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Mon-Sun. 7:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
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My family of 4 adults and 2 kids can be fed by their $17 deal, so they get points for making our lives easier when we don't want to cook. We just call in our order, make the rice at home, and pick up our dinner before the rowdy thugs come out. More than once they've messed up our orders, so I'd check the take-out before leaving.
The restaurant itself is... funny. There's a slight Ikea influence in their sparkly starred décor. At the same time, they have a peeing boy statue fountain smack dab in the front that leads to awkward discussions with 7 year-old girl about 'weewees' :P.
Quick tip! Ask for your sweet and sour sauce to be packed separately from your chicken/pork/fish to avoid soggy meat upon arriving at home :).
the food ok
fast service
the beef is the fake fatty kind though.
i guess this is a good place to go for some fast take out dinner. '
minimum $20 charge for cards
The braised e-Fu noodle w/ lobster (seasonal) was amazing! The noodles were tender & juicy and the lobster was terrifingly delicious! The potstickers- Yes! But don't be mistaken, the pink sauce is not sweet & sour!! It's vinegar. The XO sauteed calamari was good too!! The dumpling noodle soup was a big disappointment. No flavor and the noodles were super thin and grainy. I had one bite and stopped eating it. The service is fine, nothing to rave over, but friendly and helpful.
This is a place where me and the hubby go when we don't feel like cooking and want a really good authentic HK style meal with a little variety for a good price. It's not located on the best street; but u can usually always find street parking.
3 entrees for $16? how can you beat that? The entrees will plentifully feed 2-3 people and you can choose from a great list of food. My favorite is the salt/pepper fried tofu, peking spareribs and the Beef stew in the clay pot. We usually add a side appetizer of their soy beef tripe. YUM!!! They usually give you the soup of the day for free. Easily great way to spend $25 for a big meal.
Also, they take credit cards (which most chinatown places take cash only). Just try to go before it gets dark! (wink)
I came from HK.. so i am fond of having food from HK Style Cafe. esp the Milk Tea.
After trying Cousins in Newark and Pleasant, Venus Cafe in Decoto, Yummy Guide, D & A in Oakland Chinatown etc etc.... This is not bad at all, esp the price on its Teatime menu, it beats all the above. i have been there 3 times for the past 2 weeks. As of its cheap and decent teatime menu, i am a fan now.
Everything on its Teatime menu is only $2.5 (noodles soup, sandwiches, fried stuff.... etc. ) HK milk tea, lemon tea, red beans drink.. etc are only $1 each.. ONE DOLLAR!
We tried Beef Flat noodles soup, French Toast, Cart Noodles and Lotus Root w/ Chicken rice plate, Roasted Duck noodles...... So far so good!!!!!~
Teatime menu is from 2.30 to 5.30pm (or 5pm?!) 7 days~~ that's the best!
I want to try it's breakfast too.. $3.XX from 10.30am to 12am.. MUST GO!
Service are good too!!!
I've been here a couple times within the last few months, but my wife's been here at least twice a week! We cook, but she sometimes gets lazy during the day and waits til 2pm for their "happy hours service."
The variety is all there, the quality is on par, and the oil on the food is minimal. i had stir-fried slice taro with chicken on rice, and that was hella good. my wife loves to mix and match and so she got some wild noodle dish. Each time the waitress came by my wife would compliment on the taste, or the value, or the selection. i was ready to go, "mannn, why don't you marry the restaurant?"
Why four stars?, cuz this place is known to get robbed in the later hours. But it doesn't get any more authentic than this, and at the same time be in one of the more shady Oakland neighborhoods.
So me and my boyfriend just finished watching a warriors game at the coliseum and we had a craving for milk tea BUT we were hungry as well. We needed to find a place that would fulfill our hunger and especially our milk tea cravings. Dennys was the last resort and we both knew we did not want to go there.
We took the back roads on international hoping to find a place open. We saw the Rainbow Cafe and thought Chinese+cafe= possibly bebo drinks?! We were right and they were open as well enough time for us to sit, eat and chill.
So the milk tea was alright, I still prefer Quicklys! I ordered pot stickers, which were okay considering I was hungry and wanted something light before I turned into bed.
My boyfriend ordered a ham sandwich, which was costly for something that looks like you can make at home or event better! He also ordered french toast, which had a weird peanut butter filling! He only took a bite of it and I tried it as well...creative and nice try but not worth ordering!
There were a lot of young people there for such a late night eating and hanging out. It looks like a fun welcoming place if you are in high school and have nothing better to do on a Friday night. But then again you're in high school, what else can you do at 11:00pm at night?
when: weekday dinner
Being as it is Oakland, there are dozens of Chinese restaurants to chose from. This would not be one of the places I would visit more than once a year.
