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Joy Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1489 Beach Park BlvdFoster City, CA 94404
(650) 345-1762
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 3 pm
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 9:30 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- 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:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
329 reviews for Joy Restaurant
Review Highlights
"The hand cut noodles in XO is the best."
(in 43 reviews)
"The best stinky tofu I've had in the Bay area."
(in 77 reviews)
"Xiao Long Bao - Excellent."
(in 16 reviews)
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329 reviews in English
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Review from Andrew M.
2/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
Joy Restaurant is a preferred alternative to satisfy any misguided Panda Express cravings!
The Orange Beef, which has the irresistible "must try" label on the menu, is crispy, non-chewy, and appropriately saucy (not drowned in sauce, which is a popular Chinese restaurant technique).
The House Fried Rice is teeming with ham, egg, and veggie fillings, and provides a worthy complement to more strongly flavored dishes.
The sauteed String Beans with Pork is a wonderful compromise to ordering vegetables, since each scoop of the oily beans is laden with bits of salty ground pork.
The meal is slightly expensive for Chinese food - at $17 per person with leftovers for one meal - but the quality of cooking and readily available space make up for it.
Will be back to try other Joy Restaurant Menu items, especially the mysterious large bowled entrees that other tables were ladling out of. -
Review from Marilyn T.
Palo Alto, CA
2/6/2012
It's a little out of the way but worth the drive for better quality Chinese food. That said, it's still going to be greasy and heavy, but things are done nicer than at many other places around here. It also looks much nicer since the upgrade/remodel since a few years ago.
If you get any noodle dishes, get them with the hand cut noodles for the texture (whether it's stir fried or in soup). Rice cakes are also just the right amount of chewiness and have lots of flavor. Other more unique Chinese specialties to get include zhua bing (like a scallion pancake but without scallions and kind of flaky, broken up, meant to be eaten with the hands), mei cai kou rou (pork belly wrapped around marinated greens), xiao long bao (xlb, steamed mini buns, hit or miss on how juicy they are), hong you chao shou (wontons in hot chili oil).
If you're planning ahead, make sure you order these special items beforehand: 8-treasure duck filled with glutinous rice, dongpo rou (stewed pork), and lotus wrapped chicken. The duck has a ton of interesting ingredients, and what better way to eat sticky rice than after its been cooked in duck fat?? They used to also have this stewed fish soup that they made over the course of a day (I think with pork or ham added to it), but rumor is they don't do it anymore.
For vegetarians, the tofu casseroles are pretty good. Actually, all their claypots are pretty flavorful, including the classic lions head meatball (usually made of pork).
Service is hit or miss like at most Chinese places. They do take credit card (I think Visa or Mastercard only). Like I said, it's a little out of the way but is worth checking out for some more unique items (call ahead!) -
Review from Eve K.
1/18/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Unique hidden Chinese food spot with good food and an amazingly friendly staff. 4.5 stars
Food: 4.5, Atmosphere: 3, Service: 3.5
Cost to worth it rating: 5 (somehow fed 6 people for ~$11/person excluding tip)
Return worthiness: YES
Eve award: best potsticker presentation
Highlights:
- Potstickers: crispy top layer that looks like a huge disc when it arrives and under that are a set of the longest, largest meat-filled potstickers ever (which tasted delicious too). Note they take a long while so order them when you first sit down and they'll come halfway through your meal
- Staff: for a bare bones Chinese spot, I was happily surprised by the friendly, welcoming staff. We were seated and immediately greeted with a huge bowl of hot and sour soup. When we left the lady was all smiles and thanked us for coming (even offered my lunch bud hot and sour soup to go since she noticed how much his face lit up when he saw it at our table).
- 3 cup chicken: had no idea what it was but since I trust my fellow yelpers, I gave it a try. Big chunks of tender chicken in a soy glaze with wilted basil leaves on top
- Kung pao chicken: old standby done well here. Great flavor and nice real kick with the dried chile bits
- Interesting twists: one beef dish we had came with a bed of shredded vegetables and basil, giving it a bit of a Thai flair
- Lunch specials: 2 pages worth with Americanized items like sweet and sour to ones that are more unique like the mentioned 3 cup chicken
Lowlights:
- Schezusn shrimp: too tomatoey of a sauce for my liking but shrimp were cooked well
- Never got our hand made noodles we ordered, but they took it off the bill
The 6 of us co-workers were so happy to find this spot and it definitely made it as a part of our regular lunch rotation. -
Review from Cynthia C.
Alameda, CA
1/17/2012 1 photo
Impressed by the location and the food.
Portions are hearty, which left plenty of leftovers:
-Wild vegetable with sea bass soup, very good, buttery fish, w/spinach & watercress
-Pea sprouts with garlic, a little salty for my taste, but not oily
-Shredded pork rice noodle Taiwan style, excellent, seasoned lightly, finely sliced vegetables and super fragrant shitakes.
