Earl Spicy - Taste of Four Seasons 四季家宴 — Restaurant in Millbrae

Food: 15/10 Service: 10/10 Atmosphere: 10/10 Overall Rating: 12/10

Experience:

I'm from the central Midwest and have travelled internationally to many countries so I have a wide interest in trying new foods wherever I go. Earl Spicy was the first "hot pot restaurant" search option that came up on Google and we hit the jackpot! We stayed in San Francisco for 3 days and ate dinner here each day. Immediately as you walk in, it smells like spices and you'll be welcomed by a friendly woman who is one of the owners. Do not be deterred by the lack of people or even the "older" look the restaurant has - it will add to the charm and warmth of being at a "mom and pop" shop. The menu is extensive, so much so it can be intimidating! But rest assured that EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, was exceptional. Nothing I put in my mouth at this restaurant was less than amazing. We have been to China before for long periods of time and this food took us right back to Shanghai and Xiamen. As we can regularily the owner explained to us that they owned two popular restaurants in China before coming to America for their daughter and opening one here. They also explained there is a patron from Sacramento who comes once a month to enjoy their spicy fish because it is just that good; and we agree. The owner, and wife, gave us recommendations every day and we were happy to accept and they were absolutly amazing. If she recommends, accept it with gratitude and enjoy! The prices reflect their quality of food and be sure to tip because they work hard; she explained that she makes the seasame golden cake and leek pancakes fresh every morning. Here is what we ordered over three days:

Golden Seasame Pancake Spicy Fish (Medium Size) Egg Fried Rice Beef Fried Rice Leek Pancake Dumplings Pumpkin Cake Patty Princess Chicken Wings Numbing Chicken Pot

Please take time to enjoy this warm, exciting, and authentic restaurant. You will never be disappointed here. I will always recommend and visit this restaurant whenever I am around or whenever someone...

Saw the great reviews and decided to order some food. Waited 45 minutes for 2 entrees. The guy who picked up before me waited over 30 minutes. A lady there claimed that they have too many orders. The strange thing is that the dine in customers got their food I saw them ordered while I was waiting. The restaurant is actually making the dine in orders first and then the to go orders when they have no more dine in orders. I really hate that practice because they worry that the dine in customers would walk and on the other hand that the online orders are paid for so customers must wait for their food. OK...... Waited so long and got the food home ready to enjoy the "better be worth waiting 45 mins" food. Complete disappointment!! Ordered the Chongqing spicy fried chicken (重慶辣子雞) and a veggie dish (乾鍋臘肉菜花). And they are both beyond bad. First the chicken is just a bunch of red chilies with "chicken nuggets". I should say: dried up chicken nuggets. Not the numb spicy that I am expecting from this dish. The veggie dish has no taste and color. I have never seen food in a dry pot dish that looks like a stir fry. This dish is basically a mixture of the cauliflower and bacon together and toss around the wok for less than a minute. No seasoning!! If the food is super cheap, I wouldn't say a thing about it. However, the chicken is 21 bucks and the veggies is 19 bucks. The quality of the food is not even worth half of what they charged. I don't mind paying but not with this quality. For a restaurant that has no heart and soul making food for their customers, I will never order from this...

The dinner was full of disappointment starting the moment we entered the restaurant. The venting is quite poor and it smelled smoky as we entered. The staff is over-worked and could barely keep up with the customers in the restaurant and pick up orders. She was running around and telling us how busy and overworked she was.

We ordered the fish with chili oil and she insisted their whole fish is better. We don’t like bones and she persuaded us even “Americans” can handle it well. We didn’t like how she pressured us getting something we are not comfortable with. When the dishes arrived, we asked for some rice. She literally complained why we didn’t mention together when we placed the order and now she had to run around twice (her exact words). It took a long time to see her back tendering the tables. It was the guy from the kitchen brought us the rice.

We waited a long time for the check to arrive and to our surprise, an 18% tip was already added to the check without our consent. I find this very uncomfortable as tips are voluntary and varied based on the service we received. She obviously did not deserve 20% (usual for dinner) and it was wrong for her to demand 18% regardless.

I would not recommend going to this place and there are so many better options...