Hong Kong Cafe - San Lorenzo, California

H Lee (Philseungfighting)

I’ve often visited Vietnamese restaurants around this area but never tried this one before. The main reason was that, from the outside, the windows and the area around the entrance looked cluttered and unclean. However, today, I found out my usual Vietnamese spot was closed, and since I was already hungry, I decided to give this place a shot. To my surprise, the interior was modern, clean, and well-designed, which was quite unexpected.

Once I got the menu, I was amazed by the sheer variety of dishes. It featured not only fusion options similar to what you’d find at a leisure café but also traditional Hong Kong-style dishes. There were so many choices that I spent a long time deciding what to order.

I ended up trying the stir-fried beef with ginger, onion, and green onion, which was excellent, as were the sweet and sour spare ribs. However, the seafood soup was far too watery, and the baked meat sauce spaghetti was disappointing. It seems like they’re trying to offer too many options, which might be diluting their quality. I think they should focus on their specialties and narrow down the menu a bit to refine what they’re best at.

Still, the sweet and sour pork spare ribs and the stir-fried beef were so delicious that I’ll definitely come back again.

John Lew

Pleasant place to have lunch. The food had good flavor quality and quantity.

M Wong

Service was very attentive as soon as we walked in. They have a great happy hour menu from 2:30pm-6pm. We got a bowl of brisket noodle soup for $4.25. You can't beat that price. The meat was super tender and tasty. The noodle was really nice. The broth was really clear. Also got the brocolli and oyster sauce for $4.65. It came out quite nice and crunchy and the amount was quite substantial eventhough it was the happy hour amount. Since I was really hungry, I also order the salt and pepper chicken wings for $4.25. It was not oily and the spices were just perfect. It tasted so good. Next time I will need to order two plates of the wings...The chef here really knows his stuff. Plus, the place is really clean. Would definitely go back next time I am in the area.

Samuel Young

This place is a famous Char Chang Ting style set up. Food is very delicious and the price is very reasonable as the Char Chang Ting famous for. Staffs are very helpful and professional. The orders are as follows. Braised Pork,8 precious tofu clay pot,and the Book Kin fried rice. Professionally prepared.

Chi H

Not bad overall.
Parking maybe an issue.

There are a lot of varieties to choose from.
Food is ok, but the quantity is good.

J Kou

Good and authentic Hong Kong style. But maybe not among the top in the Bay Area. We ordered beef chowfun and bake pork chop rice, which are the staple of HK style cafe. The noodles and rice are very good and full of flavor. But the meat was a bit dry for both.
BTW, prices are very reasonable and much cheaper than what you can find in SF and South Bay Area.

Miguel Sanchez

This is an authentic Chinese food. They have been serving more than 20 years. They are always busy because their food is top quality.

jas

This may be an authentic Chinese restaurant (owners are Asian), but the food is EXTREMELY bad. I took my Chinese parents here and they hated it. The service was also rude because they literally stare you down while you eat, felt like they wanted us to hurry up and leave. Another negative was that we were one of the only tables eating there, since most people order take out.

With most authentic Chinese restaurants, you will find a flock of Asian aunties and uncles chit chatting. I have been here to try the baked rice and that is okay, but if you are looking to try the stir fry items, it is WAYYYYY too salty. My family and I chugged so much water with every bite. To wash down the salt, we probably each drank 10 cups of hot tea. If you are looking to find real and good Chinese food that isn't too salty, please look elsewhere. Too much salt is NOT good for your cardiovascular health. Chinese cuisine is typically very umami-rich and low in salt.