Spiffy servers. They run tight ship here. Bathrooms are nice and clean.
Irked me: took 25 minutes to make some chive pancakes and when they came out they weren't even hot. Still good though.
After our meal, we went on a nice walk on the beach, while gnawing on some chive pancakes. A perfect afternoon.Listed in: In the know with the 6-5-0, Back to the Motherland.
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Review from Jack B.
San Mateo, CA
2/3/2012
Our go-to for Taiwanese food. We always get: fried stinky tofu, mushu hand-cut noodles, Taiwanese-style thin noodles, rice ball, three-cup chicken (soooo good), egg with picked radish, salty soymilk. Their other stuff is great too, but we like our go-to's so much we find it hard to branch out. Only reason we don't come here is if we had it too recently =) Great food, great service, really nice waiters and owner, great for kids - they are very very nice with my kiddos, and they have a nice aquarium at the front =) Oh their shiao-long-bao and potstickers are excellent too =)
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Review from Christine C.
Pleasanton, CA
1/6/2012
I LOVE this place! Ever since I was first introduced to this place, I have since been bringing coworkers and friends here and they always leave happy.
If you go for lunch: Try the lunch special menu- they will give you a bowl of Hot and Sour soup, and give you a pretty generous portion of what you ordered, a side of rice, and a fried wonton for about $6-7. Not super cheap compared to some other lunch special places out there, but you get a good amount of food. My favorite is the lunch special String Bean with pork- great flavor.
If you go for dinner (or whenever): I recommend the Mushu Dao Shao Chow Mein (Thick Noodles).
If you go anytime: You can't leave without ordering the Cheng Hua Lu Potstickers! Every single person I introduce these to now always go back for the potstickers over and over again. They give you approx 8 huge potstickers and they are the long style, attached with a layer of delicious crispiness on top. Delicious, tasty and crispy! (See photos) Just a tip: Order them first immediately when you sit down because they take sometimes 20-25 minutes to make.
Overall, if you're looking for a hearty, authentic chinese restaurant, I highly recommend Joy :) -
Review from Andrew P.
Belmont, CA
1/29/2012
i don't usually post review, but i feel compelled to report the following:
I was there on Sat. 1/28/2012 with my family and few friends, a week after Chinese New Year. The place was very crowded and noisy. As expected on a busy business night, our dirty and empty dishes were not picked up, and our tea was never re-filled.
So as expected, the service was quite poor.
At the end, i went to the bathroom and saw our waiter in there taking a piss at the nxt stall. Once done, the guy simply just started walking out of the door. This was the guy who brought food to our table, and i was completely disgusted. He just touched his private part and was ready to walk out to continue serving food to the customers....?
Seeing him about to leave, i asked if he's going to wash his hands. he looked at me, made gutteral sound, superficially rinsed his hands without soap, then told me: "u take it easy".
i looked at the lavatory to see if there was a sign instructing all employees need to wash their hands before going back to work, but i didn't see any. I'm not sure if this is a common pratice at this restaurant. but what i witnessed that night really disgusted me.
Regardless if they have good food or not, this was not a good hygienic pratice, and was an insult to the customers who put their trust what delivered to the table. I was quite disturbed and probably would never go back to this place. -
Review from David O.
Foster City, CA
1/23/2012
Been coming here for a few years, never disappointed with the quality of food or hard working family that owns this fine establishment... lately been ordering the set service for food to go and really love the peeking dinner and canton dinners if you get food for 3 or more people you get a better mix of items at a very good price point. I think anyone that loves well prepared Chinese food and lives in the area should frequent them.
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Review from Claire W.
Updated - 12/1/2011 2 photos
Was going to upgrade my rating for Joy to 5 stars given that they were open on the Thanksgiving Day while most restaurants, including some Chinese restaurants, were closed. I ended up with 4 stars still as I think they changed their menu and took some items off, such as the Fish soup with shredded daikons. After reading a fellow Yelper's review and how much he raved about this dish, which seems to have required a long time of simmering of the fish with bones to get the flavors of the broth out of the bones, I was in the mood of some hearty bone broth and was hoping to pre-order that the day before Thanksgiving as we were planning on going there for lunch on Thanksgiving Day. Unfortunately, they responded on the phone when I was making the reservation that they don't make that dish anymore. I was so bummed!!!
We went there at 11 am on Thanksgiving Day, thinking there would be a crowd there as I imagined there were a lot of Chinese folks here who do not do the turkey thing on TG day. But we were the only ones when we arrived on time and they were not fully prepared to open yet!
