Seeking suggestions for Chinese wedding banquet catering in SF

[mikey_vee]

dearest chowhounders - i'm getting married later this year in sf. my fiancee and i are both chinese and we're looking for suggestions for a restaurant that can cater our wedding reception... chinese banquet style.

some specifics - wedding reception will be hosted in sf in the fall on a saturday. location is at a wedding hall, not the chinese restaurant itself. 150 guests. food budget is generous. we're ready to splurge here and save on other things.

some requirements -
1) restaurant must be on the larger side - ie, kitchen needs to be large enough to cook for 150 wedding guests in addition to their normal saturday flow of customers. therefore, rule out that fave hole in the wall
2) should go without saying but the restaurant must be able to prepare an authentic chinese banquet
3) rule out the following: r&g lounge (being difficult), empress of china (straight-up won't do it), yank sing (it's a long story) and tong kiang (a possibility, in discussions)

thanks all!

[Chandavkl]

Check out the Chinese Yellow Pages for Chinese caterers. There are a number listed in the Los Angeles Chinese Yellow Pages (listed under "Restaurants" )which work in concert with hotels and other wedding venues, and I would imagine there should be comparable listings in the SF Chinese phone book.

[sfbing]

Does it have to be in San Francisco? Your options would be much better if you are willing to have the banquet in the Peninsula. Right off the top of my head when I hear splurge is Koi Palace.

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Koi Palace Restaurant
365 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015

[mikey_vee]

Great suggestion. Thank you! Will call them this week.

[angie_dubya]

Hey Mikey,

Just curious, what restaurant did you go with? I am in the same situation right now and am not having much luck finding a place that will do reception hall catering.

[mikey_vee]

Hi Angie - We ran into the same problem that perhaps you are facing where full service caterers in SF do not have the skills or contacts to provide real Chinese food. In our case, our only solution was to break the job into two - one company to cook the food; another company to serve the food. We're going with R&G Lounge - quality and authenticity of the food combined with close proximity to the reception venue were the key factors that drove this decision. For full service caterers, have you consider Yank Sing? Yes, they are pricey and the food is a bit diluted for the western palate but nonetheless, they serve quality stuff and are super professional

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Yank Sing
49 Stevenson St Ste Stlv, San Francisco, CA 94105

[flyingvoodoopig]

Hi Mikey..how did you manage the above? Did you pick up the food from R&G lounge and have servers plate and serve? Did the severs pick up the food? I'd love an R&G lounge banquet (yum!) but their facility is a bit small.

[flyingvoodoopig]

ps. how much did this option cost if you don't mind my asking.

[Ruth Lafler]

Yank Sing? I believe they do off-site catering.

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Yank Sing
49 Stevenson St Ste Stlv, San Francisco, CA 94105

[mikey_vee]

ahh... sorry ruth. should have added this to the "rule out" list. we tried with them and it's not going to work out.