South Bay Dim Sum Updates?

So which dim sum places in the South Bay are still good? It seems like in the last couple of years every dim sum restaurant in the area has either received a downhill report (Joy Luck, ABC) or closed down (PARC Hong Kong, Hong Kong Flower Lounge) and the new places seem DOA (Dynasty in Cupertino).

[Anonimo]

I wrote to my sister-in-law in the Bay Area that I'd read that HKFL had closed.

She replied—Google led me to http://www.chowhound.com/topics/324908 which had a HKFL website link and said it was still active: http://www.flowerlounge.net/ Eventually I called the number for the banquet arrangements, expecting to get a recording at 10:40 at night. The woman who answered laughed when I said "We heard a horrible rumor that the restaurant had closed."—

[Melanie Wong]

HKFL locations in San Francisco and Palo Alto have closed. Millbrae is open, and presumably the Hong Kong branches.

[Slovebunny]

Well I guess since we live in such a diverse place called California I don't mind who my dim sum comes from as long as its hot, tastes good and comes with decent service. A nice price always helps too. I've been to Sino once and was pleasantly surprised.

[K K]

It still sounds like overall South Bay will never hold a candle to the dim sum capital of the Peninsula known as Millbrae.

But which one comes closest? How is Saigon Seafood Harbor in Sunnyvale (ex Parc Hong Kong) these days in comparison?

[yimster]

I agree with you. I now do not have to go San Jose for dim sum. In fact I have had luck at Joy Luck in San Mateo and do not even drive to Millbare. It seems that the mid Peninsula is a great place to be for dim sum and Chinese in general.

[PeterL]

Why is Dynasty DOA? We just had dim sum there sunday and it seems fine to us. Lots of choices, busy cart action, good service, good tea. Paid $13 per person.

[honu]

Is Loon Wah in Cupertino still good? What other place in the South Bay are Chow worthy?

[wchane]

i also like canton delights behind target in cupertino

Bamboo Garden in the Sunnyvale Town Center has a great weekday lunch deal. From 10-2 M-F, dim sum is $2/plate!! The selection is not huge but it is a great value.

I like Loon Wah in Cupertino, on De Anza Blvd. What is really great about this place is all the dim sum is made to order. They give you a great picture menu of all the offerings (both Hong Kong style & Mandarin dim sum selections), you order, and your dim sum comes out hot and fresh. Its not the instant gratification one gets from circulating trolleys or trays, but the freshness factor (even if it means fresh out of the fryer =)) is definitely worth the wait. And you can get dim sum at anytime the restaurant is open.

[wchane]

i've been here once for dim sum and i echo your comments. however i've never been back because there's just something about those rin tin steel karts.

I enjoyed Pan Tao Seafood Restaurant in Cupertino(?). It's on Wolfe @ Homestead. Small place that gets pretty busy.

J

There was recently a report that the highly regarded dim sum chef from now-defunct Harbor Village had ended up at ABC in Milpitis, so the dim sum may be on an upswing again there. Worth a try, anyway.

Just thought I'd drop in with an update after dim sum this morning. We went to ABC in Milpitas and had just a few dishes. Everything seemed to be overpriced considering the small portions and general unremarkableness of the food so we ended up leaving. No wonder the place was mostly empty.

We concluded our lunch at Mayflower just down the street and had a better experience. The food was better, though still not great, and the place was full (always a good sign with dim sum). They need to work on circulating the carts better, but Mayflower definitely schools ABC as far as dim sum goes.

Well, that's disappointing. I didn't like Mayflower in Union City, and it's considered better than the one in Milpitas.

Then you probably don't want to try the Mayflower inside the Great Mall. Last visit many moons ago was so so. Who knows maybe they have improved.

[choctastic]

I've always liked the Milpitas Mayflower. Perhaps I was lucky (I like to go early when they just open) but service is brisk, the food is varied and always consistently decent if not mindblowingly stellar in my experience.

--i have not been there in the last year however.

[wchane]

I don't care how good ABC is or becoming, they are permently off my list. Good food is not a excuse for lacking and down right terrible service.

we were hastly seated and our waiter didn't arrive until 15 minutes later, we were munching on dim sum before we could quench our thirst. tea refills were painfully slow after. the dim sum kart hosts 'bark' at you, it's as if they're doing you a huge favor plating food, not to mention when it was time to punch the ticket thing. one of the 'hosts' had the tenacity to put a plate of clams down on our table without obtaining our approval. we gave in and asked if it was fresh out of the kitchen, she lied w/o hesitation and said 'yes, yes' before she could scurry off a friend touched one and told her it was cold. caught in her own lie, she looked disappointed. we told her we'll take it, just cook us up a fresh batch. she came back a few moments later...same plate, same clams, just zapped. ridiculous. i can go on, but very rarely, it almost pains me, but we left a $0 tip.

forget ABC. not worth your patronage. to think even we were warned before we went.

[choctastic]

Where do you see such recent reports? I remember the rumor from last year but then people said that ABC still sucked so the rumor may not be true.

[Ruth Lafler]

You do realize you're replying to a post from over a year ago, right?

[PeterL]

Why and how did that happen? I don't usually watch for the date of the OP. But somehow someone read a post from a year ago. How did that post floats to the surface?

[Ruth Lafler]

It unfortunately happens all the time -- someone does a search that turns up an old thread and add a reply to it, which bumps the entire thread up to the top.

A fairly egregious example this morning was someone who replied to a discussion from 2002!

In this case, it was probably easy to miss the distinction between February 2006 and February 2007.

[susancinsf]

And the reason it happens more and more now is that the Search function, since CH was revamped, doesn't permit a sort by date....which as far as I can tell is the number one request for further revamping on the Technical Help Board:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/367978

[Ruth Lafler]

Yeah, I read that discussion and was amazed that what should have been a fairly simple request hasn't been implemented, especially since, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, in an earlier incarnation of the search function you could sort the results by date.

[choctastic]

oh crap i thought i saw 2007 and not 2006. damn eyesight