Well the good thing about that is we had the full attention of their staff, including the older lady at the counter and the two younger servers. Since there was no one else, they even took the time to take photos for us, making sure we got some good photos taken considering the lighting, etc. Normally at Chinese restaurants they tend to rush through things when they are busy. So that was a nice change!
We each ordered a beef noodles soup, with mine being the "clear" noodles made of mung beans, and my friend's regular wheat noodles. The soup was slightly spicy but not too spicy and the beef and tendons were cooked very tender. Compared to the beef noodles soup at China Bee, which was over spiced with black pepper, this was better in my book. The soup does contain a lot of chile oil though, so I only drank a few spoonfuls.
Our other dishes are my repeats: the Shanghai-style pan fried sticky rice cakes, the "Taiwanese style" calamari, which contains a lot of basil and water chestnuts (see my last review), and a stir-fried "A" veggie (A tsai).
Again, big portions for each order, so we ended up packing half of the non-soup dishes home. And I was eating the leftover for the next two meals...Listed in: Mid Peninsula Restaurants, Favorite local Chinese/Taiwan…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/27/2011
Been here numerous times for either lunch or dinner on the weekends but had never gotten around to… Read more »
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Review from Jackie S.
11/29/2011
I rarely eat at northern Chinese/Taiwanese food, so that was a nice change. The food was different than what I'm used to. Expect food with more oil, spiciness, and lots of garlic! We had a $200 set menu which came with a lot of food. The quality of the food wasn't bad for the price. I don't remember all of the dishes that we had, but we had a seafood soup, chilean sea bass topped with garlic, squash with dried shrimp, braised pig leg, braised duck (with lots of sauce), eel, circular rice noodle with beef, noodles with garlic, spicy salt and pepper shrimp, sea cucumber and mushrooms, stir fry beef dish, and fruit. The restaurant is known for their stinky tofu, and it was really stinky! Another table ordered it and the smell was pungent. In addition, our salt and pepper shrimps was made in the same oil as the stinky tofu since the shrimp smelled like stinky tofu. Yuck!
The restaurant is located in a strip mall within a residential section. Strange location. -
Review from W. T.
San Francisco, CA
1/17/2012
I am certain the reviewers who give this place 4 or 5 stars are suffering from nostalgia. I never went to this place as a kid and therefore have no hangups preventing me from giving this place the 2 stars it deserves. For good Taiwanese food, try Hunan Homes in Palo Alto or Southland in Ranch 99. Problems:
1. Waitress conveniently forgets to get us the warm water we requested, even though there were only 2 other tables that were filled at the time. Also, with only 3 tables filled, we watched them deliver dishes to the wrong tables twice
2. Food is cold/room temperature and ingredients are not fresh
3. They cut corners regarding authenticity - a vegetable and tofu dish that is served in a clay pot with preserved vegetables in Taiwan came without the clay pot or preserved vegetables
4. Prices are slightly higher than average
5. Restrooms are nasty
6. Basil leaves in our clam and basil dish were unwashed and bitter tasting
7. Dishes were done to a mediocre standard of quality
8. Waitress made funny sounds after I left a 7% tip (which is 7% more than they deserved)
We are not coming back. -
Review from Jenny C.
1/4/2012
Had some of the food from Joy for a team lunch. The hand cut noodles are pretty good, they were in 2 diff dishes. I like this one dish that has tiny cubed tofu stir fried with pickled cabbage I think. 3 cup chicken was good...not sure greasy like most Chinese restaurants. Also had some other less memorable dishes. Good to know that I could count on the food to be good and homemade-like if and when I crave Chinese food.
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Review from Keith K.
Los Angeles, CA
10/24/2011
My family and I went to Joy for dinner last night. We ordered a simple sauteed A choy. We found 2 white worms about 1.5cm long after we finished 1/3. The owner of the restaurant came explained to us, said " You found worms in the cabbage is good! That proves our ingredients are organic."
I'm sure she thought her explanation was clever n' reasonable.
We were quite disappointed with this place now. My family used to go there quite often when they were still a small cozy restaurant with a little lamp on the table. We missed the ambience back then. Since they expanded their business, we had seen the owner yelling at the servers in front of the customers, bitter Chinese zucchini (not Bitter Melon, Chinese zucchini is supposed to be little sweet but not bitter at all), we ordered twice in different months yet both times were bitter.
We decided not to give them another chance cause we lost our confidence in their food. There are more n' more competition in the neighborhood now. They better realize their problems and improve. Otherwise, more n' more customers will not go back to this restaurant just like us. -
Review from Ting L.
Atherton, CA
10/17/2011
Green onion pancakes and mu shu noodle spicy beef noodle soup rock !
Hidden in a random strip mall, a bit off the path...but great spot ! -
Review from Teejay F.
