100 people for dim sum? Is this possible?

[JoyM]

I'm helping plan the office christmas party, which can happen pretty much any day in December. It's hard to find a place with room for as many as 100 people (probably more likely to be around 75, though) so these parties usually wind up at awful places.

So, I'm wondering if there are any dim sum places that could accommodate a group this large. It doesn't even have to be great dim sum, since even mediocre dim sum is better than the Wharf tourist traps we usually wind up at.

Failing that, what about other kinds of Chinese food? I know there are some big banquet places in Chinatown, but I'm not sure where they are.

[Melanie Wong]

Earlier this week I peeked into House of Banquet (sic) on Clement, which can seat 600 on the second floor. Hoping to hear more about it.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/415024

Tong Palace next door also has dim sum service. It has a large banquet room upstairs, but no elevator.

Wing Sing II across the street has dim sum and a full service restaurant that's recently expanded, but I didn't have time to get a menu or look inside. Who's been here?

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House of Banquet
939 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

Tong Palace
933 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

[Melanie Wong]

Tried to have yum cha at Wing Sing II yesterday with the folks and we took a seat inside the restaurant (next door to the take-out counter area). However, the menu is still Our Court Cafe's coffeeshop standards. No yum cha service, despite the banner over the door offering Hong Kong style dim sum. The take-out area does have a few tables and chairs to eat-in, so one can buy at the counter and have dim sum there. We picked ourselves up and went across the street to House of Banquet instead.

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Wing Sing Restaurant II
952 Clement St, San Francisco, CA

[Xiao Yang]

I've heard Empress of China does decent banquets (at least better than their standard menu) and could easily accommodate your group. I don't think they have formal dim sum service, though, but they do have full bar service ;-)

[Melanie Wong]

Here's my report (with photos) from 2 years ago on a lunch banquet at the Empress of China. The place is in a time warp and I doubt much has changed in that time.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/34411

Kan's also has full bar service.

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Empress of China
838 Grant Ave Ste 5, San Francisco, CA 94108

Kan's Restaurant
708 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA

[Ruth Lafler]

Kan's would be fun. IIRC, it's not that big, but I bet they would rent out the whole restaurant for you.

[yimster]

If you can have your office party after 1:30 PM and you pick ten to fifteen items I am sure that you can have a dim sum buffet setup for you. Since it will be after the lunch hour rush most any dim sum teahouse can meet your needs if you do up front planning.

Even the higher end places will be willing to work with you. Set a price and all the work will done for you.

If you let us know where you want this party then some hound will make a actual restaurant for you.

I think if you have a Chinese speaker in you company it would help.

[PeterL]

Which area in the Bay Area? If you can hold your party at some off hours (say, 2:00 pm) I am sure any of the dim sum places along the now famous murderers row of Chinese restaurants along El Camino Real in Millbrae can accommodate that many.

[Melanie Wong]

Gold Mountain or Great Eastern in Chinatown for dim sum. At Great Eastern, you'd be on two different floors if you're 100.

S&T Hong Kong Seafood's side room accommodates 70.

No need to settle for bad food.

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Great Eastern Restaurant
649 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133

Gold Mountain Restaurant
644 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

[Melanie Wong]

To follow up on my rec above, I'd like to retract. A month later (Nov. 2007) I ended up at Gold Mountain with my mom and dad. They'd only been there at dinner time and were stunned to see how busy it is at lunch time for yum cha.

To summarize, the food was ok and just average, not as good as I remembered it. The fried taro dumplings looked great, frilly and light, made with real taro (not powder). But the filling was weird and looked like curried chicken white meat.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2320/2140040439_37874f74d0.jpg?v=0

Pretty good har gao, but not nearly as good as what we'd have the next day at Yet Wah, and not up to my dad's high standards for this dish. Tasty but slightly understeamed riblets, and while the braised tofu skin rolls were tasty, the gravy was so gluey. Such a shame, this had been my standard for this dish.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2296/2140040443_5a5d101da6.jpg?v=0

The one item that I might return for was the steamed multi-layer cake with coconut and salted egg. A nice version of the sweet/savory type of Cantonese dessert.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2255/2...

Prices are quite low. Lunch for the three of us was less than $24.

[Joan Kureczka]

Yank Sing does evening Christmas parties quite nicely -- a professional group I belong to has had their party there several different years for at least 60 people or so. They might be able to accomodate 75 - 100. They put on an extensive buffet that includes not only dim sum, but also some additional dishes.

[Robert Lauriston]

Yank Sing's Web site says they can accommodate up to 1,000.

[Calvinist]

I've attended a sevicable banquet at Canton Dim Sum & Seafood, but Yank Sing would be more exquisite (and I'm sure, pricier).

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Canton Dim Sum & Seafood
655 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94107

[Joan Kureczka]

Oh, and they offered free validated parking too. Which in downtown SF is definitely a plus for a group that big.