I havent seen the restaurant packed, so very ideal for large groups (we had about 15 people) for a last minute get together. We all sat comfortably around 2 ten person tables. The service was mediocre, the food was just about the same. Though, I have to give them credit for how fast they cranked out our 14+ dish order. The fish was probably the worst dish we had--it had a strong fishy smell/taste. The bill came out to be around $7 per person, tip included.
Like most Chinese restaurants I've experienced, this place was brightly lit. There's about 2 plasma tvs on the wall. On the night I went, the restaurant was exceptionally cold because of the swinging doors.
If you're looking for a quick, cheap eat, this would be a good place.
I just went back to Rainbow yesterday, and I was reminded why I like it so much... not just the food (we had a late night snack of steamed egg and dried scallops- best i"ve ever had, a salty, eggy custard, which goes so good over rice late at night, and singapore chow fun (which I didn't like that much, but it was my fault for ordering it). The variety of food, the speed of preparation, the brightness of the room and the folks who eat here late at night... it's a cool, cool place for Asians to hang out, when they are hungry!!
We still love Rainbow, even if the 15/3 items went up to 17bucks. The beef short ribs with pepper are really great, and the clay pots. My wife loves the pea sprouts, and the garlic string beans. If you are really hungry, try the udon... a big pile of think noodles, with chines style toppings. Or the fired squid.
My friend and I come after our board meeting, around 10pm, and it's bustling, friendly, bright, and... lots of cops, so it has to be good. We've worked our way through most of the menu, and it's usually good, although sometimes not what you would expect. But that's part of the fun of it, isn't it? It opens til late at night, and opens again in the morning for breakfast.
I especially like the porridge at the happy hour (2:30 to 5:30); it's only 2.50, and you can have it with a real watermelon drink (1.00).
The waitresses and waiters are fine... friendlier than a lot of Chinese restaurants.
OK Chinese food.
Service is blahhh.
Most of patrons look like they have school tomorrow.
If it wasn't for the happy hour prices, there would really be nothing to talk about.
So I've read some negative reviews about the staff...but luckily, we haven't come across any horrible waitress. This place is probably one of the best places to go for cheap eats around the bay.
I always order the walnut shrimp. I haven't been here for awhile, so it's hard remembering what was good.
Come here on an empty stomach though. The food will taste that much better.
I love the happy hour menu! The only place around this area to open late.
Food: 4
Service: 3
Environment: 3
Price: 4
This place is a 3-star for the price-performance value. The food isn't spectacular, the service is average for Chinese restaurants, they have a wide variety of entrees to choose from, and pricing is pretty good. Without the variety and pricing, this would be a 2 star for me.
I went there last night (Wednesday night) with a friend. We had the 3-entree special for about $17 buckeroos. For our entrees, we had picked the black pepper beef, the seasoned/fried prawns, and a veggie stir fry. We also picked a fried rice with XO sauce as our rice dish. They had delivered the Garlic Fried Rice instead, and we dug into it anyway because we didn't notice. When the correct fried rice came, the server pointed out that they had served us the wrong rice dish, but gave us the one we ordered anyway, which I thought was nice of them. Then later when I asked where our veggies went, they told me since we took the two rice dishes, there will be no veggie stir-fry. I would probably have thrown a fit at a Western restaurant and done the whole manager complaint bit, but we didn't because it was more food than we needed for sure. That, and we wanted to hurry off to our drinking spot...
Overall the value is good, service is OK, and looks like it'd be good for a large group with their variety. Parking is plentiful in the area (there's a lot behind the market next door). I wouldn't seek this place out, but am not opposed to coming back.
This place is great. Better than all the Chinese Restaurants in Oakland Chinatown. First of al they have family style. $17 bucks for 3 entrees!!! What a deal. And have fresh seafood for the seafood lovers and the cheapest price. (trust me, they are fresh, if not, let them know) Then they have cafe stuff, like speghetti, bake chicken over rice stuff and stuff. Then they have "ha 5 cha" which are really cheap little dishes along with cheap drinks. Good thing they are never packed!!! (not that they aren't busy, they have lots of take outs and it's oakland) Always good to drop in and open late! Also street parking.
Ladies and gentlemen... behold: equal opportunity funky food. You know that many Chinese restaurants and dives plaster their walls with these specials strategically omitted from the regular menu. And you know the fact that they're always written exclusively in Chinese script may mean they're:
A) Saving the best stuff for the native peeps, and/or
B) Don't wanna flip out the just-potstickers-and-chow-mein-for-me crowd
Here at Rainbow, those plastered paper menus are translated, bravo! Verbatim, you might consider:
Soy Sauce with Duck Tongues
Scallions with Pig's Blood, Skin
Pant Fried Oyster Cakes
Pea Leaf Over Bamboo Pith
Booooooy!! ... and everything goes so much nicer with a side of Engrish!
ps. Salt/Pepper ribs and rice have become a semi-frequent lunch habit for me here.