Oakland, CA
1/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
Food is always good. Have been eating here for years. Love the lion head meatball casserole and the stinky tofu.
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Review from michael g.
San Mateo, CA
11/7/2011
This place is AWESOME! I have been eating here for a few years now and just realized that I had never posted a Yelp review.
I LOVE the food here. It is a little hole in the wall type place on the back side of Foster City, hidden in a little strip mall. But it is definitely a gem.
Things I love at this place, The pickled cucumber salad appetizer (not sure what it is called), Scallion pancakes, Shredded pancakes, Xiao Long Bao, wontons with chili oil, and the fried potstickers are amazing.
If you go on Sunday (I think) you can get this great rice roll with dried pork and stuff inside of it. And you can get Chinese donut with warm soy milk (AWESOME!)
There are some really good noodle dishes, especially one on the weekend special list with soybean sauce or something like that, it is really good. There is also another one with rice cakes and mustard greens that is great.
I might go here tomorrow for lunch now that I am thinking about it. It really is great comfort food, really friendly staff and one of my most visited lunch spots. -
Review from Robert S.
9/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
One of the better Chinese food restaurants I've ever eaten at.
Took the gf here as a surprise because I figured out they had stinky tofu, and she was a fan. Before we get to the stinky tofu, I want to cover everything else. All the rest of the food was excellent.
Xiao Long Bao - Excellent. A little small, and I definitely prefer the pan fried ones, but still delicious!
San Bei Ji - Thanks to Connie C. for this tip! Delicious! It was a chicken dish, with some sauce and parsley (I believe). Good stuff.
Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce - Great texture on the eggplant, and the sauce was great!
Spicy Beef Soup w/ Handcut Noodles - Awesome. The soup was excellent, and the noodles were really tasty!
Now...the stinky tofu. This comes from someone who doesn't know anything about stinky tofu outside of what I read on Wikipedia.
Sweet Jesus and Mary it smells like death. When I walked in, I expected to be overwhelmed by the smell, but it smelled fine. So I thought "Ha, it isn't so bad, I'll be fine". Then we ordered it. Son of a bitch, it's the worst thing I've ever smelled as far as food. I could only manage one piece before wanting to die. My gf said it was fine (not as good as Taiwan, but good). I couldn't believe it.
I still think this place is 5 stars. But for all that is holy, if you've never had stinky tofu, don't get it. I think you need to have developed a taste for it. I was traumatized the next day just thinking about it. What a terrifying food. -
Review from Alex M.
San Carlos, CA
12/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
Food was good. I will definately come back again. The diced up spicy tofu dish was awesome.. so was the spicy hot pot thing that was about as big as a kitchen sink. First time I ever tried stinky tofu. It was good. Luckily I couldnt smell so it wasnt so bad. I would eat it again.
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Review from Jean Y.
9/6/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Almost everything we tried here was delicious! The dishes were well executed standard fare.
-Pork strips with bean curd
-Mushu hand shaven chow mien
-Tofu with mushrooms
-Sauteed water spinach with garlic
-Scallion pancake
-Steamed sea bass with crispy bean sauce
The only things we tried that I would not recommend are:
-Beef noodle soup with hand shaven noodles: I loved the noodles, but the broth tasted more like chili oil than beef.
-Spicy wontons: If you like your spicy wontons spicy, you will be disappointed.
My friends and I were ready to order round #2, but the staff brought our check so we decided not to overindulge. -
Review from Victor C.
San Mateo, CA
8/28/2011
Ok, I know that a lot of the asian people swear that the food at this place is pretty good and authentic.
I would have to agree and say that the food is pretty good here. Authentic? Well, maybe a bit too authentic? Because both my wife and I got pretty sick eating here. Let's just say Montezuma got his revenge on us today.
We should've known better when we looked at the chopstick and saw that there's left over dried leafy greens stuck on it. The tea cups were crusty and was in the same state of cleanliness as most chinese restaurant that are considered "authentic and good." We've eaten at many of these restaurants and rarely get sick so this didn't make us think twice before we ordered our food.
The hand made noodle in spicy beef noodle (?) was pretty good. We also got a lot of other food, most of which I do not know the name of so I can't recall it here. All were decent tasting.
If you have a stomach then I'd say go right ahead and come here but if you are of a more delicate nature, don't say I didn't warn you. -
Review from Heather s.
San Mateo, CA
8/14/2011 4 Check-ins Here
Great Taiwanese weekend brunch! Popularity is evidenced by the crowds of Taiwanese here -- you may have to wait during peak times, especially if you're a larger group.
Their tea is actually pretty cheap (probably Lipton tea bags) -- they don't use real tea leaves and it tastes pretty much like water.
Instead, complement your meal with their soy bean milk ($2 ea). I prefer the sweet version, which was spot-on in sweetness and flavor. My husband's salty version was sub-par (he prefers the one at China Bee in San Mateo).
