Golden Gate Dim Sum/Seafood -- New to outer Clement

[Xiao Yang]

Strolling by the former Chinese Harvest/Mao Zedong Village/Layonna Vegetarian restaurant location (across the street from Bok Choy Garden) on outer Clement this afternoon, I noticed a new tenant now in business -- Golden Gate Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant. According to the takeaway menu, it's straight-up Cantoinese-HK (not Sai Chan) cuisine. The menu seemed big on clay pot dishes, including rice clay pot. Despite its name, the seafood section of the menu was comparable to the average Cantonese restaurants in SF, though it promises three different crab preps, including "Bay Fung Tong Style" which might be worth checking out.

Dim Sum service is by checklist, with the pricing at $2/$2.50/$3 S/M/L, and all "House Special" plates at $4.50.

Golden Gate Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant
1829 Clement St. SF 94121 (Betw. 19th & 20th)
415-666-3883

[kcchan]

I went to Golden Gate for dim sum a couple of weekends ago, and I really wasn't that impressed, which is unfortunate because I was really hoping to find a new great dim sum place. Half of our shrimp rice noodles were hot, the other half was mysteriously cold. The siu mai were okay, nothing noteworthy. I was really disappointed with the har gow - the skin was indeed very elastic, as other reviewers had commented, but I thought it was way too sticky. It stuck to everything, from the chopsticks, to the plate. The filling also wasn't very impressive. Perhaps I just went on an off-day or too early in the morning (we went at 11am on a Saturday)? I'm willing to give them another shot...

[CeciliaL]

Based on some recommendations on Chowhound, my bf and I went here today for dim sum. Just confirming the prices of the dim sum checklist by the poster. We sat near the front so we didn't really see the area in the back. There wasn't a wait - Sunday at 12:30 ish. We tried the har gao, siu mai, loh bak goh, pork ribs, siu long bao, and the salt and pepper tofu. Overall everything was delicious, served piping hot and timely. The total came to 18.50 or so - I think they charge an extra dollar for tea per person. (The tea was pretty good.)

The har gao had elastic, chewy skins - not my preference but better than a thick skin. The shrimp was pretty generous and sweet, a little salty but not too bad.

Siu mai was good - had whole shrimp inside. As someone mentioned - they were pretty fluffy, juicy too. Somehow a little different than most siu mai I've had, but very delicious.

Steamed ribs were as normal. Never my favorite dish so I rarely have much to say about it.

The pan fried turnip was pretty good - fried perfectly with some ham and/or shrimp in it. I thought the turnip to rice flour ratio could have been higher, but overall it was yummy.

Shanghainese dumplings were alright. They came four to an order, but there wasn't extra soup - which is really the defining highlight for me. The pork was juicy though. Skin was a little too thick. I probably wouldn't get it again.

Salt and pepper tofu was decent; we got it because we were curious and never had tofu done S&P. Small cube fried tofus maybe 1-2cm on a side. Skin was pretty thin but still too thick and almost crunchy for the dish. Pretty yummy, just probably wouldn't get it again.

The next table over ordered some big dishes including a large fried crab platter. Looked good, maybe next time for a larger group. Overall we had a good time and would definitely return.

[asianstamp]

Well we finally made it here for dinner. The wo choy is not that good. It's a bit on the small side (We ordered the $168 wo choy).

Seating was cramped because they did not let us sit in the patio room (as promised when I made the reservations). Apparently there were some people who had a 2:00 PM reservation on our table who were still sitting there when we got there for our 5:30 PM reservation. Management didn't want to kick them out even though they weren't eating and they were monopolizing the table for (3 hours and counting. We left before they did).

Those of you who are familiar with the layout of this restaurant, they dumped a big round table in the little alcove connecting the front room to the patio room (yes that little hallway that's usually reserved for parties of 4). That meant one side of the round table was smack against the wall so no one can really sit there.

Stick with the dim sum. I highly recommend them for dim sum!

[Cynsa]

Love the dim sum - the har gow is thin-skinned with sweetly tender shrimp, the shumai is lightly seasoned and almost fluffy, the chicken feet melt off the bone, the pan-fried turnip cake is never greasy and very delectable - these were my favorites recently. Each dish was served steaming HOT - happily for me!

[rworange]

link

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Golden Gate Dim Sum Seafood Restaurant
1829 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121

[asianstamp]

I went here w/ some family this past weekend for dim sum. The restaurant is very spacious and clean. We were seated in the back indoor patio. They even have an outdoor koi fountain that you can visit before your meal.

Dim sum was excellent. Everything arrived piping hot and very tasty (not so tasty that it's oversalted. Something my parents have to watch --sodium intake). Among the hits, ham sui gok (very light, thin skinned and not greasy at all), egg roll (strictly vegetarian, no shrimp in sight), any of the rice noodles (they were very good), steamed pork buns (they use a oyster sauce based gravy instead dying the pork w/ hideous red dye) and phoenix claws aka chicken feet (my parents said these were the best ones they had in a long time. Better than Dim Sum King's and the other dim sum places).

We also ordered a vegetarin chow mein (they offer this in thin or thick noodle). Nowadays, chow mein comes in only thin crispy noodles but the folks prefer the old way. Noodles were yummy.

Service was very prompt and friendly. We were thanked profusely on our way out the door. Although there were a bunch of people inside, they weren't so busy that you had people waiting out the door.

Their dinner wo choy menu is very reasonable too. Starting from $88 to $190.

Only drawback, parking is the pits!

I really hope they stay in business so definitely give them a try!

[Xiao Yang]

How many would the $88 wo choy menu serve? (By comparison, Great Eastern's "Chinatown Selection" is also $88 now, and serves 4-5).

[asianstamp]

They say 10 people. They have smaller dinners for 4-8 people. I believe the dinner for 4 starts around $40?

Don't know about the serving size until I get a chance to go.