Hong Kong Cafe — Restaurant in Richmond

Came here for dinner, first time visiting this place even though I've passed by many times since it opened. The place was busy, but there were still a good amount of tables to sit in. I think we only waited a minute, and the waitress sat us down and got us tea all within a couple of minutes. The decoration and atmosphere is casual with a sense that you are in a Hong Kong style restaurant with a large mural of a Hong Kong street with lots of store front signs and neon lights. The decoration is eclectic with an Asian theme with lots of little Asian themed toys and knickknacks.

The food menu is extensive with lots of common foods found in street cafes such as toasts, baked rice, and noodles dishes to the more common dishes like fried rice, Chow mien, porridge, etc. Then there is the more oddball and exotic dishes made with intestines, blood, and frogs.

As I wasn't into experimenting into the exotic dishes we decided to order BBQ pork fried rice, salt & pepper deep fried fish, salt & pepper deep fried tofu, wonton soup, western style overeasy egg in minced beef sauce over rice, and stir-fry beef rib-eye Japan style.

All the dishes came in within the next 10 to 15 minutes. They looked delicious to my eyes and smelled even better. The bbq pork unfortunately did not meet my satisfaction. Yeah, it looked great and smelled good, but the taste was just bland. There wasn't even a taste of the bbq pork. The pork itself was dry, like the remnants of old bbq pork cuttings that have been sitting for a while. Fortunately the other dishes were arriving and we had a better experience.

The next dish to come was the wonton soup. The bowl had enough soup and wonton dumplings to serve at least all four of us with a couple extras. There were also fresh baby bok Choi vegetables in the soup, which was nice to balance all the meat. The soup was okay, nothing exciting. The meat filling in the wonton was okay too... I've had better.

The next dish up was the salt & pepper tofu cubes. These deep-fried morsels were piping hot with a nice outer crunch and very soft interior. The outside had a really nice seasoning that was savory with a hint of spices. There were also sprinkling of fried jalapeño peppers and garlic. It was delicious.

The next dish was the salt & pepper deep fried fish. Just like the tofu, these fish were battered and deep fried and seasoned with salt, spices, and that mixture of jalapeños pepper and fried garlic. The fish was delicious with a semi crunchy outer shell and a very nice soft, smooth, almost melty interior. I'm not sure what type of fish they used, but it was really nice and soft.

A minute later, the waitress brought out the rest of our order. It was the overeasy egg in minced beef and sauce over rice and the stir-fry beef rib-eye Japan style.

The western style egg in minced beef sauce over rice was truly delicious. It was a mound of rice with a brown gravy sauce with minced beef and shavings of I think it was broccoli stems. In the middle of all that mess was a raw egg cooking in the heat of the dish. The beef and sauce mixed in with the rice was just great. I really can't explain the taste, it was like putting gravy into your rice but the gravy is not over powering. It balanced the right amount of saltiness, beef flavor, and umami to go right with the plain white rice.

My favorite dish above all the stir-fry beef ribeye Japan style dish. The pieces of beef are stir fried in a sweet, savory sauce with a very distinctive flavor I couldn't identify. Under the beef are pan fried soft tofu rounds that have the sauce dripping on it. Surrounding the beef and tofu is a bed of fresh broccoli with drippings of sauce on top. This dish was really exceptionally good. The beef was so tender and juicy with the addition of the sauce that it was an explosion of flavor and texture in your mouth.

We truly ate really well and had lots of leftover for the next day. I'll probably visit again and try their other dishes. Some of the dishes you can't find in regular Chinese...

Review Highlights “Managed to try this place not once but twice in one day since it was their last day of promotion.” in 4 reviews

“It might not be comparable to the Cha-Chaan-Teng food you have in Hong Kong or SoCal, but it's definitely a good one in Bay Area.” in 3 reviews

“The better baked dishes are the Portuguese chicken and the white cream sauces.” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours Map 3288 Pierce St

Richmond, CA 94804

Mon

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Tue

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Closed now Wed

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Thu

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Fri

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Sat

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Sun

11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

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Amenities and More Casual Good for Groups Street Parking, Private Lot Parking Waiter Service

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Search within reviews Yelp Sort English (20) Cathy G. Alum Rock, San Jose, CA 16

Start your review of Hong Kong Cafe. Shirley H. Oakland, CA 0675 8/15/2022 I dined at Hong Kong Cafe with my family on a busy Saturday night expecting hiccups in the service but was greatly surprised:

PROS:

1. Food: Ordered the usual staples of wonton soup, salt & pepper tofu, roast pork, beef w/greens and bean sprout chow mein. All items were delicious, perfectly seasoned and served fast.
2. Service: Extremely efficient and polite staff
3. Location: Free parking

WOULD...

This place has really good Cantonese food. So far it's the best I've had since Hong Kong Villa closed down in Berkeley some 30 years ago. It seems as if there are fewer Cantonese style restaurants in the area (Berkeley, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond). I'm always on the lookout for those that remind me of SF Chinatown restaurants back in the day. So this one comes as close as my tastebuds are goes, giving it two thumbs up. I've been here four times now selecting different dishes each time and each visit has been delicious. My only complaint is that the wait staff seems always in a hurry so that getting their attention can be trying. Last time, I just kept my arm up to get their attention and still, that took a bit of time. Also, you have to know going in that the wait staff acts like a lot of Chinatown and Hong Kong restaurants - meaning they're not polite or serve you with a smile. Once you do get their attention, they do respond. So as long as you can handle the wait staff, you'll...