Stinky tofu ($6) - crispy outside, juicy inside - with the perfect amount of a spicy kick and pickled cabbage side. Vs. China Bee, a tough call as to whose wins.
Potstickers ($7) - in my opinion, the star of the show. 5 star potstickers, worth the wait as they cook each plate to order. They're large meaty potstickers with perfectly cooked crispy bottoms. My husband, a previous FOB in his grade school years, proclaims these the best potstickers he's had this side of the Pacific.
"Taiwanese style buns" ($5) - a gamble when we ordered as we didn't know what we were getting. Another delicious rendition - white wheat buns (man to) with stewed pork belly and cilantro.
Definitely a good competitor of China Bee - our other preferred Taiwanese weekend brunch spot. Look forward to trying Joy's for dinner sometime...Listed in: Huh Jyah!
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Review from James K.
San Mateo, CA
7/21/2011
Joy is our go-to restaurant for authentic, excellent Chinese in the Peninsula. I've taken both friends and family here, from my Mexican-American co-worker to my old friend who grew up in China, and they always leave impressed and, more importantly, satisfied. As we've been here myriad times, we've tried all sorts of dishes on the menu--soups, dumplings, duck, meat, prawns, fried rice--they're all predictably delicious and truly authentic Chinese dishes.
My favorites are the mu shu, either pork or chicken (pork is always a better choice for mu shu, imho), the house special fried rice, the xiao long bao (soup dumplings), the prawns with walnuts--sweet and delicious, and any of the vast array of soups--the house special soup, hot and sour, and, one that I just tried last week, the seaweed soup--simple, light, and delicious.
The staff is friendly and personable, all Chinese-speaking (so you KNOW it's authentic... :-) ), and fairly busy, as this place attracts a solid number of customers on any given day.
Bottom line, if you're looking for good, Chinese home cooking, on any given night, make Joy your go-to place--always reliable, always delicious--you won't be disappointed. -
Review from Jamie T.
5/26/2011
I remember during the long drive to this place, I kept wondering WHY are we going to what seems like a place where there's nothing else around...BUT I love the Glutinous Rice filled Duck here...
You have to preorder it but it's very worth it. Now I think, very worth the drive! -
Review from Jason C.
Concord, CA
8/27/2011
Come here for the food, it's awesome.
I just recently took my girlfriend here for a late afternoon lunch as we happened to be nearby. What a strip malll gem. I've already been to Joy several times over the years and the food never dis-appoints. It's Chinese/Taiwanese fare and is probably as good as the food that I've gotten overseas at the moderately priced restaurants.
A huge menu, everything good (really)...how could you go wrong??? About the only thing I could complain about is the service (you have to call them and they tend to also be very blunt about menu descriptions)...but that only costs one star, and oh, this is not the easiest place to find either.
If you want some recommendations on what to order, try some soup, with a Dim Sum style appetizer, like the Pancakes with green onions. Then get some meat, perhaps the 3 cup chicken and some vegetables. It's all good, believe me.
Thumbs way up, food wise. -
Review from Sasha T.
San Mateo, CA
11/20/2011
Clean space and nice service, they serve food quickly. We order three cups chicken and fried rice, pretty tasty!
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Review from David H.
San Mateo, CA
9/3/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Been coming to this restaurant for over a decade. It's walking distance from my house. It moved all of one shop over awhile ago; it used to be in the smaller location that I think has a pho place now, but they moved to the bigger location because they were doing well. My parents are good friends with the owner, and one of the waitresses still recognizes me.
Anyway, the food here is good and has been consistently good--keep in mind that I'm talking on the scale of a decade here. There have been a few sub-par experiences, but very few and far between. And it's hard to think of any item I wouldn't recommend trying.
Things I can recommend (some are in pinyin):
(menu @ http://www.robertyu.co...)
weekend breakfast
tai2 shi4 ge1 bao1, a taiwanese style pork bun.
sweet soy milk
jiàng ròu sho bng, pork with a savory sauce in crispy bread
(I actually get these three as a whole breakfast order for my girlfriend and me on Sundays. They open at 11am weekends, FYI.)
dinner
kong1 xin1 cai4, lit. "empty-heart" vegetable. get it sauteed with garlic (suan4 chao3)
da4 dou4 miao3, lit. "large pea sprout". also good with garlic
sizzling rice soup (good for 4-6 people)
hot and sour soup (again, 4-6 people)
three cup chicken
wontons in chili oil (hong2 you3 chao1 shou3)
their steamed fishes are quite good (if you like that kind of thing), as are their clay pots. I know my mom would recommend the pork's blood cake (a relatively tame "exotic" choice). they also offer stinky tofu, but I feel that it had a better flavor way back when. same thing with the shanghai-style soup dumplings (XLB).
