Coconut Kitchen (Red Circle Dumplings) — Restaurant in San Bruno

We try to make ourselves try food at different soup places just to have that experience. This place we really had no clue how they serve so we just sat down and I asked the lady who greeted us what is a popular dish, mainly I just wanted wonton soup but due to language barrier when I kept asking for it she would say yes we have wonton in chili sauce but after a good five minutes I realized it's wontons in chili sauce. We ended up ordering the Beef Brisket soup for two and a few sides with the soup, I didn't like the broth but you already know the brisket was good I just had to add soy sauce, chili sauce and ginger which made the broth taste delicious. They charge for each item and when they serve each dish they'll point at it on your receipts taped to your table. We also had leftovers so overall I can't complain.

Funny thing when we charged our credit card and had it signed as we were getting up to leave the server tapped my arm and said in a firm tone "YOU'RE NOT LEAVING A TIP?" I looked at her like "Excuse me?" She then lifted up the signed receipt in the little tray which on the tip said $0 but then noticed just behind the receipt was cash where her attitude shifted and had a big smile, giggling "Cash even better, thank you have a great day!"

I don't think that was cool because it's up to us if we want to tip or not because a lot of times service can be terrible, rude servers, long waits, being neglected etc. anyways that's the last time going there, not because of service because they were good it's just they don't have my wonton soup with the broth I like not to mention they don't have...

So apparently Red Circle Hot Pan has changed concepts and became Red Circle Dumplings. The servers seemed the same so they probably didn't have enough business and changed to the new rage in town, which is dumplings.

First, before I forget, if you like "hot" as in spicy, ask for the chinese hot sauce/hot oil. It is very tasty and spicy. Don't forget, ok?

The braised noodle soup was good. The beef was tender, the noodles, a broad variety, had a good bite, and soup was delicious. Maybe slightly salty, but still good.

The snow cabbage and pork noodle was also good. Just the right amount of cabbage and pork to give it a good taste. The noodles are thinner style.

The piggy custard buns were a hit. Hot and steamy, with just enough custard. And so darn cute.

The sui mai was awesome. Served steaming hot, filled with juicy pork and shrimp on top. I could eat several orders of this. I couldn't even get seconds; my son grabbed the last piece..lol..

The steamed dumplings were very average. Maybe should have tried the xlb. The steamed dumpling had the wrapper/skin that was just too chewy. Very similar to store bought dumplings.

Please note, the dumplings here are all steamed or pan fried. Normally, most places also have boiled dumplings, which stay more moist. They don't have them here.

For what I ordered, price was around $40. Pretty standard.

Back again next time to...

I ate here tonight. The food for half a pound of noodles and 5 tiny pieces of chicken with lots of bones in it was 15.00$ ok … now getting chased down by my server outside their premises because I didn’t leave a tip it’s outrageous! She chase me down to my car demanding a tip. I asked her, what makes you think I should leave a tip? I’ve brought you tea she replied. Ok! I didn’t ask for it you just toss it on my table but thank you. If you believe I should be paying for the tea then you should have added it to my bill. I thought it was nice and courtesy of the house for a small cup of tea. Besides, I told her I was a party of 1 and it was just me sitting down and having food. The place was almost empty. Yea, well she still demanded her tip. It is restaurant liability now that an employee leaves premises and her job to go chase down a customer that mostlikely will never return because an employee decided to chase him almost getting to his car demanding a tip. I would have left it but I didn’t feel it was necessary since I don’t see the point of it for just bringing me a cup of tea. She didn’t even bring me my plate of food. It was someone else. I would suggest the owner to not let employees chase down customers outside their restaurant and specially think they are to demand tips. For what you already charged me for half pound of wet noodles 15$! You should...