narrow the playing field down. The restaurant itself is deceiving looks-wise - it looks small but it's actually huge on the inside, There's tanks stocked with fish and other sea-dwelling creatures. It's a old Asian stereotype that restaurants with well-stocked fish/crustacean tanks is a sign of a good establishment - but you can't take your cat here, unfortunately. Kitty would LOVE this place and he/she'll make a dash for the tanks for dinner.
After a 15 minute wait, I was ferried down to the basement, I was seated next to a family, Chinese no less. This is Chinatown we're talking about. I've noticed the husband/dad pulled out a bottle of Early Times whiskey and poured it into his tea cup while I was eat. I've joked with him saying it's too early for booze. Anyways, enough with that. Ambience is typical Chinatown establishment.
One thing I did notice is that you order via pencil and duplicate form. I'm too accustomed to seeing carts in my yum cha sojourns. But convenience lost in this case equals piping hot, hella good dim sum. The dumplings were nice and HOT - but they disintegrated when it came time to eat them. The shrimp rolls in tofu skin and deep-fried shrimp dumplings were excellent too - this place makes them a touch crispier. Sadly, they didn't have any baked pork buns nor custard tarts left - but I did get some peking duck for the road and coconut milk "pudding" for the finale. The coconut pudding is similar to a Cambodian dessert I remember my mom was making when I was a kid. The peking duck is served with steamed peanuts - unusual but it did make for a simple dinner tonight.
In conclusion, I recommend this place if you're looking for a sit-down place for yum cha. It's a touch pricey and they didn't have 2 things I was looking for, otherwise, it would have been a perfect 5.
I usually hate Chinese food -- too gloppy/slimy/gelatinous.
But this place was fresh and delicious. :)
Alright as a native Chinese New Yorker I grew up eating dim sum, so why not try dim sum on the west coast? So my friends and I were not sure which restaurant would serve authentic dim sum, nothing that is made for tourists type of dim sum...we aim for authentic! We wandered and came to this restaurant and it was filled with locals and it reminds me of home. Lots of locals = good dim sum.
The steamed chicken claws (fong jau) was really really good! Shrimp dumplings was so fresh and so huge! The steamed beef tripe was so soft, but I like mine with a springy feel...they are still really good and garlicky! Everyone tells me dim sum in HK is way better than NY and I can't compare because I've never gone to HK. But this dim sum on the west coast is by far the best dim sum I've had and yes I would say it's better than a lot of places in NY.
Okay so now I wait until I get to go to HK and see how amazing they are compare to east and west coast.
I don't know of dim sum place that isn't crowed during brunch/lunch time. We got a number and waited. I think they called a few numbers in only Chinese, so we confused for a bit. They eventually called our number. The wait wasn't too bad. They didn't serve on carts, but it was okay because the dim sum came out fast. It's alright as dim sum goes. Yeah, I know it's Chinese food, but it was extremely oily. By the end my cousin and I couldn't finish the few last pieces because it was just too oily. I don't name any certain dish because it was all very very oily. But it wasn't the worst dim sum we've ever had. We enjoyed our meal.
We stopped in here yesterday for a spot of Dim Sum, and were quite happy. At 10:00 on a Saturday morning the place was already quite full, but service was quick and pleasant. Our party tried almost half the dishes on the menu, and was quite happy all around.
Reasonable prices, solid food and good service made for a good experience.
The shrimp dumplings and rice noodles (with shrimp and beef) were particular favorites, though the wrappings on the shiu mai were a bit thin. Also enjoyed were the char shiu bau and eggplant and shrimp.
Journey to the bowels of chinatown and you may find Great Eastern, which is somewhat more upscale and considerably pricier than much of its competition. However, in many ways you get what you pay for as holding tanks ensure that the seafood is absolutely fresh.
Seafood hot and sour soup, lobster with black bean sauce, and sauteed shrimp were all tasty and well-prepared. That's the upside.
The downside is that the food, even the soup, arrived at the table at once. Not conducive to a well-paced dinner. Also, the waiters may or may not understand english. The shrimp dish that we ordered was not the plate of food that arrived. I was with a Chinese friend and he could not make himself understood to the waiters in either english or chinese!
Yet the price, the limitations of the waiters, and the pacing of the meal is tolerable given the quality of the food. Next time I will order one plate of food at a time thus pacing the meal on my own.
One of the best out there...long lines out the door tell you that it's going to be good. It didn't disappoint. While the wait can be extremely long and chaotic, it is well worth it. There are no carts that go around the restaurant, but instead you order off of a graphical menu (helpful for those who are a little weary of ordering something they can't see). We ordered a sizable amount of dim sum, and all were delicious. The best part was the price. Everything is reasonably priced, as it should be! I'll definitely go back again.
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Category: Bakeries
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