They have decent service and average prices, as Chinese restaurants go.
Overall, a very solid Chinese restaurant. Not exceptional, but very solid, and thus a strong four stars from me. -
Review from Jean L.
Torrance, CA
5/19/2011
This place is hidden in a plaza located in a residential area. The plaza faces the bay, great breeze outside, and plenty of parking. My friend took me here and I pretty much just let him order most items. The place was packed for a Saturday night, mostly families. I got the braised beef noodle soup, which was delicious. It wasn't too salty, the flavor was there, tender meat, and just the right amount of onions.
We also got the beef chow fun, which was also tasty. The amount of soy sauce was just right, wasn't too salty, or overbearing.
We also got the tofu with assorted veggies. Eating that alone just isn't as good as having it with a bowl of rice. The sauce soaked up the rice, giving the rice extra flavor and texture.
The service was just ok. Then again, I never go to Chinese restaurants expecting great service. We waved down the staff when we needed something, but overall, it was a bit on the slow side, especially getting the check. -
Review from William C.
Tiburon, CA
11/3/2011 1 photo
I have been coming here since college and the food always taste great! You have to try their breakfast on weekends! great selection and very authentic!
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Review from Leo C.
6/1/2011
If I were a white guy trying to impress an Asian girl with a casual-ish Chinese/Taiwanese dinner on the Peninsula, I'd take her here. It's tasty, not too expensive, authentic, and has a view of the Bay and the San Mateo Bridge. (View of the Bay available only before/after the meal, outside of the strip mall). I think this is a hidden gem of a Taiwanese restaurant on the Peninsula.
Here's what we had:
braised beef noodle soup
hot and sour soup
stir-fry veggies (chao dou miaw - Yelp doesn't show Chinese characters)
pot stickers/dumplings
stinky tofu
For two people, this was definitely too much food. However, a good sampling of what they have to offer... definitely worth checking out! -
Review from Carey L.
Palo Alto, CA
5/4/2011
Overall, this is a nice little restaurant tucked away in a non-descript shopping plaza. At first you think to yourself, how would anyone know this place existed. However, once you taste the food, you know why.
1) Pot Stickers: I usually don't like getting pot stickers at restaurants b/c I think they're too common. However, the way they do pot stickers is fantastic. It reminds me of the ones on the streets of Taipei. They're fantastic!!! It's definitely a must and you need to dip them in the sauce they provide.
2) Lion Head: The lion head here is fantastic. Good flavor profile. Meatballs are cooked to perfection and the sauce is delicate and flavorful.
3) Saucy Meat Rice (Lu Ro Fan): Very tasty and done right. They use pork belly, which is the traditional way to make this dish. Be sure to ask for more meat, otherwise, you might get more sauce.
4) Pork Belly w/ Pickled Vegetables (Mei tsai ko ro): I love this dish. I pretty much love anything w/ the word pork belly. This pork belly is first fried, then braised, which brings out extraordinary flavor. This dish is a real savory treat when prepared correctly. -
Review from Wing Y.
San Carlos, CA
3/13/2011 11 Check-ins Here
This is by far our favorite Chinese restaurant within 15 minutes of home. It's super authentic and delicious. We always order the potstickers and the beef noodle soup (with hand-cut noodles). We've liked pretty much everything we've ordered there though the xiao long bao can be hit or miss.
Unfortunately, because it's an authentic Chinese restaurant you can occasionally get hit by a busy day when the kitchen will forget to prepare your order since there are a ton of 10-person tables clamoring for food.
Joy also satisfies the most important criterion for authenticity - Chinese parent approval. -
Review from Kim L.
San Francisco, CA
3/13/2011
Service from hell. Stay away at all cost. Rude! Rude! Rude!
Can't remember the last time a meal caused me so much anxiety and grief!
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You ever have such a horrible experience that you can't wait to write your yelp review? Whelp, that was me...and the above was how I felt while I was still sitting at the restaurant asking for my check..say..about the 3rd time!?! OK..now for my experience...
Our table of six arrived around 1pm on a Sunday afternoon. First thing upon arrival:
Waited for a table - 10 minutes (not bad)
Waited for the server to take our order - 15 minutes (EXCLUDING the time it took to review the menu)
Waited for our 1st dish - 15 minutes
Waited for our 2nd dish - 15 minutes
Waited for our next dish - " "
Waited for the dish that never came - 25 minutes
Received dish #1 that we didn't order - 5 minutes
Received dish #2 that we didn't order - 5 minutes
Received dish #3 that we didn't order - 5 minutes for arrival, another 10 minutes for them to take it back because they basically threw it at us and we didn't have time to speak up before they bolted away
I had to raise my hand like a fifth grader each time I needed anything and I had to raise it often as you can see here:
Number of times we asked for a high chair: 3
Number of times we asked for hot sauce: 3
Number of time we asked for our check: 3
Number of times we asked for a to go box: just 1...we were so fed up, we said "F" it. I don't want to take this experience "To go"
Finally, my husband just walked up to pay. I later walked over as well to make sure that they didn't charge us for the dishes that we didn't order but were delivered to our table. The woman who worked there, grabbed the check and slammed it on the counter!! She was actually pissed that I would even question the bill. WOW....REALLY?
