MmMmmGood

In the mood for dim sum but lacking a reason to trek out to Palo Alto? You can only visit Stanford so many times. An alternative is Daly City’s Koi Palace. Approximately 10-15 minutes by car from Frisco (Kerouac’s term), this restaurant is a well-frequented favourite of many Chinese people living in the Bay area.

Three ravenous people had big eyes (and unlike the adage, not little but big stomachs) and ordered a total of 10 dishes. I’m following the spelling of this specific menu (Chinglish is great… there’s no standardized way of spelling for cantonese words so you sort of just guestimate what everything means)

Small, $2.80USD/ dish — 321) Shiu Mai with Diced Mushroom 327) Crispy Spring Roll

The shiu mai was steaming hot, nothing great but not inedible. The spring rolls were crispy and came promptly.

Medium, $3.60/ dish — 333) Pan Fried Daikon Cake 335) Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant

The daikon cake was good, not Great but again, edible. The shrimp stuffed eggplant was Really oily but aside from that, rather good.

Large, $4.50/ dish — 348) Rice roll stuffings of Shrimp and Beef

Good.

Coming from the BBQ Oven and Beyond $5.50/ dish — 362) Salted Pepper Squid 364) Sticky Rice with Meat 368) Stir Fried Rice Roll in XO sauce


The squid was good; not quite as chewy as I typically like, but if you’re searching for crispy, this hits the spot. The sticky rice… ah, the sticky rice. In Vancouver, this practically always comes in a leaf wrap, but it seems I have issues ordering what I want in SF. A bit tricky for our waitress to pop this out of the bowl onto the plate, but this was delicious and gobbled down. XO fried rice rolls… this is just a pan fried rolled rice noodle with hot sauce. Good.

Last but not least, some dessert. Dou Fu Fa (tofu pudding)

Egg tarts are my per usual dim sum dessert, but we felt in the mood for some tofu pudding. This was good, just your basic tofu with some simple syrup on the side to sweeten according to personal preference.

The tea ranges from $1-2/ person depending on what sort of tea you order, and it comes in a nifty little pot with a warmer underneath! Beyond this detail however, I find that SF dim sum places come with a plate and a pair of chopsticks, no bowl, no spoon. The spartan table settings certainly cuts down on time and cleaning, but to me… it always seems unfinished. Am I being too anal about this detail? Probably.

As we left the restaurant, I noticed the fish tanks (fresh seafood) and the proudly mounted accolades on the wall.

In all honesty, the price, relatively short waiting time (this restaurant is huge), and the variety of food as well as quality of food were sufficiently satisfactory. Compared to restaurants such as SF’s “Yank Sing” (expensive and nothing special) and Tai-Pan (too far) this seems like a great all-rounder restaurant. Hailing from Vancouver, however, I would have to rank this on par with Vancouver’s “Po King”. Good because of the prices and getting your dim sum craving satisfied, but the food and experience are nothing to write home about.

Sorry Koi Palace; I always feel so snotty giving a less than glowing review, but it just wasn’t there for me. You can visit Koi Palace online here. Their website is worth visiting if you’re interested in visiting this restaurant. It’s up to date and a bunch of fancy (unexpected) coding. Or, you can also just book a reservation and test this place out for yourself.

Koi Palace @ Daly City
Serramonte Plaza
365 Gellert Ave
Daly City, CA 94015
Tel: (650) 992-9000
M-T: 11am-2:30, 5pm-9:30
Fri: 11am-2:30, 5pm-10:00
Sat: 10am-3:00, 5pm-10:00
Sun: 9am-3:00, 5pm-9:30