I usually order take out from this place. My mom usually calls in the orders for us. Since we get home late on certain days, we just call in for some a la carte dishes on our way back to the east bay. The dishes are usually ready by the time we get there. We usually order from the "special deal" menu where you pick 3 dishes for about $17. The food here isn't all that bad. The owner is pretty friendly.
is it a coincidence that you get 3 great value restaurants (rainbow, pho king & pho hoa loa) within one block of each other? i think not.
i was attracted by the happy hour specials (2:30-5:50) in which 45 itmes (porridge, won ton, noodles, fried items, sandwiches, macaroni, etc) are priced at $2.50 while selected drinks are $1 each.
pros:
-beef porridge(2.50) a little bland but ok with some pieces of tender beef
-extensive 5.25 lunch rice plate specials (10:00a.m.-3pm) that covers 2 pages.
-a 3/$15 menu which i haven't seen. probably only good in the evenings.
-service almost ok.
-very large menu (7 columns + specials) there is something for everyone in here. even french fries and black pepper lamb.
cons:
-they forget my h.k. style tea w/ tapoica pearls ($!). this wasn't comparable with the real stuff.
-fried fillet fish (2.50) very crispy fried white fish (6) probably basa not much taste. came w/ sweet & sour sauce.
-fried squid(2.50) 8 pieces nice batter and very crisp. chewy squid (china), nothing special. w/ sweet & sour sauce.
-parking around lunch probably impossible around here. 3ish seems to be a lot of parking available.
the happy hour menu is very esoteric. the lunch special menu is a better choice.
Good, cheap, quick Hong Kong-style Chinese and Western fare. The three-items-for-$15 menu (+ free soup) is an excellent value and can easily feed 2 to 3 people.
Open until 1am daily. (they're also open for breakfast)
dude... dude.... DUDE. 3 items for 15 dollaaaahs?
food is standard to good.
now must i repeat 3 items for $15? w/ great selections and good portions.
this is where my friends and i would go when we want to be cheap but eat good food, especially late nites
I haven't come to this place for a few months, their food quality has obviously gone down hill. I don't think I will return for their lunch in a short time :/ Did they change the cook???
This is the most underrated Hong Kong style restaurant in Oakland because it's not in the best… Read more »
Mediocre chinese food for around $10. This doesn't make any sense to me. The place next door used to serve similar food for around $5 but they moved down the street.
I love coming to this restaurant. They make everything fresh and fast! I've never been disappointed there. Just be careful what you order on the phone is what you really wanted. They're not good at speaking English. Check your order if you order to go. Highly recommend this place. They have over 100+ choices, you pick three main dishes and you get soup for $18!! All you need is to order rice. It's great that they open until 1am too.
you know what "cart noodle" is? it's a certain style of soup noodle from Hong Kong (maybe China & Taiwan too, but not sure)
with cart noodle, you get to customize by choosing what kind of noodle (egg noodle, vermicelli, rice noodles, etc) and a number of ingredients (chicken wings, sausages, squid, radish, etc)
well Rainbow has the best cart noodle. they are best because of their kickin' soup! IT IS AWESOME. i've eaten it so many times now, but i still can't figure out how they make their soup that way. what mix of soup base and spices is that?
aside from the cart noodle, everything else there is okay. not bad, but not spectacular. typical Chinese food & HK style stuff. the milk tea is decent, which should not be taken for granted.
i have to say, this place really feels like it is a place in HK. not in downtown HK, but like in the outskirts/suburbs.
probably because the owner and all the staff really are from HK.
they are not the best waiters/waitresses btw. i've wanted to smack a few of them. but then sometimes they are nice and all. depends on your chances.
so I've been to this place several times and have been satisfied each time with the food. i normally get their curry and rice. I've had both the chicken and fish curry. had the fish curry by accident...ordered the chicken but for some reason, they made me the fish. however, I was not mad b/c the fish turned out to be just as tasty. this place is cool cuz it's open late and is cheap and not your typical greasy chinese food place. Love the Ikea stars decorations on the wall. one odd thing about this place...they also serve things like spaghetti, oatmeal, and french fries...or at least I thought this was odd .
Rainbow Cafe is worth going to for the fact that you get your Hong Kong styled cafe foods for cheap. I don't know about you, but it bothers me to go to places in Chinatown (like Shooting Star) that serve the same quality of food (just how much can you primp up some macaroni soup anyway?) with just a little more pomp and a more elevated prices. And as for atmosphere, don't bother comparing - they all decorate out of an Ikea catalog anyway.
i like their mongolian beef over rice. i was scared that it would be crazy spicy but it was just right [: i am not a very spicy eater so this dish was perfect. i also love many of their other dishes. i think their price is pretty reasonable [:
Neighborhood: East Oakland
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: East Oakland
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: East Oakland
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Neighborhood: Downtown Oakland
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: East Oakland
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