We were there for over two hours and even after the rush. I understand poor service during the lunch rush but not when the place is only left with five tables. I don't get why people love this place so much. The food isn't even that good and the service sucks. -
Review from David H.
San Francisco, CA
6/19/2011
Just 3.5 stars?! This is usually below my Yelp-threshold for visiting a new restaurant, however I happened to be in Foster City visiting the family and I was hungry, and needless-to-say, it was a good call that we came here.
For anyone on the fence about coming here, these are my favorites...the must-gets...
Mooshoo pork with hand cut noodle - The noodles are chewy, yet tender, true textual perfection.
Bacon with garlic sauce - Bacon...need I say more? A nicely braised pork belly, very very very thinly cut and then smothered in garlicky goodness.
I tried their spicy beef noodle soup on my last visit and it was so-so.
Anyhow, its a very unassuming restaurant in an unassuming location, but definitely a nice strip mall gem. -
Review from Moto GP G.
San Mateo, CA
3/13/2011
No-JOY. Just ANGER and quick entry into my "this place is busted" Blacklist.
Facts:
- 4 wrong dishes were just dropped off by multiple people so quickly we could not even tell them it's wrong. Think baton race except baton was the dishes.
- Incorrect order... We got our hot and sour soup as a LAST... this easily violates rule #3 of the "restaurant commandments." Very sloppy. We didn't even eat it by then.
- And when we tried to get a to-go box or the check by asking a waitresses... nothing...
- I had to goto the counter where 3 waitresses just hung out/ talked and looked upset that I bothered them.
Side note:
- I don't know how in the hell this place got 4 stars. There are about 3 other Taiwanese/Shanghai places within 4 miles with better food AND service.
Conclusion: decent food with such bad and sloppy service, I will look elsewhere. -
Review from Randy F.
Updated - 1/22/2011 12 photos
**4.5 Stars**
Joy Restaurant (or 5 Joy) has slowly, but steadily, risen up in the ranks as one of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. Specializing in Taiwanese cuisine, they are best known for their weekend special brunch items and, having eaten on both the weekday and the weekend, I definitely prefer the selection and cooking on the weekend.
While Taiwanese cuisine is prominent in Cupertino, Milpitas, and San Mateo, I will drive out of my way to the isolated strip mall where Joy is located because I believe they have great, not just good, fare. Having just spent a weekend in Los Angeles (home to stellar Chinese/Taiwanese in Rowland Heights and San Gabriel Valley), I think Joy may be the only Bay Area restaurant that can compete with the flavors and complex tastes I enjoyed while down South. Add the fantastic price, lack of crowds, and you get a must-try in the Bay Area for Chinese food:
Fan Tuan (Sticky Rice Roll) - wrapped around a deep fried Chinese donut, the sticky rice is paired with shredded dry pork and pickled vegetables. While in Shanghai, I ate this dish almost daily. The version here is simple, but flavorful. The pickled vegetables add a delicate flavor note and the chewy warm rice mix well. It's truly hard to find this dish in many restaurants.
Spicy Wontons - I was introduced this dish by a friend and I order it every time. It sounds like a completely Americanized dish, but the fresh won tons are soft and boiled (not deep fried) and doused in a spicy chili sauce with freshly cut green scallions. I love spicy and the taste seems like a mix of sesame oil and chili. Really great. Typically served lukewarm.
Deep Fried Stinky Tofu - an acquired taste for all but the most traditional Chinese, stinky tofu isn't for the faint of heart. More pungent than really "stinky," the deep fried tofu are seasoned with fried garlic, a unique soy sauce, and served with a side of pickled cabbage and a house special chili sauce. The pickled cabbage is tangy and tart and goes perfectly with the spiciness. As for the chili sauce, I absolutely love it and would rate it a 10 on the flavor scale. Add it to your noodle soup and you'll smile at the intense flavors. Tofu King is the best stinky tofu place in LA, but Joy does a version of which they can be very proud.
Braised Beef with Hand Cut Noodle Soup - Taiwanese have made beef noodle soup an art. I have heard stories about how good it is in their native country and hope to someday try it. The version here is notable for their hand cut and very coarse thick noodles. It tastes fresh, chewy, and is delicious with a very solid soup. The spiciness is moderate in this dish so I tend to kick it up a notch with chili sauce from my other dishes. The braised beef was tender, but not anything special. The hand cut noodles are definitely the star.
Pork Bun - this was my 2nd order of the pork buns and although I like them much pricier version of Momofuku in NYC more, 5 Joy has a tasty bun filled with a nice slice of fatty pork that almost melts in your mouth. Our version today had a sauce that was absent last time, but I enjoyed it. My sole criticism was that I wish the bun was served at a higher temperature. It was cold to room temperature and would have been much better hot.
Overall, I loved our weekend meal here. Authentic, extremely tasty, and full of menu items that you just don't find in as many places as I would like. When my sister comes back from LA and wants to eat the food she misses, this is where I would take her. Highly recommended.
Joy Restaurant accepts credit cards, but not American Express.Listed in: AmEx Outcasts!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/11/2010
On a wet and rainy weekend, we had the chance to get together with friends for a meal at 5 Joy… Read more »
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Review from Alex T.
Redwood City, CA
4/26/2011
Not bad. Nothing amazing, but the staff was friendly. Flavoring and style was pretty Americanized, but maybe that's because I got there late and didn't get to order in Mandarin for a group of friends : )
I did enjoy the Hong Kong style fried noodles -- literally 'dual-sided yellow.'
For decent Chinese food in deep Foster City, this is a great spot. -
Review from Keiko S.
12/26/2010 12 photos
Our Taiwanese friend took us here recently, and we had a feast with a number of dishes we had never tried before.
Everything was tasty, except for well...stinky tofu, which didn't please our palates at all. (Acquired taste, I know...just like natto!) I especially liked the veggie dumplings, sweet rice ball with shredded beef, beef pancake, seafood clear noodle soup, and stir fried green veggies. (Sorry, I don't remember the names of these dishes!) We had some other dishes that were finished to the last bite. We walked out warm, full and content.
My husband thought the meal was heavy on carbs, not protein. What's wrong with that, I asked. I LOVE CARBS.
The service was a bit hasty, but I don't blame them - the place was packed with people. It helped that our friend ordered in Taiwanese. We would've been clueless with the menu.
SUM: This felt like our first "real" Taiwanese meal, and how we loved it. -
Review from Lynh N.
Berkeley, CA
4/30/2011
This place was average at best (2 and 1/2 stars). We had the lunch specials and my friend did not like what she had ordered (beef with preserved vegetables). I had the 3 cup chicken and it was way too sweet. It seems the place had too americanized tastes.
I also tried to order the oyster pancake but they told me that was only availiable on the weekend! What! Definitely not coming all the way here to try it.
The search for a good Taiwainese resturant continues.... -
Review from Seth H.
San Mateo, CA
6/10/2011
Delicious, real Chinese food. My housemates and I tried to go on Chinese New Year. We had no luck, because the entire place was packed, with crowds standing outside - we were the only white people there.
The food is reasonably priced, freshly prepared, and always done well. -
Review from Al S.
Pasadena, CA
4/24/2011
I've been here so many times but I always forgot to review the place- people often take it for granted when things go smoothly.
First of all, if you are sick of panda (well it's good but it ain't real Chinese food!), you've got to come here and try the Joy! I stand by my Taiwanese/Chinese heritage and guarantee you that you'll have one of the best Taiwanese/Chinese cuisine in the whole bay area.
My Chinese fellows, if you've been seeking for food from home, trust me, this place won't let you down. For the Chinese food die-hards people, please give it a try to see what real Chinese food is like.
Service is super friendly. It's a family own restaurant, and the staffs treat the customers like their long lost friends. Unless you don't like casual greetings and personal conversations from a stranger, you'd feel like home here. But the service is very Chinese so sometimes you need to wave them over - no problem for me coz that's how we do it at home.
I love the stinky tofu, sour napa and pork casserole, fried noodles, green onion sauté beef, EVERYTHING!! And it is at a very friendly price, too, compare to the American pricing on other fancy Chinese restaurant serving everything sweet and sour. My brother eats like a monster. He eats twice as much as a normal college boy in a sports team. We ordered 2 stinky tofu, 1 beef dish, 1 veggie/seafood dish, a whole casserole and white rice. End up bringing one of the tofu dish and 2/3 of the casserole home (dinner!). It was 57 after tax. So really, it would've been about 20/person and you go home FULL!
I've been here at least 8 times, not once did I leave unsatisfied nor sick. The only complain I have is, I always end up super full and couldn't move a finger after the meal, oh my I'm getting fat over this place!
Guys, if you LOVE Chinese food, I'm begging you, COME TRY THIS PLACE OUT, IT IS AWESOME!!!!
